ONE HOME REMAINS!

OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND!

SATURDAY, APRIL 13th 12pm-4pm

SUNDAY, APRIL 14th 12pm-4pm

For details, please contact:

Taya Mower, Broker, Licensed in OR

503.481.6252 / taya@arborhomes.com

Hope to see you there!

LAST HOME - OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND!

OUR LAST HOME AT ARBOR PASS WILL BE OPEN THIS WEEKEND!

SATURDAY, APRIL 6th      11am-3pm

SUNDAY, APRIL 7th            12pm-4pm

Contact Taya Mower with questions -

503.481.6252 / taya@arborhomes.com

Why do you want one of the LAST SIX HOMES available at Arbor Pass?

Maybe you love the idea of living in a beautiful condominium with everything that inspires a healthy, balanced life right outside your door. Relax by the pool or unwind at the gym after a long day of work. Start your day with a run, bike or walk on the Rock Creek Nature Trail before heading into the day. Maybe you are tired of the drive, MAX is conveniently located within minutes so you can take your coffee and your book and just relax on the way to work. And after a prosperous week, spend your weekend sampling delicious restaurants and great shopping at The Streets of Tanasbourne and Orenco Station.

Only six homes remain at Arbor Pass Condominiums!  With close-out prices ranging from $135,900-$207,900, and three contemporary 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom floor plans, there is something for everyone! Check out the flyer below with detailed information and soon you could be living in a beautifully finished and detailed Arbor Pass Condominium.

10 homes sold in 30 days...

With interest rates at an all-time low

and brand-new homes starting in the $130s...

NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!

Don't miss your chance to own at Arbor Pass. Call me today!!! 

We can't build them fast enough!

For those of you who read the Oregonian, you may have seen Arbor on the front page of last Thursday's paper.  For those of you who don't, thank goodness you read my blog!  :) 

 

Ross William Hamilton

 Early start, political pull helps Arbor top North Bethany market - by Katherine Diessen, The Oregonian

October 25th, 2012

The article speaks to Arbor's continued growth and success at Arbor Oaks in North Bethany while other developers remain immobilized by the lack of planning progress and approvals.



Now, you may be thinking...What does this have to do with Arbor Pass? Well my friends, it has everything to do with Arbor Pass.  Wally Remmers, Co-Owner and Vice President of Arbor Custom Homes, said of Arbor Oaks "We just can't build them [the homes] fast enough."  The same holds true here!

WE SOLD 9 HOMES IN 30 DAYS at Arbor Pass between mid-September and mid-October.  Nearly all our homes are sold prior to completion and a number prior to construction even beginning (a rare thing to see in condominium purchases).  In fact, we have buyers in escrow that won't be able to close until our last building is completed in May/June 2013! 

"We [too] just can't build them fast enough!" 

We have only one move-in ready home and only a few more that can close before the end of the year.  Overall, we are nearing our close-out phase and the number of available homes at Arbor Pass is rapidly dwindling...And once they are gone, they are gone! 

If you want to move within the next six to eight months, NOW is the time to start getting serious...Especially if you desire to personalize your home and/or have specific needs regarding pricing, location and floor plan.  For updated pricing, availability and to learn about our Fall Promotion, call/text me at 503.481.6252 or email me at taya@arborhomes.com.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Taya Mower

Goodbye...And hello!

It is always difficult to say goodbye to a fellow colleague and friend, especially when that person made such a great impact on the lives of many here at Arbor Pass and at Arbor Custom Homes.  We wish you the best in your future endeavors, Christopher Korenthal...You will be missed!

Although I am sad to see Chris go, I am thrilled for the opportunity to sell these beautiful Arbor homes and to work with you all!  I am here to make things as easy and as smooth as possible, so don't hesitate to reach out if I can assist in anyway.  My contact information is as follows:

Taya Mower
Community Manager, Broker
503.481.6252
taya@arborhomes.com

Of course, I would love to meet you in person and urge you to stop in to say hello.  The Arbor Pass Sales Office is located at 21359 NW Miriam Way (Just west of the Clubhouse/Pool) and open Monday through Wednesday 12-6, Saturday and Sunday 10-6...Closed Thursday and Friday. 

I look forward to connecting with and meeting you soon!

A Note From Jeff & Mallory

Dear Arbor Homes,

My wife and I just purchased a townhouse in the Arbor Pass development. We are very excited to start the new chapter in our lives as homeowners here

We started our home search about six months ago. We looked at several different developments before coming to Arbor Pass. What initially struck us about this community was the excellent customer service provided by your representative, Chris Korenthal. Chris was very knowledgeable about the property and was able to answer all of our initial questions. Once we decided to purchase an Arbor Home he was very patient in allowing us to view the property on almost a weekly basis to see how the construction process was coming along.

