Historic Autzen up for Sale - Down to $2.25M

We've been admiring this house ever since we moved to NE Portland and I'e wondered what the story was behind this house, and I recently learned it's the historic Autzen estate. I was surprised to run past it the other day and see it for sale. Apparently it's been on sale for a while.

Since 2003.


The house is stunning. Over 10,000 ft, 6 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms and 3 half bathrooms. And for you fellow car nuts out there, a 3 car garage (that's about the same size as our house). Of course, I'd hate to see the heating bill.

The Autzen's spared no expense on the house when it was built. There is an alcove for the grand piano, a full ballroom (that is now being used as a game room) and a lot of wood.

The current owners bought it for $895k, spent $500k restoring it, and put it on the market in 2003 for $2.95M. The somehow managed to miss the entire real estate boom, and the house still sits on the market at $2.25M.

A successful flip?

What defines a successful flip?

A reader made this comment on one of the earlier posts:

"I was poking around in NE this weekend and found a couple interesting recent high end flips that appeared to have worked.

1928 NE 26th. Paid $375K on 4/25/2008. Pending sale at $765K.

2028 NE Alameda. Paid $875K on 2/14/2007. Pending at $1,495,000.

3117 NE 32nd. Paid $270,000 on 4/2/2007 and closed for $785K on 2/19/2009.

These do seem to be the exception rather than the rule though. They are all well located (no busy streets, etc.) and the rehabs appear to be well done."

The house on 32nd was especially interesting. Take a look at the before photo:

And then the after photo:


Yes it's the same house, but it looks like 80% of it is new. They added up as well as out. Unfortunately I don't know who did the work.

On the surface it loks like a nice remodel, but something about the details stuck me as odd.

The kitchen is nice, if a little generic. I guess for 3/4 of a million I would expect a bit more.


But then I saw this room (I assume it's the dining room). The room just strikes me as odd. Personally one of my favorite features of old craftsman homes are these cabinets and columns that seperate the living and dining rooms. But seriously, what were the "architects" thinking here? Did someone screw up?

First off, why are the cabinets so small? They're perfect for showing off your fine china to your toddler. And the built in's in the back of the dining room? Not really built in, they look like generic home depot cabinets smacked on a wall. But the kicker is the columns. They don't reach the ceiling! That looks like a major goof to me, and I'm pretty sure the base cabinets were supposed to be a little bit bigger. Oops.

All in all, I'd expect a lot more for $785k. For the builder I think it was a successful flip, if not a slam dunk after all their costs. But for the buyer? I'd take the house at 3311 Tillamook over this one, and pocket the $200k difference. At least you're getting a real vintage craftsman foursquare with more pleasing proportions, old growth wood trim, a bigger house and a bigger lot.


These are real built-ins.

Making Money in any Market

Sent in by a reader:

"Heh, here's a good one. I went and looked at this place - huge foursquare type, not terrible neighborhood, too bad it's a 100% total ruin (foundation half gone, porch sinking off the front of the house, broken windows, eaves totally shot etc etc). Great big house asking 116K - the punchline is from PortlandMaps, somebody named "Fast Cash House Buyer LLC" bought it in December 08 for 106k. Don't click the link too hard or the place will collapse!"

These guys are proving there's an angle in any market. It looks like they bought the house at a foreclosure auction and are turning around and putting it on the market with no work. No so much as a flip as a wholesaler.

It looks like a great house with lots of original "charm" intact, and a little lot of charm that has been "added" over the years.

Proving once again that he who has cash in a crisis is king. Course you gotta sell it first.

Update - 2815 NE 57th Ave Sold!

A reader sent in an update on 2815 NE 57th Ave. (see previous post).

Quick summary: The house sold for $485k in Dec 05, after only 2 days on the market. It was bought back by the bank at auction in August 2007 for $400k.

The bank initially listed the house at $339k in May this year, and it just sold for $285k in July, after 62 days on the market.

For those keeping score that's a 41% decrease from the previous (fishy) sale at $485k.

It's also a 16% reduction from the recent listing price of $339k.

