Ultimate Open House


2009 Street of Dreams to feature condos, sustainability and the Pearl District

March 30, 2009

Filed under: Street of Dreams — Tags: — uoh @ 3:36 pm

For the first time ever, the NW Natural Street of Dreams is going urban. In honor of its 34th year, the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland (HBA) is bringing America’s longest running luxury home show to the heart of the city.

street-of-dreams-kgw

Click here to see KGW story

The 2009 show will take place Aug. 1st-30th in Portland’s Pearl District and will highlight approximately 10 high-rise condos priced between $1 and $4 million. HBA had been working on sites in more suburban locations, but also had plans under way for adding an urban component to this year’s show. Changing market dynamics, combined with strong industry and consumer interest in the urban component, created an opportunity to focus exclusively on an all-urban show featuring some of Portland’s finest luxury downtown living.

“Dream homes come in different shapes, sizes and styles,” said 2009 HBA President Tom Skaar. “This year’s Street of Dreams focuses on the height of urban living in one of Portland’s residential jewels. It will bring tens of thousands of people to the area’s galleries, breweries, unique restaurants and shops. In essence, the Street of Dreams in The Pearl will give showgoers an authentically lifestyle experience and invite them to see all the wonderful things the city has to offer.”

The 2009 Street of Dreams will also feature a significant increase in its emphasis on sustainability. Most of the homes will meet LEED standards and have other sustainable site development and construction practices that exceed current code. Eco-friendly materials and furnishings and energy efficiency will also be showcased in the condos interiors. Sustainable practices also will be incorporated into the show’s production, marketing and operations. This emphasis demonstrates the HBA’s commitment to being earth-friendly in all its shows and events.

Attendees will be encouraged to take advantage of the region’s public transportation systems, including the MAX, light rail and Portland streetcar to reduce driving and traffic, to stroll around the highly walkable Pearl, and to pop into local businesses, which will offer special promotions in coordination with the show.

“The 2009 show will offer the public the things they’ve come to love and expect from the Street of Dreams with a new focus and feel,” said Roger LeClair, this year’s Street of Dreams Chairman. “It will still feature innovative homes, showcase the latest, greatest and finest the building industry has to offer and inspire people with the beauty and unique features of the sensational homes it highlights. The show focuses on dreams and will continue to do so for many years to come.”


Walk Score

March 27, 2009

Filed under: Green, Portland Style — Tags: — uoh @ 4:28 pm

Walkable communities tend to have the following characteristics:

A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a discernable center, whether it’s a shopping district, a main street, or a public space.
Density: The neighborhood is dense enough for local businesses to flourish and for public transportation to be cost effective.
Mixed income, mixed use: Housing is provided for everyone who works in the neighborhood: young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. Businesses and residences are located near each other.
Parks and public space: There are plenty of public places to gather and play.
Accessibility: The neighborhood is accessible to everyone and has wheelchair access, plenty of benches with shade, sidewalks on all streets, etc.
Well connected, speed controlled streets: Streets form a connected grid that improves traffic by providing many routes to any destination. Streets are narrow to control speed, and shaded by trees to protect pedestrians.
Pedestrian-centric design: Buildings are placed close to the street to cater to foot traffic, with parking lots relegated to the back.
Close schools and workplaces: Schools and workplaces are close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.

Find the walk score of your neighborhood here.


This year, Catch The Streetcar

March 23, 2009

Filed under: Street of Dreams — Tags: — uoh @ 8:57 pm

by Ryan Frank The Oregonian, Saturday, March 21, 2009

This year, catch the streetcar to an urban Street of Dreams For the first time in its 34-year history, Portland’s Street of Dreams show in 2009 won’t line a leafy suburban street.

The Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland, deterred by banks’ reluctance to lend money for new suburban homes, shifted this year’s show to the high-rise condo buildings of Portland’s Pearl District.

Nancy Haskin, director of membership services and events, said the group had planned for the 2009 show to feature six new homes in Lake Oswego and some new Pearl District condos. But they cut out the Lake Oswego site because builders couldn’t find loans amid the recession and credit crunch. The Portland market in February had enough homes to last for 16.6 months at the current sales pace, far above a healthy market.

The 2009 show, which runs Aug. 1 to Aug. 30, will feature about 10 condos priced between $1 and $4 million. Haskin said the group hopes to satisfy visitors who have shown in past surveys that they want to see more urban living features in the show.

Haskin said they hope to attract 50,000 visitors to the Pearl show.


What About the ‘What Ifs’?

March 20, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — uoh @ 4:58 am

Given the ongoing turmoil in the housing and financial markets, many people who want to buy homes are sitting on the fence, either waiting for the market to bottom out or fearing that it never will.

So what is the chance that the market will continue to decline, prices will continue to drop and a home purchased today will be worth less a year from now? Of course, no one can know for sure what will happen a month, six months or a year from now. Housing is predictably cyclical, but the current housing slump has already lasted longer than previous downturns. Moreover, timing the market is a strategy that rarely works; by the time it’s clear that a market has turned around, it’s too late to take best advantage of the conditions at the bottom.

It’s also important to remember that home prices have not declined equally in all areas. All housing markets are local, and all perform differently. Yes, some markets have seen significant declines, but for the most part they are the markets that had the largest increases during the recent housing boom. Many markets saw modest increases and have experienced relatively
modest declines.

A related issue is replacement value. Home prices are nearing replacement value in many areas and are not likely to go any lower. It’s simple arithmetic. If a builder cannot sell a house for as much as it cost to construct it, he won’t build any more houses. Ultimately, prices will increase as inventory declines and demand increases due to growth of new households.

