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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 1996)
• AV . , P ag i A6 mmmmmrmmmm J uly 24, 1996 • T he P o r tlan d O bserver Wl{C ^ ö rtla n b •bseruer Mortgage Rates To Decline Wells Fargo Housing Donation W ells Fargo, the nation's eighth largest banking company with 170 branches throughout Oregon, an nounced today its donation o f $ 150,000 for support o f local, low- income housing. W ells Fargo’s Southem/Central Oregon Regional Com m ercial Bank ing Manager Dennis Huserik, a Se nior Vice President, presented the check to Mayor Ruth Bascom , who was joined by Springfield Mayor B ill Morrisette and Lane County C om missioner Bobby Green. A lso attending from W e lls Fargo were Retail B a n kin g Execu tive s Metro West President M ike Fo glia, Lane County D istrict M anager Ray Bates and Managers o f W ells Fargo Eugene area branches. “Through our charitable co n tributions program, W e lls Fargo seeks to invest in organizations that make significant contributions to the needs o f the com m unities in w h ich we do b u s in e s s ,” sa id Huserik “ In this com m unity, one o f the most obvious needs is affordable housing T here are now more than 1,200 homeless people here, one third o f whom are children We believe that by w orking together with organizations such as the H ousing P o licy Board that are committed to the revitalization o f our com m uni ties, the partners can accom plish far more than they could do as single o r g a n iz a t io n s .” The Intergovernmental H ousing P o licy Board, an advisory com m it tee that coord inates low - income hous ing efforts on behalf o f Eugene, Sp rin gfie ld , and Lane County, w ill coordinate the expenditure o f the funds. Tw o -thirds o f the funds w ill be used to support the city o f Eugene's adopted housing plan, while the re m aining $50,000 w ill go towards housing programs throughout the rest o f Lane County. “ T h is g e n e ro u s c o n trib u tio n w ill make a big difference and is an im p o rtan t step in o ur 1 0 -ye ar p lan,” said M ayor Bascom . Com m issioner Green added that the $ 150,000 grant was made after the H ousing P o licy Board demon strated how local governments are combin ing efforts to address the lack o f affordable housing, saying that “this cooperation is a model that we hope others w ill follow in the effort to address this gro w in g prob- I e m . ” Donna Taggart, a Board M em ber o f Lane Fair Share, says that the o rgan izatio n “ is pleased to see W ells Fargo jo in in g the effort to provide affordable housing in E u gene and Lane County. We see this contribution as a prom ising start in bu ilding W ells F a rg o ’s com m it ment to com m unity in O rego n.” The grant request was spearhead ed by Lane Fair Share, and has now reached 25 percent o f its $ I m illion goal for affordable housing. B ill Morrisette, who like B o b b y Green is a member o f the H o usin g P o licy Board, lauded the efforts o f W ells Fa rg o and F a ir Share. “ O u r com m unity is one that cares. The efforts that went into securing the contribution, by Lane F a ir Share and others, and the generosity o f W e lls Fargo, w ill be felt for many years. It is my hope that these funds w ill make home ow nership a reality for many o f our w orking fam ilies. We encourage other businesses to jo in our effo rt.” The housing market is expected to remain strong this year, despite mod erately higher mortgage interest rates, according to D avid Berson, vice pres ident and c h ie f econom ist at Fannie Mae ( N Y S E : F N M ), the nation's largest source o f home mortgage funds. Berson said he sees mortgage orig inations continuing to show strength through the summer and into the fall, despite the increase in mortgage in terest rates. He also said it is like ly that the econom y w ill slow over the second h a lf o f the year, w hich — along with stable inflation — should allow long-term interest rates to de cline modestly. In addition, Berson said he e x pects mortgage originations this year could rise to about $750 b illio n , 18 percent above last y e a r’s level and the first increase in originations in three years. He said the pace o f new home sales in the first four months o f 1996 was the strongest such period since the first h a lf o f 1986. A d d in g to the outlook for a so lid housing market this year, homeowners in near ly all regions o f the nation are seeing faster appreciation in the value o f their