That comes out to $96.54 per square foot of finished space, way below recent rates, which according to Trulia have been closer to $200 / square foot.

I'd say it's fairly priced, if not cheap. Granted it's not oozing charm, but it is over 3000 square feet and has been redone recently, hopefully properly.

Granted this is a foreclosure, but if that's the new going rate for price/square foot, a lot of people are in for a shock.

Thanks for the update James!

A Real Concordia Fixer - 5421 NE 25th Ave

Here's a diamond in the rough for the handy and brave. It's only going for $129k in an area where similar homes are easily going for $250k and up, although it might need $100k to get it in similar condition. And unfortunately it sounds so bad that you won't get bank financing. Which is a shame as it excludes those that need this place the most.

It last sold for $45k (anybody know what SH stands for on the last sale/transfer?) and someone has at least pulled permits to do some remodeling. Maybe they ran out of money, who knows. But they still stand to make a profit.

The listing also lists Sabin elementary, when this is a stone's throw from Vernon. Where does this info come from?

Flipping Still Alive and Well - 3311 NE Tillamook

I thought most of the flippers had seen the gravy train coming to an end, or were having trouble finding financing, but I was wrong.

We watched this house go on the market late last year at $499k, then sell for $460k. Work started immediately, stripping all the old paint, putting up a new fence, and obviously more.

We've always liked the house, but it's right on 33rd, so not the greatest location.

Now that we can see the interior it has the typical stunning woodwork, the new paint is a huge improvement over the old, but the kitchen floor screams "Home Depot" to me.

It's now back on the market for $849k (whoops, already marked down to 799k)! At the previous sale price (Trulia still shows the before view) of $460k it sold for $240 /sq ft (finished), and at the new price, including the finished basement (I'm not including the attic as it looks to be about 4 ft hight) it's up to $305/ sq ft.

I'll place my bet and predict it's going to be on the market for at least 6 months, and will sell for less than $700k (at $700k it's priced at $267 / sq ft). Anyone else care to make a prediction?

Reader Sightings – 2815 NE 57th Ave

Jamie found this gem while searching recent RMLS listings. It's currently bank-owned and they're blowing it out the door for 20% less than the amount for which they bought it back.

2815 NE 57TH AVE, MLS# 8038680

Here's the recent sale history:

08/16/2007	Bank reposession		$400,000.00
01/13/2006	Sale (remuddled?)		$485,000.00
08/18/2005	Sale		$222,500.00
09/18/2002	Sale		$159,900.00

Judging by the photos it was remodeled within an inch of it's life before the sale in Jan 2006. I swear any character this house had was restored right out. Who needs that pesky wood trim, and those hard to clean hardwood floors?!? Let's put in nice beige carpet and the finest Home Depot cabinets!

At only $155 per square foot it didn't seem like a horrible deal at $485k, but somehow that still seems way overpriced to me.

Another Reduction - 4094 NE 34th now $299k

Back on the 5th we were discussing 4904 NE 34th. Today the price was lowered again to $299k.

There are now three houses for sale on this corner, and another one just a few houses up the street.

MLS #8021247

Reader sightings - 2241 SE 26th

A reader spotted this house for sale at 2241 SE 26th and wrote in:

"I was driving through SE the other day and passed this house by. It looked very nice from the outside and the area was great. I thought to myself, "That's likely to be a bit out of your price range but it doesn't hurt to take a look..." MLS # 8021444

When I saw the price I couldn't believe my eyes - $625k?! When I got home I looked up the MLS number and checked portlandmaps. They purchased it last year for 340k."

According to PortlandMaps it's had a new garage added (but no pics, shame, I'm a big fan of garages), and had the basement finished. Other than that it looks to have had a full paint job and kitchen redo. If they get their asking price they'll make a pretty penny. My first impression was that it was overpriced, but according to Trulia it's in the ballpark on a price/ sq ft basis ($235, right at median price according to Trulia ) for the Hosford Abernethy area, but it is on a small lot (3750 sq ft).

Am I the only person who's tired of granite counter tops? I'm starting to miss Formica! I'm also not a big fan of the tile around the fireplaces, but that's just me.

