Sam Murzea, from MP Heating and Air Conditioning in Portland, is our go-to vendor when our clients have issues with HVAC systems. When Sam checks on these units, he often finds they aren’t maintained properly. Typically, people forget about their HVAC units and don’t know anything is wrong until they’re hot in the summer or cold in the winter. This is exactly why Sam suggests an annual checkup.
In an annual checkup, Sam’s team will check out all the electrical components, mechanical components, filters, coils, and everything else. This inspection will eliminate your stresses and worries about your HVAC system, all year long. If you have an AC unit, they can clean it in addition to checking the condenser and other components. Their goal is to prevent breakdowns and future repairs.
In between these annual checkups, Sam recommends changing air filters regularly. Different systems require different change intervals. He also recommends changing filters every 30 days in order to ensure the best performance.
If you ignore all of these things, you may end up with no heat on the coldest day of the year or no air conditioning on the hottest day of the year! Additionally, carbon monoxide can leak. To keep your family comfortable and safe, perform regular maintenance on your HVAC units. Pay attention to it, and definitely don’t forget about it!
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Sam or myself. We look forward to working with you!
Portland is continuing to see an explosive real estate market. I’ve mentioned this before, but we are part of a 20-city composite for a Case Shiller S&P index that looks at national housing trends. The data that just came out last week shows the overall index leveling off a little bit. In January, we saw a 5.7% appreciation average across the 20 cities and that’s dipped down a bit to 5.4%.
However, in Portland we are still continuing to lead the pack with a 11.9% appreciation rate. We attribute our continued growth to a strong job market, strong housing demand, and the high quality of living we have here in the Pacific Northwest.
What’s also interesting is that mortgage defaults continue to be low, much lower than they have been in the past. We are at about a .75% default rate, which is a good place to be. Year-over-year price changes within that 20-city composite have remained very stable, right around the 5-6% range.
I get asked if we’re headed toward a housing bubble quite often, and my answer continues to be no. There are so many other factors that are propping up the real estate market. Our appreciation rate may not continue to be 11%, and it shouldn’t, because it’s not healthy. However, there is a huge upside to our market, and homes are still as affordable as ever.
For someone making a 20% down payment, their mortgage payments would only take about 15% of their income. Just 10 years ago, that figure was near 25%. A middle income family doesn’t need to stretch their wallet in order to buy a home, a statement that has been echoed by the National Association of Realtors’ Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun.
If you have any questions for me about the Portland market, don’t hesitate to reach out by phone or email. I would love to hear from you.
Have you been wondering what’s going on in the world of low down payment loans? Today, we are going to discuss a great mortgage loan down payment option that you have right here in Portland. We are here to discuss things with Peter Wease of Fairway Independent Mortgage, our preferred lender. Many people think $0 down home loans are a myth, but we can assure you they are not. They are here, and you could get one today.
USDA loans are loans from the department of agriculture and are intended for rural housing, which expands beyond the urban growth boundary. You can get a USDA loan with 100% financing, meaning you will pay $0 down. There are a couple caveats with this loan, including that the home has to be past the urban growth boundary, which is detailed in the video above in the non-shaded areas. Your household income also may not exceed 115% of the median income.
This is a fantastic opportunity for someone to get in the market and own a home with no money down. Rents are going up, and this is a great option for telecommuters who would be working from home anyways without the need to commute.
If you have any questions for us or are interested in using a loan like this to purchase a home, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to talk to you!
