The adorable floating home with slip ownership in Tomahawk Moorage is for sale!! Wow! The little cutie is a spacious 1300 square feet with two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. The master bathroom has heated tile floors and a double wide shower with glass brick wall. The house has been fully updated and lightly used. The slip is 43′ by 60′.  The house is super cute, and you can buy it fully furnished!!! It is really move in ready. The float has been updated too, so your float inspection will show a sturdy float.

Gourmet kitchen:

The kitchen is fully updated with stainless appliances and open counter space. Gas cook stove, new fridge, and lots of workspace.

Master Suite:

The master suite is light filled, includes a walk in closet that is completely organized for you, and a new master bath with heated tile floors and a glass block outer wall to let in all that sunlight.

What does “slip ownership” really mean?

In Tomahawk Moorage, you are buying the house, plus 1/72nd ownership in the moorage itself. Tomahawk Moorage is the only moorage in Portland where the moorage actually owns the uplands and the mud under the houses to the middle of the North Portland Channel. This means you get a say in all expenses, keeping the low HOA fees, and other decisions about the moorage. Read all about Tomahawk Moorage at www.tomahawkdestiny.com

This house is a great buy in a terrific moorage. Call me for a private showing! Financing is available!

 Winter hit Portland with a frigid blast after six weeks of ‘balmy’ weather (meaning no rain, blue skies, cold temperatures but dry).  I was getting my hair done when I looked out the window of the salon and saw snow blowing sideways up Broadway, wind howling and swirling. Living on a floating home requires some special preparation for these winter blizzards that occur every few years. The first thing on my list was to get home fast, stop at the store first……Food, wine, water, coffee for at least 3 days.

1. Leave the water running. If the temperatures stay low, as they did last week, leave the water in all the sinks running day and night. Sitting on the water, pipes are exposed to the air; pipes are locate and exposed under decking and in unusual spaces. Temperatures in the low 20’s are going to cause problems if you don’t keep a steady stream coming out of the faucet the entire time. Next summer’s project: wrap those pipes!

2. Shovel and chip.  Snow is pretty of course, but on floating homes, the weight of the snow can be dangerous. Even though you may only need it every 3 years or so, a snow shovel is a good tool to keep in your storage closet. Get the weight of the snow off your decks, porches and walk ways.  Chip ice away too. You may notice that the swim float attached to your home is sitting higher than your deck; this is an indication that your home is bearing too much extra weight in the form of snow and ice.

3. Stock up!  Just like people living on land, you are prudent to keep a couple of jugs of fresh water on hand incase there is a break in the water supply line for your moorage.  Other emergency items would be propane so you can use your boat stove in case the power goes off, flashlights and candles, batteries; all the stuff you would keep on hand if you lived on land. Keep in mind, with really cold weather, you might not be able to get off the docks to go to the store due to ice accumulation, so laying in a couple of days of good food stuff is also important. Play poker or Cribbage, fresh cards, snacks for the neighbors.  Don’t forget the whisky!

4. Keep your local repairman on speed dial….and pay him promptly!  This is the guy you call if your honey pot acts up; during cold weather, the pump could go out, the pipes could freeze and then …. you need The Guy.  Keep this guy on excellent terms if you want him to attend to your problems during the cold weather…or any other time. Pay him promptly and throw in a bottle of rum. He will put your business at the top of his list when an emergency arises.

5. Keep your furnace in top running condition: This is a job to do in the fall. Get your furnace serviced and the filters cleaned so that you won’t have a problem during the cold weather.

This is a super cute, super quirky floating cottage located in Tomahawk Moorage. The sellers really enjoyed living here but now they have two active babies so they have reluctantly moved to land. They had the entire float completely rebuilt this summer with all new logs and stringers, and a larger deck.  The house has one cool bedroom with an ensuite bath room, plus some very cool living spaces, and elevated loft style dining room and a spacious tender house that can be used as another bedroom or a studio-office. This floating home has a beautiful view of the North Portland Harbor. Plenty of room to host a fun Christmas Ships Party.