homes, m any forthe firsttim e in several years. He said increases are p articularly strong in C a lifo rn ia , the M ountain states and the Southeast. “ D esp ite increases d u rin g the past six months, m ortgage rates re m ain affordable enough that they should not sign ifican tly dampen the h o u s in g m a rk e t,” B e rs o n sa id . “ M ortgage interest rates still are about 80 basis points below the 9.2 percent level recorded in January 1995. W ith modest inflation overthe rem ainder o f the year, and an expect- Rebuild An Old Porch A porch is an architectural fea ture worth preserving. L ik e most exterior areas o f a house it is vulner able to water damage and eventual rot. R epairing or rebuilding one is a straightforward project. Here are the basic steps involved. S u p p o rt the R o o f: U n le ss a porch is open, its ro o f must be sup ported before any m ajor repair w ork can be done to the jo ist system. Forget about ja c k s ; the easiest way to support a porch ro o f is with a system o f temporary 2x4 or 4x4 posts. Place a post next to the e xistin g posts or at ten foot inter vals. N a il a piece o f2 x 4 to the under side o f the ro o f header. C ut the posts about 6 inches longer than the distance between the 2x4 and the ground. N otch one end o f the post to fit the 2x4 cleat and place the other end on a 2 foot section o f 2x8. D riv e the post towards the porch with asledge hammer. When they’re tight, toe nai I the temporary posts to the base and cleat. Jo is t L a y o u t: O n our 6 ft. by 16 ft. porch the area between the first jo ist and the house was vulnerable to water damage. A n alum inum bracket was used to hold the jo ist away from the house. The bracket was bolted to the band jo ist or sill and the first jo ist was attached to the bracket, keeping it aw ay from the building. L e v e l the D e c k : A porch should slope away from the house to pro mote drainage. On a sm all porch like ours layout was easy. T em p o rarily support the front beam on the old footings or make some tempo rary posts. Then nail the headers I (porch ends) to the rear beam at Moore Data Acquires Online Software Moore Data Management S e rv ic es, the real estate software and data base services di vision o f Moore C o r poration’s U .S . subsidiary, and O n- Line Software, Inc. (O LS)a n n o u n ce d today that the two com panies have reached an agreement in principle whereby Moore w ill acquire O L S , a privately held real estate software d e v e lo p e r h e a d q u a rte re d in Matteson, III., a suburb o f C hicago . “ In line with our growth strategy, Moore continues to invest in the real estate and property information man agement market," said Thom as M. f COMMUNITY ®he 1 G rego rich , president o f M oore Data M anagem ent Se rvice s. “ W ith the purchase o f O L S , we are acq u irin g a tech no logically advanced com pany offerin g solutions to the real estate in d u stry that is in co ncert w ith M o o re’s directio n to expand our market breadth in broker and agent p ro d u c tiv ity so lu tio n s .” O ve r the past year, M oore has been increasing its investment in this area with the form ation a new broker services group to market real estate products, system s and services d i rectly to brokers and agents. The effort is focused on helping them em ploy inform ation and tech nology as differentiators that w ill grow their com petitive position. “ T h e acquisition o f O L S and the m arketleading products and services it p r o v id e s w ill c o m p le m e n t Cull 5(13-288-111133 DIVERSITY The strong housing market con tinued in June as housing starts rose 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual ra te o f 1 4 8 0 m illio n units and sin gle-fa m ily starts rose to their high est level in more than two years, the U .S . Com m erce Departm ent report ed today. “ It seems that the econom y is strong enough to offset the I + per centage point rise in interest rates that w e’ve experienced since the early part o f the year,” said N a tional A ssociation o f Hom e Builders ( N A H B ) President Randy Sm ith, a home builder from Walnut Creek, C a lif. "A lth ou gh we keep expect ing higher interest rates to have a RENT YOUR NEXT "7sf Class Guarantee” A-ZEBRA ng. 