The Howard Team-Frank and Ruth Howard

09/04/2026

A contingent offer doesn't mean your hands are tied. Sellers have more built-in protection than most people realize — including the right to keep showing your home and set your own deadline for the buyer to perform.

Full breakdown —https://linktr.ee/ruthandfrankhoward

09/04/2026

Mortgage rates brushed 6.9% this week for the first time in over a year — here's what that means for buyers and sellers across our territory.

Across the Willamette Valley, the story right now isn't falling prices — it's patience. Every one of our four core markets is still seeing absorption rates above 20%, which keeps this seller-favorable territory. But days on market stretched out almost everywhere, giving buyers a little more room to think before they commit. Oregon City remains the busiest market by volume with 70 homes pending sale, while Wilsonville now carries the most inventory of the group. Pricing accurately still matters more than anything else right now, on both sides of the table.

Full breakdown link here: https://linktr.ee/ruthandfrankhoward

Not sure what any of this means for your street? That's exactly the kind of question we love digging into — reach out anytime.

09/01/2026

Got a contingent offer on your home and not sure what to think? You're not alone — and it's not automatically the risky choice it can feel like.

We broke down exactly how Oregon's contract structure protects sellers in this situation: how you can set your own deadline, keep marketing your home while the buyer sells, and what we check before ever advising you to accept.

A contingent offer on your home isn't automatically a risk — but it does come with real tradeoffs worth understand

08/31/2026

One more look at something we hear a lot from buyers: what actually changes when a home is being sold under power of attorney?

Short answer — less than you'd think, but a few things are worth knowing before you write an offer. We broke it all down in our latest guide.

Read our full blog post here: https://linktr.ee/ruthandfrankhoward

08/28/2026

A power of attorney sale isn't something to be cautious about — it's one that rewards a buyer who knows where to focus their due diligence.

We walk through what "Unknown" disclosure answers really mean, what to ask before making an offer, and how it can affect your closing timeline.

Check out the full guide here: https://linktr.ee/ruthandfrankhoward

08/27/2026

Only 1 in 20 homes that sold across our territory in the last 45 days needed a price cut to get there.

That's the real story this week — not that prices are falling, but that the room for pricing error has narrowed. Oregon City is closing homes at the fastest pace in the territory (57 in the last 30 days alone), while a market like Aurora sees just a handful. Same territory, very different pace depending on where and what you're pricing.

If you're wondering what any of this means for your specific street, that's a conversation worth having before you price a listing or make an offer.

We put together the full breakdown for exactly this —

Get the full report here: https://linktr.ee/ruthandfrankhoward

Canby · Oregon City · Wilsonville · Woodburn · Aurora · Hubbard · Molalla

08/26/2026

A thinner disclosure isn't a red flag — it's often just a sign the seller is signing under power of attorney rather than as the homeowner.

Here's what that actually means for your inspection strategy, your offer, and your timeline. Link in bio for the full breakdown.

08/25/2026

If a seller is signing under power of attorney rather than as the homeowner, does that change anything for the buyer? A little — but not the way most people assume.

Oregon's disclosure law doesn't change. What can shift is where a buyer's attention should go — more "Unknown" answers on the disclosure (which is expected, not a red flag), a bit more weight on the home inspection, and a few quick questions worth asking before writing an offer.

We put together a full guide for buyers navigating this.

Buying a home where the seller is signing under power of attorney? The legal ground rules haven't changed — but wh

08/24/2026

Selling a parent's home under power of attorney comes with a lot to carry — decisions no one prepared you for, family expectations, and paperwork that doesn't always make sense at first glance.

Here's what we ask for before listing, and why an honest "Unknown" on the disclosure form is nothing to worry about.

Read our complete guide 👇

https://linktr.ee/ruthandfrankhoward

08/21/2026

If your parent can no longer answer questions about their home's history, or you haven't lived there yourself, marking "Unknown" on a disclosure form isn't a red flag. It's exactly what Oregon law expects.

We help POA holders think through the disclosure process, question by question.

Read our full blog here: vhttps://linktr.ee/ruthandfrankhoward