Fair enough?

Within a few blocks of each other and in the same neighborhood, two homes sold at wildly different prices. One was a custom built home while another was an all too common bank owned “tract” home. What is encouraging is the fact that such a scenario perfectly illustrates that all homes are not equal and prices are not a generic number. Fair enough?

Maybe so.

 House #1 was  3280 sq ft and Closed 2/20/2009 for $367,500

House #2 was 3742 sq ft and Closed 2/17/2009 for $625,000

Unlike areas such as NE Portland where streets may contain very different homes of different sizes and quite different remodels and rehabilitations, the “burbs” typically have far less differences even if different builders. It is true that one neighborhood may have both custom and “tract” homes, but prices typically do not vary wildly. This neighborhood has both custom and “tract” homes that vary in quality but originally varied only somewhat in price for comparable size.

So, to see two homes close within 3 days of one another and be $258,000 apart in price, was shocking. Good news, but still shocking. The square footage difference was only 462 square feet – so I’m quite sure that the quality difference was not really worth $558.00 per square foot. Was it?

Well, maybe I’m not so sure.  A buyer and an appraiser, and I’ll bet also a review-appraiser, saw all the comparable sales and still felt the value was there at $625,000. So, then the less expensive home around the corner was worth only $367,000? Well, yes, because that is all the one buyer would pay.

Happy Valley(http://www.ci.happy-valley.or.us/) , Oregon is known as “death valley” in slang because it was over-built and also suffered from certain floorplans and many lot placements that were, shall we say, less than optimum. But with some homes being sold at $112 psf, and even as low as $99 psf, happy new owners are coming in. The North Clackamas School District ( http://www.nclack.k12.or.us/northclack/site/default.asp) is very highly rated.

Well then, I think it is fair enough. And, if people will still pay top dollar for at least some custom homes while others pay low prices for distressed property, I think that a certain balance may exist. If this trend would dare continue, and the sea of “for sale” signs fade away, then “death valley” will be a closed chapter of Happy Valley. Of course this will ultimately happen over some period of time. With these two recent sales I see at least a hope of both distressed and non-distressed homes finding their new owners. And if both types of homes sell, then the sidewalks and parks will sooner be crowded with the many residents who will be newly happy in Happy Valley.

So tomorrow, when I pass by the vacant lots and empty homes I will just smile and enjoy the quiet calm while I can. There are new residents on their way and I’ll soon be meeting them around the valley.