More like the heart of awesome

And only $775. I can't tell which building this is based on the pic. I think it's the one over Local 35 because of that direct-to-outdoor entry. Pretty sweet spot wherever it is.

More Zomerzet!

Please someone rent this apartment. They've been working on it for four years and I'm starting to feel bad for them. Not sure what's going on with their selection of kitchen flooring in the picture there but I'm sure their hearts are in the right place. Honestly, it's a much better deal than this.
Seriously though, I'm color blind and all but that kitchen floor looks like my aunt Peggy's house in Gresham. I think that's even the same faucet.

Zomerzet?

In the autumn of 2000, just months after I started this job, I was up in apartment 205 of the Warnell Apartments cleaning up after a tenant that had just moved out. It was about 10pm, but I was sober and poor so I needed the $55 to pay for ramen and bus tickets. I was scraping candle wax off the hardwood floors when I heard a weird thumping sound out the window. The picture you see to the left is what is now the Zomerzet. Back in the autumn of 2000 it was a home for underage girls that had been shunned by their families. And on this particular night the thumping I heard was caused by a topless sixteen-year-old girl attempting to escape from the second story window with a series of tied-together sheets. And she was having a lot of trouble escaping. Also I have no idea why she was topless. If it were me, I would have at least put a bra on, but then again I'm not a troubled sixteen-year-old girl so what do I know? She got about three feet down when the knot on her sheets gave way and she tumbled into the arbor vitae below. Unphased, she limped off into the crisp cloudless and evening. Two days later I saw the same girl WITH a top (and a cast on her right leg) edging the lawn on the eastern edge of the property. I'll never know if landscaping is an appropriate punishment for topless jailbreaking, but I will always remember that night as the first and last time I saw underage boobs on the lam. Unless you count that one time in college.
Call the Zomerzet (seriously? that's what you're calling it?) at 503.238.8551. But tell them to fix the dryrot in their gutters first. It's annoying the crap out of me.

Cedarhurst Village Apartments

First off, let me just say that anyone that shells out $120 on one of those "Now Renting" banners from WelcomeHomeAmerica dot com or whatever is just silly. Do people actually pay any attention to those things? To me they just scream desperation, but maybe I'm just being too cynical.
Cedarhurst Village is renting a one-bedroom for $750. I get a dozen calls a day for one-bedrooms so I thought I'd post this. I should also mention that I stole this pic from InfoUSA, apparently.
At a recent portfolio meeting I heard that one-bedrooms were getting hard to rent out because the economy is forcing everyone to "double-up" and move into two-bedrooms. That's probably true east of about 72nd or south of Powell but I haven't seen that here in 97214.
Anyway, my favorite part of this craigslist ad is as follows:

Please send an email and I will get back to you to set up an appointment. If you do not hear from me right away we way may be experiencing a high volume of response. Thank you!!!

That's just awesome on so many levels. I'm going to have to start using that one.

Villa Jené

So pretty. $735/mo studio, but probably not fun if it faces Burnside. Might be worth it though if you're close to one of those poor-man's balconies i.e. the fire escape. Nothing like coffee and a cigarette first thing in the morning looking down on that dude that passed out after leaving the Matador.
BONUS: Bristol Equities also has this place available. But the front of it looks like a mean jowly President Taft.

$355/mo on Hawthorne!

Do you want to call Rogers Rentals and ask them what $355/mo will get you at 1831 SE Hawthorne, or shall I?
(waiting...)
Ok, you win. I'll call.
(ringing...)
I chickened out and didn't ask her what was $355/mo. But she is full and has no 30-day notices. Bummer. Kudos for answering the phone at 5:51pm on a Wednesday though.
Let me know if you figure this one out.

Where your rent money goes.

Exhibit A: This.
The above link is a craigslist ad for my favorite building evar, 2121 Belmont. Take a look at that fanciness. Wonder what it pays to be the guy or gal in charge of professionally setting up model units so they look good in pictures (maybe that sculpture/clock thingie in pic #4 was found a thrift shop, so perhaps I'm being harsh). Or how much they pay their tech guy to update that website all the time. Or how much it costs to put ads in For Rent magazine (I'm not linking to that because Avira says it's full of viruses for some reason).
My advertising budget is $200 PER YEAR. I haven't spent any of it since 2004.
Maybe I'm just jealous. Or maybe I'm stupid for thinking anyone that can afford $2700+ per month in rent cares about where their rent money goes.

Melcliff Apartments

The Melcliff Apartments at 711 SE 11th has a studio or five available. I've been wondering for a long time why they always seem to have something available in this market. Especially since they have studios for under $600. Turns out it might just be because it's a courtyard-style building and a good chunk of the apartments look right into someone else's studio. Give them a call at 503.813.9200 and see for yourself if you don't believe me. In related news, if you google "ipm melcliff" then I come up before IPM's website. Coincidence?

Stuff I have coming up soon:

Creston Villa #41:
Available 11/1ish: 800 sq ft 2bd facing east and a west-facing balcony. $825/mo. Here's a video of the place:

Creston Villa #27:
Available 11/5ish: Basically the same as #41 above but the windows face north and the balcony faces south.
Sellwood House #7:
Available 10/26ish: 360 sq ft studio facing south on the top floor. Award-winning green remodel of a 1900s convent for $750/mo. Rent includes water, sewer, garbage, hot water, heat, gas, electricity, cable. It looks almost exactly like this one:

Queen Marie #204:
Available 11/10ish: 460 sq ft studio facing east on the second floor. Beautiful 1920s building right across the street from the Eastbank Farmer's Market. $700/mo includes water, sewer, garbage, hot water. Looks almost exactly like this one:

Lynnwood #210:
Available 11/10ish: 340 sq ft studio on the top floor facing west with a sweet view of downtown. $640/mo includes water, sewer, garbage, hot water, heat. It kinda looks like this one:

As always, give me a call at 503.231.9169 if you'd like to check these out.