RE/MAX equity group Portland Executive Branch Manager Alan Mehrwein was recently sworn in as President of the Oregon Association of Realtors. Lake Oswego Manager Dave Koch had the honor of inducting Alan.

Alan came to RE/MAX equity group in 1998 after a successful real estate career in California, including owning his own company. Alan has served as an RMLS Director, RMLS Chairman of the Board, PMAR VP of Professional Development and head of the Budget and Strategic Planning Committee, PMAR President-Elect and then President. He has earned his CRB and GRI designations and has been honored as the PMAR Realtor of the Year and by the Portland Million Dollar Club as Managing Broker of the Year.

Congratulations Alan and thank you for your service to the industry!

Congratulations to Marilyn Shotts, a broker with RE/MAX equity group’s Salem Business Center office in Salem, on being named the 2009 Oregon CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) of the Year.

This award recognizes a CRS member who has provided outstanding service to the chapter and the real estate industry. Marilyn has served as the 2006-2009 Oregon CRS Capitol District District Vice President and as the President of Women’s Business Referral Club. Marilyn also holds the CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) designation.

Congratulations Marilyn for your outstanding contributions! For more information about Marilyn and her services, visit www.marilynshotts.com .

Realtors in the city of Canby have put together a city-wide open house on Sunday, October 4 from 1-4 pm. With interest rates hovering around 5% and the first-time home buyer’s credit about to expire, there has never been a better time to buy a home. Future home buyers will be able to view tens of open houses for sale in every price range in and around the Canby area.

The tours are self-guided and can begin at any home. For a list of RE/MAX equity group participating listings, click here. For a driving tour of the RE/MAX equity group participating listings, including turn-by-turn directions, click here.

With the launch today of RE/MAX equity group’s mobile website, www.equitygroup.com, local real estate search is now available to any consumer with a web-enabled mobile device.

The mobile version of RE/MAX equity group’s website is built specifically for cell phone and other mobile browsers. The mobile web site allows consumers to search all real estate listings from the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feeds of the Realtor Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) and the Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service (WVMLS), in addition to RE/MAX equity group’s Realtors and open houses.

Consumers can view listing details as well as photos directly from their web-enabled cell phone, making it easy to find listings when driving through a neighborhood or find open houses in an area they are searching.

“Consumers are more and more using their cell phones as pocket computers,” says RE/MAX equity group President Jim Homolka. “They expect to be able to access the same information on their web-enabled cell phones as they can on their desktops. Now, they can look up details on a home they are driving by. And it’s simple to use. If you can look up sports scores, you can look at houses now too.”

Because the site is not an application, it is not limited to specific devices nor does it require any downloads. If consumers have access to the web using their mobile device, they can use this site to get the information they need, when they need it.

For consumers without web access on their cell phones, RE/MAX equity group offers the Mobile Audio Home Finder program. Mobile Audio Home Finder enables consumers to call a single phone number from their mobile phones and hear listing details on any property in the IDX feeds of RMLS or WVMLS. In Portland, the Mobile Audio Home Finder number is 503-270-4666 (HOME). In Vancouver, it is 360-258-2355 (CELL), and in Salem it is 503-371-5200. Details are available in both English and Spanish and can be sent to the consumers’ phones as a text message.

“Technology is changing the way consumers want to access and receive information and we are committed to meeting the needs of today’s consumers to have real estate information available on the go in whatever format fits their lifestyles,” said Homolka.

RE/MAX equity group, the number one real estate company in Oregon, is positioning its offices for the future with the move of its Sunset Corridor branch into new, smaller quarters in Tanasbourne Commons.

On August 21, the RE/MAX equity group Sunset Corridor office moved from 12,000+ square feet of space on 167th Place to 5,421 square feet of space at 17933 NW Evergreen Parkway, Suite 200 just off US highway 26 adjacent to the Tanasbourne Mall.

Although the new office can accommodate all 60 of the branch’s agents in semi-private offices, 24 of the agents choose to work as mobile agents without an assigned desk at the office. This reflects the changing way agents and the public now interact during a real estate transaction – online, in the client’s home, touring a neighborhood, and from their cars.
“Thanks to technology, agents now need far less equipment and paper to help their clients market, find, and close real estate transactions,” said Jim Homolka, President of RE/MAX equity group. “This new office will still be a comfortable space for people to come in and do business with us but it also recognizes that the business model is changing.”
In addition to the semi-private offices, the Sunset Corridor office at Tanasbourne Commons will feature ample parking, a client meeting room with a large, flat-screen TV connected to the internet, digital document senders, and the newly launched Audio Home Finder service.

