Q: I'm thinking about making an offer on a short sale. What questions should my agent and I ask the listing agent to make sure the transaction goes smoothly?

If you are behind on your mortgage, here are 5 steps you can take.

On an annualized basis, the Oregon counties covered in this report increased employment by 0.92 percent, or approximately 15,590 jobs, a further—albeit modest—improvement from the 0.8 percent annual growth that was discussed in our last report. On a year-over-year basis, 19 counties saw their employment base expand and five saw employment contract.

A short sale is the sale of a property for less than what the owner still owes on the mortgage. A short sale is an alternative to foreclosure when a homeowner needs to sell and can no longer afford to make their mortgage payments. The lender agrees to accept less than the amount owed to pay off a loan now rather than taking the property back by foreclosure and trying to sell it later.