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Yes, it’s tax time again and there is news for you out-of-state property owners thinking of selling your Oregon property this year.

As of January 1, 2008, non-residents will have to pay a withholding tax on the sale of their Oregon real estate. This applies to individuals as well as C corporations that are not doing business in Oregon. The amount to be withheld is the least of 3 amounts:

• 4% of the sale amount of the transaction;
• 4% of the net proceeds resulting from the transaction; or
• 10% of the taxable gain.

If one of the following requirements is met withholding the tax will not be required:

• The sale amount for the real property does not exceed $100,000;
• The property is acquired through foreclosure;
• The owner is a resident of Oregon—or if a C corporation—has a permanent place of business in this state; or
• The owner receives professional advice that the transfer will not result in Oregon taxable income.

This law change is due to House Bill 2592.

Here is Oregon form OR-18 that tells you more about the what, where, when, how and HOW MUCH.

Disclaimer: I am not a tax expert and this writing is for informational purposes only. Please see your tax advisor for more information and advice.

Photo by YM, used under creative commons license.

Technorati Tags: Oregon Tax, Real Estate, Property, January 1, Sales, Witholding

Need some travel tips for your visit to (maybe you are considering moving here?) Portland, Oregon? Portland has a lot to offer for visitors: great places to eat, fun things to do and, in my humble opinion, great people to meet. Here are a few sites I have found that offer some good itineraries and suggestions on things to do and see:

The Portland Oregon Visitor’s Association (which will be changing it’s name to Travel Portland on January 17th) has a ton of information for visitors to Portland including:

• Portland Attractions
• Day Trip Suggestions
• Maps of Portland

Another good source to check out is Travel Oregon that has several categories to look through:

• Upcoming Events
• Attractions
• Places to Stay
• Places to Dine
• Outdoor Recreation
• Arts and Culture

In addition, Via travel magazine, created by AAA, has some nice write-ups of things to do and see around Portland, as does WikiTravel.

In addition, I would be happy to share my knowledge of Portland with you. Feel free to ask me a question. After all, living here almost twenty years has to be good for something!

Photo by Miles Hockstein

Technorati Tags: Portland Oregon, travel, tips, visiting, POVA

Today’s post comes from Andrew Loumena, a mortgage broker with Evergreen Home Loans in Portland.  He has news to share about FHA loans and potential upcoming changes to the program. 

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Don’t believe you can qualify for a home loan?  Don’t fit in the conventional box? In over your head?  Have less than perfect credit?

Well, FHA can help!

What is FHA you ask?  FHA stands for the Federal Housing Authority http://www.fha.gov/; this home loan program is run by (HUD) http://www.hud.gov/, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The FHA loan program has insured nearly 34 million homes since its inception in 1934 though FHA-approved lenders.  Here are some important details on the FHA Loan Program:

• Low down payment requirement (3% minimum contribution required)
• Easier to qualify/less than perfect credit
• Competitive interest rates
• Helps you keep your home

The FHA loan program in recent years has been somewhat overtaken by the secondary mortgage market which produced many exotic loan programs and financing options to 100%.  Recently, we have been experiencing a liquidity crisis which has eliminated many of the programs that competed with FHA for first-time home buyers and those looking to put no money down.  FHA is still around and as strong as ever.  Currently, there is legislation in process that would allow the FHA loan program to be modernized http://www.fha.gov/reform.cfm. 

In addition, several weeks ago HUD, along with President Bush, released the FHASecure program http://www.fha.gov/about/fhasfact.cfm which allows those homeowners that experienced payment defaults due to increases in their Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) to refinance into an FHA loan.

Other resources for information:

HUD Loan Limits - https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm
FHA Mortgage Guide - http://www.fhaloanpros.com/
FHA Blog Book - http://www.fhabook.com/

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Thanks, Andrew.  Great information on FHA loans, especially in light of recent changes in the market and with many lenders raising their criteria for folks trying to qualify.  FHA reforms such as no money down, increasing mortgage limits, extending lengths of loans, and changing their definition of a condo to a single family home can only help folks obtain a home.  And, if all goes as planned, the FHASecure program should help keep those home owners who got in over their heads from filing bankruptcy.

I encourage you to contact Andrew if you would like more detailed information on the FHA loan program:

Andrew Loumena
Evergreen Home Loans
9955 SE Washington St., Ste. 201
Portland, OR 97216
Phone: 503-234-5160
Email

Technorati Tags: FHA, home loan, mortgage, Portland, Oregon, Evergreen Home Loans, FHASecure, FHA changes

In case you don’t already know I’m an avid remodeler.  Perhaps you have considered picking up the hammer and screwdriver and creating some havoc in your home by doing some remodeling yourself. Do you know what jobs require a permit? How about what process you need to go through to obtain a permit? How does the inspection process work and who do you call?

While browsing the City of Portland’s Website the other day I came across this great document entitled, “Guide to Permits and Inspections.”  It’s full of useful information for the home remodeler.

To find answers to the questions above (and more) click here . Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Portland Oregon, permits, inspections, City of Portland, remodeling

Have you been putting off painting that kitchen/bathoom/bedroom because you know how hard it can be to choose colors?

There have been so many times that I have picked a color (after agonizing over it for a week or so), bought the paint, slapped it on the walls, stepped back to admire my handywork and heard myself say “Yuck! It looks like baby poo/swamp muck/a 60’s flashback!”

Well, now there is help at hand. Before you go and plop down that $20-$45 for a can of paint you can research your perfect color online, and even test them in cyberspace rooms. Many paint manufacturers have small paint sample packets that you can test on your walls, but choices are limited and they often run out of the most popular colors. However, with the online paint selection tools you can choose a ready-made color pallete or let the artist in you go wild by trying new color combinations.

Here are some the tools I have found online; some require you to register to use them, but are really fun. If you know of any more that I don’t have listed here, please let me know and I will post them.

1. Behr Color Explore
2. Sherwin Williams Paint Visualizer
3. Dutch Boy Color Simplicty Tool
4. Bob Villa Paint Designer
5. Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer
6. Lowes’ Paint online

In addition, here is great Colorcharts.org database (powered by CBN) of manufacturer’s colors. It has over 80 paint manufacturers listed and all of their digitally certified colors. If you have a colorchip from a paint company that is not in your area, you can find that color in their database, ask it to match the color, and it will tell you all othe colors that match it from other paint manufacturers.

Photo by Ratnesh

Technorati Tags: painting, home, choosing paint color, color tools, Behr, Sherwin Williams, Dutch Boy, Benjamin Moore, Valspar

Once again, Portland has made a list of desireable places to live. This time we have made AARP’s top 5 list of communities Baby Boomers should consider as a retirement spot. Here is the author’s (Sarah Mahoney) list of Portland’s strengths and weaknesses:

• Lifestyle vibe: European charm meets environmental nirvana
• Fitness fix: Miles of safe bike lanes
• Retirees love: The Pearl District
• Retirees hate: 155 rainy days a year
• Median housing price: $280,800
• Average temperatures: 39.9°F (January) and 68.1°F (July)

Other communities to make the list are Atlanta, GA; Chandler, AZ; Boston, MA and Milwaukie, WI.

Technorati Tags: Portland Oregon, AARP, retirement, top 5 list, Sarah Mahoney, nirvana, places to retire