It’s two minutes and forty-seven seconds of epic flameouts. Enjoy.

Ouch.

To stay on the cutting edge of Portland’s urban farming scene, you’ll need to trade in your chicken coop for pygmy goats, according to the latest Willamette Week.

Here are 14 people (including one of my current clients, very cool) and trends to follow in 2010.

(Photo courtesy of Monterey Bay Equestrian Center.)

Priced between $22 to $27, available in 4 colors. They’ve mapped several other cities, like Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, NYC, LA, and Chicago.

Image courtesy of Ork Posters.

Click to play

Full season schedule here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Planning an exploratory visit to Portland? Then check out TravelPortland.com for events and things to do, places to see, etc.

Note: I am totally ripping this post off local author, Donald Miller, but his blog put me onto this video.

I’ve had a busy year so far. I changed brokerages (more on that later). I’ve shown over 500 homes to dozens of clients. I’ve written successful (and unsuccessful) offers and soldiered through about a dozen transactions, each with their own challenges.

All the while the re:PDX blog has taken something of a back seat to other activities, and I think that needs to change. So, here’s my pitch:

I want to expand the coverage and commentary found here, specifically as it relates to the home-buying and selling consumer in the Portland area. Do you have experience or opinions about real estate, livability, neighborhoods, mortgages, or construction? Would you share your experience as a home buyer or seller in this market?

Here are some voices I think could be interesting:

• Home inspectors
• Contractors
• Title and escrow officers
• Mortgage bankers and brokers
• Appraisers
• Real estate investors
• Property managers or multifamily property owners
• Housing ‘bubble’ critic
• Local economists
• New resident of PDX or moving to PDX
• A first-time home buyer
• Local multiple listing service professional
• Photographer of local PDX sights and scenes
• What else?

For what it’s worth, re:PDX receives over 4,000 unique visitors and 6,000+ pageviews per month. Not earth shattering, but I suspect it may be the highest-trafficked Portland real estate blog (according to Alexa).

So, if you’ve had an interest in writing in a public forum, would like an occasional soapbox, or want to dip a toe in the blogging pond, let me know. Or forward this post to someone you believe would be a good fit.

Sorry, the pay’s not great , but contributors get full attribution and headshot, plus link love to your website or blog.

Feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post, email me directly at ron(at)ronares.com or call me at (503) 460-7992 if you want to speak in private.

Why intelligent people like Robert Shiller appear on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report is beyond me (look at his body language about halfway through). But it makes for good comedy.

Portland real estate prices stay level, sales on modest climb for May

RMLS official tabulations for May 2009 will come out next week, but my early review shows that closed sales continue a small month-over-month increase (a seasonal effect), and median and average sale prices were essentially flat from the previous month. Closed sales will show to be up 10% over April, but down by ~30% from one year ago. Both median and average sale prices are around 13% off levels from a year ago. Come back early next week for a full report.

Oregon foreclosures nearly double in a year

A recent tabulation of foreclosure activity in Oregon shows a nearly 90% increase compared to May 2008. One out of every 525 Oregon homes received a foreclosure filing in May–the nation’s 12th highest rate.

Oregon to get a head start on recovery?

Really? Why? From research by Moody’s:

High-tech industry is one element. A slowdown in technology spending in 2008 and 2009 has created a pent-up demand for technology — businesses that know they need to upgrade and are waiting for the ability to spend.

“States that have a high concentration in tech-related industries are well positioned to take advantage of this trend, which is particularly true of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and to a lesser extent Texas,” said economist Andrew Gledhill of Moody’s Economy.com.

I certainly hope the prediction is true, but I suspect digging out of a 12% unemployment hole will take longer than expected. (And wasn’t Moody’s one of those rating companies that suggested those mortgage-backed securities were AAA rated?)

Bike community letting it all hang out

Last, but not least, the Portland bike community celebrates it’s version of the World Naked Bike Ride on June 13 with a series of events. If you’re in the vicinity of NE 39th and Glisan around 2PM, you’re bound to get an eyeful during the Sunny Nekkid Ride (fair warning!). The big event is at midnight, and last year, 2,000 riders participated.

Photo by jd.inaz. Used under Creative Commons license.

A few weeks ago, an associate lobbed an innocent email grenade into my inbox. She had been previewing homes and on this particular day, walked through a short-sale property.

The family was being displaced and couldn’t bring along their Australian cattledog. The email was signed with the kiss-of-death  “I thought of you” ending.

This, of course, started a whirlwind of emails, visits, family arguments and predictably, an adoption. Call it the indomitable persuasiveness of a daughter and wife tag-team.

Despite my grousing, I must say it has worked out way better than I expected. I’m also happy to see that the family’s house is now sale-pending, hopefully allowing them out from under the pressure of foreclosure.

For her part, Nyree seems to like it here (at least that’s what she says). She and Foster herd each other all day long–that’s a zero sum game. Plus, she’s got squirrels to chase and a little girl to cuddle with. Win, win.

I’m not sure what they’re looking so smug about.

Back to real estate tomorrow–an early look at April sales results.

Click here to view the embedded video.