Blog – Page 3

Jun 22 2018

Buy your ideal home in Portland or CIY (create-it-yourself)? Lay solid groundwork for your decision with these expert remodeling tips

Portland Metro regularly lands on top 10 lists – for home price gains, creativity, livability, job growth, public health, green-ness, bike-friendliness, gentrification, and more. Did you know it’s also #8 for residential remodeling?

And no wonder. A full 80 percent of area homes were built before 1980 compared to the national average of 52 percent. So they’re bound to need some TLC.

Meanwhile, the inventory of homes for sale stands at 1.9 months – about half the national average – and has not broken 3 months in over 3 years. Our lopsided seller’s market limits choices all around. Buyers can’t be too picky and would-be sellers may decide to stay put because they can’t find – or can’t afford – replacement homes.

Click here to read this ORLive story about Contractor of the Year award winners. Beaverton’s Cornerstone Builders remodeled the 1970’s daylight ranch shown.

But every challenge is also an opportunity. If you’re willing to remodel, you can add priceless character and comfort to your home as well as dollar value. This post offers advice from experts – 8 questions and 2 tips, to be exact – for the planning and decision making phase of remodeling. That’s when realtors can be of most help.

Q 1: How long do you expect to stay in your home?

As a rule of thumb, you should plan to stay in your home at least 5 years after a significant remodel – say 15 percent of your home’s “before” value. Since home improvements never offer a 100 percent return at resale, you should give yourself plenty of time to enjoy their other benefits.

Click here to read a Sunset story about how interior designer Vicki Simon restored the kitchen of her 1908 Kenton home. If she ever moves, she’s taking the kitchen with her! (Photo: Lincoln Barbour)

Of course, if you plan to sell in the near term, modest improvements will boost the price and speed of sale. De-cluttering, deep cleaning and yard work can cost no more than your time and offer some of the very best returns. Ask a realtor to walk through your home and make suggestions.

Q 2: Can your biggest pain points be soothed? Can your pride and joy be matched?

In deciding whether to move or remodel, review the best and worst features of your home. If the best can’t be replaced, you’ll likely want to stay put. If the worst features can’t be changed or call for major structural work (big ticket items like moving walls or expanding the footprint), a move is probably the thing.

Q 3: What’s the ballpark cost of your remodel wish list?

Your review of your home’s best and worst features will guide you in creating a wish list. Magazines and books can help too. If you’re leaning toward remodeling, you may also want to invest in a 1-off design consultation for a modest set fee. Many interior designers offer this service.

Next you’ll want a rough cost estimate of your wish list. Here are three good resources for this exercise:

Each year, Remodel magazine publishes the Cost vs. Value Report. It compiles average costs for 21 common projects in 149 markets around the country and compares them to project value at resale. You can access the 2018 report for Portland Metro here.
The National Association of Realtors has published a similar report. It features some projects not included in the Cost vs. Value Report (a plus), but the data isn’t broken down by locality (a minus).
Home Advisor’s True Cost Guide doesn’t provide information on resale value (a minus), but can help you track down local contractors and costs (a plus).

Remember to add a contingency fund of 10-20% to your estimate for unexpected costs.

Click here to read a Gray Magazine story about a busy PDX single who hired Atomic Design to convert the unfinished attic of her 1893 home into a master suite (Photo: Mhari Scott)

Q 4: Can you afford your wish list?

With a rough cost estimate in hand, you can decide whether your wish list is affordable. How much do you have in savings or can you access in credit and what do you feel comfortable spending? Click here for a good overview of ways to fund a remodel and the pros and cons of each.

If you find that your wish list is beyond your means, you can pare it down, crossing off items that will have the least impact on how you experience your home. For example, if your kitchen is 50 years old and functionally obsolete, a major remodel is money well spent. But if changes made 20 years ago are good quality but not to your taste, then a minor remodel is best. Rather than replacing cabinetry, for example, you can replace or repaint cabinet doors and pulls.

Click here to read this Portland Monthly article about a couple who worked with architect Risa Boyer Leritz to transform their vintage split level in Raleigh Hills (Photo: Aaron Leitz)

Q 5: How does the cost of remodeling a given room compare to its value as a percent of your home’s overall value?

Answering this question can also help you to trim your wish list. The bullets below show the values of specific rooms or areas as percentages of a home’s total value according to an appraisers trade association. Suppose you’re thinking of a mid-range major kitchen remodel as defined in the latest Cost vs. Value Report for Portland (see Item a under Q3). Since the average cost for the project is $66K, your current home value should be at least $440K to justify the expenditure. ($66K is 15 percent of $440K.)