Chris went out of his way to try to assist Wells Fargo  in order to keep our closing on track. It seemed that Chris was assisting in almost every part of the process.

In closing my wife and I both feel that Arbor Homes is lucky to have an associate like Chris Korenthal. We are sure he is an important asset not only to you as the seller, but future buyers as well.

Sincerely,

Jeff & Mallory

A Day Of Healing

11 years ago today terror hit this great nation. I was able to go to NY and be a part of the mourning. It is a day that no American should ever forget. We are a great country that was born on freedom! I am thankful to be an American and live in the greatest nation in the world.
Today we remember the great men and women we lost and those who helped. Even after 11 years, the scars run deep. I hope that the pain of the scars fades.

Last Days For A Fridge Or Washer/Dryer

The Foundation Of Our Last Building




This is building 8 (our last building) getting its foundation

 

Angry Yellow Jackets

Coming to Arbor Pass  I noticed a yellow jacket's nest. With one phone call to the management company, the exterminator came out and took care of the problem. I love having an HOA!

Last Building Started

The end is near with our last building started. Building 8, which will be done in March 2013 got under way this week. I am excited and a bit sad. I've been here almost since the beginning. It will be exciting to see the finished neighborhood, but sad to have to leave.

Home prices rise nationally, in Oregon and Washington

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased s by 2.5 percent in June 2012 compared to June 2011, the housing research organization CoreLogic reported Tuesday. When distressed sales such as foreclosures and short sales are excluded, home prices nationwide were up 3.2 percent during the same time period.

Price increases in both Washington and Oregon exceeded the national average. Washington's home prices rose 2.8 percent with the distressed sales listings included, and 4.3 percent without distressed sales. Oregon reported a 4.3 percent rise in prices with distressed properties included and a 3.9 percent increase without those properties.

In another measure of the housing market's steady improvement, CoreLogic reported a 1.3 percent one-month increase in home prices nationally for all sales. Those numbers marked the fourth consecutive increase in home prices nationally as measured annually and monthly.

By The Columbian

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Builders (Arbor Custom Homes) running out of 'shovel-ready' lots for new homes

Local builders are enjoying stronger sales than they have in years, and they're planning more new houses to meet the demand.

There's just one problem: They're running out of places to put them. After years of almost no new development, homebuilders see an increasing shortage of "shovel-ready" lots in the Portland area.

Shortage has been good to the housing market, with low inventory of available homes driving up what buyers are willing to pay. But builders worry a shortage of lots could limit construction and raise construction costs, potentially damaging an industry just beginning to recover from the housing crash.

And getting raw land ready to build is a process that can take up to two years. There are engineering, environmental and traffic studies to conduct before the land can be divided into lots. Only then does the actual development -- clearing and leveling the land, building roads and installing utilities -- begin.

"The development business is a hurry up and wait game," said Gordon Root, a developer and president of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland. "There's not any question about that. It just takes time."

In the boom years, as homebuilders were rushing to create the excess supply that haunted the real estate market for years afterward, lot developers -- the leading edge of homebuilding -- were overproducing to an even higher degree to meet the demand.

But when the market collapsed, lot production dropped to almost nothing. Even with anemic new-home sales, lot development has been even slower since 2009.

Lending lags financing demand

Builders who survived the downturn, seeing a new surge in demand for homes, are in a hurry to catch up with it by ramping up the number of available lots. But lenders, they say, haven't caught up with the need to finance more.

"Even with builders consuming far more lots than we've been creating, banks don't like to lead us very far," Root said. "While the market's really come back for homes, development financing is still pretty dry."

Builders spotted the coming shortage long ago, and those with the means started buying up all they could in the areas they wanted to build.

Arbor Custom Homes, the largest of the local homebuilders, has built up more than 2,000 houses' worth of land with plans to deliver 300 new homes this year. At one time, the company saw its excess land supply as a liability, and in fact sold a significant chunk last year -- lots it said were underperforming -- to national builders Lennar Northwest and D.R. Horton.

Now, thanks to the company's relationship with construction lenders -- some of whom own mortgages on Arbor's land, and thus have a financial stake in the projects' success -- it is able to secure financing to develop its land into buildable lots.

"We feel very fortunate in that respect," said Brad Hosmar, Arbor's chief operations officer. "We have a good relationship with a couple of lenders. We've weathered the worst of the storm, we feel more confident, and now we can go out and develop lots again."

