Peter Champ

We’re pleased to present a great new listing in the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood! This beautiful, rennovated ranch home is an incredible value at just $335,000 (features below). Stop by and take a tour this Sunday, August 1st — I look forward to meeting you!

• Views of Mt. Tabor
• Elegantly remodeled, gourmet kitchen
• Open floor plan with windows galore
• Hardwoods, and newer windows
• Park-like setting on a quiet cul-de-sac street
• 2 Car garage
• Convenient off-street parking
• Close to School, Parks and Bus line

2232 SE 72nd, Portland, Oregon 97215 | Call Pete at 503-317-6676 to learn more or schedule a viewing.

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A Housing Shortage on the Horizon?

If you take a step back from the current doom and gloom of foreclosures and declining sales and focus on the low construction levels over the past few years, some economists say a housing shortage might be in the offing. A 2009 report by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor William Wheaton says that despite the glut of existing homes, with current depressed levels of construction, there might be “excess demand” for newly constructed homes. We’re only adding about 600,000 new housing units a year now, and the long-term growth in new households is 1.3 million to 1.4 million per year, says Ross DeVol, executive director of economic research at the Milken Institute.

The household formation rate has fallen off somewhat because of the recession. But that decline is misleading because college graduates have chosen to live at home with their parents while they find their financial footing, and people defer getting married for a year or two. But long term, that household growth says that “if we build substantially less than that amount, which we’re doing now, in four, five or six years, if we don’t ramp up housing starts, we could see a shortage,” DeVol says. One risk is that so many home builders leave the field during the current downturn that there could be “capacity constraints” in the long term as the U.S. population continues to grow, says John Vogel, professor of real estate at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

There won’t be constraints in overbuilt places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Riverside, Calif., or Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. But if the pace of home construction doesn’t pick up, “we are going to begin to see some tightness in some areas of the country that didn’t have the boom and bust occur,” DeVol says. The regions most likely to be undersupplied by mid-2012 are those where supply and demand are now in balance, says Celia Chen, senior director of housing economics at Moody’s. Chen includes states like Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and Utah in this group.

from SmartMoney (7/26/10); Lisa Scherzer

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parmesan chicken breasts with crispy posh ham (USA version – imperial)

main courses | serves 2

This is a great way to prepare chicken breasts. The texture of the crisp cooked prosciutto goes brilliantly with the tender chicken. Bashing the chicken out thinly before you start cooking means it cooks much faster than a regular chicken breast. If you can’t get hold of prosciutto, then any kind of thin ham, such as Parma ham, or even smoked streaky bacon will work just as well.

To prepare your chicken

Grate your Parmesan. Pick the thyme leaves off the stalks. Carefully score the underside of the chicken breasts in a criss-cross fashion with a small knife. Season with a little pepper (you don’t need salt as the prosciutto is quite salty). Lay your breasts next to each other and sprinkle over most of the thyme leaves. Grate a little lemon zest over them and sprinkle with Parmesan. Lay 3 prosciutto slices on each chicken breast overlapping them slightly. Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves. Put a square of plastic wrap over each breast and give them a few really good bashes with the bottom of a saucepan until they are about ½ inch thick.

To cook your chicken

Put a frying pan over a medium heat. Remove the plastic wrap and carefully transfer the chicken breasts, prosciutto side down, into the pan. Drizzle over some olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, turning halfway through giving the ham side an extra 30 seconds to crisp up.

To serve your chicken

Either serve the chicken breasts whole or cut them into thick slices and pile them on a place. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over and a good drizzle of olive oil. Lovely with mashed potatoes and green veggies or a crunchy salad.

ingredients

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 skinless chicken breast fillets, preferably free-range or organic
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
• 1 ¼ ounces grated Parmesan
• 6 slices of prosciutto
Olive oil

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From Bangkok to Brussels to Portland, you can find great food sold on the street, and Budget Travel’s Web site ranked the Rose City as the best place to eat it – in the entire world!

The Travel Web site did a survey to find the Best City for Food Cart Culture and Portland earned the top spot. The survey took into account food quality, lunchtime crowds, late-night snacking options and the overall culture.