Kitchen: 10-15% of a house’s value
Master bedroom suite: 10% of a house’s value
Powder room/bathroom: 5% of a house’s value
Finished attic or basement: 10-15% of a house’s value
Other rooms: 1-3% of a house’s value
Patios, decks, paths and plantings: 2-5% of a house’s value

Click here to read an Arciform blog post about 5 of the firm’s favorite kitchen projects

Q 6: How does the total estimated cost of your wish list compare to the current value of your home?

Unless money is no object, you’ll want to weigh the total cost of your wish list against the current value of your home. Assuming you’ll stay put for at least 8-10 years, your list should not exceed 30 percent of its value. Spend more and you’re unlikely to recoup your investment.

Q 7: How does the estimated value of your improved home compare with the rest of your neighborhood?

No home is an island, so in addition to answering Q6, you’ll want to weigh the value of your remodel against upper price limits in your neighborhood.

Add estimated costs to the current value of your home. If the total is more than around 20 percent over the highest recent sale prices for nearby homes that resemble yours after planned improvements, you run the risk of overspending and getting a disappointing return at resale – even if you intend to stay for 8-10 years.

Click here to read this Sunset story about a couple who asked Van Giuiletti/Schouten Architects to give their Lake Oswego home a facelift and major curb appeal (Photo: John Clark)

Q 8: With the cost of moving?

Answers to Q5-7 will help you set a cost ceiling for each room or area and for the remodel as a whole. But they won’t tell you how staying put compares to the cost of moving into a new home. Click here for an online calculator designed for this second task.

A little market research is needed before you use it. You’ll want to search active listings with the features and locations you must have to motivate you to leave your current home. Average list prices for your top 3 choices and you’re ready to fill in the “Home Price” blank on the “New Mortgage” side of the calculator. Your realtor can also help you with transaction costs, property taxes and other blanks on the right – in addition to providing an estimate of your home’s current value on the left.

If, having answered these 8 questions, you decide to remodel, consider these two pieces of advice.

Click here to read this Oregon Home article about a Beaverton couple who updated their Rummer home with the help of Garrison Hullinger Interior Design

Tip 1: Invest in good design

I’m never surprised when homeowners on HGTV’s Love It or List It choose Hillary’s artful remodels over moving to houses that may be bigger but lack personality and charm. Good or great design provides daily pleasure, ease and well-being to you and your family, and can attract multiple offers when you’re ready to sell.

Design services come in 3 main forms. The traditional model is a full-service architect or designer who crafts the entire plan, solicits bids, and oversees the work of a contractor or contractors. You can also hire design services a la carte for key aspects of the overall plan. A third and increasingly popular option is a design-and-build firm. For example, local success story Neil Kelly is #3 on Remodeling magazine’s list of the biggest firms in the country. Click here for a good overview of the 3 options and the pros and cons of each.

Click here to read this Apartment Therapy story about a former Nike Design Director who acted as her own general contractor to bring her 1906 home in SE PDX back to life (Photo: Heather Keeling)

Tip 2: Remodel for spaciousness (not necessarily space), more natural light and a better connection to the outdoors

Even a small house can feel spacious – and provide pleasure, comfort and well-being – with an open plan layout, lots of natural light, and a strong connection to a well-tended garden or view. In fact, realtor.com has assembled a trove of national data on home features linked to the highest rates of appreciation. Homes with open plan layouts and patios top the list, with average annual appreciation of 7.4 and 6.8 percent respectively.

Click here to read this ORLive story about a handy owner who worked with an architect on a limited budget to make the most of a 1098 SF cottage in Woodlawn

Not surprisingly – since they typically have open plan layouts, large windows or glass walls, and strong connections to the outdoors – modern or contemporary style homes appreciate the fastest at 7.7 percent.

And supporting the idea that spaciousness rather than space is key, realtor.com’s research shows that smaller homes with fewer bedrooms appreciate faster than larger homes with more bedrooms – by a factor of 2 at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Feb 01 2018

If it’s Tuesday this must be broker tour – An inside look at Portland’s best “Hemenway Colonial”

Every Tuesday, Portland Metro realtors open the doors of newly listed homes to other members of the trade. The idea is to attract agents with clients looking for a property like the one on tour, and to offer the chance to preview it. I don’t have any buyers with a $3.75 million ceiling at the moment, but I was excited to see 2728 SW Greenway Ave on this week’s west side tour list.

