The benefits of owning 13063 SW Caddy Place, Tigard, OR

Located on a popular cul de sac, 13063 SW Caddy Place, Tigard, Oregon is a fabulous 3 bedroom end unit in Bull Mt. area with a Mt Hood view. It is across from a greenspace and is beside grassy area. High ceilings & large, bay windows make it bright and airy. The master has a vaulted ceiling, ceiling fan, skylight and a soaker tub. There are 2 walk-in closets, oodles of storage, a deck, back patio with a working Hot Tub. It is landscaped, has a garden wth raised beds. Close to parks, Washington Square, transportation. Move-in ready! Across from higher priced homes.

Benefits: Townhome living can be a huge advantage for some people. Paying a small monthly Home Owner Association dues relieves the stress of, to list a few benefits:

• Paying for a new roof;
• Paying for outside maintenance
• Paying a landscaping service
• Paying for painting the exterior
• It's easier on your lifestyle: should I go to the movie or mow the lawn?

It can be a great way to get into the housing market for a first time buyer; it's nice for retirees and even more so if they are snowbirds. Many singles live in townhomes, and some people own townhomes while they are saving for the larger home of their dreams. It can be a very positive move. To see more of this townhome at 13063 Caddy in Tigard, click here.

To search all homes for sale in Tigard, OR click here.

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Why should I live at 21804 SW Roellich Ave in Sherwood, Oregon?

21804 SW Roellich is a delightful 3-bedroom home backing to Greenspace in a very popular Sherwood, Oregon neighborhood with a Master on the Main. Built in 1997, it has 1426 square feet. This home lives large; it flows! New carpeting has just been installed, it has been freshly painted, has a huge deck perfect for entertaining, an open kitchen/great room and a formal living room which could also be used as a formal dining room. The new elementary/junior high school which will open this fall is within walking distance. This home is a winner!
View more details here!
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Is the Grass Greener?

Daily Real Estate News | February 4, 2009 |

Survey Finds Grass Is Greener on the Other Side

The results of a survey exploring attitudes related to where Americans would like to live show that the grass is definitely greener on the other side of the fence.

About 46 percent of people would prefer to live in a different type of community from the one they live in now, the survey by the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends found. That sentiment was most common among urban dwellers.

But the desire to move elsewhere doesn’t stop people from appreciating their current locale. About 80 percent rank their current communities as excellent, very good or good. Both the 63 percent who have moved at least once and the 37 percent who have lived in the same place all their lives are equally satisfied with their current locations.

Other findings include:

Americans are all over the map in their views about their ideal community type: 30 percent say they would most like to live in a small town, 25 percent in a suburb, 23 percent in a city and 21 percent in a rural area.
About 75 percent of Americans say they prefer living where the pace of life is slow, not fast. A similar majority prefers a place where neighbors know each other well to one where neighbors don't generally know each other's business.
About 65 percent say they prefer to live in a hot-weather climate rather than a cold one.
Fast food gets the nod with 43 percent preferring to live in a place with more McDonald's outlets vs. the 35 percent who would rather have more Starbucks shops.

Asked to rank cities where they would live if they could, nearly everyone chose warm weather locations in the South or the West. Here are their top 15 picks:

1. Denver, 43 percent
2. San Diego, 40 percent
3. Seattle, 38 percent
4. Orlando, 34 percent
5. Tampa, 34 percent
6 San Francisco, 34 percent
7. Phoenix, 33 percent
8. Portland, Ore., 31 percent
9. Sacramento, 29 percent
10 .San Antonio, 29 percent
11. Boston, 28 percent
12. Miami, 28 percent
13. Atlanta, 26 percent
14. Washington, DC, 25 percent
15. New York, 24 percent

Source: Pew Research Center (01/29/2009)

Forbes.com

Where We Live
America's Most And Least Popular Cities
Lauren Sherman, 01.29.09, 02:00 PM EST

Those who live in the U.S. love and hate these 10 spots.

In Depth: America's Most And Least Popular Cities
Looking to start over?

Those who have lost their jobs, defaulted on their mortgages or are simply searching for a change might want to consider Denver. The city-- known for its skiing, culture and bustling singles scene--is where Americans would like to live the most, according to a recent survey conducted by Washington, D.C.-based group Pew Research Center.

San Diego, Seattle, Orlando and Tampa, Fla., are the other most popular cities.
In Depth: America's Most And Least Popular Cities.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Americans say they'll stay clear of Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Minn., and Kansas City, Mo.

Behind the Numbers
In October, Pew--a non-partisan research group, funded by the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts, that tracks social and demographic trends--conducted a nationwide telephone survey of 2,260 adults.

Researchers listed 30 of the country's largest metropolitan statistical areas and asked "Would you want to live in this city or its surrounding metropolitan area or not want to live there?" Those surveyed reflect U.S. population in proportion in terms of age, sex and race, and many of the surveys were conducted on cell phones, not land lines, which means a larger swatch of respondents was reached.