The price includes ownership in

Tomahawk Moorage!

 One type of floating home foundation would be a log and stringer float. These floats support and stabilize the floating home. They have a life of about 40 years, but they can be repaired and updated throughout the life of your home to extend their life. The repairs can include replacing or adding new logs, replacing one or all of the stringers, adding boyancy floatation in the form of bails of foam.

When you buy a floating home, with all the hopes and possibilities attached to your purchase, you will want to have your float inspected by a floating home inspector who can rate the float of your new home and give you an evaluation that will allow the home and float to be used as collateral for a mortgage. On pitfall that buyers and sellers are experiencing today is that the building codes have changed since 2008. A float that may have gotten a positive rating in 2008 may no longer be constructed in a way that is ‘financable’. This means that the float will require some updating to pass the current codes. The updating can include adding floor insulation, increasing the number of stringers, adding a log or two and other expensive but important repairs.

The message here is clear. The purchase of your new floating home needs to be subject to a float inspection, and the buyer’s approval of that inspection. If you are paying cash, you still need to know what it is you are buying. If you ever want to sell, you will be responsible for assuring the next buyer that they have a solid float. When it comes to doing the repairs, get two or three bids from contractors who understand floating home construction and know how to bring a serviceable float up to current code expectations. Depending on the extent of the refurbishment, the cost can be up to $70,000……Yes! more than a new float! The work is dangerous and requires the use of several different contractors who specialize in the various aspects of the repair.

Cover image courtesy of MarketingGoon.com

Mark Even Construction

Channel Island Floating Home Community is a special moorage on the Multnomah Channel. What makes this moorage special is that it has only 18 homes, and all of them are wonderful. The one pictured at left is listed for $690,000, and was constructed by custom builder, Mark Even Construction. The owners designed this custom home to reflect their life style and the beautiful views and location of this particular home.

Channel Island is located just west of the Sauvie Island Bridge on the mainland. The community if gated, and boast a row of gabled garages (one for each home) with added storage above the parking area. The Moorage also has acres of land, fenced by hedge roses that have a lovely fragrance when in bloom in early summer. This moorage has a on site sewage treatment center, a large meadow and secure parking. The owners also manage the moorage, and have accumulated a fat savings account for moorage repairs or replacements, and great maintenance and upkeep.

This moorage is a great choice for people who love the water and  serene, beautiful views of three mountains from the decks of their homes. Although the water is deep, this moorage is fine for power boaters. It is a short distance to the lower Willamette, and then on to the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Going west, it is a short distance to fine dining on the river at Mark’s on the Channel. The farms of Sauvie’s Island offer a wealth of good local food for the Floating home cook.

The beautiful homes and moorage that make up Channel Island Floating Home Community are a great choice for year around living, a short drive to Portland or Beaverton for work. These homes are more expensive, but they offer some fantastic value for those who can afford a premium home and moorage.

Cover image courtousy of EvenConstruction.com.

Tomahawk Floating Home Community is located on Hayden Island / Jantzen Beach. The moorage is one of the best moorages in Portland because it offers some great amenities. Of course, the most important factor in choosing YOUR floating home moorage is the location you prefer. With over 3000 floating homes registered with the Marine Board, you have some great options and I am going to write about some of them so you can get a good idea of what is offered.

Tomahawk Moorage is located on the East end of Hayden Island. It faces South, looking across the North Portland Harbor to the floating home communities in Bridgeton area. Tomahawk Moorage is charming, with two long docks splitting off from the ramp to the docks. The East docks are arranged in fingers, so that the houses face each other. The West end is arranged with half the houses facing directly South and onto the front of the open water of the harbor. The other half are facing the riparian bank with quiet views of wildlife, and enough room to bring both boats and dingys back to your private dock or swim float.  The homes in Tomahawk moorage vary from large to small; there are a very few boat houses….most of the homes are single family.