According to the Oregon Historical Society, the house is one of the finest examples of Roscoe Hemenway’s work. A graduate of Grant High and the U of O’s School of Architecture, Hemenway designed some 300 buildings over his 36-year career in Portland. He became best known for homes in the Colonial Revival style.

Dunthorpe neighborhood has the most “Hemenway Colonials.” But as I say, Portland Heights has the best. Built in 1951 on two-thirds of an acre, 2728 Greenway bears all the hallmarks of the style. Well-screened from the street by thick shrubs and tall trees, the façade – and its key architectural elements – are shown in the exterior photo.

Inside is just as grand. The house runs to over 12,000 square feet with 6 bedrooms, 5 full baths, 2 half baths, 3 stories, a home theater and library/bar on the top floor, a wing for live-in staff served by back stairs, and an elevator. The master suite is the size of an average 1-bedroom apartment (625 SF). The living room is the size of a small starter home (1000 SF). And at $58K per year, property taxes are also outsize – just $10K less than the average Portlander’s annual income. Utility costs must be formidable too. Newly required as part of the city’s effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, the energy score for the house is 1 on a 10-point scale.

Dentil moulding & doorway pediment in the dining room

Back at my desk, I wondered who lives in such luxury. The owner is normally shown on the listing, but not in this case. So I looked up the tax report for the property in the Regional Multiple Listing Service. Turns out, he is just as prominent in today’s civic life as the architect was generations back.

Co-founder of the ad agency that began as a start-up and is now a global brand in its own right, Dan Wieden has called the property home since 1993, when he bought it for $1.225 million.

Industrial style with wildly creative touches – PDX office of W+K

It’s a far cry from the Wieden+Kennedy headquarters in the Pearl – a once abandoned 1908 warehouse with an atrium carved out of its middle, modern industrial finishes, and some wildly creative touches. But the two buildings have historic character (and preservation) in common. As the listing notes, the house has been “meticulously cared for.” Still a young 67, it may eventually join the warehouse on the National Register of Historic Places.

For now, 2728 Greenway needs a new owner. A 25-year appreciation of 300 percent seems reasonable, but it will be interesting to track the listing, which is on my RMLS watch list.

Postscript: As I was putting the finishing touches on this blog post, OregonLive published an article about the house. You can read Janet Eastman’s take here.

Sep 20 2017

The clincher – hubbub around last blog post shows power of Oak Hills spirit, which spans neighborhood and generational boundaries

Wow! My last blog post about the new recreation center in Oak Hills broke all records. Here are the numbers:

Unique views of the post to date: 1,492
Views in a single day: 244
Reach of Facebook ad promoting the post: 11,618
Engagement with the ad: 57 likes, 9 comments and 11 shares
Registrations on my website to view homes for sale in the area: 12

I’d like to think it was the verve of my prose. But I have to credit the vitality of the neighborhood. Current residents probably felt a spark of pride. And past residents voiced nostalgia for their old homes and neighbors.

One member of a select group (fiercely loyal 2^nd generation residents) corrected me on the western boundary of the neighborhood. I still haven’t been able to find a definitive answer to the question of whether Oak Hills as a whole – or just its historic district – ends at Bethany Blvd.

It was a kick to see the Facebook ad become a virtual meeting point for relatives and long-lost friends. Even folks with 3^rd generation ties to the neighborhood chimed in. Grandchildren of a former resident asked each other about old photos of grandpa’s house on Oakmont Loop in the early 80’s. One has vivid memories of the rocket ship on the community playground and was happy to learn that the Homeowners Association is raising funds to rebuild it.

“The rocket ship found its way into many of my dreams,” she wrote via Facebook Messenger. “It seemed to reach the sky!”

The person with the oldest direct tie to the neighborhood – extending at least as far back as 1967 by my estimate – grew up there and attended Sunset High. His parents bought the 12^th house built in Oak Hills.

Want to see 1-level homes for sale on the west side? Click here

The bravest of those who commented on the Facebook ad agreed to meet me for coffee at Ava’s Roasteria in Timberland Town Center. Ronnie Augustynovich and her husband Ron raised a family in the neighborhood for 10 years before moving to their current home in Cedar Mill in 1992. She remembers eyeing Oak Hills when she and Ron first moved to Portland from Ohio. Though she was sold on the area, most properties went for about $10K over their maximum budget. That may sound like a small hurdle. We both laughed when she explained that the average sale price in Oak Hills was just $50K at the time.

Years on when they no longer needed a bargain, they happened to find one with the right layout – a foreclosure on Perimeter Dr with 5 bedrooms and an office on one level.

“It had purple shag carpeting and was a mess,” she remembers.