While answers varied, one thing was certain: geographical location and weather play a major role in where we want to settle down. The five top-ranked places were in either the West or South, while the five cities at the bottom of the list are all in the Midwest.

"There is a reason the Sun Belt population continues to increase," says Paul Taylor, head of social and demographic trends and executive vice president at the Pew Research Center. "Weather did play a role in people's choices."

Sunny spots like San Diego, Tampa and Orlando did so well because of near year-long mild temperatures. (Although we're betting few people surveyed took hurricane season into consideration.) Indeed, overall perceived attitude of the city was the biggest factor, according to the Pew report: "Seven of the top 10 metropolitan areas are in the West, and the other three--San Antonio, Orlando and Tampa--are Southern cities that share the characteristics of many Western metro areas: warmer weather, a casual lifestyle and rapid growth."

Up north, harsh winters helped Minneapolis to its dismal rank. Despite its fine cultural institutions--including Minnesota Public Radio--and financial dedication to the arts, 82% of those surveyed said that they wouldn't want to live there.
Of course, current economic conditions also play a role. It's no surprise that 90% of those surveyed don't want to live in Detroit, which ranked lowest out of 30 cities. It's got a 9.5% unemployment rate and a murder rate 5.16 times higher than the national average.

But just because Americans are straining to pay their bills doesn't necessarily mean they overwhelmingly want to seek better opportunities elsewhere. Just over half of those surveyed said that they're living in their ideal community, while 46% said that they would rather live in a different place.

Real Estate: as written in Forbes.com
Best Home Improvements To Make In A Recession
By: Matt Woolsey, 01.29.09, 06:00 PM EST

Installing energy-saving technologies is a great way to save money on homeowner costs.

The days of undertaking quick-fix remodels to sell a home more quickly and for more money are long gone. Now, with loans hard to come by and home sales slow, remodeling is all about projects that save you money in the long term and pay you cash up front.
Believe it or not, the federal government is more than willing to help--to the tune of thousands in tax credits. But this isn't about redoing your kitchen; it's about energy independence.

In a recession, there's nothing better than padding your wallet whenever you can, so reducing energy costs makes natural sense. A serious commitment to this idea does have significant upfront costs, but it can save thousands in the long run.

From Windows to Wind
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, passed in October, increased the size of energy-related tax credits for homeowners. In past years, $200 credits for energy-efficient windows or improvements to a roof were nothing exciting, but the new law added two particularly interesting technologies to the tax-credit rolls: wind turbines and geothermal heating systems, with credits of $4,000 and $2,000, respectively.

Granted, both are expensive investments--and that's assuming your neighborhood or homeowner association will let you put wind turbines on your property. They can run between $5,000 and $25,000. Still, these systems have the potential to reduce monthly energy costs to zero.

Geothermal heat pumps, which run between $3,000 and $10,000, won't reduce your water-heating bills to zero, but as they draw 70% of their energy directly from the earth, which is free, they can dramatically reduce hot-water costs.

Keep in mind: The old tax credits are still on the books, meaning you can still save if a wind turbine is currently outside your price range but energy-efficient windows are not. In fact, the 2008 law even featured some upgrades in tax-credit levels.
"Many of them are new in that they came out of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 or the Energy Independence Security Act of 2007 and were renewed," says Jonathan Cogan, a spokesman for the Department of Energy. "Some of those previously enacted tax incentives had a sunset date on them, and the more recent legislation extended the life of those."

The credit is now $500 for window and roof improvements, instead of the $200 offered last year.

The Bigger Picture

While such incentives are good news for homeowners trying to save a buck, some suggest that the tax credits don't go far enough in stimulating private-sector investment or reducing greenhouse emissions.

While cars and factories contribute to greenhouse emissions, 48% of them come from buildings, according to Architecture 2030, a green architecture research group. Edward Mazria, president of Mazria, Inc., a Santa Fe, N.M., architecture firm, notes that homeowners behind on their mortgages are unlikely to make large up-front investments in technologies like fuel cells or solar arrays, which can cost $5,000 to $20,000, even if they do pay for themselves in the long run--some even can make money for a homeowner by feeding the power they generate back into the grid.

To keep people in their mortgages, many--including House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank to the National Association of Realtors--have floated the idea of mortgage-rate buy-downs as an attempt to keep people in their homes and encourage home buying.

Mazria suggests combining the two: Allow mortgage-rate buy-downs if homeowners improve their energy efficiency by 75%. Homeowners don't have to choose between the short and long term, and government money becomes directly invested into green projects.

"It requires homeowners to invest money into improving the efficiency of their home," says Mazria. "Without it, the plans for the federal government to buy down mortgage rates? All that does is incentivize refinancing, it doesn't create any jobs."

And little could be better than the combination of lower mortgage payments and smaller energy costs. Especially when you throw in a few thousand dollars from Uncle Sam.