The branch will continue to be managed by Gary Taylor, CRB, GRI. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Regional Multiple Listing Service Board of Directors. He was awarded the PMAR Realtor of the Year for 2007, the Million Dollar Club’s “Managing Broker of the Year” for 2006, the Oregon CRB of the Year in 1996, and WCR Member of the Year in 2001.

RE/MAX equity group’s  branded “Audio Home Finder,” powered by VoicePad’s Mobile IDX Audio Search technology, allows home buyers immediate access from any telephone to all the broker shared listings from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) in Portland and Vancouver and from the Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service (WVMLS) in the Salem area.

RE/MAX equity group “For Sale Signs” will now include a local number for home shoppers to call for immediate and detailed information, in both English or Spanish, on homes listed in the local multiple listing service, 24 hours a day - seven days a week. In the Portland Metro area, the phone number is 503-270-HOME (4663). In  Vancouver, the local number is 360-258-CELL (2355). In Salem, the local number is 503-371-5200. 

“Buyers can easily receive instant information about the home they are interested in by calling our system and simply entering the house address, on our listings or other listings in the local MLS,” said Jim Homolka, President of RE/MAX equity group. “Home shoppers who call the RE/MAX equity group Audio Home Finder can also receive the estimated mortgage payment and opt to receive a text message with the home’s features sent directly to their cell phone.”

In addition, the Audio Tours for RE/MAX equity group listings will also be available, in both English and Spanish, on the company’s website at www.equitygroup.com. This provides greater accessibility to listing information on the site.

RE/MAX equity group agents can also register the buyers they’re working with on the new RE/MAX equity group Audio Home Finder. It enables a home shopper who’s out and about and finds a home of interest to instantly get more information on a specific property and alert their agent at the same time. They will also receive an email with the details on the homes they were interested in.

“Consumers are the real winners with this service,” said Homolka. “They get the information they want, when they want it, without scrambling for paper to write an address down, collect flyers, or having to research houses they saw later. They will have it all on their phone.”

The Salem Association of Realtors recently chose Peggy LeGrande, of RE/MAX equity group’s Salem Business Center office, as their 2009 REALTOR of the Year.

LeGrande was selected for her high level of integrity and attentiveness to her real estate clients as well as being a giving and supportive person who brings a smile to the face and radiates a special energy for all to share in. In receiving her award LeGrande was described as “hard-working, and industrious, she knows how to do what needs to be done to achieve goals and get to the other side of hardships. She is a problem-solver and looks for the highest and best results for all concerned in every situation.” 

LeGrande holds the Certified Residential Specialist and Graduate, Realtor Institute designations and has been a licensed Realtor for more than 27 years.

The information provided on is not intended to be legal advice; it merely conveys general information related to legal issues commonly encountered in real estate sales.  If you want to know the impact of this information on your particular situation, please consult with an attorney. 

Whether we are talking about loan wraps (selling to a buyer without paying off the owner’s mortgage), lease options (option agreements), lease to purchase arrangements (leases with a contractual right to purchase the property) or, perhaps, straight rental agreements, these alternatives for relieving a property owner of the burden of a mortgage when buyers are scarce carry risks.

Deeds of trust in this day and age have very restrictive “due on sale” clauses which prohibit property owners from transferring ownership or control of all or a part of the owner’s interest in a property to another. These due-on-sale restrictions likely prohibit the owner’s alternatives for mortgage relief.  Therefore, any property owner considering these financing alternatives should review his or her deed of trust for due-on-sale restrictions and consult with the trust holder and/or an attorney to determine what alternatives may be available.
 
An owner who violates his or her due-on-sale clause may well be giving the trust deed holder (the lender) the right to accelerate the loan, i.e. the right to call the loan immediately due and payable in full.  If this happens, the seller must pay the full amount of the loan within a short period of time or face foreclosure proceedings.  If the lender calls the loan, where will the owner get the money to pay it?  The owner probably can’t re-finance his or her loan either because he/she has transferred an interest in the property to the buyer or because in today’s tight credit market, financing is not available.  The owner very likely cannot get it from the buyer because the buyer likely needed alternative financing in the first place because of an inability to get a direct loan. 
 
My clients often assert the fact that there is no due-on-sale jail, i.e., it is better to ask for forgiveness and not permission.  Although the risk of criminal prosecution exists for those who commit loan fraud, it is true that, for buyers and owners, the risk is more likely to be monetary than criminal. 

