Our newest Roost business sponsor, mortgage broker Melissa Guthrie, knows that living simple [...]]]> Living more simply and making more local connections is a great way to upsize the richness of our lives and downsize the time we spend commuting away from our home to be able to come back and pay for it.

Our newest Roost business sponsor, mortgage broker Melissa Guthrie, knows that living simple and local pays off for her and the people she secures loans for.

She’s lived the life of big corporate banking and large mortgage firms where she too often found she couldn’t serve her customers as well as she wanted to. As a loan officer at a bank she knew that the products she had to offer on any given day weren’t always competitive with other rates and options in the market. At a large brokerage firm, she had access to more options but, still, the variety of people working together to process her clients’ loans too easily let important things fall through the cracks.

For her own quality of life and the quality service she wanted to offer, Melissa decided to go solo . . . forming her own one-woman business, MortgagesDirect, 11 years ago. Now she’s the broker and the receptionist, the processor and the closer, the manager and customer service.

She only processes a half dozen or so loans at a time so they all get her attention. She has access to all the same loans and refinance packages that a big firm does with the “small town” ability to call up the people she likes to work with most to give them the chance to match the rates and terms of a more distant firm.

When Tracy Dau and Jarrett Altman of Neighborhood Works Realty asked Melissa to join them as a Roost Sponsor, she was happy to help support our community building programs even though she has a very limited need to put her money and time into marketing. Treating her clients as well as she does, word of mouth is more than enough to keep a steady number of home loans and refinancing projects coming her way.

And as fate would have it, she said yes to becoming a Roost Sponsor before fully understanding what The Roost is. It was more than delightful to see her joy when she found out that her son, who is going into the Lodge program at Mt Tabor Middle School in the fall, has options she didn’t even realize in our new after school chill out spot for 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

While Melissa’s going to be checking out The Roost for her family in the fall, we all get to check in with her and Jarrett and Tracy every quarter so we can keep up on what’s happening in the world of real estate.

Anyone interested in refinancing will be happy to know that interest rates have dropped, averaging in the mid to high 4′s depending upon your loan type, size, credit score, term, etc. Melissa’s rule of thumb on a refinance is that you want to be refinancing at least 1% below what your current rate is to recoup costs within 2 to 3 years. Credit scores are key. Ideally to get your best rate, you want to have a score of 740 or above. If you are thinking of buying in the next 2 or 3 months, now is an ideal time to prequalify. Melissa can help you review your credit and finances. She can be a voice of reason, helping you determine what you can realistically afford which, even with all the finance reforms, is still less than what you could over stretch to qualify for.

Melissa met our co-op members Jarrett Altman and Tracy Dau around the time they also left larger firms to form Neighborhood Works Realty. Older, charming homes of the inner Southeast are Tracy and Jarrett’s specialty as they work together to help Swap Shop families enter and move around the local real estate market.

Sellers: Traditionally in Portland, and this year is no exception, there are less houses on the market in the summer. Jarrett and Tracy know this makes August a great time to list a house because there’s not as much competition from other listings. Also, in the summer, there are always eager families looking to get into a particular school (like Sunnyside) by the fall. This is also a good time to plan ahead for listing in the fall taking advantage of the good summer weather to deal with any work needed to get your house on the market for September and October.

Buyers: Now that the rush for the latest tax credit incentives have passed, interest rates coming down to the lowest they have been in the 10 years that Jarrett has been in real estate is the main financial incentive for buying now. Sunnyside houses are currently in the low 300′s for a cute 2 bed; mid-300′s for a fixer with at least 3 beds; high 300′s for a 3 bed that is small, and 400-500 for a really nice 3 bed with all the bedrooms upstairs that is “done” as far as modern upgrades and renovations.

Renovations: Tracy and Jarrett are a wealth of knowledge on home repairs and improvements with lots of connections to the trustworthy contractors that know how to get things done fast and well. They won’t mind a quick phone call, even if you aren’t putting your house on the market, where they can be neighborly and share the knowledge they’ve gathered keeping their focus on the older houses of inner SE Portland.

