Category Archive

Sellers call upon me to do an “appraisal” of their home; however, there is always real confusion as to who can do an appraisal.  Unfortunately, I am not a licensed appraiser and can’t do an appraisal.

As a Realtor®, what I can do is give you a competitive market analysis of your property.  In real estate terms that’s known as a CMA. 

Do you know where the word “appraisal” actually comes from?  Property appraisals were considered to be an important function in Colonial America, although the number of independent opinions required to accomplish the job varied a great deal.  Juries of 12 men were appointed in Virginia in 1642 to appraise the value of disputed property.  To discharge debts of an imprionsed debtor, two “honest” persons were appointed to appraise the value of a debtor’s property.  One was appointed by the debtor and one by his creditor.  A single “apprizer” was appointed to appraise estates.  By the late 1600’s, his established fee was 30 pounds of tobacco.

(For more local and national real estate news, click on my monthly newsletter - JUNG’S JOURNAL - on my website www.bettyjung.com).

When there’s a slower real estate market, a lot of Realtors® tend to “get back to the basics”. Lately, I’ve been doing some of that as well.

Tuesdays as long as I can remember, have been designated as Realtors®’ property tour day. We used to load up the cars and go as a group to view the new listings that were on tour Tuesday. One company I used to work for actually rented buses and we would all go together. I remember one time one of those huge buses got stuck for several hours on a winding road in the Portland Heights area. However, nowadays, with the Internet and virtual tours, some Realtors® no longer go on property tour. Recently, I started going myself again with some Realtors® that I know from another company.

Tour these days can be as simple or as elaborate as the listing agent wants to make it. You could probably hit houses on tour all day and have enough food for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Plus, there are those drawings for Nordstrom gift certificates and hand-outs of Starbucks ® coffee cards. Whatever it takes for Realtors® to view the home!

On a recent tour day, there were several listings that my group thought weren’t identified correctly as to the style of house. The other day, trying to find some information I needed on our MLS site, I came across 6 pages of characteristics and pictures of “Oregon-style homes”.  (Photo at right is a SOLD listing of mine and is an Oregon ranch-style house.)

On the link below I have included those MLS photos. Take a look and see if you can name each style. I thought I’d share them with you to see if your house is in the group. Click here to view them - I have to warn you the file is large and downloading might take some time. I’ve also linked with the Realtor.com site. Click here to see that site with yet completely different styles of houses across the U.S.

Actually, it was a good refresher for me as well as I don’t identify the houses our MLS has posted with the same names as they do. I’ve always referred to my home as a “Traditional” yet our MLS refers to it as a “Country French”. I like their description better!

(For more local and national real estate news, click on my monthly newsletter - JUNG’S JOURNAL - on my website www.bettyjung.com).

Recently our public broadcasting station OPB had a show where Jacques Cousteau and his team went to the outer islands of Hawaii that tourists and most people never get to see. On Midway, they found dead bird after dead bird. After examining them they determined they all had died from eating the garbage left behind from the war that was contaminated with high levels of lead.

In the paper I read doctors are now testing Baby Boomers because we all grew up surrounded by lots of lead. Researchers are now wondering if there is a connection between lead and Alzheimers or any of the other diseases inflicted upon us as we age. Lead was mostly used in the U.S. prior to 1978. We’ve all heard the recent news reports on the dangers of lead in toys. However, lead can also be found in paint, soil, drinking water, pipes, building materials, in our homes, and pottery to name a few.

Our local news had a story about two young boys who suffered possible brain damage due to the home they were living in. This older home was being repainted and the painter used a blow-torch to remove the “lead-based paint” off the home. This then created dust with extreme concentrates of lead that the kids inhaled.

Realtors® in Oregon have a Lead-Based Paint Disclosure pamphlet “Protecting Your Family From Lead in Your Home” that we are required to hand out to home buyers when they write an offer on a house constructed prior to 1978. CLICK HERE for a link to that 16 page-pamphlet. There is also a lead-based paint contingency period for the buyer to have a lead-based paint inspection and request any information the seller has in regards to lead- based paint in the form of a Disclosure Addendum.

Lead poisoning is a serious matter.  After seeing all those dead birds and hearing about those two young boys, only now have I realized how dangerous lead really is to humans. Lead in your bloodstream can lead to high blood pressure, digestive and reproductive problems, kidney damage, nerve disorders and more.

Here are 6 tips to protect yourself and your family from lead poisoning:

1. Have your blood tested to determine your lead level.
2. Use only fresh, cold water for drinking and cooking. Run the water from the cold water tap until the water feels noticeably cold. This flushes standing water out of pipes, replacing it with fresh water.
3. Wash hands frequently.
4. Have children play on grass instead of bare dirt. Take shoes off when entering the house to avoid tracking in soil that may contain lead.
5. Meals high in iron, Vitamin C and calcium keep you from absorbing lead.
6. Get your tap water tested for lead.

CLICK HERE for a Lead & Safe Guide or www.oregon.gov for more information. You can also go to www.epa.gov/lead or call the INFO line at 800-424-LEAD.

(For more local and national real estate news, click on my monthly newsletter - JUNG’S JOURNAL - on my website www.bettyjung.com).

On my way into the office this morning, I was reminded of something that recently occurred on a listing appointment.  There’s a neighborhood that is adjacent to a religious building.  When I meet with owners to list their houses, I am frequently requested to advertise their house is close to this structure.

Unfortunately, I cannot advertise this fact in the MLS listing nor in any newspaper advertisements.  It is against Federal law and pertains to not only selling but also renting of properties. When posting listings into MLS, Realtors® are reminded with a ‘pop up screen” of words (in red ) that we cannot use in describing properties. 

Our MLS home page says: “All real estate advertising is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap or familial status, or an intention to make such preference or discrimination. State of Oregon law prohibits discrimination based on marital status.  This website will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law.”

For sale by owners and landlords are bound by this law as well.  Perhaps you weren’t aware of this, didn’t think this law applied to you, or thought it only applied to Realtors®!  There recently was a lawsuit against craigslist where a property owner made discriminatory remarks about a home they were selling.  If you don’t know what these descriptive words are, perhaps you should become familiar with this law.  One more reason to hire a Realtor!®

 (For more local and national real estate news, click on my monthly newsletter - JUNG’S JOURNAL - on my website www.bettyjung.com).