In addition to the lender calling the loan, the risks of financing alternatives to property owners include:

• For lease options, lease to purchase and, straight lease arrangements, the seller will be a landlord during the lease period with all of the obligations attendant to that role, including compliance with Oregon’s Landlord-Tenant laws.  The landlord may have to evict the tenant, make major repairs (to provide a habitable space) or deal with the damages inherent in the rental of property.  Also, if the parties have agreed that the buyer will make all repairs during the lease period as though he or she were an owner, the seller risks that the buyer will make repairs without governmental permits, use self-help on repairs (and be incompetent) or hire incompetent help.
• For owners who are leasing/renting the family home, the owner may be giving up an exemption to capital gains tax.  The owner will also have to declare rent as income.  Property owners considering financing alternatives should consult with their own tax professional for advice on the tax ramifications.
• Only 7% of these transactions close.  The buyer, given that he or she is likely a marginal credit risk, may (i) lose interest in buying the property, (ii) suffer a change in family circumstances; or (iii) discover that he/she will not be able to secure financing when the time comes to purchase the property.  If this happens, the Landlord will still have the house with all of the additional problems inherent in selling a rental property.  Also, if the buyer abandons the property, the buyer’s right to purchase the property may well remain, resulting in a cloud on the title and preventing the seller from selling the house until the purchase right expires or a court vitiates it.

The risks of financing alternatives to buyers are: 

• Only 7% of these transactions close.   In a static or declining market (where prices are not increasing) in which credit may remain difficult to obtain, the buyer has little, if any, incentive to lock up a purchase price on a property this way. 
• Option money and/or increased rent money intended for a down payment may be nonrefundable and, even if the money is refundable, the property owner may have spent the money and have no ability to repay it. 
• Loan wraps, lease to purchase and lease options are usually not recorded, allowing the property owner to further encumber the property through lines of credit or by way of judgment liens for unpaid credit card bills, child support, etc. such that the owner will be unable to convey clear title when the buyer is ready to finance his or her purchase.
• The owner may stop making mortgage payments such that the lender institutes foreclosure proceedings.  In that case, the buyer will be evicted and his or her only remedy against the owner will be in court.  Since the seller stopped making mortgage payments, it seems unlikely that the seller will have money available to pay the buyer even if a court says the owner must do so.

The bottom line is that any owner or buyer considering alternative financing arrangements should get competent legal advice to protect him or herself from the risks inherent in creative financing arrangements. 

“Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.”  Evan Esar (1899 - 1995)

We’ve been abused by statistics.  Let’s make sure we know what the statistics mean:

Median -  If you array all the sold properties in order of sold price, the median sold price is the one that falls in the middle.
Average -  If we add up all the sold prices and then divide by the number of solds we will get the average sold price.

While these two statistics are the most commonly quoted, neither of them give us any help in pricing an specific property.  In fact, both may lead a buyer or seller to a wrong conclusion. Sellers want to believe that prices are still going up. Buyers want to believe that every seller is on the verge of foreclosure and should be happy to take any offer.

We in the business know that prices on individual homes, for example, have been falling, modestly here in the Northwest but dramatically in some other parts of the country. We also know that most sellers, although they may want to sell, are not in dire straights.

For Sellers:  If you don’t need to sell and are not willing to be realistic in pricing, don’t bother entering the market.  If you need to sell, your home has to be priced very competitively, be as clean and attractive as possible, be accessible for showing, and be marketed appropriately by a professional REALTOR who understands this market and where the buyers are.

For Buyers:  A REALTOR can find you a “steal” of a home. A REALTOR can find you the home of your dreams. They are not likely to be the same home. What is most important?  Are you waiting for the bottom of the market? Well, as a colleague in Orange County says, “No one is going to ring a bell to tell you when it is the bottom of the market.”  It might be next week, or next month, or next year. Or maybe it already happened last month! Right now we have lots of homes available, pricing is better than it has been for years, and interest rates are still at historic lows. If you are a buyer who intends to live in or hold a property for five years or so, this is a terrific buyer’s market. If you are a “flipper” looking to sell for a quick profit you probably ought to sit it out for a while.

Dave Koch, CRB, e-PRO is a Vice-President of RE/MAX equity group, inc. and principal broker of its Lake Oswego office. He has a BA in Economics and an MBA in Finance. He has served as President, Clackamas City Association of Realtors 1989; Founding President of RMLS 1990-1991, and President, Oregon Association of Realtors, 2002. He was selected as CCAR Realtor of Year 1992; Million Dollar Club, Broker of the Year 1996; Portland Metro Association, Realtor of the Year 1997; and Oregon Association of Realtors, Realtor of the Year, 2002.