Ron promised Ronnie that it could be renovated into their dream home. And that’s what happened. In fact, he now says it was a mistake to leave since their current 2-story has no master on the main.

Want to see 1-level homes for sale on the west side? Click here

The rec center and youth swim team proved to be the family’s best entry point to Oak Hills. Ronnie remembers competitions in Toledo (OR), Junction City and at the Sunset Athletic Club. She cheered tirelessly for her son and daughter and their teammates from the sidelines.

See yourself or someone you know in this photo from the 80’s? If so, comment!

But Ronnie has always been much more than a spectator in life. A crackerjack secretary with a typing speed of 120 words per minute and shorthand of 80 words per minute, she worked for many years in Beaverton School District at Ridgewood Elementary and Meadow Park Middle School. She also found time to coach a girls’ soccer team in Oak Hills. Believe it or not, one of her players – now grown up and with a toddler in tow – visited Ava’s during our interview.

Back then the pool was 40 yds and had 4 lanes

Ronnie also served on the Board of the Homeowners Association. Asked about the issues of her day, she mentions speeding cars. The Board responded with a homespun public safety campaign in the Oracle, the newsletter that still serves the neighborhood.

With so many happy memories of the rec center, Ronnie was concerned about talk of getting rid of the pool toward the end the family’s time in Oak Hills. She and Ron visit the neighborhood now and then to walk their dogs and are impressed by the rebuild.

“It’s still a great place to live and raise kids,” she says.

Want to see 1-level homes for sale on the west side? Click here

Aug 06 2017

You can live well in close-knit, can-do Oak Hills – and own a piece of its new $4.3 million recreation center

How many Metro area neighborhoods can fund, build, own and operate a $4.3 million recreation center? I know of just one – Beaverton’s Oak Hills. On June 24 its Homeowners Association opened the gates to a rebuilt complex with a 5-lane swimming pool, kiddie pool, gym, locker room, meeting room, kitchen, playground and administrative office.

Though unusual, the achievement is of a piece with the neighborhood’s history. At its founding in 1965, Oak Hills was billed as “Oregon’s most complete family community.” Along with the rec center, its 240 acres are home to:

A highly rated elementary school
A church that also runs a preschool program
A 33-acre greenway with soccer fields, baseball diamond, walk/bike paths and open spaces
627 detached homes, 29 of which are historic Rummers, Portland’s contribution to Mid-Century Modern architecture
4 townhouse clusters
An RV parking space screened by mature trees and shrubs
A community garden for growing fruits and vegetables

Want to see homes currently for sale or pending in Oak Hills? Click here

An early example of master planning, the development served as a model when Washington County developed its land use regulations. And no wonder. As planners and architects know, built environments have a big impact on attitudes and behavior. When neighbors have lots of opportunities to rub shoulders in their daily routines, community spirit grows.

Two achievements in frame – historic designation and the new rec center

By 2011, the slogan “This place matters” had become a rallying cry for Oak Hills. The County planned to widen Bethany Rd, which runs right through the middle of the neighborhood. In part to block the plan, residents took on the challenging task of applying for historic designation, including winning HOA approval by a wide margin in May 2012. Though the County eventually proceeded with the road project, in July 2013 Oak Hills became – at age 48 – the youngest community in Oregon and one of the youngest in the country to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The road to rebuilding the rec center proved even longer and steeper. Efforts to improve the original complex started as far back as 1992, but failed to garner the two-thirds approval needed in a vote by the HOA. By 2014, the center had reached a crossroads. Key systems were at or near the end of their useful lifespans. Any repair involving a county permit would have triggered a cascade of costly code requirements and closure of the facility until all were met.

Though the issue had taken on new urgency, skepticism about finding an affordable yet high-value solution was unchanged.

“Community members were not about to write a blank check,” comments David Boyd, Vice President of the HOA Board and a 19-year resident of Oak Hills.

Want to see homes currently for sale or pending in Oak Hills? Click here

In particular, they balked at paying hundreds of thousands of dollars up front for a detailed design they might not like or that could prove too costly to build.

Meeting room roof lines have an Asian feel

“We didn’t take the traditional design-bid-build route,” Boyd explains.

Instead the Board thoughtfully phased research, consultation, planning, decision making and investment. Step by step, they were able to maximize transparency, build confidence and manage risk.

Early on they approached bankers to estimate the cost per household of different loan scenarios and found that a modest $50 per month would cover a ceiling north of $4 million.

