RETURN TO HOMERealtor Thursday
A conversation with Eric Martinez, Realtor with the Summa Real Estate Group of Beaverton, OR.
While it is among Portland’s largest suburbs, Beaverton truly has a personality all its own. A perfect place for families thanks to its great schools and quiet neighborhoods, Beaverton is also becoming an increasingly attractive city for younger people thanks to its myriad shops, restaurants and other businesses, as well as its close proximity to Oregon’s largest city.
The People
Beaverton, part of the Portland metro area, has a total population of 89,803 as of the 2010 US Census, an 18% increase over the last ten years. Families comprise a fairly large part of the population, with people under 18 making up 22.9% of the 2010 population, and the average household (of which there are 35,643) having exactly 2.5 people.
Recent studies have shown more jobs and higher incomes in Oregon shifting to Washington County, in which Beaverton resides. In fact, the 2010 Census showed the median household earning $55,213, more than $6,000 greater than the median Oregon household.
Finally, the home ownership rate has slipped about 12% over the last decade, thanks mostly to the housing crash, but the number still sits above half, at 52.1%, and the median value of owner-occupied housing has actually increased more than $50,000 in the last decade, currently sitting at $297,600.
Our Town
Incorporated in 1893, the city was mostly known for its abundance of car dealerships in the early-1900’s. Early in the century, however, it began to evolve into a real city, even becoming home to a movie studio at one point in the 1920’s.Once the MAX light rail connected Portland and Beaverton in 1994, the latter became a more viable option for commuters and visitors alike.
Today though, the city has developed its own style, environment and self-sustaining business community. In fact, the Nike World Headquarters, a beautifully expansive property that’s home to a lake, sports fields and track, as well as office buildings, is in Beaverton. (Technically it’s in unincorporated Washington County, despite being surrounded on all sides by Beaverton!)
Economy and Prices
As a part of the Portland metro area, Beaverton’s housing market is obviously heavily influenced by its larger neighbor and unfortunately, Portland’s housing market was hit harder than most over the last several years.
However, Portland’s stagnant housing market has also encouraged many potential homebuyers to look in Beaverton, where one can get more for their money thanks to more sprawling, less urban development. And as always, Beaverton remains an ideal location for home seekers who commute to Portland for work.
There’s also a constant built-in demand for housing in Beaverton thanks to some very large nearby employers. Sportswear giant Nike employs 7,000 people in Oregon, most of them at the company’s Beaverton world headquarters. Electronic equipment manufacturer Tektronix is also headquartered in Beaverton, and Intel’s manufacturing facility and office buildings employ 15,000, many in Beaverton and most in neighboring Hillsboro.
Going Green
Oregon in general is a pretty “green” state, and that’s thanks in no small part to Beaverton’s efforts. For example, one of the largest residential projects currently under construction in Beaverton, the mixed-use development 45 Central Homes, will be Earth Advantage certified, among other things.
Beaverton has also been active in encouraging residents to be energy-efficient when possible. The “Solar Beaverton” program offered tax credits, discounts and other incentives to homeowners who chose to install solar panels on their houses.
And it’s not just the real estate and new construction. The Beaverton School District, home to 25 Energy Star-certified schools, was just named the most energy-efficient district in the state.
Even gas stations get into the act. A local Chevron, believed to be a pioneer in the field, recently went entirely green, with solar panels, geothermal power and other upgrades. The result was the station has a net zero effect, meaning it produces as much energy as it uses. And for good measure it also offers bio-diesel fuel and electric vehicle charging stations.
In fact, Washington County has more electric vehicle charging stations than any county in Oregon.
Home Buying Tax Credit
While the homebuyer tax credits and incentives are an effective way to encourage people to buy houses, it doesn’t address the problem of the millions stuck with bad and underwater mortgages. (In fact it could exacerbate it, if some of these homebuyers shouldn’t necessarily be buying yet but feel they must.)
The recent adjustments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s policies to help distressed homeowners who are current on their payments was a good start, and this needs to continue to be a priority. Helping responsible homeowners who have avoided delinquency ease the burden of bad mortgages will do a lot more toward bettering the economy, which in turn will get people back on track to be buying homes. (And it will reduce foreclosures, which are a significant cause of the stagnant housing market.) Tax credits treat symptoms, while fixing families’ financial backbone treats the disease.
The Future
Over the last decade or so, Beaverton and Washington County have clearly embraced the New Urbanism—mixed-use developments featuring “Main Street”-style walkable communities that offer residential and commercial aspects. The largest such undertaking is 45 Central Homes, which looks to take advantage of an ideal location across the street from Nike and down the street from Tektronix. In addition to a hotel and shops, it will feature 220 detached houses and 140 condos, all in a high-density 26-acres.
Bottom Out
While Beaverton has been able to avoid some of the economic duress that Portland has seen, the housing market still has not been immune. However, the last several months have been characterized by more good news than bad. After six consecutive months of rising home prices (according to the most recent Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Price Index), it appears that the Portland metro area market bottomed out in February.
Total housing inventory has been dropping for the last several months as well; it would currently take about six months to sell all homes on the market at the current sales rate in the Portland metro. That’s nearly half of the 11-month inventory from August of 2010.
Realtors and Technology
During Summa Real Estate Group’s rapid expansion over the last two years, embracing technology has been one of our differentiating factors. It’s not so much designing a new plan based on current technology, which will change in a week anyway, as much as adopting a philosophy of constant change and adaptation.
That said, some changes we’ve made include increasing our social media presence, especially through blogging and Facebook; shifting our online advertising to social media platforms and focusing on mobile search; and most importantly, making our various websites really valuable resources for our clients. Many people don’t want to talk to a human until it’s absolutely necessary. For them, we ensure that our website is an engaging, informative tool that will provide them all the help they need in their search.
Bio
An active member of the community, Eric Martinez has lived in Beaverton and neighboring Hillsboro his entire life and he can’t imagine living anywhere else.
After working in real estate for over a decade, Eric realized there was a huge opportunity for an organization that had an entirely new business model and financial structure. So, with Tim Horst, Eric founded Summa Real Estate Group, with a priority placed on rewarding all members of the company in an equal way: those who do the work and bring in the money, get to keep it.
Two years later, Summa is one of the fastest growing real estate companies in the area, thanks to our organizational culture and a group of brokers who place teamwork and doing things the right way above all else.
Contact Eric
Phone: (503) 906-2606
Email: Eric.Martinez@Summare.com
AR: www.activerain.com/gotsumma
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This guest post is part of our Realtor Thursday Series. We invite realtors and real estate professionals from towns and cities all over the country, big or small, to participate. Our goal is to “travel” to as many towns as we can in every state. Every town is unique and wonderful to our readers. If you would like to showcase your town, your neighbors and your talents as a realtor, please contact us at liz@dalesiegel.com.