Let's play House Hunters (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 26, 2010 1:42 PM. The previous post in this blog was State budget hole: Now it's up to $1.3 billion. The next post in this blog is They don't even have a football team. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« State budget hole: Now it's up to $1.3 billion | Main | They don't even have a football team »

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Let's play House Hunters

For $400K, would you take the tiny 2-bedroom house in the Berkshires, the 1,038-square-foot Pearl District condo, or the "earthship" hobbit hole in Taos?

Posted at 1:42 PM | Permalink

Comments (14)

Earthship, paws down.

Posted by Bark Munster | August 26, 2010 2:37 PM

It's a tough call. The Berkshires pad looks pretty sweet and the Pearl District condo beckons, but the hobbit hole in New Mexico has a wind turbine!

Either way I have no $$$ for a house at any cost.

Posted by none | August 26, 2010 3:03 PM

None are LEED-certified, so no self-respecting Portlander should buy any of them, right?

Posted by Eric | August 26, 2010 3:26 PM

The New Mexico house will be a hard sell in a crappy housing market. And a buyer may have a difficult time finding a lender due to the non-standard electric and plumbing systems.
Keep in mind that the entire Southwest is awash in homes for sale; and at 400K this will be a tough sale when you can buy a decent conventional home in that general area for 50-60% of the cost of the eco-house.

Posted by Dave A. | August 26, 2010 4:19 PM

A Pearl condo for only $400/ft? Where do I sign?

Posted by Allan L. | August 26, 2010 4:27 PM

It would be interesting to know what the costs of labor and materials were for the condo. Then land and then permits. Breakout all the costs individually.

Posted by Bluecollar Libertarian | August 26, 2010 4:37 PM

I'm loving our 2000 sq ft, 4 BR home on a beautiful, wooded 1/2 acre lot backing up to the Salmon River for about half that price.

Posted by Lewis | August 26, 2010 4:41 PM

Dig into Jac'ks first link in the original post and look at the real estate taxes. You have to page down a bit in each subpart of the Times story to which Jack linked.

I'd appreciate your comments after you check the real estate tax numbers.

Its an interesting exercise.

Posted by Nonny Mouse | August 26, 2010 5:05 PM

exercise

Thanks, but I'm all in.

Posted by Allan L. | August 26, 2010 6:44 PM

We like our off the grid 900 sq ft island cottage in BC, and it didn't cost any where near $400k! And it comes with a 180 degree water view too!

Posted by portland native | August 26, 2010 9:34 PM

A good friends daughter 1 1/2 years out of college just bought a 4 year old home in Phoenix for $120,000 in a newer neighborhood. It's 8 blocks from a freeway, 10 minutes from her Boeing job, has a community pool, exercise, community building, 3 bedrooms, granite, tile floors, two car garage, corner lot with community landscaping services, no HOA fees. Taxes are $938 a year and her monthly payments are only $9 more than her previous 2 bedroom apt It isn't LEED, but has low volume toilets-showers and energy star appliances, super insulated, and low water-use landscaping.

Portland prices will be coming down even more, even though politicians and planners will keep blabbing how Portland is so affordable and jobs are plentiful, and we are the leaders in every category they can imagine.

Posted by lw | August 26, 2010 9:46 PM

I lived in NM for 3+ yrs. Home prices in Sante Fe and Taos were going through the roof driving all the lower income earners out of town. Building like this hobbit hole meant people were driving upwards of an hour to get to/from work.

Yeah, those ultra LEED homes really help save the environment when factoring in fuel use.

Posted by Darrin | August 27, 2010 7:20 AM

Yeh, LEED is just another form of taxation, but going to companies that "certify", for a big fee, that your building is "green". It's all about making their companies and employees "sustainable". There's a lot of graft in their long process.

Posted by lw | August 27, 2010 9:30 AM

Property taxes here compared to the other locations - wow! As a 5th generation Portlander, I'm ready to vote for a sales tax for several reasons: a) Lower our property taxes, and b) Give us a three-pronged stool during times of economic stress.

Give me the Berkshires!

Posted by Tess | August 28, 2010 12:11 PM

In Vino Veritas

Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007

The Occasional Book

Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269