Real Estate Talk Blog for the Willamette Valley

I'm taking a little break from blogging about real estate today and I want to vent a bit about my laptop...AArrgh!

When I first started in this career I knew that I needed to buy a good laptop computer and I'm glad I did.  I paid a pretty fair amount of money at the time (3 and 1/2 years ago) for a solid computer.  Thank goodness for the 3 year warranty - in that time I had the a/c adapter replaced and I had a problem with the jack where that adapter plugs in - causing the power source to become intermittent and the battery to just DRAINNNnnnnnn!

The fix to that, by the way (thankfully covered under warranty) was to replace the entire mother-board.

Well, after just a year from having it repaired the same problem started occuring again!  Of course it was about 2 weeks after the extended warranty I had paid for expired. Wouldn't you know it?

This time, D&^^ wanted $350 to replace the mother-board.  So, picture me sitting at my desk working on my lap top - with the powercord twisted around and held taught, pinched under the corner of the computer to hold it in place just to keep that damn little green "battery charging" light lit!  It gets worse...on some days that trick didn't work so now I'm typing with one hand, and with my left hand, reaching around to hold the plug in.

I took it to a computer geek friend of mine who said he could solder the connection back for me rather than replace the entire board...well, apparently my trick of torquing that power cord had resulted in it actually beginning to tear away from the board itself and no amount of solder in the world would fix it.

Ok - $350 to replace the part - on a 3 plus year old computer or buy a new one?  What would you do?  I went shopping and found this great little laptop at a big box electronics store - $399.99 and its by far more capable than the one I spent $1300 on 3 years ago.  I'm still getting used to Vista - but its kind of cool in some ways (I'm no techie so I'm sure there are things I don't know that are wrong with it...sorry).

Now - the nightmare of swapping everything over before the old one catches on and dies on me!

Have a great Christmas!

To my loyal readers - I offer my sincere apologies.  I just got an e-mail from AnnieL. and she asked me a question about the Months of Inventory statistics and how they were calculated...she had been looking at them online and said it seemed like something had changed.

Well, AnnieL was right - I had a glitch in my spreadsheet.  I'm not sure how it got there - but at least a few weeks ago one of the cells that is used to calculate the MOI statistic got corrupted and that resulted in bad data.  I'm going to go back over these until I find the start of the error and correct them. 

In the meantime, all I can offer is my apology.

Thanks for reading.

Dave

(1) “SOLD” statistics include both SOLD and PENDING

(2) Months of Inventory Calculation based on the rate of sales in the previous 90 days.

Albany

• SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 136
• Average price – $174,843
• Median Sale Price – $175,435
• Average Days on the Market – 115
• Average Dollar per Square Foot - $122.07
• Current Active Listings – 393
• Average Price of Active Listings - $239,234
• Months of Inventory – 6.89

Corvallis

• SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 81
• Average price – $229,876
• Median Sale Price – $252,696
• Average Days on the Market – 102
• Average Dollar per Square Foot - $163.87
• Current Active Listings – 218
• Average Price of Active Listings - $320,878
• Months of Inventory – 4.77

Lebanon

• SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 43
• Average price – $134,984
• Median Sale Price – $153,000
• Average Days on the Market – 123
• Average Dollar per Square Foot – $112.03
• Current Active Listings – 150
• Average Price of Active Listings - $176,000
• Months of Inventory – 8.82

Last show: December 18 – December 18 - Tax Assessment – Mark Noakes, Linn County Assessor and Tax Collector was in to discuss how property taxes are assessed, how to read your property tax statement, assessment appeals, new construction valuations, and more. If you have specific questions you can reach Mark at (541) 967-3808, or stop by the courthouse – he’s happy to answer questions.

Upcoming Guests Scheduled:

December 27 – TBD. This is the Saturday after Christmas and this is going to be an “encore” show. I just picked one yet.

Are you a First Time Home Buyer? Do you want to participate in Real Estate Talk? Dave is looking for someone to go through the process “on the air” by working with him, and letting the listeners know how things are going throughout the entire process. The person(s) selected will receive some nice gifts as a way of saying “thank you.” Jay Chase Inspections will provide the Pest and Dry Rot Inspection at no charge to the buyer(s) selected for this program. Corvallis Moving and Storage will provide the Local Move (packing not included).

For more information, contact Dave at realestatetalk@kgal.com.