When each of us focuses on something that makes our community more connected and more vibrant, we all reap the benefits. We can all help our local economy stay vibrant by supporting local businesses and business people committed to living and working locally. It only takes a minute to say thank you when you frequent one of the businesses that sponsor us (listed at www.sunnysideswapshop.org.) and less than five minutes to go on line under our sponsors tab to add your encouraging words in the comments section.

If you want to get started on a loan or refinancing:

Melissa Guthrie
MortgagesDirect
Portland: 503-233-8750
Cell: 512-797-4662
Efax: 512-233-0571
maguthrieearthlinknet  maguthrieearthlinknet   or mguthriemortgagesdirectcom

For great inner southeast real estate services:
Jarrett Altman: jarrettnworksrealtycom (503) 407-4200
Tracy Dau: tdaujunocom (971) 275-0387
Neighborhood Works Realty

When Swap Shop and Roost board members and [...]]]>

If your summer plans include one or more of those all American road trips, you might also like to include [...]]]> On the first real sunny day in a good long while, it’s a lot easier to look forward to vacation plans and believe that summer, that fabulous Northwest summer, is really coming our way.

If your summer plans include one or more of those all American road trips, you might also like to include a little pre-trip appointment with one of our very first local business sponsors: Hawthorne Auto Clinic .

There’s nothing worse than a car full of kids miles from the nearest rest stop with a steaming engine, steaming tempers and visions of a budget breaking tow to the local mechanic who will surely have you between a rock and a hard place.

While I’m not a big fan of the Republican’s version of the preemptive strike, Hawthorne Auto Clinic has developed a very nice comprehensive inspection program that I’ve come to think of as fabulously preemptive . . . . and probably the most sane thing to do with my money and my time in relationship to our family van.

I’m by no means an expert on vehicles but I have figured out that problems come in about three flavors: items that have to be changed at some point like tires and belts (so you might as well do them before the road trip instead of somewhere inconveniently in the middle), items that aren’t ever supposed to break but sometimes do (no fair blaming the mechanic for not catching them in time), and, my least favorite, really expensive items like that $800-$1,150 timing belt replacement that could or could not break mid trip and take a whole chunk of the car out in a spectacular catastrophe.

If I bring my car to a mechanic and ask him to “do me a favor” by looking it over just to see if something needs doing, as honest as he is, there’s a big temptation to find something that needs doing so the effort is worth his time.

At the Hawthorne Auto Clinic, Jim and his wife Liz and all their great staff take the wonder and worry out of that whole process by having a set rate: $96 per vehicle for poking and prodding around your engine, charging system, cooling system, brakes, steering, suspension and tires, drive train and all those pesky lights and accessories. They keep the price even and their knowledge up to date by only working on 1990 and newer family cars (no sports cars).

What I like even better than the important things they might find while inspecting my car is the way they communicate everything back to me. This is not a chain store with a one size fits all print out or a one man shop with a quick, gruff run-down while you’re surrounded by greasy parts with the sweet smell of diesel in your lungs. You’ll have a detailed print out (so you don’t have to remember it all as you try to relay the basics to the other co-signer on your bank account) but you’ll also have a conversation over the phone or in a pleasant waiting room about the pros and cons of acting now or waiting until later on the various parts of your car.

You don’t have to remember that fancy term: comprehensive vehicle inspection. If you call Jim and Liz up and explain that what you really want is some peace of mind (that the tires will last, that the radiator won’t blow, that the transmission will hold), they will know what to do next.

Some of you may remember from our earlier emails about Hawthorne Auto Clinic that Liz is certified to do car seat inspections. She does very thorough inspections and trainings for parents free of charge (one inspection/training per day by appointment).

So, with a phone call and a financial/time investment much smaller than a roadside disaster, you could have the family vehicle ready for the family vacation and every kid safely secured.

Now if we could just find a way to stop the “are we there yet” cries that come from the back seat.

Liz and Jim’s biggest advice for summer fun: schedule that comprehensive vehicle inspection a good week before you leave just in case major issues are uncovered with parts to be ordered and work to be done before you drive off to the coast or the woods.

