Thinking Ahead: Tradespeople Are Busy by Lee McKnight

Demand for skilled tradespeople steadily increased throughout the Covid-19 pandemic as people opted to relocate and remodel per their new work- and home-life needs. That backlog is gradually clearing, but we still hear from folks struggling to get bids or get projects on the books. 

Clients are often asking for referrals to tradespeople. If you've had a positive experience with a tradesperson recently–whether for painting, carpentry, plumbing, landscaping, heating/cooling, or solar installation–we would love to hear from you>>

If you've got a great tradesperson lined up and you have questions about contracts, this handy resource, created by the Construction Contractors Board, has answers. Plus, the CCB is offering a free webinar about how to hire a licensed contractor on Tuesday, April 11th. 

Remember, we love hearing about your properties' evolution, especially when you send photos! We’re also happy to discuss any questions you have about the value or timing of maintenance or remodel projects.

Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash

Mutual Aid Focus: Portland Housing Solidarity by Lee McKnight

This is a coalition of activists and organizers aligned around their goals to redistribute housing-related wealth and privilege and interrupt racialized disparities in homeownership and inequitable cycles of intergenerational wealth. 

In addition to their community-building work, PDX Housing Solidarity offers educational workshops and materials about racialized disparities in housing-related wealth. They also connect people interested in wealth redistribution with resources and opportunities to take action.

Whether you have 'more than enough' and are looking for ways to redistribute resources or seeking ways to volunteer time and skills toward the goal of redistributing housing-related wealth and privilege, Portland Housing Solidarity is a great place to learn and get involved.

Attend their free webinar on April 13th, Privileged Panel: A Q&A about Redistribution of Housing-Related Wealth>> 

Are We Adapting to Higher Interest Rates? by Lee McKnight

If by "adapting" you mean that people are continuing to buy homes, then yes, the data we've seen indicates that the effect of rising interest rates on home sales is waning. In fact, February 2023 showed the largest month-over-month increase in sales nationally since April 2020.

We will continue sharing snapshots of these two pieces of data (home sales and interest rates)  and exploring how they interact over time. Markets are absolutely about numbers, but they're never solely about numbers, which is why we spend so much time analyzing and discussing them!

We would love to hear any questions you have on this topic>>

RMLS Market Action Report by Lee McKnight

Local stats show us moving out of the negative month-over-month sales numbers and back into positive territory.  We think folks have absorbed the "new normal" of 5-6% interest rates and still wish to obtain the dream of homeownership.  However, 1/2 of homeowners with a mortgage refinanced during the last three years, so many homeowners with interest rates in the 3's will not be motivated to sell anytime soon.  This shortage of listings continues to drive the equation and is pushing the prices back up and the time on market back down.

The National Association of Realtors' February 2023 stats show that 24% of properties sold for over list price.  This is also reflected in our market, and I am seeing good properties sell quickly with multiple offers.  Our goal is to get our clients the best value, regardless of the environment, so in some cases, that may mean making multiple offers before we win the day.  But in the end, we know you can only negotiate a good price on the buy, as that is the only time you set the value.  When you sell, the market will dictate the price!       

View the most recent market action report here>>

The Arc of The Housing Crisis Is Long by Lee McKnight

Nearly 120 years ago, Lizzie Magie, a stenographer, and typist at the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C., received a patent for a game she invented called the Landlord's Game*. Her explicit goal in making that game was to demonstrate the risks inherent in systems that allowed for the accrual of vast sums of wealth by few at the expense of many. Magie saw the writing on the wall: A "free" market (in this case, housing) would always benefit the few. If we wanted the market to serve the masses, it needed guardrails.  

We are in the midst of a nationwide housing crisis. This interactive map from NAR (note: best on a desktop) illustrates the breadth of the shortage. We don't have enough housing stock to supply the people in need of housing, nor do we have housing stock at the price points where it is most needed. As we address the hydra that is the housing crisis, it's important to remember that the current situation was not created overnight or within a single election cycle and will not be solved that quickly either. 

The Covid-19 pandemic did not create the housing crisis, nor did the 2008 financial crisis or the dot com bubble; its roots stretch back to the inequities embedded in our nation's founding. Social programs to address systemic inequity that arose in the wake of the Civil War and the Great Depression, flawed as they were, were hobbled in the last fifty years–look no further than the Regan administration's housing policies (note: paywall)–when the federal government drastically reduced its investment in affordable housing construction and subsidized housing programs (Section 8) along with other social supports that helped to keep housing within reach. 

Rectifying decades of disinvestment in housing, a critical component of our social safety net, will take time. This is partly because planning, permitting, and construction take time–anyone who has undergone a repair, remodel, or renovation knows that–and also because the hole in our social safety net has grown larger. But also because any effective repair will require that we reimagine housing as a human right instead of a commodity.

April 11th marks the 55th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, legislation that protects people from housing discrimination, which was an enormous step toward a more equitable housing future when it was passed. Yesterday, our governor, Tina Kotek, signed a $200 million housing bill into law. Though it's impossible to resolve the foundational causes of the national housing crisis at the state level, this legislation takes the critical and logical first step of offering support to folks who find themselves, through no fault of their own, on the lowest rungs of the housing ladder.

Want to learn more about the housing crisis? Here are a few helpful pieces that explore how we got here on a national level, a state level, and where exactly "here" is.

As always, we would love to hear your thoughts or discuss any questions you have on anything housing-related.

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*Landlord's Game was the precursor to Monopoly–which has a fascinating history of individual and corporate greed! The original game came with two sets of instructions (anti-monopolist and monopolist). Monopoly, as most of us know it, only came with one set of instructions...even game manufacturers resisted Lizzie Magie's warning.

Love Portland Gets A Gold by Lee McKnight

What an exciting honor for the Love Portland team!!

At the end of the day, we know that our work is only possible because of you.

Thank you for your continued support and referrals. It means the world to us when you trust us to support the people you care about in their real estate journeys.