Free Fall Friday - 632 NE Russell - $550k

Here's another case of "instant equity". It looks like this house was bought for $314,550 in 2004, with about 8% down. The house was refinanced on 3/31/2006 for $504k (a 60% increase in 15 months!) with a second loan of $116k taken out on 11/10/2006 for a total of $620k.

It's now for sale for $550k. $70k instant equity!

It's now listed as a short sale, and gotta love the marketing "Charming 4-Square on the edge of Irvington! " Yup, the edge of Irvington would be Elliot. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

"Unfinished attic & basement are framed & plumbed w/good height. Room for garage to be rebuilt. Sale is subject to lenders' approval of a short sale."

Oops, we ran out of money before we finished the attic or basement. But hey, it's got granite countertops!

MLS# 8013821

House Flipping Didn't Work, Let's Try Comedy!

It seems like you can't swing a dead rat without reading about the real estate market these days.

This morning I was flipping through this weeks Willamette Week, and without even trying came across three real estate references.

In the editorials on page 4 there is a funny piece about building a wall between us and California to keep out the "professionals, engineers, teachers, techies, etc" with a reference to the misconception that Portland home prices are continuing to rise: "Why should the rest of the nation's home values continue to plummet when Portland's stay steady, and even increase?" The piece is pretty funny, the misconception is not.

On page 15 there is a half page ad for Harrison High Condos, touting "Your home, your price". Come in and name your price. We can't sell these things, so please make an offer so we can pay back our construction loans.

Um, how about you pay me to live there, so the building doesn't look deserted. No?

Finally, on page 31, there is an article about local comics. Under things you should know about Andy Wood is the quote "Turned to comedy when house-flipping failed."

How bad is the housing market when stand up comedy is a better job than restoring (flipping) houses!?! Bad.

Check out That Property Line - 4904 NE 34th Ave.

This cute little house (MLS # 8021247) was bought and "restored" this past year and is now back on the market.

You could have bought it last March for $361k, and got a cute albeit dated house and garage on a nice large 7500 square ft lot.

Now you can buy the "restored" version, sans garage and most of it's lot, for only $329k, just marked down from $349k.

And there is something fishy going on with the lot lines. I'm not sure why they laid out the lots like they did, but it must have been to make each lot 2500 square feet. - see Portland Map Link

What the photos don't show are the two new houses that loom just a few feet from this poor house. Oh, and it's listed as Beaumont/Wilshire, but it's actually in Concordia, which changes school districts.

I'm sure this will come up again, but this house leaves me conflicted. I'm a fan of infill and urban density, walk-ability, etc. But somehow executions like this just leave me cold.

Flipping over Laurelhurst - 3215 Ne Couch St

One of our readers points out this house for sale in Laurelhurst:

"Purchased for $250K on 02/12/2002, some permits pulled, looks like some updating, added room and bathroom in basement, I think he's fudging on the square footage.

Here's the kicker: asking price $650K!!!

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/rfs/571745277.html"

The seller is a real estate agent, for what it's worth. Let's see how fast it sells. That's 21.1% annual appreciation (not including renovation costs) for those curious.

What Would You Like to See?

The blog is starting to see some traffic, so thank you to all who are coming to visit and leaving comments.

My goal is still to find as much data as I can, and help paint a true portrait of the Portland real estate market. But I'd like to know what kind or information and analysis YOU would like to see. My current thoughts include:

1. Median pricing trends, predictions and drivers
2. Neighborhood pricing trends and drivers
3. Foreclosure statistics and locations
4. Pricing reductions
5. Inventory changes due to delistings (unlistings?)
6. Exposing real estate agent tricks and misinformation
7. Sub-prime and ARM loan information

Outside of market analysis, I'm also an architecture buff (and Portland is a fantastic place to be for interesting homes!), but not a fan of quick flips. Is there any interest in coverage of:

A. Interesting properties for sale
B. Bad flips

Let me know your thoughts, and if anyone has access to NAR data they'd be willing to share, please let me know.