Hawthorne Auto Clinic is at 4307 SE Hawthorne Blvd open Mon-Fri, 7:30 AM to 6 PM (Early drop-off & after-hours pickup available) Call (503)234-2119 to make an appointment.

Forgot the name or contact info for a local business you read about in a swap shop email? All our sponsors are listed down the side of our home page, and on the Roost sponsors page.

Doing business locally helps keep our community strong. Giving neighborhood teens a legitimate place to chill helps keep our community safe, fun and strong.

Thank you to all our business sponsors and co-op members for the ways we support each other.

__._,_.___

Her part of Germany is known as the world headquarters for precision medical instruments making . . . but before you start [...]]]> As a town that appreciates cottage industries (especially if they brew
beer) and celebrates living locally, we may want to consider adopting Bea
Weiss-Krull’s home town Tuttlingen Germany as our sister city.

Her part of Germany is known as the world headquarters for precision
medical instruments making . . . but before you start envisioning well
swept, well kept large German factories, you should hear how Bea
(pronounced just like the letter B) tells it. It was a surprise to me
to learn that most of the instruments are made by a husband and wife
team in their own home or small operations of 5-10 people that will
often employ both a husband and wife. The need for only a small number
of each type of instrument made very, very well keeps the industry going
strong on such a small scale.

Bea found her way to the United States 17years ago because an American
medical instruments supplier valued her connections and bilingual skills
that helped them contact these mom and pop ventures and secure shipments
for their customers. She started law school in Chicago at The John
Marshall School of Law and, like so many of the rest of us, spent a
fateful long weekend in Portland (that included an inspiring trip to
Powell’s). That brief taste of Portland left her and her husband
determined to find a way to move out west for good.

She completed her law degree at Lewis and Clark College and, because of
her 6 and 4 year old daughters, she found our co-op through DoJump
classes. Like all parents, her kids keep her busy and active . . . in
her case with a special twist. Both her daughters were born with
Classic Galactosemia, a hereditary inability to metabolize the simple
sugar galactose (in all milk and milk products). If you have a life
altering health challenge in your family you may find inspiration in her
blog about living with Galactosemia at http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/
.

As a parent of children with special needs and as a lawyer specializing
in estate planning, Bea knows that every family is unique. There is no
one size fits all way to write up wills, trusts, durable power of
attorney, nomination of guardian or custodian or those important
domestic partnership agreements for same sex and unmarried male/female
couples. There is, however, great peace of mind in her flat fee style
of working with clients. Depending on the simplicity or complexity of
your needs, most of the legal documents she provides range in cost from
$500 to $2000 and she includes plenty of ongoing contact without extra
bills for her time.

Bea has helped countless families figure out the pros and cons of wills
vs. trusts. Though we don’t even want to think of the possibility,
she does a very good job of making sure our children have clear places
to go and accessible funding for their future should tragedy strike.

While Bea’s 4 year old daughter Mia Rose finished up her DoJump
class last Monday afternoon and her oldest daughter Alena made really
good use of our arts and crafts supplies, our conversation shifted from
family to business law. Portlanders are always starting up new ventures
and Bea’s other specialty is small business formation. So if you
are trying to take care of your family and manage your livelihood at the
same time, you won’t have to find two lawyers to do both.

It all starts with a phone call – at no cost. For estate planning, Bea
sends you a questionnaire and then sets up an initial meeting. Just
like the medical instrument makers of her youth, she works from her home
- conveniently close by to us at 58th and Hawthorne. She also has a 5th
Avenue office downtown but most of her client meetings are right in your
home (so you don’t have to get a sitter to see her). She has
evening and weekend appointments for working families.

Convenient, local resources we can count on that bring some peace of
mind to our lives, that’s what the Roost sponsorship program is all
about. Thank you Bea for supporting the Roost and supporting SE
families’ legal needs.

Beate’ (Bea) Weiss-Krull – Attorney at Law

1001 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 1100

Portland, Oregon 97204

503.234.0355

info @ weisskrull-law.com

To see all of our Roost sponsorship resources, go to the Swap Shop
website: www.sunnysideswapshop.org
and click on the business icons on the home page or the main sponsors
tab for our swap shop write ups and contact information.