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Bella Casa Real Estate Group – 15 Year Anniversary ~ Free Ice Cream on Us!

On March 15, 2007 we opened our first Bella Casa Real Estate office in McMinnville. We proved that perseverance, generosity and exceptional service were the keys to success in this business. We have grown amazingly over the years, opening two more offices in Newberg and Silverton.

We are thrilled to announce that for our 15th Anniversary, we are celebrating with YOU!

Stop by any of our 3 locations for FREE Häagen-Dazs ice cream (while supplies last)!

► 207 NE 19th St, Suite 100
McMinnville
9:00 am to 5:00 pm

► 1002 N Springbrook Rd, Suite C
Newberg
9:00 am to 5:00 pm

► 216 E Main St
Silverton
9:00 am to 4:00 pm

A big thank you to our clients, past and present, for the opportunity to serve you!

From all of us at Bella Casa Real Estate Group

*Posted on 03/15/2022*

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Market Action Report – December 2019, Year End Report

Clients and Friends,

Bella Casa Real Estate Group began in McMinnville in March of 2007, 4 months before the market began to crash. Because of all the turmoil, fear, anxiety, and turmoil I began to send this report monthly to our clients and those who wanted more information. I annotated the reports and added my thoughts from inside the industry. It was well-received and appreciated by many. By 2018 we were well-established on solid ground and people were not only content, but elated! I took a break from this endeavor and tried to clean-out my garage, a 13 year project which is still in progress!

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The marketplace today is solid and there are no signs to fear on the horizon right now. Remember also, the previous dark market was way back in the very early 1980’s until 1987 (although there certainly have been smaller setbacks through the decades). However, I think the time is ripe to begin helping our clients monitor the local real estate markets monthly. To summarize where we have been, let me bullet point an overview below. Remember, the reports I am sending are from the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) and focus on the Portland metro marketplace which includes Yamhill County (Wine Country) the epicenter of our business.
• 2005 the highpoint of the pre-fall market (the fun years)
• 2007 the shot heard round the world as a national mortgage company went belly-up over one weekend (paralysis began)
• 2008 in September the financial industry melted down (the ‘dark years’ begin)
• 2012 the Portland area markets begin to show real recovery; not so much in Yamhill County
• 2013-14 Yamhill County shows the first signs of new life
• 2015 Yamhill County’s first year back to normal!
• 2015-2017 the very good years!
• 2018-19 the markets level off, the recovery is complete; the marketplace is back to ‘normal reliability’.

We currently have a marketplace that is balanced between buyers and sellers. We have solid fundaments. It is a good, reliable marketplace and seemingly a safe marketplace. Money is plentiful for loans; interest rates are low. New construction is hot seemingly everywhere to meet rapidly escalating demand because of so many people moving into Oregon right now (have you noticed the traffic?). During the dark years, many people lost their credit, their homes, and their ability to get a loan (remember the years of short-sales and foreclosures, and desperate sales?). Since then everyone who wanted to sell or buy, but couldn’t, has now done that. Even the people whose credit was destroyed are now back in the market with a new lease on life (and the ability to get loans again). This is why the marketplace has leveled off – everyone who needed to buy, or wanted to buy, or had to wait to buy has now bought and therefore the market is functioning normally at a reliable pace.

We will have another crash (I am sorry!) but we all hope it will be at least another 15 years from now! In the meantime we will see the marketplace ebb and flow. I want to be able to help our clients measure the marketplace monthly so there are no surprises and they understand the conditions so they can make the best decisions.

Attached is the monthly Market Action Report for year end 2019, plus an overview chart of past years back to 1992. This focuses on Yamhill County but it also has information for the entire metroplex. You can reply to be removed from our email list and at any time; we can add those who could profit by this. We wish you the very best in 2020…

I have also attached the end of year 2019 Sales by Office for Yamhill County. There were 337 offices that sold into Yamhill County; Bella Casa Real Estate Group is #2 in sales behind a new construction brokerage.

COMING SOON, OUR SILVERTON OFFICE!

