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wick's tips

Wick’s Tips – Humorous Realtor Jargon You Should Know

Hi all Wick here.

Since it’s summer I thought I’d go with a sunny fun topic since it’s sunny and fun outside.

We all know them.  We all love them: Realtor terms

Here’s a list I’ve compiled that I thought you might enjoy.  Some old, some new. And a few are my own creation

Urban.  Sounds chic and metropolitan right?  It means it’s loud.

Cozy.  We all know cozy right?  It means small. But have you heard about intimate yet?

Intimate.  …makes cozy look downright roomy. 

Methy.  For fear of a social media backlash I’m not touching this one it but I’m sure you can decipher it.

Quiet.  Means you can barely get WiFi you are so far from town.  

Hand crafted.  I usually say this while I’m looking at some duct taped plumbing.

Potential.  Say goodbye to your next twelve weekends because you’ll be painting the entire house!

“Sunny corner”.  Means a High speed intersection.  

Motivated seller.  Means you can come in with an offer $30k under list.  

Convenient.  Means you are so close to the Max line you can see it from the living room.  

Open concept.  If I hear this one more time…

A Re-muddle.  A re-muddle is a very poor remodel.  

And lastly … A slow flip.  Is a funny way to say you’ve lived in the house for several years and you’ve fixed it up along the way.

And it wouldn’t be a show if I didn’t at least say: Unique, Rustic, Charming character and of course Good bones.  Actually one of my career goals is to never utter the phrase good bones. I’m saying it now for clarification purposes only.  Hope you gained some valuable insight into the linguistic world of real estate today! As always thanks for watching:)

Wick’s Tips – Planting Strips 101 in PDX

Hi All, Wick here.

Today’s topic is planting strips.  I’ve heard a lot of controversy lately over what is allowed and not allowed for this area of land located between the sidewalk and the curb.  The city’s overall viewpoint is safety and access. Safety in the ability to view traffic and access for car doors to open near the curb. As you probably already know, the city owns this portion of your front yard but you as the homeowner are required to maintain it.  Let’s “dig in” a little into planting strips:)

1) The good news is: You are allowed to have planter boxes in the planting strip!  But only certain dimensions:

they have to be 2 feet from curb

  • 1 foot from sidewalk
  • No longer than 10 feet
  • At least 4 feet apart
  • No more than 18 inches tall  (This means I could never have a planter box in front of my house because my planting strip is too narrow).

2) You need a permit to build a planter box.  They cost about $360. Most people forego the permits and just build them but be warned.  Planter boxes are complaint driven. So be sure to chat with your neighbors first before building one.

3) Tree Limbs hanging over the sidewalk can’t be lower than 7’1/2″ high.  And limbs hanging over the street have to be at least 11′ high.

4) Here’s an interesting one.  If you decide to put concrete or pavers or gravel into your planting strip you are heretofore required to comply with the trip hazard rule.  Sidewalks have to have less than 1/2″ trip hazard. So the same rule applies between the sidewalk and the new surface you installed in the planting strip.

I hope this covers a lot of your planting strip questions!  Please reach out to me if you have more. And as always if your friends or family need a hand buying or selling a home we would love to help them!