Deferred maintenance is the practice of postponing maintenance activities such as repairs on both real property and personal property in order to save costs, meet budget funding levels, or realign available budget monies. That’s the dictionary definition but mine would include something like, **WARNING**DEFERRING MAINTENANCE IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED! I heard someone once say, if you defer maintenance to save dollars, you might as well place that money in a box next to your fireplace to use as future kindling. Your cash flow is going up in smoke!

As 2011 comes to a close and we celebrate the holiday season with our friends and families, I’m reminded of the great people who have supported me in my real estate career. I feel so lucky to have clients, friends and family who trust me to help them buy or sell Portland real estate. It’s a pretty huge thing when you think about it and I’m honored by the support I receive from those around me. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you say and do.

And now it’s time for me to put my feet up, maybe watch a movie and drink some egg nog. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and here’s to hoping that 2012 is personally and professionally successful for all of us! Happy New Year!

Repairing Damaged Credit

Under the law, credit bureaus are required to investigate your claim, usually within 30 days. A credit bureau must forward all information you give it to the creditor or other “information provider” that is reporting an error on your credit report.

If the creditor or information provider determines an error exists, it must correct it and notify all major credit bureaus. In turn, the credit bureau that reported the error must send you a free credit report to show that it has been corrected.

This is just too good to not share.  Colby Sambrotto, founder of ForSaleByOwner.com, used a real estate agent to sell his $2 million dollar condo in Manhatten after failing to sell it himself without an agent.  What’s even better is that he net more after the sale and after paying a 6% commission than he would have if he had sold it himself. Hiring a professional will net you more in the end and in less time. So make sure you call me when you’re ready to sell your Portland home!  To read more, go here.

How to get your Credit Report:

Obtaining your Credit Report- Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, amended a few years ago to beef up consumer privacy rules, you are legally entitled to obtain your credit report from a credit reporting agency. This includes receiving a list of everyone that has requested your report.

If you have not ordered any credit reports within the last 12 months, you will be able to get free copies from all three credit reporting agencies. Request your report from www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling (877) 322-8228, or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form [PDF] and mailing it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The free credit reports do not include credit scores, but you can purchase those for approximately $5 each when you request your free annual credit reports through the Web site or by contacting one of the nationwide credit reporting agencies:

What Makes up a Credit Score?

You can find your credit score in your credit report. Credit scores generally range from 500 to 800, but can go lower if you’re struggling with a poor credit history. Lenders offer the best rates for borrowers with higher scores, usually in the range of 750 and higher. Persons with a credit score in the 500 to 600 range can obtain credit, but will almost certainly pay a higher interest rate.

There are 5 main parts of your credit score:

Sometimes even thinking about a buying a home in Portland seems overwhelming, whether you’ve done it before or you’ve done it a bunch of times.  It often helps my Portland clients to have a list of what they need to accomplish and in what order to help them achieve that goal of buying a home in the Portland area.  Here’s a great article for next year’s home buyer, new or experienced. It’s always good to have a to-do list of things you need to accomplish before taking the step of buying a new home in Portland. So check it out here!

Are interest rates still dropping?  It’s a question I get from curious clients almost every day.  Well it just so happens they are!  So if you are thinking of buying a Portland home or refinancing your Portland home, now maybe the time!  Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on the 30-year home loan fell from 3.99 percent the previous week. The average rate of 3.94 percent is the lowest rate ever, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research. Also setting a new record is the average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage which fell to 3.21 percent from 3.27 percent. To read more, go here.

If you’ve ever tried to do home improvements or make something yourself where measuring is required, you know that you can measure one thing a few times and each time you will come up with a different number. Why is that? Why is measuring so hard? I don’t really have an answer for that per se, but I can tell you how square footage in a home is measured and how important it is to reflect the square footage accurately and to provide a disclosure to buyers regarding the square footage! Zillow did an informative article about that. Read here.