Best regards,
Randy

 

 

Published 01.24.2020

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Taste for Freedom Event – You’re Invited


 

You’re invited!
Destiny Rescue invites you to join in our mission to end child sex trafficking by joining us at our 2nd annual Taste for Freedom. Bella Casa Real Estate is a proud sponsor of this year’s event. Guests will experience delicious cuisine, live music, a unique live and silent auction and the chance to become a part of the freedom story of hundreds of children around the world. Your support of Destiny Rescue is making a difference.
 

April 26th, 2019

6:00 PM

Chehalem Cultural Center

Newberg, OR

 

For more information, visit Destiny Rescue – Oregon on Facebook.

To purchase tickets, click here.

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We Invite You to Attend the Annual Realtor® Auction October 24th

We invite you to attend

the Annual Realtor® Auction next Wednesday, October 24th, 2018 hosted and organized by the Yamhill County Association of Realtors®. This year the auction proceeds will go to Henderson House, St. Barnabas Soup Kitchen, and Newberg FISH Emergency Services.

Bella Casa Real Estate is happy to be sponsoring the Wall of Wine once again! Last year, the event raised over $30,000 for local charities and we would LOVE your support to make this year just as successful!

This year’s event is at Golden Valley Brew Pub in McMinnville. There is no fee to attend the auction and no ticket needed.

Silent Auction begins at 5:00pm, and Oral Auction begins at 6:30pm!

See you there!

 

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Top Responsibility of Your Listing Broker

Your expectation of a listing agent is to get your property sold within your time constraints and for the most money possible in the current market. While we can’t manufacture buyers, what we can do is to increase the odds of grabbing more buyers’ eyes, achieving more showings, and hopefully receiving more and better offers. We can then professionally negotiate the best value possible, hold it together, and close the transaction. If you understand more than this, you can also judge your agent accurately and either correct your Realtor® or reward your Realtor® with a renewed listing.

Our #1 Responsibility is to Price Your Property Properly

Pricing is not about what the seller needs or wants for the property, nor is it about one’s intuition or the impression the home gives. Pricing is about hard-core research data obtained from comparable sold properties (real value), and then strategically assessing the competition to achieve the seller’s goals. There is no responsibility more important than this. An honest Realtor® will still occasionally be corrected by the marketplace (that keeps us humble) but no Realtor® can pull-one-over on the marketplace. The market is the most powerful force; no one controls it.

Market conditions are about all this and more. Conditions change in many ways with every locality. In our rural areas, the first year of “normal” sales after the great recession was in 2015; 3 years after Portland’s recovery. Carlton may be sky-rocketing because of the wine industry, but the neighboring town of Yamhill is quite a different story. Downtown McMinnville is hot and Willamina is selling now, but there is no comparison  the volume or the pricing between the two.

Our job is to know the local markets, the trends, the issues, and the challenges so that we price the property appropriately and manage the listing period as well as possible. Another part of our job is helping you with your expectations and responses to market conditions. The most challenging of markets is a changing market, and sometimes the greatest challenge to sellers is the ability to adapt to new conditions, or be patient while thing adjust.

We have a saying that the listing agent begins as a hero in the eyes of the seller (great expectations!), but it goes downhill from there, sometimes way down because the end result is less than the dream. On the other hand, a buyer’s agent, begins at a disadvantage without trust from the buyers, but in the end achieves a dream for the buyers, and so ends the transaction as a hero. While it is good to interview more than one Realtor®, sometimes the competition to win the client can cause the promise of price to be overstated. Learn more about establishing value and ask your Realtor® to show you the data to support their claim.

[button size=”large” link=”https://thebellacasagroup.com/team/office/search/” target=”_self” color=”blue”]Meet the Bella Casa Brokers[/button]

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How to know when to reduce your asking price

While you’d like to get the best price for your home, consider our six reasons to reduce your home price.

These six signs may be telling you it’s time to lower your price.

1. You’re drawing few lookers

You get the most interest in your home right after you put it on the market because buyers want to catch a great new home before anybody else takes it. If your real estate agent reports there have been fewer buyers calling about and asking to tour your home than there have been for other homes in your area, that may be a sign buyers think it’s overpriced and are waiting for the price to fall before viewing it.

2. You’re drawing lots of lookers but have no offers

If you’ve had 30 sets of potential buyers come through your home and not a single one has made an offer, something is off. What are other agents telling your agent about your home? An overly high price may be discouraging buyers from making an offer.

