Getting Ready for Fire Season

We know it's scary to think about fire season, yet we believe that the adage is true where wildfires are concerned: our best offense is a strong defense. Oregon is home to beautiful, productive forests–an incredible gift and a liability.

Wildfires are part of life here and have been for centuries. TheEagle Creek fire in 2017 was devastating, and yet it was only one-fifth the size of the Yacolt Burn (1902), the worst fire on record in the Gorge. While it's essential to work on reducing unintended fires, complete fire suppression is no longer the goal. Experts are working toward improved management strategies for lowering long-term wildfire risks, but we have to be realistic about the time it will take to shift our fire management practices.

If you were here in 2020, you would remember the intensity of the smoke and the scramble to buy box fans, filters, and better face masks. Now is the time to assemble your supplies.

Here's a handy guide, created by the EPA, to protecting yourself from wildfire smoke>>

What's in a Name?

We are struck now and then by casual comments made by folks out in the field (including, but not limited to, Realtors) that generalize about a buyer’s motivation or perspective based purely on the buyer’s perceived race. Since sellers and their Realtors rarely come into contact with buyers and opposing Realtors, they often form impressions of one another from the one piece of information they have access to: the name on the offer.

It is not uncommon for clients to tell us that they googled the other parties to the transaction to understand their “story" better. We are all for research in decision-making, but this has always felt troublesome. While it is natural to want to know more about the folks buying your home, it's hard to pinpoint where curiosity ends, and biases begin. And what happens when that buyer wants to negotiate for a new roof? Do perceptions about their presumed race or ethnicity affect how their requests are considered? (Social science research tells us yes.)

With all the talk about limiting Love Letters, I'd like to see more attention paid to anonymizing the names of the buyers. Anonymity would be the best way to assure that peoples’ unconscious bias (or outright racism) would not affect how they interact with each other. And we know from research that even those of us who say we are not biased and understand that racism is wrong still fall prey to it unconsciously due to our upbringing in a society built on white supremacy.

Although this may sound like it would make the home buying process less humanizing, we need to own up to the fact that we have a lot to unlearn. And, until we make significant shifts in our thinking, we may need to adjust our practices to avoid further harm.

While there has been much debate about how to assess bias and how to best unlearn or mitigate it,the evidence of its existence is undeniable. As Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Fun Stuff to Do (Inside and Outside)

We are in the full sweep of spring; the sun is throwing elbows at the cloud cover and setting later and later. So if you live in Portland because you love to be outside, this is your time!

If you're looking for urban events, the Rose Festival is returning, with in-person, outdoor events kicking off on May 27 and continuing throughout June.

Interested in exploring the softer side of Portland's outdoors? Consider one of these lovely spots for Berry Picking, or register for a Forest Bathing Workshop at Nordic Northwest.

Feeling like lounging on the couch and you've blown through your on-demand queue, tune into some Sock Puppet Shakespeare.

Is Portland's Housing Market Finally Softening?

As much as we love statistics and using them to help our clients, they are never as “in real-time” as the chatter around the water cooler (or via Zoom from the weekly remote meetings). This week, all that talk was about the sudden shift in buyer activity which will not show up in the statistics for a few weeks. We finally feel the effect of rising interest rates, and it came in a bit like a lion.

Pending and closed sales have been dropping for a couple of months (primarily because of a lack of inventory), but prices have continued to rise. I think this new drop in buyer activity could also lead to a stabilization of prices. We've already seen record price reductions on active listings this week and lower numbers of offers coming in the door.

As we like to say, markets seek equilibrium, and this one is no exception. And while Portland continues to appeal to folks looking for a place to land, it could be that the double-digit appreciation is about to end. We think this is good for the market and know that we will still see quality homes in good locations, prepped to sell, garnering multiple offers and price wars. We may be through with the crazy tunes insanity that has been here lately, which is A-OK with us.

This month’s Market Action Report won’t show any of this yet, but we can tell you…change is a-comin'!

View the most recent report here>>

Printing Properties

In December of last year, a woman and her son moved into the first owner-occupied 3D-printed home in the U.S. Habitat for Humanity built the structure in partnership with one of the many technology companies in the 3D construction field. Watching walls formed by a 3D printeris like watching someone with a very steady hand dispense soft serve in an organized pattern.

Hoping to be a front runner in this area of real estate innovation, John Day, a small desert town in Eastern Oregon, secured a $60k grant to construct trial 3D houses. Potential benefits include faster build times and smaller construction crews. Possible downsides are sustainability (currently using concrete), aesthetics, and possibly fewer jobs. Nevertheless, this technology is one to watch at home and around the globe!

April is Fair Housing Month

The Fair Housing Act offers protections to those engaged in housing-related activities (renting, seeking a mortgage, etc.). And it also requires HUD and anyone receiving federal funds from HUD to "affirmatively further fair housing" because fighting discrimination is a great start, but we also need folks actively working to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities. We know that unfair housing practices impact everything in our communities by literally changing who gets to live in them.

One way we can honor the intent and aims of the Fair Housing Act is by supporting the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO). FHCO educates policymakers, planners, real estate and social services professionals, housing providers, and tenants on current rules and regulations to prevent discrimination in housing. They also affirmatively further fair housing by engaging these same groups in conversations about the future of housing policy and planning in Oregon.

Support Fair Housing Council of Oregon here>>