Sara Lewis

The rental vacancy rate is what percentage of the time a unit or the the unit (depending on the number of units) is vacant. A terrific occupancy rate is right around 95%. I think there are a lot of neighborhoods that have few vacancies in Portland...including ther downtown area, NW, Pearl, Bellmont, Irvington, anything close to a college, Lake Oswego etc etc. On the flip side though, when you are attracting college students you will tend to get lower rents. These are all things that you should discuss at length with your realtor...and if you aren't currently working with one I would be happy to chat with you. I also have a terrific program on my computer that is an investment property analyzer...basically you plug in all the info about the property including purchase price, taxes, any HOA's, what the rents are, how much you are going to put down, your mortgage rate etc and it tells you the cap rate, gross rent multiplier, cash flow etc...I would be happy to run some scenarios for you if you would like. Otherwise good luck to you, with the rental market at an all time high, interest rates down, lots of inventory and the decline in prices it is such a terrific time to buy! - Fri Oct 24 2008, 21:49

Nope it isn't Christina, there is another house on the same street that is though??? Let me know if you want me to forward you the info on that one...or any others that might work for you in the area. Thanks! - Mon Oct 6 2008, 13:39

Yes, Portland has lots of high rated elementary schools throughout the entire city. What other characteristics are you needing in your home, there are terrific deals all over the city right now. Thanks! - Mon Sep 8 2008, 13:06

Ken, as I am in the process of finding out the "downpayment assistance programs" are not all they are cracked up to be. My clients have decided to go with a no down payment 2 loan program, one that takes care of 80% and the other that takes care of 20%. Let me know if you want the info of the mortgage broker who found this program for us. Good luck! - Fri Aug 29 2008, 14:44

My Grandparents live in Summerfield, which is a retirement community on a 9 hole golf course. The average price of homes in there is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $250-$350 so relatively speaking that is pretty inexpensive compared to the average Portland sale price. Summerfield is in Tigard, which is a suburb of Portland, but it is still a quick ride to downtown, and very close (less than 5 minutes) to Bridgeport Shopping center, which is a large shopping/eating area and Washington Square Mall. Also, is is very close to downtown Tigard and HWY 99 which has everything on it that you could ever need. The main areas of Summerfield are also all on bus lines...it really is a very nice area, my Grandparents love it, nice size lots, certainly with room for gardens and lots of community activities. I would be happy to provide you more info if you would like...thanks! - Fri Aug 8 2008, 08:05