About Us
Tony and Libby Kelly, MBA, M.Ed. are ranked in the top 1% of REALTORS in Portland Metro. They have been featured on HGTV's "House Hunters" 3 Episodes & "My House is Worth What?" 4 Episodes.
5126 NE 15th Ave, Portland OR 97211
Location, location, location! Fantastic Portland bungalow in the heart of the Alberta Arts District. This clean, neat and spacious home features extensive hardwoods, all new windows, remodeled kitchen and bathrooms, high ceilings, period built-ins and touches, and tons of room in the light filled basement. Just yards away from Alberta St and shopping & dining.
1410 NW Kearney St, Portland OR
Fantastic corner unit in the excitingly modern Edge Lofts. This Spacious Pearl District gem features abundant upgrades including gourmet kitchen w/custom back splash, high-end stainless appliances, gorgeous hardwood flooring, custom partition forming extra bedroom or office & extra storage unit. Floor to ceiling windows bath living area w/natural light. Dining, shopping & fun.
Taking Advantage of Interest Rates
It seems like everywhere you turn there is some letting you know how amazing rates are now and how you MUST take advantage. At the same time you will hear story after story of people with decent to great credit not being able to get one of these amazing loans because of stricter standards. So how do you give yourself the best chance possible?
To start you are going to want to see if you qualify for a refi. Banks are currently wanting a credit score of at least 740 and 20% equity. These are not hard and fast guidelines but if your credit score could use some help, now is the time to work on it. If you don’t have the 20% equity there are some programs out there but your loan must be held by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
Next you are going to want to get rid of any home equity loans or lines of credit. Otherwise you can be adding significant time to the loan process and/or some interest could be tagged on.
You will also want to know where to look by shopping around. Where one bank may reject you, another might see you as a perfect candidate. Lately the best rates seem to be coming from small local banks and credit unions.
If you have the option, it is a really good idea to pay a point up front. A point is 1% of your mortgage and paying one off up front can buy your loan down an eighth to a quarter of a percentage point off your rate. Some lenders will even take off a full half of a percentage point just to avoid serial refinancers. This could also help you lock in a rate. Before you really only need about a month so locking in your rate wasn’t so difficult. Now it can take closer to two months and paying a point can get that rate locked in for 45 days.
The loan application process has gotten a lot harder and more complicated, but not only will it be easier if you know what you are getting into but also completely worth the effort to get these historical rates.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/17/real_estate/low_rate_loan.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2009041711
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Homes In Portland Seem To Be Selling Faster
12755 SW 138th Ave, Tigard OR
Charming Rose Meadows traditional on very quiet street. Great home, great neighborhood, great location! This Lovely homes features hardwood floors, custom interior colors, dining room wainscotting , skylights, central air, open floorplan, large kitchen with center island & walk-in pantry. Very efficient use of space w/3 bedrooms & large bonus room. Private backyard with patio.
The Best Cappuccino in Portland?
I recently met a client for coffee at Costello’s Travel Caffe on 2222 NE Broadway. Even though I’ve dined at the Blue Nile Ethiopian restaurant directly across the street many times, I’ve never ventured into this very cool caffe. My client said I was going to have the best cappuccino in Portland and proceeded to order for me. Note, I love coffee, espresso, and mocha with three shots, but I’ve never been a fan of cappuccinos. I’ve always found them to mild and lacking of flavor. But as the barista was putting the final touches on our drinks, I was quite intrigued. As you can see in the picture, each cup is handcrafted. It was so pretty that I had to take a picture. Verdict? One: is that I LOVE cappuccino made by a true barista. Two: this may be the best in Portland. Three: Now I’m on a quest for the best cappuccino in Portland! So if you have suggestions please feel free to share.
Here is some info I grabbed from their website, www.costellostravelcaffe.com
Owned and operated by the Costello family, Costello’s Travel Caffé is warm, inviting, and full of character. With a vibrant, old-world atmosphere, it’s not suprising that Costello’s has become a neighborhood favorite and a destination within the Portland area. While the unique environment is quite distinctive, it’s the great food and attentive service that have earned the loyalty of Costello’s customers.
A visit to Costello’s Travel Caffé can be reminiscent of a colorful European café. The theme of world travel is represented throughout the decor, most notably a pair of wood-framed flat screens. These screens artfully display filmed views from select cities and destinations around the world. Each scene was filmed and edited by owners Dave Costello and his son Chris. Beginning in 2000, Dave and Chris have traveled to numerous countries, armed with a camera and tripod, to film these views for Costello’s. The archive of footage now includes over 20 countries and growing. A typical visit to Costello’s could entail scenes from places like Budapest, Beijing, and Barcelona. The views are often accompanied by their natural sounds and international music, adding to the overall ambiance and realism.