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I f sections o fth e porch have to be com pletely rebuilt it’s easier to d ig and pour the new footings be fore the porch jo ists are replaced. Then frame up the porch, level the deck and build the pier form right under the beams. M ake this form strong enough to support the porch so you can continue w orking on the porch as the concrete cures. I f the porch jo ists and decking don’t have to be totally replaced you m ight be faced with the prob lem o f placing a pier under the existing structure. E xcavatin g for and pouring the footing is not too d ifficu lt but fillin g a form with con crete that is positioned under the porch is a challenge. A solution is tousean 8-in. diam eter cardboard bu ilder’s tube form. C ut aw ay the front o f the form so you can fill it. Purchase a section o f this form tube at least a foot longer than needed. Cut the tube to length and then cut a sm all U-shaped open ing at the top so you can shovel in the concrete. Cut the extra foot o f tube lengthwise so it w ill slide over the form. Place the form under the beam with the opening facin g outward. F ill the form with concrete by shov eling it through this opening. Add reinforcing bar if required by the bu ild in g code. When the form fills raise the slid in g section. Use a stick to work the concrete into all areas o f the form. O ve r fill the form to be certain that it is com pletely full. W a ita w e e kto strip o ffe ith e rth e tube or pier form so the concrete has time to cure. It m ight be necessary to shim the deck up slightly because concrete tends to shrink up within the form. C o v e r the top o fth e pier with an alum inum termite shield. WILLIAMS LANDSCAPING 2 8 9 -0 8 4 1 Buying A House? Mark Tomlin raise the posts o ff the deck and prevent water damage. 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Reset the C o lu m n s : Coat both ends o f the old ro o f support c o l umns with a water sealer and then reset them on alum inum colum n supports. These alum inum pads Singles & Seniors, I can help you! FROM THE HOME LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT SPECIALISTS DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION FEE negative impact on the housing mar ket, it appears that the impact has not k ic k e d in y e t.” However, Smith noted that he does not expect the current pace o f housing starts to continue throughout the year. “ W e fully expect the market to move down moderately in the second h a lf o f the year as higher interest rates take their to ll,” he said LISCENSED IN OREGON SINCE 1975 WASHER & DRYER JT-1IL its inception. O L S has an active direct sales force that w ill complement M oore's own as w ell as a North Am erican dealer network to provide widespread distribution. O L S w ill continue to operate un der its current name. Founder Bruce Peterson w ill remain as president o f O LS. Moore Corporation Lim ited ( T S E , M E , N Y S E : M C L ) is a global leader in del ivering integrated business com m unication products, services and solutions that create e fficie n cy and enhance competitiveness for custom ers, including business form s and systems, business equipment, print management outsourcing, com m er cial and digital printing, labels, per sonalized direct mail, statement print ing, and related services. Housing Starts Rise Slightly In July ^ I n r tla tib (©bseruer M oore’s o ffering to address the needs o f the broker as w ell as the individual agent by offerin g advantages in tech nology, data and im age,” said M r G regorich. Founded in 1993, O L S designs and develops full-featured software applications for the real estate indus try, inclu ding productivity systems for broker o ffices as w ell as in d ivid ual real estate agents. The O L S offerin gs provide all the management tools required to effec tive ly and e fficiently manage a busi ness for growth and profit. O L S soft ware provides fu lly integrated func tions inclu ding contact management, scheduling and full general account ing. The com pany has contracts with several national realty franchises and has tripled its revenue annually since ed drop in interest rates later in the year, we expect 1996 still should be the fourth-best year ever in terms o f h o u s in g a c t iv it y .” Berson expects the housing m ar ket w ill remain strong in 1996 even if the Federal Reserve Board tightens m onetary p o licy, as most financial m arket experts predict. “ I f inter est rates rise in the near-term, it be com es more like ly that the econom y w ill slow later in the year and in fla tion fears w ill not be re alize d,” he added Any & All Landscape needs! 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