Menu A full plate of Spanakopita (or noodles) and veggies: $5 Just Spanakopita: $3 Just Greek roasted veggies: $2 Kid’s noodle plate $2 Drinks and cookies $1 Bring your own [...]]]> Family Night at The Roost (for some of us that will be before or after checking out the Sunnyside Environmental School Talent Show) tonight (March 5th) features spanikopita and roasted veggies:

Menu

• A full plate of Spanakopita (or noodles) and veggies: $5
• Just Spanakopita: $3
• Just Greek roasted veggies: $2
• Kid’s noodle plate $2
• Drinks and cookies $1
• Bring your own containers if you are swinging by for take out.

FIRST NIGHT OF MINI BOUNCY HOUSES: We are testing out two co-op member owned bouncy houses (more for the toddler and preschool set) and, since they have size and weight requirements, treating all kids too old for the bouncy houses to free ice cream.

Come check out our happy family scene . . .

Dinner 5:30 -7 (or until the food is all sold which ever comes first)

Open Gym Time: 3-5pm and 6-9pm (one hour break for our cool Roost kids)

SATURDAY NIGHT: Uncle Yasha, who treated us with his accordion music during Dena Wilder’s soup and salad night, is back this Saturday 6-7 on the Swap Shop stage with his accordion, keen wit and the incredible Yashaphone (a contraption that kids can play on to “help” make the music). Should be great Swap Shop fun.

Where ever you are. What ever you do. Hope you have a great weekend out and about in community.

Whether you are seriously in the market for a new home or just dreaming and planning for the future — we are lucky to have very knowledgeable inner southeast real estate agents: Jarrett Altman and [...]]]> Spring is in the air and that means home buying and selling is picking up even in this down economy.

Whether you are seriously in the market for a new home or just dreaming and planning for the future — we are lucky to have very knowledgeable inner southeast real estate agents: Jarrett Altman and Tracy Dau of Neighborhood Works Realty as Roost sponsors to keep us all in the loop on what’s happening in our part of Portland.

Every quarter I ask Tracy and Jarrett for an update on homes selling in our neighborhood and a bit of education on what we would all like to know to make the best of our funky old inner Southeast rentals and owned homes.

If this is your year for jumping into home ownership or selling what you have and buying a new home, the first time home buyer and current home buyer tax credits are in effect as long as there is an offer made and accepted by April 30th. As I well know from buying my own home last year, offers go back and forth for a while with counter offers and inspections and other life events. Tracy, who was fabulous working with me and the seller’s agent for my 3 bedroom 2 bath on Yamhill, recommends using the next three weeks to get all your ducks in a row to start making those first offers so you can be well within the deadline.

Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, as long as a written binding contract to purchase is in effect on April 30, 2010, the purchaser will have until July 1, 2010 to close. Happy house hunting if this is the right time for you.

For those of us still trying to decide if renting or owning makes more sense, Jarrett forwarded me this piece of regional good news: According to Forbes Magazine, Portland is listed as the 8th best city in the nation where it is smarter to buy than rent. To rank the cities, Forbes computed the premium to buy–the spread between what you would spend to rent and what you would pay for a mortgage–and then identified locales where economists predict home prices will go up the most over the next five years. Apparently, in our last housing bubble you would have been paying a 62% premium to go from renting to buying in Portland but in the third quarter of 2009, that premium shrank for to “only” 46%. At the same time, Moody’s Economy.com gives Portland a projected home price jump of 19% over the next five years because of our tight urban growth boundaries are giving the homes we already have more value.

Whether rental and purchase prices are going up or down or sideways, the bottom line for most of us it how much will the home I want cost?

Tracy compiled this list for us from homes that have closed within the last 6 months in the Sunnyside Environmental School district boundaries:

Current fixers are selling in the $320,000 range. Two examples of this are – 2414 SE Madison Street listed at $319,000. The house is 958 sqft above grade with 958 in a semi-finished basement, with 5 bdrms 2 bath’s with tiny yard, and off-street parking. The second example is 4020 SE Belmont Street. The house is listed for $340,000 and is 4 bedroom 2 bath and bank owned.

Medium size homes in that are three bedroom two baths are selling around $450,000. Two examples – 3642 SE Morrison Street which is currently active at $449,900. This house has 1463 finished sqft and is 3/2 bath. Another house that has sold is 1327 SE 32nd Place which listed for $459,00 and sold for $436,000. This house also had detached garage and driveway and both homes sit on quiet streets in the heart of Sunnyside.

Remodeled homes with new systems updated kitchens and bathrooms are selling in the upper $400,000 – $600,000 range. Two examples that have recently sold are: 3717 SE Yamhill Street which was listed for $475,000 and sold for $474,200. This house has 1464 sqft finished on the main two floors with a partially finished basement. The house has NO garage nor driveway. Second example is 1309 SE 32nd Place which listed for $575,000 and sold for $550,000. This house has approx. 2400 sqft of finished space with 3 bedrooms and 2.1 bathrooms. A driveway and decent size yard with deck and lawn.

