Photo (c)2006 by Andrew Hall, PortlandBridges.com
About the Portland, Oregon Area  Portland is the largest city in the state of Oregon and seat of Multnomah County, with a population of over 500,000 and over 2 million in its metropolitan area. Portland is often known as the City of Roses, although modern names for it include "PDX" (the code for the local airport) and "Rip City," adopted from a phrase used by Portland Trailblazers announcer Bill Schonely. The International Rose Test Garden is one of the city's best-known attractions and the annual Rose Festival draws visitors from far and wide. Nearby, the Japanese Garden and Classical Chinese Garden round out a trio of horticultural sights. Elsewhere, the Fort Vancouver National Historic Park, just over the river in Washington State gives a glimpse into the Hudson's Bay Company's fur trading operations. The Portland Saturday Market is the largest, continuously-operating outdoor arts and crafts market in the United States, with sellers offering a fine array of wares. Literary-oriented visitors also enjoy Powell's City of Books, selling a mix of new and used books in several Portland locations. Chain hotels are often visitors' Portland favorites, especially Shilo Inn, Embassy Suites and Holiday Inn Express. Travel + Leisure magazine rated 5th Avenue Suites downtown among the Top 500 Hotels in the world. Hotel Lucia, Jupiter Hotel and Paramount Hotel are the city's top boutique boarding houses. Local entrepreneurs the McMenamin brothers' Kennedy School hotel offers lodging with a scholarly twist: its rooms are created from former classrooms and come complete with original chalkboards. The most popular Portland dining spots include Old Town Pizza, Acadia (New Orleans cuisine), Equinox and El Palenque (Mexican). Ringside Steakhouse offers the city's best beef. Portland, like other Oregon cities is well-known for its micro-brewed beers, but brewer Henry Weinhard started brewing here in the late 19th century, and the city's brewpub tradition stems from that era, when state law was changed to allow beer consumption at the brewery. Today, Portland has 33 breweries in town, including Widmer Brothers, Bridgeport Brewing Company and MacTarnahan's. More Portland Information:
Portland Airport is Portland International Airport Newspapers in Portland are The Oregonian, Portland Tribune, Portland News Daily Sports teams are Thunderbolts, Beavers, Trail Blazers Portland Attractions and Events are Portland Children's Museum, Oregon Zoo, Oregon Seafood & Wine Festival , Portland International Film Festival , Oregon Brewers Festival, Rose Festival
Universities and Schools are Oregon State University, Portland State University Request our Free Portland Relocation Package. It's packed full of useful and important information about the Portland, Oregon area. Don't move here without it! Remember: we'll send it to you for free and without obligation. Just fill out the form and we will send it right out... It's our job to know EVERYTHING about Portland! Ask us any question. Or request a FREE information package. There's no obligation, and we promise to get back to you quickly...
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First Time Buyers >The Seller May Pay
The costs of buying a home may be daunting. For example, you may have finally saved enough for a down payment on your first home, with a little left over to buy the furniture you will need. Then you hear about having to pay closing costs you weren't anticipating, and this may seem like a real setback.
One way to cover such a shortage is to make the sellers an offer that calls for them to credit you for some of the closing costs. As a rule, the sellers may pay a maximum of 3 percent of the sales price if the buyer is putting five percent down. If the buyer is making a down payment of 10 percent or more, the seller can contribute up to 6 percent of the sales price to cover the buyer's closing costs. Some items, such as prepaid taxes and the first month's mortgage payment, must be paid by the buyers. Sellers may also contribute to paying the appraisal, points, title insurance, settlement attorney fees, state or local transfer taxes and similar items.
Keep in mind that if the credit is included in the price of the house, the appraiser will have to justify the amount, based on sales prices of similar homes in the neighborhood.
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What is the world's longest frontier?
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At 3,987 kilometers (3,987 miles), the border between Canada and the U.S. is the longest in the world. |
 See More Real Estate Trivia > |
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