The amenities offered in Tomahawk Moorage are what makes it one of the premiere moorages in Portland. The moorage is all slip ownership, meaning the price of a home in this moorage includes ownership of the slip and partial ownership of the moorage community. The management of this moorage is done by the owners who live there, and this keeps the monthly fees among the lowest on the river. They include water, sewer, waste management, secure parking in a gated parking lot, and a healthy contribution to the savings account for moorage repairs.

Another factor to consider is what type of boating you plan to do. A moorage like Tomahawk is an excellent choice for sailboat owners because the access to the main river does not require opening bridges or long trips through the channel to open water. This moorage does not have a history of ‘grounding’ which means the water beneath the homes is deep.

Tomahawk Moorage was purchased by the Tomahawk Destiny Association (the members who live there) in 2000. It is a wonderful moorage and a great place to live. The people are friendly and responsible. Each house has capacity to dock a boat.

Floating homes are built on foundations called floats. There are several ways to construct a float. The original way might have been to build the home on top of a barge, but we don’t see that too often in Portland. The most common construction of a float is logs and stringers. Older homes have wonderful old growth fir logs, some as large as 6 feet in diameter. Once submerged, they don’t rot. You might notice some deterioration on the top of the logs such as in the photo at the left. But the logs are still serviceable. If they begin to get waterlogged, or lose some flotation, bales of Styrofoam can be inserted beneath the house to help in buoyancy. The stringers are beams, wide enough to fit completely beneath the home across the logs. The Stringers are not laminated. They are 6″ or 8″ by 10″ or 12″.  The sub floor of the home is laid across the stringers, with insulation and wire animal fencing incorporated. Soome stringers are constructed of steel. They never rot and, while expensive, they are a good replacement for wood stringers.

Cover photo By Art Grice/Courtesy of Studio Hamlet Architects.

Floating home financing is available. Refinance options are also available. Here is a list of lenders who are participating in the 2010 market. I expect others to get involved by Spring or Summer of 2011.

Banner Bank: Fixed rate 6.25%, 15 year balloon with a 25 year amortization. This loan can be reduced to 6% with an automatic payment from a checking account at Banner. Call: Lenny Severs 971-255-5640 or Laurel Buncak 503-534-1000.

Other lenders are:

Rivermark Credit Union: They can do refinancing at 7.875 % with a 70/30 loan to value. No cash out…they will allow only refinancing of present lien on the home.

NW Resource Federal Credit Union: refinance funds only. 5.875 fixed or 5.375 ARM. They hope to offer purchase funds in 2011. Call Cody Hager:  503-220-2592

If you are looking to purchase a floating home, ask if the seller will consider financing your purchase for a term of one to five years. This may be a good alternative option. All floating home loans require a down payment of at least 20% unless you can make other arrangements with the lender (like you might have your entire 401K invested with them). Your financing will depend on your stellar credit rating of 7.2 or better. You will have to have a float inspection done on the property when you obtain a loan. A float inspection costs about $400 to $500 and is well worth it. The float will have a rating of between one and five, with five being super excellent. I will talk about floats in a separate posting.

Don’t hesitate to call me if you have any questions on financing or on floating home lifestyles! I would love to talk with you and help you enjoy this cool life on the water. Cover image courtesy of www.Shelterness.com.

Floating Homes

I am not complaining!! Banner Bank finally responded to floating home Brokers to re evaluate their mortgage rates and terms! This may loosen up the market for fabulous floating homes in the Portland area. The new rates are in line with the super rates available for on land homes.

Banner is offering 6% purchase loans if you have excellent credit and a down payment. Folks who are looking at the floating home life style are typically good credit risks. They are conservative financially, employed, have some money (because it just costs more to buy into this cool lifestyle) and pay their bills.

If you have ever considered living on the water…now is a great time to take a deeper look! There are some fantastic prices of these unique, historical homes.

Cover image courtesy of EvenConstruction.com.

