By Living Room Realty, June 19, 2020
My sweet buyer, Amanda, and her family came to me out of the clear blue sky. Actually, she was a referral from a friend. Amanda knew she wanted two things: A craftsman home and to live in Portland. So, with a wing, a prayer, and a lot of persistence, we found her a Portland Craftsman. And that was just the start.
Negotiating the accepted offer was easy, negotiating repairs, well, not so much. This is a good time to talk about the Oregon home buying process. As a result of working in Brooklyn/NYC real estate, I have a unique understanding of how residential sales is not one size fits every state. In New York, for example, there is a lawyer handling the contract, and the repairs are negotiated before a home goes pending. In Oregon lawyers are not essential to the deal and repairs are negotiated after the home goes pending.
So, what do you do when a Big Ugly shows up during inspections? You get creative with your terms and you work diligently with the other side to come to an agreement. You also hope that your client is a tough cookie, like Amanda, who knows what she wants and gets it through hard work and a great sense of humor.