Tracy and Jarrett’s generous offer to all of us still stands — call with your basic house questions any time. Even if you aren’t buying or selling a house, you can really help yourself (and indirectly Tracy, Jarrett and other agents too) by checking in with someone like them before tearing down a wall, responding to the city’s fix it letter, or slapping on a coat of paint.

With their own kids to raise and real estate careers to navigate in a challenging market, Tracy and Jarrett wouldn’t be able to drop everything to spend a big chunk of their day with you if you aren’t in the market right now to buy or sell, but you’d be amazed by the knowledge they can share in a 5-10 minute phone conversation or a quick stop by your house on their way to the next client.

As I said the first time I posted about Tracy and Jarrett, as the years go on, sharing the kind of inner South east neighborhood knowledge they have from being day to day in the market is going to help all of us have more success with purchases, rentals, remodels and renovations. Now, that’s how Neighborhood Works!

To reach Jarrett Altman (mom of 3 year old Justine): jarrett@neighborhood-works.com (503) 407-4200.

To reach Tracy Dau (mom of 2 year old Lander and 6 year old Olivia): (971) 275-0387 tdau@juno.com

To read more about all our Roost sponsors (and to find that number or address you need when you can’t find the original post), check out the Sponsors page. Our growing list of great neighborhood businesses are in business card size banners along the left side of the home page with links to the posts and their own web sites.

This time of year, every possible niche has a gift, from 45-cent foil-wrapped hearts for little kids with pocket change [...]]]> Something for everyone. That would be the theme of this sweet post and really the whole focus of how JaCivas Bakery and Chocolatier treats their role as the local, neighborhood bakery and candy shop.

This time of year, every possible niche has a gift, from 45-cent foil-wrapped hearts for little kids with pocket change to the $250 giant heart-shaped box of 100 mixed chocolates for businesses with a large enough staff to justify the expense. As I walk around with store owner, Iva, surveying all our Valentines options, I’m that kid in the candy store all over again, discovering an amazing new treasure around every corner.

Sugary Sweet Valentines Cookies, check. Velvet covered boxes of chocolates, of course. But what’s this? . . . ornate handmade dark and light chocolate boxes with velvety truffles inside. OK, these are not to be wasted on children and, at $12 – $15 each, are right in my price range for personal indulgence. I can gift myself on Valentines Day, right?

Iva and Jack Elmer started baking up and spinning out treats in Boring Oregon in 1972 moving to Hawthorne Boulevard in 1986. It’s not hard to get your own personal bakery and chocolate shop tour from one of them, even on a busy day, since they both love showing off all the things that their daughters and the rest of their 27-person staff dream up each week and put out on display. Cheerful and chipper Tammy is a regular presence at the front counter and a fervent promoter of their new red velvet cupcakes. They had already sold out for the day when I came in late in the afternoon so I didn’t get to try a sample but her description of the moist, dreamy cake slathered in cream cheese frosting almost did me in.

If you don’t have a good tolerance for sugar or dairy, Iva wouldn’t want you to be left out of the mix. There’s a wide selection of sugar-free confections and any of the staff can let you know which dark chocolate items are completely milk- and butter-free.

If you are looking for something you can’t get anywhere else, you’ll be happy to know that their collection of chocolate molds after all these years is impressive and broad, from complete chocolate chess sets to the hallow chocolate piñatas they make for Thanksgiving, Christmas and, of course, Valentines Day. $35 will secure a playground ball sized chocolate cup cake shaped piñata filled with mystery treats of the chocolate and jelly bean varieties.

And all that skill they have at decorating cakes and torts pays off when they turn their efforts at this time of year to long-stemmed white chocolate roses colored pink and yellow and wrapped up so they are almost too pretty to eat.

So . . . there are just four full shopping days before sweetheart day. Whether you need those dozen or so little treats for a kid’s class or a mini torte for a romantic dinner at home, a quick swing by 4733 SE Hawthorne 7:30am – 6pm every day of the week (until 10pm on Friday and Saturday) will get you all taken care of.

You can make Valentines Day last all year long since every Friday and Saturday are a romantic adventure at JaCiva’s After Dark dessert house http://www.jacivas.com/afterdark.php where their very best desserts get served with late-night coffee and extra rich hot chocolate 5pm – 10pm. There’s a festive family flavor to this service which makes me feel like I’m in a South American or European town on a faraway vacation.

Having a locally-owned bakery that employs workers right here in Sunnyside with chocolates made by hand and transported from one room to the next instead of one country to another is a sweet spot in the fabric of our community. Thank you, Iva and Jack, for bringing lots of joy to the neighborhood and for funding The Roost as one of your many sweet gifts to the community.

JaCivas Bakery and Chocolatier

4733 SE Hawthorne

(503) 234- 8115