What happens to unspeakable in floating homes? No, it doesn’t go into the river. Floating home toilets are handled with Honey Pots. These are barrels of fiberglass or steel that are under the floating home. They usually (and should) have an access panel through the deck that can be lifted up in case something goes wrong and you need a plumber to work on the honey pot.  How it works is this: you flush, the contents of the toilet bowl are flushed into the honey pot. The honey pot has a small pump that pumps the contents  to a main sewer line that runs under or next to the docks.  All the honey pots in the  moorage are pumped to a large holding tank usually located near the bottom of the ramp that comes down from the land into the moorage. That larger holding tank is serviced by a powerful pump that pumps the contents into the main sewer system for Portland. Thus, you have public sewer for your home.

If you notice sewage backing up in your toilet or shower, call a plumber. Not all plumbers work on floating homes but I can refer you to a good one. The maintenance of the honey pot is that periodically, usually every 5 years or so, the honey pot pump will need servicing or replacing. Cost is from $600 to replace. You should ask the diver who inspects your home when you buy it to take a look at the honey pot and tell you if it is in solid condition under the water. Your home inspector can take a look at the top of the tank and let you know if it appears to be working correctly. If the home inspector doesn’t know anything about honey pots, and you are concerned about it, ask a plumber to take a look.

Maintaining a well working honey pots insures that you can swim and eat the fish that you catch from your very own dock!

Once you find the perfect floating home is definitely NOT the time to call a lender. Call the lender before you begin to look! Loans to purchase floating homes are available from your credit union or from some small local banks. This year, it looks like the best rates are available from Banner Bank. By best rates, I am talking about 7.1% with a 20% down payment. Get friendly with the lender you choose so they can keep you informed about any changes in the loan market or terms available as you look for the perfect home.

When you make an offer to buy a floating home, it should be subject to both a property inspection and a float inspection. The property inspection will tell you all the good, the bad and the sinkable in your potential home. The float inspection is very important. I will write more about the float of a floating home in another post! The main message here is to get your money ready by finding out exactly what is expected of you by the lender you choose.

Floating Home loans are different than traditional or conventional mortgages. They are not usually offered by mortgage banks. Instead, you will shop for a floating home mortgage from a credit union or a smaller bank. The interest rates are higher than conventional mortgages. Right now, you can get a conventional mortgage for around 5% if you have excellent credit. Floating home interest rates today range from 7.1% to7.9% depending on the lender and the way you agree to repay the loan (like an automatic deduction from the lender’s bank). The term of the loan will be about 20 to 25 years. You will need a down payment of at least 15% to 20% of the purchase price.  Floating homes are considered ‘personal property’. Never the less, you will enjoy the same benefit of owning a home as other homes; the interest on your mortgage is tax deductible. Cover image courtesy of © Thomas Stankiewicz/Look/age fotostock.

Floating Home buyers are starting to cruise the docks. It is fun to check out floating homes, and Portland is one of the few cities on the West Coast that enjoys a thriving floating home community right in the city! Financing is a bit different for floating homes. It is more expensive than regular mortgages, and it is not offered by all the banks. Your credit union may offer you a good option if your goal is to purchase a floating home. Other options are smaller banks and credit unions. This year, Banner Bank seems to have the best rates. They are offering 7.1% interest if you open a checking account there and have the house payment automatically deducted from that account. Other mortgage rates seem to be hovering in the 7.9% range. Terms are 20 to 25 years. The down payment is 20%. But the great news, financing is available!  I will offer more information on how to buy a floating home in days to come!Great Music to Cruise the Harbor. Cover image courtesy of Sauvieisland.org. 

So beautiful, the line of blooming Cherry Blossom trees. Spring in announced by these delicate, fluffy blooms. People are out taking walks, children are playing, the grass is getting ready for Easter eggs.

Cherry Blossoms on the West Bank

The spring is here and summer is on its way! Time to talk to your credit union, or one of the small banks that make loans to purchase a floating home. Financing is available and the interest rates are pretty good! Cover image courtesy of Seattleafloat.com.