In keeping with a passion of travel, Costello’s hosts weekly foreign conversation nights, foreign films, and international soccer. From the Soccer World Cup to the Tour de France, Costello’s has been a fixture for devoted fans to enjoy sporting events from each corner of the globe. Live music is played on Thursday and Friday night from 8-10pm, ranging from toe-tappin’ Gypsy jazz to Brazilian bossa nova. Foreign Film Night, Wednesday at 8pm, has been a longtime favorite as customers crowd the café to see some of the world’s best films.
Portland Ranks 3rd for Least Wasteful City in the U.S.!
From Rain Barrels and Recycling to Walking and Buying Second-Hand Clothes,
“The Nalgene Least Wasteful City Study” Puts Top 25 Metros Under Scrutiny for Wasteful Behavior
Here in Portland we pride ourselves for leading the pack when it comes to respecting and protecting our environment. Now it looks like our efforts have been effective according to a new study that focused on on wasteful behavior in our nation’s cities. “The Nalgene Least Wasteful City Study” ranked 23 waste-focused habits of urban Americans, from recycling, to using public transportation, to shutting off the lights when leaving the room. When the results were tallied, San Francisco earned the title of America’s Least Wasteful City, while Atlanta ranked last in the study. Other cities at the top of the least wasteful list are New York (2), Portland, OR (3) and Seattle (4). In addition to Atlanta, Dallas (24), Indianapolis (23), Houston (22) and St. Louis (21) were in the bottom five of those surveyed. Individuals can visit www.leastwastefulcities.com for complete rankings or to the take the survey themselves.
The Tony and Libby Kelly Group is also making an effort to be less wasteful. Soon we will be using Eco-Flyers to curb the use of paper and ink, as well as lessen the amount of garbage generated. We have also gone paperless in our listing and marketing presentations (we love our MacBook Pro) and transaction management.
Historic Interest Rates & National Portland Exposure
This is a great story about how a bank passed on some of the federal bank bailout money to clients in the form of lower interest rates for home purchases. The Great Northwest Home Rush was sponsored by Community Financial Corp. and Banner Bank. The homes included, in what turned out to be one the biggest home shows in the area, were offered a 30 year fixed interest rate of 3.875% by Banner. The show ran for most of March. Half of this National CBS story was filmed in Portland.
HGTV
Hello, all:
At long last, the House Hunters special that I got to participate in, “House Hunters’ Guide to House Hunting”, is airing this Sunday, April 5th, at 8 PM EST. I would advise you all to check your local listings for specific times in your area, just in case, because sometimes the different cable or satellite providers air the shows at slightly different times.
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Check It Out!
Last week I had the pleasure of finally trying one of the best restaurants in Portland. This tiny place on East Burnside takes reservation, which I highly recommend because I had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. It worked out because they take down your phone number and call you when they are ready so I got a beer nearby. I also ended up getting to sit at the counter and watch the food being prepared which is a treat in itself.
To begin with my boyfriend ordered the pork belly appetizer which normally would have been me, and should have been but I was really curious about the sweetbreads. Both were great but the pork belly was AWESOME. The sweetbreads seemed to be deep fried and came with cooked grapes, bacon and truffle shavings. The pork belly had a bbq flavored crispy crust with a middle that completely melted in your mouth. (He won that round but the meal is not over)
For the main event I took the very wise advise of the waitress and ordered the rabbit. My boyfriend ordered the beef cheek. Knives come with the rest of the silverware but we did not need them for a single dish because everything literally cuts like butter. The beef cheek was cooked to perfection and had some sort of wine reduction sauce that was really good but a little too strong for our taste. The rabbit was so tender and seasoned perfectly with salt, pepper, thyme and garlic (I asked) and sat on top of potatoes, cheese, peas and some other great things. I love anything that feels like gourmet comfort food.
At this point we are way too stuffed to even think about dessert and I don’t normally get one anyway (I’m more of a carb person). But we saw the dessert special on the board on the way in and I am a sucker for the sweet and savory combination. So we decided to ask the very wise waitress whether is was a “must have” and it turned out that it was. Apparently the chef is not much of a dessert person either and shares my love of the sweet with savory. So I am just going to tell you what we had and let you know that it was truly as good as it sounds. We finished our meal with an apricot and honey cornbread with pieces of bacon in it. It was topped with maple ice cream, maple syrup and more pieces of bacon. I plan on going back there as soon as I possible can. (Reviewed by Wendy Webster)
Recent Blog Posts
May is National Moving Month
Friday, May 4th, 2012
May marks the official beginning of the moving season, and is known as "National Moving Month". 10 Tips To Prepare Your Home to List
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Ten tips to prepare your home to list. Agency Info
Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere
17700 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd
Portland, OR 97224