Today’s market, coupled with a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers, near-record low mortgage interest rates and ample inventory, provides an unprecedented window of opportunity for qualified prospective home buyers. In fact, there may never be another buyer’s market as good as today’s.


Ultimate Open House in April will showcase Portland home’s green elements

March 19, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — uoh @ 6:18 pm

From Daily Journal of Commerce, by Sam Bennett

djc0319_randy_hansell_earth_advantage_green_home_01From the outside, the home at 8020 S.W. Elmwood St. doesn’t stand out from the other Ranch style homes in its Southwest Portland neighborhood.

But the home’s accomplishment in sustainable design is unique. The home is expected to receive LEED platinum certification in the Home Renovation category, and if successful it will be the first in Oregon and only one of 10 in the United States to have that designation.

“Anytime you hit this level of performance, it’s something special,” said Randy Hansell, the LEED Home program manager for the Earth Advantage Institute. “It’s innovative to take an existing home and do what they’ve done with it. They were really able to do some great things.”

The home will be part of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland’s Ultimate Open House on April 18, 19, 25 and 26. The home is expected to receive LEED platinum certification in time for the open house, and it is listed for $850,000. The renovation was designed by Paolo Design Group.

Stephen Aiguier of Green Hammer Construction, which was the builder on the project, said the “gut rehab” project on Elmwood Street was a perfect fit for his firm since it specializes in green building projects.

An important step in meeting LEED platinum standards was adding new walls inside the home’s exterior walls, in order to use low-density spray foam insulation between the new walls and existing walls. Though the walls took up additional space, the home actually was converted from three bedrooms and two baths to five bedrooms and three baths. The simplicity of the Ranch style home, which includes a basement level, made the renovation easier than it would have been for a multi-floor craftsman home, Aiguier said.

For heating and cooling, the home uses a closed-loop, ground-source heat pump that extracts heat from the earth by warming a ozone-safe refrigerant that flows through pipes underground. In the summer, the cool temperature below ground cools the refrigerant. A heat recovery ventilator keeps the air inside fresh – which is necessary because the home is nearly airtight, according to Rebecca Novis, a project coordinator with Green Hammer. The home also keeps out cold air by using Pella fiberglass windows.

The home is expected to earn LEED points by using as much of the existing framing as possible. When new framing was needed, Green Hammer bought lumber from a supplier in Lewiston, Idaho. In the kitchen and bathrooms, cabinets are made from Forest Stewardship Council certified plywood, and countertops are made from manufactured quartz called Caesarstone. The home also features low-flow faucets and toilets. The existing flooring was saved, as was the home’s siding.

A 3-kilowatt photovoltaic solar panel system will feed energy into the grid in the summer, Aiguier said.

The home’s landscaping uses drought-tolerant, native plantings. Because turf requires water in the warm months, there is none used in the front or back yards. Rainwater that doesn’t sink through the sloped, semipermeable driveway will make its way to a bioswale at the base of the driveway.

During construction, 99 percent of construction waste was recycled, Novis said. Happy Fish Restoration oversaw the removal of invasive plants from the area near Ash Creek, which runs through the property’s backyard, and DeSantis Landscapes was the landscape architect.

Though the home has not gone through the LEED certification process, Aiguier said he feels confident that it will reach the platinum level. Every room in the home has some LEED point-earning components – from the cork flooring to low-VOC paint. Even the lower level entrance has a built-in shoe-storage space, which prevents contaminants from being tracked in.


Facebook and YouTube Spreading the Word on Tax Credit

Filed under: Builder's Corner, Ulitmate Home Shoppers, Uncategorized, Your Home Your Money — Tags: , , — uoh @ 3:08 pm

A page for the first-time home buyer tax credit has been created on Facebook. You can “become a fan” of the page and access the latest information and resources on the tax credit, including a consumer-focused Q&A video and television public service announcement. Visitors can also link directly to the National Association of  Home Builder’s Federal Housing Tax Credit Web site, which provides even more information for consumers.

NAHB has also set up its own channel on YouTube where you can also see the videos referenced above and subscribe to NAHB’s video-sharing page.


Happy St. Patricks Day!

March 17, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — uoh @ 1:00 am

CloverAlthough the baseball season is still in the spring training phase when St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, some teams celebrate by wearing St. Patrick’s Day themed uniforms. The Cincinnati Reds were the first team to ever wear St. Patrick’s Day hats in 1978. The Boston Red Sox were the second team to start wearing St. Patrick’s Day hats in 1990.

Many teams have since started wearing St. Patrick’s day themed jerseys, including the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1980s and Boston Red Sox in 2004. Since then it has become a tradition of many sports teams to also wear special uniforms to celebrate the holiday.  Other teams celebrate by wearing kelly green hats. These teams include: the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the New York Mets, the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Braves, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Nearly all major league baseball teams now produce St. Patrick’s day merchandise, including Kelly green hats, jerseys, and t-shirts.
 


Tour of Remodeled Homes

March 9, 2009

Filed under: Special Offers — uoh @ 6:44 pm

Don’t miss the 10th Anniversary Tour of Remodeled Homes this weekend March 14-15 10am-5pm.  Check out the Tour website for more information.


Capture springtime curb appeal

March 3, 2009

Filed under: Ulitmate Home Shoppers — uoh @ 9:34 pm

If you are planning on selling your home later in the year, plan ahead now to show potential buyers your spring curb appeal.  Pull out your camera on a sunny spring day and capture your home in all its spring time glory.

Tuck these pictures away on your computer to use for your listing photos or for a photo album to put on your countertop when you are showing the home. Capture your homes springtime curb appeal now. You (and your agent) will be glad you did.