Filed under: Eugene Realty Listings, Real Estate | Tags: borrowing, condos, Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Lane County Real Estate, the farm
Many look at condos as an affordable option to home ownership. In Eugene and Springfield that’s true—you can find decent condos under 100K locally. The rub is financing. Condos can be difficult to borrow against.
Within the last year, over ½ of The Farm condos on Cal Young sold. Unfortunately, probably 90% of them will have to sell before they are easily financed. And they’re hard to sell without financing—lenders aren’t making this any easier.
A condominium project in Eugene.
Filed under: Eugene Realty Listings, People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, eugene oregon, Eugene Real Estate, House Prices Eugene Oregon, Lane County, Lane County Real Estate, Short Sale, springfield oregon, Springfield Real Estate
Short sales in Eugene and Springfield are becoming increasingly commonplace. While difficult, both buyers and sellers put up with them. Why? For sellers, short sales damage their credit less than other options. For buyers, they represent great values.
Even expensive homes aren’t immune to short sales. Below is an example of a short sale I recently did. It sold for nearly ¾ of a million dollars. At 8 acres and 1/8 mile of McKenzie River frontage it was a great buy.
If short sales in Eugene or Springfield intrigue you, get a hold of me.
Filed under: Eugene Realty Listings, Real Estate | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Lane County Real Estate, Oregon Real Estate, Springfield Real Estate
Sales of distressed property nationwide represent over 1/3 of recent sales. While the exact numbers for Eugene and Springfield aren’t available, the nationwide trend is representative of our local conditions. Many of these properties are being bought by investors—surprisingly for all cash. Tight credit is keeping a lot of buyers out of the market for these distressed properties.
Below is an example of a recent all-cash sale I made for a buyer in Springfield. It was a good bargain and will produce great cash flow. The house sold for $66,000. If you’re interested in rentals in Eugene and Springfield, get in touch with me.
Filed under: Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: Eugene Oregon commute times, Eugene Springfield quality of life
Often, people choose to live in Eugene or Springfield because of their excellent quality of life, including low crime rates, close proximity to recreation, and short commute times. I sometimes forget how much of a convenience a short commute can be. I live in the country and am at my office on River Road in about 12 minutes, and less if I’m running late.
A recent article pointed out that over 3 million Americans have commutes over 90 minutes each way to work. That 3 hours a day adds up to over 20 weeks a year spent in your car per year. Yuck. Commute times in Eugene are short. Nearly ½ of us spend less than 14 minutes each way getting to work, and about 3/4 of us spend no more than 19 minutes.
Eugene has very short commute times
As a brilliant marketing campaign says, “we’ve got it good.”
Filed under: Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, eugene oregon, Eugene Railroad, Eugene Real Estate, Eugene Real Estate Blog, Lane County Real Estate, Oregon Real Estate, Oregon Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate
We don’t often think about the Railroad in Eugene, unless there’s a problem–it’s just one of those things we take for granted. We are on the main-line between Seattle and Los Angeles, and local manufacturers still ship and receive product by rail car, a very efficient transportation method. (A train can move a ton of freight over 400 miles on 1 gallon of fuel, some three times more efficient than trucks). And, shooting up to Portland or Seattle via Amtrack is popular.
Gone, at least for now, are the major switching operations in the Eugene railyard. After Union Pacific bought Southern Pacific, many of the Eugene yard’s functions were consolidated to Roseville and elsewhere. When I was growing up here, S.P.’s yard was a significant employer. In the necessary drive towards efficiency, those jobs seem to be gone. Interestingly, rail shipping rates in the U.S. are the cheapest in the world.
On a brighter note, the elimination of the Eugene switching yard has made the adjoining neighborhoods in Santa Clara, River Road and Bethel more desirable. Train noise was a perceived problems when switching was occurring, but that’s been largely made a non-issue.
Eugene is connected to the U.S. by rail
Filed under: Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, eugene oregon, Eugene Real Estate, Eugene Real Estate Blog, green power, Lane County Real Estate, Oregon Real Estate, Oregon Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, renewable energy, Springfield Real Estate
Eugene thinks of itself as a Green city, but it sounds like Reno may be beating us on this front. They recently installed nine different wind turbines so that the City and the public could evaluate their performance. Reno also has solar power helping to generate electricity. One thing that’s cool about their system is that you can go on-line and look at its power generation real-time. Looks like Eugene has some catching up to do.
Looking at real-time power generation in Reno
Filed under: People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: commercial real estate eugene oregon, Craig Tomlinson, eugene oregon, Eugene Real Estate, Lane County Real Estate, Oregon Real Estate
An influx of cash for commercial real estate means more projects, and ultimately more jobs. New apartments are a particularly strong segment of new construction. And while construction jobs are expected to recover—it will be slow. About 1/3 of construction jobs disappeared during the Great Recession.
In Eugene, commercial construction is more active than residential. For example, construction is ongoing on the new $12 million, 69-room boutique hotel at the 5th Street Public Market.
Vision for 5th Street Market Hotel Property
Filed under: Home Improvement, People and Business | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate Blog, Green building, Home Improvement, Oregon Real Estate Blog, recycling, selling your home, sustainability
Fluorescent light bulbs are becoming more and more popular in homes—so much so that incandescent light bulbs are being phased out in the U.S. Why? Because flourescent light bulbs are proven to help residents save money on their utility bills. But, the downside of the fluorescent bulb is that they contain mercury. Therefore it is very important that these bulbs be recycled. In Eugene and Springfield, Jerry’s, among other places will accept fluorescent bulbs for recycling.
Tip: If you are selling your home, making sure you have operable light bulbs (non burnt-out) in the highest wattage rated for the fixture is one way of helping your home seem bright.
Filed under: People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Lane County Real Estate, local economy, Springfield Real Estate
After last month’s 17th annual Economic Forecast presented by Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, the University of Oregon and The Register-Guard things are looking up for the local economy. Unemployment is decreasing; and because of that, the chances of a double-dip recession are quickly declining. Additionally, these improving fundamentals will help the Eugene real estate market.
Eugene, OR
Filed under: People and Business, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, eugene oregon, house prices, House Prices Eugene Oregon, Lane County, springfield oregon
In a recent Wall Street Journal article it was reported that the rate of economic expansion (GDP increase) is expected to be its largest since 2003. And while national unemployment is still high, it is expected to dip below 9% by the year’s end. Currently the unemployment in Lane County is still above 10%.
So what does this mean for housing prices? Housing prices are affected by a number of factors, but fundamentally, it comes down to supply and demand. High unemployment decreases demand; you need a job in order to pay your mortgage. I expect a soft market in Eugene Springfield until our stubbornly high unemployment rate drops.
More jobs will help Eugene's real estate market.
