Blog Posts, Case Studies, and Initiatives

Special Finders Fees for Property Managers! St. Clair Properties is looking to purchase rentals in Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and for a limited time we are offering property managers finders fees for any leads on properties that result in a closed sale. We are looking for: Residential investment properties Built between 1950-2005 8-units … Read more

The Five Major Real Estate Crashes Since WWII A financial crisis can come from many different sources, almost all of which involve a system or a government that borrowed more money than it could pay back. The news that some debts can’t be repaid is sometimes a surprise, but the aftermath is predictable—someone, … Read more

Part 4: The Big Canadian Short The Canadian government is desperately trying to contain the housing boom and prevent the start of a financial collapse, but it’s nearly impossible to stop the market from doing what it does. When money is cheap—meaning, when interest rates are low—borrowing becomes easier and adding leverage becomes … Read more

Part 3: Is Canada Different? As you can see in the chart above, debt levels can change over time. Prices and incomes rise or fall, and debts are paid off over time (or defaulted). It’s the starting point that matters, and Canada’s markets are now climbing to historically high home prices and dangerous … Read more

Part Two: Leverage in the System; USA vs Canada Excessive leverage is one of the primary concerns that a market is in a precarious position, and leverage is directly tied to a market’s long-run volatility: by the way that leverage creates more extreme returns, housing markets that use more equity are less volatile … Read more

Part One: A Primer on Leverage One of the largest factors for real estate investing—if not the largest factor—is the impact of leverage. Leverage is basically the idea that some portion of the investment is financed with borrowed money. Over time, real estate properties lag the performance of stock investments; the additional leverage … Read more

On April 4th, the Oregon House of Representatives passed House Bill 2004 in a 31 to 27 vote along party lines, with most Democrats voting yes and most Republicans voting no. The bill, a controversial attempt to change the relationship between landlords and tenants, is currently under review by the State Senate. It … Read more

I love investing near major universities. It was a fundamental lesson I learned from one of my real estate mentors and this strategy alone helped me to not just survive but thrive throughout the recession. People go back to school during recessions and financial aid is not going anywhere which is a great source of … Read more

In light of the recent earthquake in Nepal, many homeowners around the globe are considering purchasing or upgrading their earthquake insurance policies.  Eugene residents are among these homeowners and rightfully so. Eugene is located near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a region where one tectonic plate sits atop another.  Subduction zones produce megathrust earthquakes, … Read more

Although Civic Stadium now sits somewhat unpresumably two blocks south of 18th Avenue between Amazon Parkway and Willamette Street, just 5 years ago it had an integral role in the fabric of South Eugene. On more summer nights than not, the sounds of bat’s cracking and crowds cheering would drift through the surrounding … Read more

Eugene, OR With many new multi-family units sprouting up all across the city last year was a record setting year for activity in Eugene real estate development. While this glut of construction has made it a renter’s market for multi-family complexes, as St Clair Properties predicted single-family homes and duplexes that were close … Read more

By most measures it appears the Social Host Ordinance has been a success in Eugene, Oregon. In 2013 the number of calls related to loud music, loud noise, or loud parties dropped by 30% from the year prior. By comparison, from 2006 to 2010 the number of the crimes committed in association with … Read more