Biggie's House Sells: Brownsville, Oregon

Biggie, the cat, lives in this 3 bedroom, 1 bath, single car garage, established yard with shade trees, roses and herbs, hot tub, cat condo, wood stove, gas and electric heat, air conditioned, property that sold last week. We listed it with a realtor, Sheri Gregory with Heritage Northwest Realty, Sweet Home, Oregon. We like working with Sheri and her assistant Jaida, they are a great team. We were pleased with their advertising as well as the attention they gave each prospective buyer. Advertising does payoff! As does a clean property in a nice neighborhood, as well as being able to greatly discount the price. The offer was $112,000.00, (asking price was $122,000.00, purchase price 7 years ago was $115, 000.00...loan balance is $78,405.00) which we accepted. The buyer also wanted us to throw in the refrigerator, washer and dryer ...

Biggie agreed to throw in the appliances, he said, "What does a cat need those things for anyway?"

Sounds like a low offer? It is, but it's also the only offer we have had in the five months it has been listed.

"A Bird in Hand is Worth Two in the Bush," my mother used to say.

We added two addendum's: 1. We use the title company of our choice (Amerititle in Albany, Oregon) 2. We make no claims or guarantees that the hot tub is operational. What we learned.... always check the lot lines before listing, buying or selling property. (Something we already knew, but needed a refresher on.) As it turned out, the fence was about 5 feet on to the adjacent lot, which added expense and time on our part, because a fence, hot tub and deck had to be moved. If we would have done our homework a little better, and not just listened to neighbors who claimed they knew where the lot lines were, we would have found out where the pins were in the ground for the lot lines. Since we also were selling the lot next doors (it sold before the house) we could have done a lot line adjustment, prior to selling the lot, costing us some money in fees, but saving us time and more money and headaches. We are always learning and re-learning lessons.

PRACTISE MAKES PERFECT!

Country Lane Oregon, Lease Option Sucess!

John and Laura Holbrook sold this home, as a lease option. Price $219,000. It is located in Sweet Home, Oregon. It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bath ranch style home, large 2 car garage, barn, fenced 1.5 acres. John and Laura just got a call this week with the good news that the buyers are getting ready to close. The buyers put $40,000 down, and were given a lease option. One of the many things John and Laura learned was that unless it is stipulated beforehand, the realtor gets the commission on the full selling price and not just the down payment. This is an expensive lesson, because most of the $40,000 down went to realtor fees and closing costs. But now that the buyers are excercising the lease option to buy, the Holbrooks will be getting the rest of the profit. Next time the Holbrooks will be sure that the commission is based only on the down payment because sometimes that is all that the seller will receive. In this case, the buyer is able to get financing, so the full profit will be realized.

Good life with grandchildren and ducks!

This is what a good life looks, having time to play with grandchildren! Nothing like marking duckings so the grandchildren can tell their ducks apart.

John & Laura Holbrook exploring Northwest coastal properties and taking some time to dig for clams.

While John and Laura Holbrook were at the Washington coast this week end for Mother's Day, they saw many properties for sale, from small trailers to large beautiful houses and condos with ocean views and easy walks to the beach. There have never been so many properties for sale in the Long Beach, Ocean Beach, Washington area since they have been enjoying that area, it's a great time to buy, lots of choices! Let them know if you would like to own coastal property! They can definitely help put together a dream coastal package. Notice in the video, it's taken at about 10:00 am May 9, on the beach in Oysterville, there is nobody else around, the beach is like a private beach! There's not many places in the world where a beautiful, clean beach can be enjoyed like that. Anybody can enjoy the beautiful Northwest coast!

Apartments we want in San Antonio Texas

John has been looking into buying apartments in Texas. There is one that has really caught our interest in San Antonio Texas, it is bank owned. He will talk to the bank tomorrow. We'll keep everybody posted on how that goes.