(1) “SOLD” statistics include both SOLD and PENDING

(2) Months of Inventory Calculation based on the rate of sales in the previous 90 days.

Albany

¨        SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 144

o       Average price – $179,230

o       Median Sale Price – $192,000

o       Average Days on the Market – 120

o       Average Dollar per Square Foot - $122.24

¨        Current Active Listings – 400

o       Average Price of Active Listings - $239,753

o       Months of Inventory – 7.02

Corvallis

¨        SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 83

o       Average price – $238,172

o       Median Sale Price – $255,000

o       Average Days on the Market – 103

o       Average Dollar per Square Foot - $165.20

¨        Current Active Listings – 218

o       Average Price of Active Listings - $318,608

o       Months of Inventory – 4.77

Lebanon

¨        SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 44

o       Average price – $129,434

o       Median Sale Price – $142,350

o       Average Days on the Market – 124

o       Average Dollar per Square Foot – $112.56

¨        Current Active Listings – 149

o       Average Price of Active Listings - $176,500

o       Months of Inventory – 8.76

Last show:   December 13 – Brian McElligot (Umpqua Bank) – Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Loan Guarantee Programs and the Oregon Department of Veteran’s Affairs (ODVA) Loan Program will be the topic of discussion.  These programs represent some of the only remaining 100% financing options available in today’s housing market.  While they are only for qualified veterans this is an important topic.

Upcoming Guests Scheduled:

¨        December 18 - Tax Assessment – Mark Noakes, Linn County Tax Assessor will be in to discuss how property taxes are assessed, how to read your property tax statement, assessment appeals, new construction valuations, and more.

¨        December 27 – TBD.  This is the Saturday after Christmas and frankly, I’m still trying to find a guest!  I’ll keep doing my best for you.

Are you a First Time Home Buyer?  Do you want to participate in Real Estate Talk?  Dave is looking for someone to go through the process “on the air” by working with him, and letting the listeners know how things are going throughout the entire process.  The person(s) selected will receive some nice gifts as a way of saying “thank you.”  Jay Chase Inspections will provide the Pest and Dry Rot Inspection at no charge to the buyer(s) selected for this program. Corvallis Moving and Storage will provide the Local Move (packing not included).

 For more information, contact Dave at realestatetalk@kgal.com.

(1) “SOLD” statistics include both SOLD and PENDING

(2) Months of Inventory Calculation based on the rate of sales in the previous 90 days.

Albany

¨        SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 149

o       Average price – $176,290

o       Median Sale Price – $192,000

o       Average Days on the Market – 120

o       Average Dollar per Square Foot - $122.99

¨        Current Active Listings – 412

o       Average Price of Active Listings - $239,965

o       Months of Inventory – 7.23

Corvallis

¨        SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 87

o       Average price – $245,875

o       Median Sale Price – $253,947

o       Average Days on the Market – 108

o       Average Dollar per Square Foot - $166.23

¨        Current Active Listings – 222

o       Average Price of Active Listings - $319,534

o       Months of Inventory – 4.86

Lebanon

¨        SOLD/Pending (past 90 days) – 46

o       Average price – $126,339

o       Median Sale Price – $142,350

o       Average Days on the Market – 125

o       Average Dollar per Square Foot – $112.40

¨        Current Active Listings – 149

o       Average Price of Active Listings - $176,500

o       Months of Inventory – 8.76

Last show:   December 06 – Fred Chamberlin, Alpine Mortgage in Eugene is scheduled in to talk about FHA 203K Streamline and USDA 100% loan programs.

Upcoming Guests Scheduled:

¨        December 13 – Brian McElligot (Umpqua Bank) – VA and ODVA  Loan Programs will be the topic of discussion. 

¨        December 18 - Tax Assessment – Mark Noakes, Linn County Tax Assessor will be in to discuss how property taxes are assessed, how to read your property tax statement, assessment appeals, new construction valuations, and more.

Are you a First Time Home Buyer?  Do you want to participate in Real Estate Talk?  Dave is looking for someone to go through the process “on the air” by working with him, and letting the listeners know how things are going throughout the entire process.  The person(s) selected will receive some nice gifts as a way of saying “thank you.”  Jay Chase Inspections will provide the Pest and Dry Rot Inspection at no charge to the buyer(s) selected for this program. Corvallis Moving and Storage  will provide the Local Move (packing not included).

 For more information, contact Dave at realestatetalk@kgal.com.