Monthly Archives for March 2011

First Friday Newberg Art Walk at Bella Casa is tomorrow evening from 5-9pm at our Newberg office. 700 East 1st Street, Suite 100 in Newberg, Oregon 97132. Please join us for an evening of complimentary wine-tasting with Remy Wines, an assortment of hors d’œuvres, and a beautiful display of paintings by Hannelore Fischer. Our Featured Artist: […]

Spring is the time of year when homeowners have to pay attention to the stepped-up activity of insects such as ants, spiders and termites. As an integral part of the earth’s ecology, these insects and other pests are each beneficial in their own way, but also problematic when they infest a house. Some like termites […]

Guest Post: Beth Frischmuth is a principal broker with the Bella Casa Real Estate Group, and is also an active member of the Education Committee with the Yamhill County Association of Realtors® (YCAR). She, along with a group of fellow YCAR members and 600 REALTORS® from all corners of Oregon, descended on the state capitol […]

Despite a historic real-estate market upheaval that sent foreclosure rates skyrocketing and home values plummeting, Americans still have a deep attachment to homeownership. Furthermore, they consider homeownership an integral part of an American Dream in which they still believe, according to poll results announced today by The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) and National Journal. The eighth […]

Article by HouseLogic.com By: Jane Hoback Published: January 14, 2011 Deep clean your house and you’ll brighten rooms and help maintain your home’s value. De-bug the light fixtures See that bug burial ground within your overhead fixtures? Turn off the lights and carefully remove fixture covers, dump out flies and wash with hot soapy water. While […]

A wave of baby boys are about to join Bella Casa! In February we celebrated the mothers and babies at a beautiful baby shower for Bella Casa Realtor® Kim Hamblin and our website manager, Lacey Summers. We are anxiously awaiting the birth of Kim’s son, Cash, any day now and will let you know when […]

With no major developments in Japan or the Middle East and little economic data on the schedule, mortgage markets had one of their quietest weeks of the year. The only significant market moving news was an unexpected announcement from the Treasury on Monday, which pushed mortgage rates a little higher. For the rest of the […]

Article by HouseLogic.com By: Barbara Eisner Bayer Published: February 24, 2011 Follow these seven tips to make sure your contractor agreement works in your favor—not your builder’s. Step 1: Hire a lawyer Contractors use their own forms, which are drafted for their benefit, not yours. You’ll benefit from hiring an attorney to review your contractor agreement […]

Many of our colleagues are no longer in the business. Many familiar names have been through what too many of our clients are going through- car repossessions, default, short sales, foreclosures, even bankruptcy. Many Realtors® currently have picked up part time work to pay the bills. Those of us who are survivors work 4 times […]

Appraisers are ruthless! No longer do we fear the inspector’s report, we shudder when the appraiser’s time has come. Yes, some of it is that the comps are mostly distressed sales and they are just dealing with the facts. However there is no allowance for ‘normal’ sales when compared to these default fire sales, desperate […]