Portland's sold new construction facts for 2015

Friends of trees is planting!!!

I love this time of year.  The camellias and daffodils are blooming.  Trees are just starting to come back to life.  Thankfully there is more light too!

Look around your neighborhood to see if there are new trees! Friends of trees is comited to getting more trees in our urban canopy.  I love it because it cleans the air, cools our summers and makes it even more beautiful!

situs ~ how does it impact you

Situs  what is it?  This is the legal definition of the property.

There are different rules for different things.  Just because your mailing address says it is in Portland does not mean that you pay taxes to Portland and it does not mean that your kids will go to PPS.  I am in process of selling a home with a mailing address that says Portland.  The house however is in Gresham.... the situs address.  The post office uses the same house number and street along with Portland not Gresham.  Straight forward right?

Automatic warranty for contractors

Lots of people including Realtors think that there is a one year warranty that "comes with" any work that is done.  There is not one but there is protection.  The CCB however does assist with claims about negligent, improper work or breach of contract.  See the link below for Danial Goldstien's legal take of that.

Where is my one year warranty

Linked with permission from Dan Goldstein

My holiday challenge to you!

The holidays are approaching and it tends to be consumerism on steroids time.  I am wondering if we as a people might look at this a bit differently and consider the world we live in.  Our gift giving might include something that gives to all.  And I mean TREES! Live ones!

Here is my challenge to you.  Give someone a tree this year or donate to friends of trees.  That helps everyone in a small way.  

Donate to Friends of trees

October 2014 market snapshot new construction

In the Portland proper there were 597 new home starts that sold over the last 6 months.

Here is the break down
19.4%  of the homes were green certified homes
61% of the certified homes were Earth Advantage
23% of the certified homes were Energy Star
18% of the certified homes were LEED

Northwest Earth Institute has a challenge for you! Join me!

The idea of changing for the betterment of the planet can be overwhelming.  Northwest Earth Institute makes it easy to start looking at how we can change our behavior and make a more positive impact on the planet. 

Here is the link for the challenge  http://www.ecochallenge.org/about_the_challenge/choose_your_ecochallenge

Have fun with it and stretch to see if you can do some of this stuff.

On a personal note.  One that I like is turning the heat down.  A friend of mine also suggested a step further with this~ not turning on the heat for as long as you can stand it. I tried this myself.  Funny thing is the body starts to acclimate.  See what you discover!