3. Your home’s been on the market longer than similar homes

Ask your real estate agent about the average number of days it takes to sell a home in your market. If the answer is 30 and you’re pushing 45, your price may be affecting buyer interest. When a home sits on the market, buyers can begin to wonder if there’s something wrong with it, which can delay a sale even further. At least consider lowering your asking price. Make sure the price of the house reflects its current condition. If the home needs some improvements, then you need to take that into account. Many people will only pay a higher price if the house is in good condition. This normally includes a strong and recently repaired roof. If this needs to be done, it might be worth contacting a company like Red Canyon Roofing (look Here). People don’t want to pay high prices and then have to make improvements themselves.

4. You have a deadline

If you’ve got to sell soon because of a job transfer or you’ve already purchased another home, it may be necessary to generate buyer interest by dropping your price so your home is a little lower priced than comparable homes in your area. Remember: It’s not how much money you need that determines the sale price of your home, it’s how much money a buyer is willing to spend.

5. You can’t make upgrades

Maybe you’re plum out of cash and don’t have the funds to put fresh paint on the walls, clean the carpets, and add curb appeal in the form of an exceptional siding replacement. But the feedback your agent is reporting from buyers is that your home isn’t as well-appointed as similarly priced homes. When your home has been on the market longer than comparable homes in better condition, it’s time to accept that buyers expect to pay less for a home that doesn’t show as well as others unless you are willing to put in the money for improvements that will bring it up to scratch such as a new garage door, or having the gardens pruned; all seemingly minor jobs that can go a long way into increasing the saleability of a home. When selling a house for a high value, buyers will be expecting a well-maintained home. However, if you can’t offer that, then you’ll probably have to put the price down. These days, more expensive homes will have immaculate curb appeal, attracting potential buyers from the outside. Some homeowners will even contact a company that offers James Hardie Siding installation to update the siding of the home. This adds extra protection to the home and allows the buyers to move into a recently upgraded house. That’s what people want when they’re paying a lot of money for a home.

6. The competition has changed

If weeks go by with no offers, continue to check out the competition. What have comparable homes sold for and what’s still on the market? What new listings have been added since you listed your home for sale? If comparable home sales or new listings show your price is too steep, consider a price reduction.

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who made strategic price reductions that led to the sale of a Wisconsin property. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR® Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, business, personal finance, and legal topics.

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Our Philosophy of Business Serves You Best

Our philosophy of business is to give you access to the most reliable information, the best guidance for your due-diligence, to watch over every aspect of the home search and transaction, & to apply our negotiation skills for your best interest. Bella Casa Real Estate Group is growing, has established an exceptional reputation. We are successful because we believe in lofty values and basic principles which define us.

1. We are professionals

The most basic expression of a professional is that you exhibit wisdom in self-control. You choose to do only what is good and right, not what you may want to do or say under pressure. If you cannot control your emotions, reactions, attitudes and provocations for the purpose of doing good, then you will not achieve what is possible.

2. We value cooperation

Our Realtors are gracious and generous. We foster a culture of sharing and helping. We collaborate when there is greater value together than we can know on our own.

3. Reputation

Our reputation is the most valuable asset we have. A good reputation can take a life-time to build but can be destroyed in a day because of which it is crucial to make use of ORM services. No amount of money (or any its benefits) is worth the loss reputation. Carelessness and compromise are dangerous, and the love of money above all else is deadly. We utilise the services of an online reputation management agency to ensure we provide the absolute best experience to our clients regarding feedback we receive online.

4. Accountability

When we are wrong we admit it. It is better to learn from something than to assign blame. It is better to apologize and make appropriate amends than to argue and dispute a failure.

5. Integrity

Integrity means that our values, our standards, our commitments, and our morals are fully integrated into our full person. It is not an act, an image, nor is it a manipulation or a deception. You are what you aspire to be. You are for real, genuine, and sincere. Hypocrisy usually cannot be hidden forever.

6. Generosity

We contribute to the communities which allow us to become successful. Professionals are giving people. We value the efforts of all who work to create a better lives and communities. We are active in our churches, local government commissions and task forces, we support local charities and non-profits. We are members of service clubs and business and community associations. We sponsor a wide variety of community events. Our Realtors support our Annual Realtor Auction each October.