“With more than 400 carts selling everything from Korean tacos to Carolina-style barbecue, Portland is a microcosm of mobile meals. Lunchtime crowds gather near SW 10th Avenue and SW Alder Street; later on, night owls head across the river to SE 12th Avenue and SE Hawthorne Boulevard for deep-fried cherry pies and savory crepes, served until 2 a.m.,”

– Reporter Marisa Robertson, from the online article.

Los Angeles earned the No. 2 spot and Philadelphia was ranked No. 4. All of the other cities in the top 10 were outside the United States.

Check out the new food carts on Belmont and 44th next door to Movie Madness and the up-and-coming site at 50th and Division in Bearly Worns Carpark.  Good food! Good times!

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Getting a Commercial Loan: What Borrowers Need to know

So, you’re ready to buy a commercial space for your business. Great! But first you need to have your loan lined-up and secure. If you want to get a loan today, you need to:

• Borrow based on loan to cost, not loan to value. Lenders aren’t interested in how much the property will be worth in a better market; they will lend only on what you’re actually paying.
• Come up with 25 to 30 percent down. You need to have considerable equity in the deal if you hope to get a loan.
• Take control of the deal. In this market, don’t expect a lender to take you seriously unless you have a contract in hand.
• Know what the property will be worth in 90 days. If prices are falling, don’t expect to borrow on current values.
• Pay the fees. Borrowers need the cash to cover title, legal, and environmental due diligence costs; don’t expect to roll them into the loan.
• Generate income right now. You need leases in place that will at least cover your debt service.
• Offer more than just a good deal. “No one will lend on that.”

Here are some more basic’s to consider when looking to purchase a commercial property:

• In a down economy new construction and commercial properties are the first to take a hit.  “Would you open a new business when people are tightening their belts?”
• Commercial properties generally take a lot longer to rent or sell as we all need somewhere to live, but not everyone needs a commercial property!
• Triple net leases can get expensive as you have to pay rent, taxes and all maintenance costs.

Want to know more? Call 503-317-6676 today for more info!

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The Five Best Beers made in America, are all (no surprise) made in Portland, Oregon. This according to the Early Show on CBS, calling Portland the “Brewery Capital” aka “Brewvana.”

(CBS) Oregonians have long had a love of all things beer, so it’s not surprising that Portland is the unofficial brewery capital of America. It has more breweries than any other city in the world – 35 – is the biggest craft brewing market in the country, and proudly answers to the nickname “Beervana.”

There are more than 100 breweries in Oregon, all of which sell their beer in Portland. Last year, the state’s breweries made more than 1 million barrels of craft beer.

From late June to late July, Portland has three beer festivals with more than 100,000 people attending. And, this year is the 25th anniversary of the passing of the law in Oregon (one of the first of its kind in the country) that allows people to consume beer on the premises where it’s brewed, which launched the whole brewpub movement.

So, “The Early Show on Saturday Morning” hand-picked five craft beers from Brewvana as the best in America, and called on Food and Wine magazine Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle to fill us in on the choices, as part of our special Fourth of July tour of places that make the nation’s best food. We call it A Taste of America.

And the beers they chose?

• Widmer Hefeweizen (shown above)
• Full Sail Session Lager
• Deschutes Green Lakes Ale
• Bridgeport IPA
• Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Just one more great reason to live in Portland and the Northwest! Read the full article with descriptions of each beer here.

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Thinking of buying a home soon? Check the Top 10 Mistakes You Can’t Afford!

In this article from Realtor.com, author Lew Sichelman reviews the top 10 common mistakes that home buyers make when trying to get a new home loan.

Buying a home is complex enough but when it comes to financing, you need to make sure you are as prepared as possible in order to get a loan. There are a number of mistakes you can make along the way of getting your loan approved. Here are some of the things to avoid to make the process go smoothly.

Let me know if you have any questions. I can help you avoid these and many other mistakes, and help you buy the home of your dreams!

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Why do we love Portland? Take a look!

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Considering Portland as a place to plant some roots? Or just want some great local ideas? Check out GO SEE PORTLAND of user-generated reviews and ideas for things to do and experience in Portland.

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