Some smaller homebuilders, such as TA Liesy Homes Northwest LLC of Clackamas, have had to start learning to work like the big guys.

Tom Liesy has increased his company's production over the last two years to build up a year's supply of land.

That won't be enough, so Thursday he arranged to buy unfinished land that his company will develop -- backed not by a bank, but by outside investors.

"The really scary part of it is, there are no lots," Liesy said. "So if we don't start getting creative about ways to bring new lots online, it'll be a problem for me, my company and many people in the same position as I am."

Private equity is one of the few options for new-lot development, said Todd Britsch, president of New Home Trends Inc. of Bothell, Wash. Well-capitalized national builders could also bring new lots to the market, but fewer are active in Portland than other markets.

But ultimately, Britsch said, builders and developers are going to need more financing options, and that may be slow to return.

"It's available, but we're very conservative on all our underwriting standards," said John Satterberg, president of Community Financial Corp., a major construction lender. "The land acquisition and development loans was one of the biggest risks to the banks when the crisis hit."

Cheap lot options

Smaller builders who don't have a supply of land built up might have to be willing to take what they can get in terms of location.

Builders have been nibbling away at the supply of bank-owned lots since the crash -- with home prices low, the only profitable way to build. Now, they're taking big bites at that foreclosure inventory, said Britsch. Lennar and D.R. Horton each bought big pieces of that stock, too.

The dregs of that supply -- poorly located or planned developments that might have sold anyway during the boom years -- are available for cheap.

"Some of this never should have been developed," Britsch said. "We saw everybody building anything. You can't do that."

By Elliot Njus, The Oregonian

August Promotions

Receive your choice of a Whirlpool top load Washer/Dryer (model #WTW4800XQ/WED4800XQ) or Whirlpool Refrigerator (model# ED5FVGXWS) with an accepted purchase agreement dated 7/28/12-8/31/2012. Must mention incentive at time of offer. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Happy 4th Of July

I want to wish everyone a very special 4th of July. I hope that you and your family have a relaxing time celebrating our Independence.

Back From Vacation

So I just got back from vacation (see picture left of me, my son and daughter). We enjoyed time in Northern California, but it is always nice to come back home. While I was gone, my partner Kara was really busy. We had 3 homeowners get their keys and we sold 3 other homes. I am back in the swing of things and looking forward to serving you!

City with Surprising Job Growth

Metro area population: 2.2 million

Current unemployment rate: 7.8%

Job growth next five years: 12%

Number of new jobs: 130,000

After devastating job losses in the recession, Portland has made a spectacular recovery, fueled by the tech mini-boom and the area's attractiveness to young people. Anchored by Intel and its 16,000 employees, Portland will maintain its moniker as the Silicon Forest for its more than 1,200 high-tech firms, most of them small to medium-size.

High tech will continue to be the fastest-growing sector, but other major job gains will come in sportswear. The presence of Nike, Adidas and Columbia Sportswear has spawned many smaller sportswear-related firms that are hiring designers, marketers and salespeople. The industry has also given rise to a vibrant graphic design sector. Portland, the third-largest seaport on the West Coast, will also continue to grow as a major transportation and shipping center.

By John Maggs

Kiplinger – Tue, Jun 12, 2012 8:56 AM EDT

Can We Build Them Quicker?

Can we build the homes quicker has been a common question. With the market changing and the need for new homes increasing, buyers wish that we had more moving in ready homes. Currently we have building 21 completely sold out and building 22 (which closes in August) has 4 out of the 6 sold. Currently we have 5 buildings under construction with 3 more starting by the end of August. So to all of you that have requested us to build faster, I promise you, your Arbor home will be worth the wait!

A Note From Another Happy Homeowner

Mr. Remmers, Mr. Sackhoff, Mr. Hosmar and Mr. Droukas,

My husband and I recently purchased a condo in the Arbor Pass development on Miriam Way. I would like to take a moment to express our appreciation for the efficient and enthusiastic help that we received from Chris Korenthal. No matter what our question or request was, he was very prompt in his reply. As we were approaching the close of escrow, through no fault of our own, an issue came up with our first lender. Chris immediately informed us of the problem and offered viable solutions. We were very grateful as the loss of our first lender put us in a very time sensitive and costly situation, but with his help we were able to close escrow in time.

Chris obviously takes great pride in the homes that he sells for Arbor. He is a credit to your staff. We look forward to residing in Hillsboro in our new Arbor Home.

Regards,

Concha and Merritt