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Handshakes & Lawsuits

[dropcap character=”F” color=”gray”]In the ‘good ol’ days’ people may have initiated the sale with a handshake, but history shows that those friendly intentions often ended in bitter court disputes. For as long as real estate has been bought and sold in Oregon, there have been real estate lawsuits.

Well over a hundred years of real estate agency law and practice evolved to react to litigation, minimize risk, reduce fraud, and prevent and resolve conflicts. Your property is one of your most significant investments. Remember, whenever much money is at stake, fraud, temptation, and unethical compromise are nearby dangers. Which is why it’s of utmost importance to find yourself the best attorney possible in case anything goes awry.

A real estate agent’s main responsibility is to help reduce your risk, keep you well informed, and guide you through a proper purchase or sale.

Our greatest value to you is not when things go well, but when things go wrong or obstacles are faced, or when uncommon issues arise. [space10]

Protection from Lawsuits

Oregon is not a ‘buyer beware’ state. It is a full disclosure state. Sellers who do not disclose all that they know about their property risk a lawsuit for withholding material facts. This can result in financial loss and in some cases the nullification of the sale.

But we don’t want buyers to ever be put into that miserable situation. We will do everything we can to prevent such a later surprise. This means you the buyer must seek to know as much about the property before closing. While we are prohibited from performing your due-diligence, we will guide you in yours. We will also keep our trained eyes open for issues. A good inspector is indispensible and your curious and suspicious mind will also assist you in preempting issues that could later result in a lawsuit.

Your Loyalty, Our Faithfulness

In due time, we hope to make a trade with you. If you will commit to working loyally with us, we will commit to working faithfully with you. We have a lot to offer but in order to commit our time and resources completely, we need to know that you will make your purchase with one of us.

The selection of a real estate agent is important and personal. We are eager to be interviewed and happy to assist you freely. But when you are comfortable, let us know that we are ‘hired’ to be your agent.

Additional Resources

  • The Oregon Buyers Property Advisory is a tool produced by the Oregon Association of Realtors® (OAR). It is a comprehensive and informative guide for issues one should consider when purchasing. We can help you understand much of this, help you think through what is relevant, and assist you to perform thorough due-diligence.
  • The Oregon Real Estate Agency Disclosure Pamphlet is produced to comply with Real Estate Agency law. It explains the relationship between an agent/broker and the client. You have rights and can expect important affirmative duties from your agent. We have representation responsibilities to you in addition to providing you with excellent service. The Real Estate Agency (REA) is an agency of the State of Oregon charged with protecting consumers and policing agents. Much good information can be found on their web site.

Get to know the Bella Casa Real Estate Brokers

 

Published 09/11/2017

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Climbing Home Prices – Market Action Report

Clients and Friends,

Prices continue to climb even while we wrestle to understand the changing market conditions. Overall, in the Portland Metro Area (including Yamhill County), average and median prices are high and climbing- each at 10.7% comparing the last 12 months with the 12 months previous to that period. Prices have been rising since 2012 in Portland and its close surrounding communities. In Oregon’s Wine Country they have been rising significantly since 2015.

Market Action Report- May 2017

Market Action Home Sales Report- May 2017

2016 was a year of leveling-out for sales volume and sales statistics everywhere. 2017 has been strange, to say the least. We have discussed the dire impact of the long and wet (and cold) winter. With May’s report we see dramatic improvement in all categories compared to last month! By utilizing techniques similar to Sampling in research, it has been observed that the statistics match our anecdotal experiences and support our conclusion that May really marks the beginning of the real estate year for 2017! Because of this, the ‘Year-to-date’ statistics are dismal and our performance compared to May in 2016 has been bad to mixed until this month.

We have no reason to expect anything but a strong and healthy marketplace for the rest of the year. With a late blooming season, perhaps we can hope for a longer prime selling season- perhaps right up to Autumn instead of petering-out by the end of July??? Recently the interest rates even dropped to the second-lowest rates in the past 10 years. This more than any other issue affects buyers’ buying power. Can we really sustain the recovery intensity and prices rising into the stratosphere? Long ago I proposed that Portland is following the trend I have witnessed growing up in Southern California and watching the prices escalate in Los Angeles and San Diego. San Francisco and the Silicon Valley are legendary in their price appreciation. Seattle already had its quantum leap; it is natural to see the Portland metroplex following suit. Yes, I think prices can keep going up’ it has happened before in our own west coast neighborhood. Portland is not only the most affordable metro area on the left coast but it is in high demand by people moving out of other states.

