Filed under: Eugene Realty Listings, Uncategorized | Tags: 2162 W. 7th, commercial real estate eugene oregon, commercial real estate Lane County, PacWest Real Estate, Rene Nelson, tool peddler
If you’re looking to buy Commercial Space in Eugene, you should consider 2162 W. 7th Avenue. It’s across the street from the old Timber Topper in the Big-Y complex, next to Wentworth Buick and fronts W. 7th Avenue.
The building is 2,800 S.F, and would require a little finish-out. It’s listed by a friend of mine, Rene Nelson, at a good price: only $239,900. At that price, it looks cheaper than replacement cost to me. The site has good visibility and high traffic counts.
If you’d like to see it, give me a call at 517-6543 and I’ll be glad to show it to you.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: christmas photo, christmas picture, eugene oregon, springfield oregon
This picture was from out my back door in Springfield Oregon, on Christmas day. A perfect scene from an imperfect year. Let’s hope 2009 will be better.

Christmas in Eugene Oregon, 2008
Filed under: People and Business, Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: brent mclean, commercial real estate eugene oregon, commercial real estate springfield oregon, dick sage, ken kime, Lane County CID, mike o'connel
The Lane County CID (Commercial and Investment Division) realtors held their annual Christmas Party at the DAC. About 75 revelers attended. The evening was MC’d by Brent McLean, CID’s current President. Special toasts were given by Ken Kime, Dick Sage, and Mike O’Connel, Sr.
CID is a group of about 100 Eugene-area realtors, lenders, design professionals, and agencies devoted to the sale, purchase, lease and development of industrial, income, and commercial properties.
President McLean said it best when describing the group: “This is the one group of realtors you can bring a customer to and not worry about other agents poaching them–there’s always a spirit of helping, combined with a can-do attitude of problem solving and getting things done.”

President Brent McLean
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business, Uncategorized | Tags: 102% financing, cody gielish, Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, home loans, Lane County Real Estate, low down, no down payment, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate, usda home loans
Is 102% financing for home mortgages still possible? YES! That means you can still buy a house with no money down. Surprisingly, it’s the USDA that is making this possible. That’s right, the United States Department of Agriculture. More surprisingly, your house doesn’t need to be a farm, have livestock, crops or even be within sight of a tractor.
Last week’s WSJ ran an article describing the new found popularity of the Rural Development Guaranteed Loan Program. There are a couple of notable things to qualify. Firstly, the property must be in an area of low population density. In Lane County, everything but the greater Eugene and Springfield area meets this qualification.
Secondly, there are income limitations, which are based on the number of people in your household and where you live. In general, your adjusted gross income can be about 50K to 60K in Lane County, depending on household size. The specifics of the program are best determined with a loan officer.
One of my friends specializes in writing these loans. His name is Cody Gielish at Countrywide. He can be reached at 681-4353.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: 10 year treasury note, Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, fixed conventional 30 year mortgage, house prices, Lane County Real Estate, mortgage rate, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate, treasury yield
The 10 year US Government Treasury Note dropped to historic lows of just over 2% last week. A year ago, the rate was over 4%, double the current rate, and has been as high as 6.77% this decade.
Unless you’re a risk-averse investor buying such bonds, you probably don’t know or care about the 10 year Treasury rate. However, mortgage rates parallel the 10 year Treasury.
Normally, the spread between the 10 year Treasury and the fixed conventional 30 year mortgage is 1.6%, according to Professors Hubbard and Mayer, in the December 17, 2008 Wall Street Journal. The mortgage market isn’t operating properly (Fannie and Freddie were nationalized in September, which is as far from normal as you can get). And, spreads between Treasuries and mortgages are closer to 3%.
The professors argue that if the spread diminishes and mortgage rates fall to 4.5% then housing prices should be stable or even increase in 2009. Let’s hope for 4.5%.

Fed Target Rate
Filed under: Eugene Realty Listings, Uncategorized | Tags: 630 bertleson, brent mclean, commercial real estate eugene oregon, Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Lane County Real Estate, office space eugene oregon, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate
I’m always quick to point out a good deal. If you’re looking for Office to Lease in Eugene, 630 Bertleson is a bargain.
It’s listed by a friend of mine, Brent McLean. The building is ~1, 750 square feet, has good visibility, and has several bright offices. Here’s the best part: It’s only $1,450 per month, which includes taxes, lawn care and exterior building maintenance.

Floorplan: 630 Bertleson
If you’d like to see it, give me a call at 517-6543 and I’ll be glad to show it to you.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, deflation, Eugene Real Estate, fed target rate, federal reserve board, federal reserve discount rate, inflation, Lane County Real Estate, monetary policy, Oregon Real Estate, quantitative easing, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate
The Fed’s number one enemy, inflation, isn’t a worry. At least for now. They’ve turned the economic throttle to full to get us out of our BIG recession. Short term interest rates are near zero, and they’re also increasing the supply of money.
This is like flooring the gas pedal on a muscle car–things are going to happen but it may be a little hard to control. The long term effects of lots of cheap money sloshing around will be inflation. However, the short term worry seems to be deflation.
The Fed has done all it can with the cost of short term money by ratcheting rates down to zero. It is also tinkering with the quantity of money in the financial system, namely increasing it. Both actions should stimulate the economy, and in turn help house prices to eventually rise.
Filed under: Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: building starts, Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, home building, Lane County Real Estate, lumber prices, new house eugene, new house springfield, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate
The Eugene Register Guard reported lay offs and extended shutdowns for area lumber mills. They cited Weyhaueser, Swanson Group and Southport Lumber as companies that will be decreasing production, at least temporarily.
The culprit is a historic downturn in lumber consumption, expected in 2009 to be about 50% of its peak in 2005, of 64 billion board feet. Low demand, coupled with near historic lows for lumber prices will be challenging for our local timber industry.
The recent composite price for framing lumber price was $213/MBF. A board foot is the equivalent of a 2″ x 6″ or 1″ x 12″ that is 1 foot long. A 10′ long 2″ x 6″ would contain 10 board feet, and cost about $2.13, if I got my math right. The average house of 2K square feet will use 8 board feet of lumber per finished foot of floor area. So, 16MBF at a cost of $3,400 for framing lumber.
Most wood consumption is used in building, and housing starts are way off. Most of our local builders are selling off their inventory and aren’t starting new at the moment. If you’re wanting to have a house built, now is a great time to do so.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Home Loan, home mortgage, home refinance, interest rates, Lane County Real Estate, mortgage rates, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, refi, Springfield Real Estate
Mortgage interest rates have dipped to historical lows. Last week, three of my mortgage writing friends were quoting par rates (no buydown) below 5% in Eugene. This was for a fixed-rate, conventional, 30 year loan (my favorite).
Principal and interest payments for a $175,000 loan would be in the $900/month range. These days, lenders are wanting credit scores above 680, at least for the best rates.
My title company friends have said business is increasing, which you might expect with refinances. But, with more rigorous standards for loans as well as potential difficulty in getting properties to appraise-out, the tsunami of refinances hasn’t happened yet.
Lower mortgage rates are bound to help stabilize housing prices. When? My guess is by summer of 2009