Inside, a full kitchen for catered events

In meetings and surveys, community members gave input on the features they wanted in a center. Their opinions shaped 3 broad conceptual designs that went through a ballpark costing exercise by a contractor. The community weighed in on the 3 options in another survey, and the Board selected the one favored by a majority. Only then was the design fleshed out in more detail, a contracting bid accepted, and a loan of $4.225 million negotiated.

With these key elements in place, the Board submitted a proposal to the community in the summer of 2015. It was approved by a vote of 82 percent. Construction began the following summer and was completed in a year. Throughout the process, Boyd and other volunteers on the building committee kept a sharp eye on project costs and made adjustments to stay within budget. Overruns came to only about 3 percent, an excellent result in the building industry.

Close-knit and can-do, Oak Hills offers good living. In fact, it’s part of the zip code (97006) that placed 9^th on a list of 15 most in-demand Metro neighborhoods published by OregonLive last week. With the rec center rebuilt and in enthusiastic use, that ranking stands to rise.

Want to see homes currently for sale or pending in Oak Hills? Click here

Jul 08 2017

If these old walls could speak – designer Vicki Simon reveals secrets to unveiling the soul of a Portland Foursquare on this year’s Irvington Home Tour

An American Foursquare with classical influences, the Bradshaw house was built in 1910 at a cost of $6,000

If you walked into the 1910 Bradshaw house featured on this year’s Irvington Home Tour, you might imagine that it’s little changed since namesake owners, Charles and Helen, moved in. Atmospheric, gracious, and lived-in, its rooms seem to be the work of generations – as though a succession of family members had stewarded the house gently into the 21^st century.

In fact, the current owners bought it just 2+ years ago – for 246 times its original cost of $6,000. Having moved from a small contemporary loft in San Francisco, they brought no furniture to their 4889 square foot Foursquare in Portland. And though they appreciated its “vintage style,” they were, in their own words, “novices.”

Designer Vicki Simon doubled as a tour docent at the house

But they had the good luck to find local interior designer Vicki Simon’s profile on houzz.com. With a passion for old houses and 30 years’ experience, she designs unique spaces that respect period architecture and details; modern-day functionality; and clients’ tastes, treasures and history.

That’s not an easy balance to strike, but for Vicki, “The beauty’s in the mix.” She spares no effort to achieve storied and eclectic interiors that hang together in a seemingly effortless and inevitable way.

Case in point: the downstairs powder room. Originally a telephone room, it had already been converted in a nod to modern-day function. But the results were clumsy and workaday – with a lilac and green color scheme grounded in the oversized hexagonal floor tiles, a dropped ceiling and trim that didn’t play nicely with the original window frame, and a sink vanity that was too large for the space.

With architecture in her background, Vicki hand drew the design for a coffered ceiling. It still conceals structural beams inside the staircase, but adds height to the space, is well-integrated with the window frame, and echoes the historic character of the adjoining rooms.

She found an antique table for the sink vanity on one of many shopping trips. Unlike a bulky cupboard, its open legs create the illusion of more space while still offering storage. A bowl of hand towels rests in the stretchers near the floor, which is now resurfaced in discreet white 1-inch hex tiles.

A family hobby yields the finishing touch — a restored antique punch clock (David Papazian)

She was just as unstinting in other rooms. For the den beyond pocket doors, Vicki suggested a dark color scheme. It contrasts with the bright, reflective walls of the sitting room, marks off the area as a cozy retreat, and minimizes glare on the wall-mounted tv screen. A grey archival lotus print from Farrow and Ball covers the walls and tin tiles in a deep copper line the ceiling. The complex blue-black paint on the wainscoting and window and door frames was a hard-won success. When the first attempt turned out too blue, Vicki absorbed the cost of remixing and repainting. The space is finished with an antique punch clock. Restoring vintage pieces is a hobby in the clients’ family.

As part of the creative brief, they had asked for feminine curves to offset the Foursquare’s masculine angles. Vicki delivered in full measure – with an oval dining table and round coffee and breakfast tables, the swooping lines of armchairs and sofas, and lighting with curvy silhouettes. She scoured antique shops as far away as Seattle to find vintage fixtures and named each to ease communication with her clients and contractors. A metal lotus with a golden sheen, “Flor” illuminates the entry hall, for example.

Swoops and curves in the bright sitting room... (David Papazian)

...and in the dusky den (David Papazian)

Looking back on the 10-month experience, Vicki’s clients couldn’t be happier in their home. They credit her not only with “bringing out its soul,” but also with turning them into vintage design “aficionados.”

Want to see vintage homes on the market in Irvington and the rest of 97212? Just click here.