Our core area of expertise is the greater Yamhill County area. Sales have slowed dramatically except for the lower price ranges in our towns. All our numbers are lower than last year except for price appreciation. It is challenging to buy for under $300k in Newberg. Currently there are only 13 active sales under that price point and most of them are condos, attached homes, townhouses, mfg homes and detached homes but on tiny lots. In McMinnville you can do better; there are 11 homes available and all of them detached. Only 2 are under $200k; 4 are under $275k and the rest are between $275k and $300k! We are way above the top of the market in 2007 in these areas and price ranges.

My biggest concern is for our rural properties. This has been the last segment to recover. These sales are dramatically down with very few sales in massive areas of Yamhill and Polk Counties. It is clearly still a buyer’s market in wine country (except for vineyard land). Recently, I have done a number of reviews of large acreage properties and after a brief flurry of sales (pent-up demand from a dead winter), we have almost no buyers in the marketplace right now. Closed and pending sales over 10 acres are in the doldrums.

We are in the best time of the year to sell your property. Buyers have the most choice now- there are good reasons to make the move sooner rather than later. If any of our excellent brokers can assist you; we would love to hear from you or your family and friends. Call us direct; text us, or email us and we will help you understand the marketplace even better and how your purchase or sale can be maximized for your benefit and goals.

We are winding down the second quarter already… enjoy the late blooming summer!

Best regards,
Randy

Randy McCreith, Principal Broker, 503-310-9147
Bella Casa Real Estate Group
Randy@TheBellaCasaGroup.com

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April & May Market Action Report: Marketplace Coming to Life

Clients and Friends,

It happens at least one month every year… the workload becomes so intense that it takes me two months to find time to put out the Market Action Report. That is not necessarily bad news! It is a good problem to have (compared to the famine years) but it is still a problem…

I am providing two months’ Market Action Report- MARCH AND APRIL. As you know well by now, the 4thquarter and the 1st quarter were very slow for sales; our sellers know it all too well. In a rapidly ascending marketplace in our area, it is frustrating and incomprehensible to have properties sit on the market with little or no action. We blame the weather (perhaps a bit the election as well). In any case, buyers had no stomach to shop homes or rural lands, in relentless rain, snow, cloudy darkness, swampy land, and very cold temperatures. I think we got two sunny days in a row in mid-March for the first time. We are still waiting for one full week of sun since September!

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The marketplace came to life in late March and through April and May has been busy. Overall, in 2016, we saw a leveling-off of the marketplace particularly in Portland. Their surge of pent-up demand is waning and continuing to mellow. Our local market conditions continue growing; we have a ways to go yet. Like the crest of a wave which began in Portland and has reached us 3 years later, we are cresting now while the huge wave has passed them by. Note that though the wave passes, the tide keeps rising- that is, prices have not moderated anywhere yet!

March numbers are down from March 2016, in fact, our first quarter numbers are closer to the numbers put up in 2015 rather than in 2016, which was the first ‘good year’ of the recovery for our area.

What may be surprising to you as you peruse the graphs and statistics is that the numbers in April also look disappointing??? Keep in mind, that if buyers came out in force in late March (instead of early January) the effect seen in the statistics will likely not be known until May at the earliest, but more-so by June. Transactions still take about 60 days to close after the buyers find the right property for them. For now, you will have to take our word that the marketplace is bustling already and the good numbers are on their way. We have no reason to expect anything but a very good year for sellers.

For buyers, it will continue to be a competitive (and frustrating) market where the longer you wait, the more you will likely pay. Yes, it remains a very strong ‘sellers market’. Buyers should also note the Affordability Index in the April Report.

Our brokerage is growing as we attract new agents (fresh talent) and seasoned brokers looking for a better work culture and fairer system which is professional. We are eager to work for you, and those you know who need premium real estate services for less money. We gain many clients because of our marketing and our community presence, but our greater hope is that our clients who can testify of our work and values will refer us to friends and family; to coworkers and neighbors, and whenever they hear of a need we can help with. Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,

Randy

 

 

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