Blog Stories A WING, A PRAYER, HARD WORK AND A SENSE OF HUMOR

A WING, A PRAYER, HARD WORK AND A SENSE OF HUMOR

By Sophie Ragsdale, 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.

Sophie Ragsdale

Broker | Earth Advantage | ADU Specialist | OR

She/Her

Sophie delivers thoughtful strategy and a deep knowledge of the Portland Metropolitan market. If you are a first-time homebuyer, Sophie will be there every step of the way, educating you on the home buying process and, most importantly, crafting you a winning offer. If home buying and selling is old hat, she is an excellent collaborator, intrepid seeker of creative solutions, replete with information and resources, and constant calm in a given storm. Sophie uses both intuition and intelligence to skillfully negotiate any transaction to an effective end. She gets her clients what they need. Born and raised in Portland, Sophie is a 5th generation Oregonian with a lifelong passion for real estate. She loves the unique challenge of every transaction and the relationships she makes along the way. After graduating from Vassar College in NY State, she found herself enjoying the hustle of life in Brooklyn where she lived and worked for over a decade. In addition to real estate, Sophie has worked in journalism and as a social worker, specializing in assisting older adults in housing crisis. Sophie’s experience in person-centered services prepared her to provide clients with a grounded space during the potentially wild ride of home buying and selling. She supports her clients in seeing the big picture while staying focused on the task at hand. Her ability to think creatively gives her an advantage, whether it be problem-solving during the negotiation process or marketing a property for sale. But she's no pushover. Her two years in Brooklyn and Manhattan real estate at the Corcoran Group were especially formative in honing her transaction skills. Sophie is the perfect balance of East Coast determination and West Coast chill, with a huge appreciation for the significance of Home. The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other's welcome - Derek Walcott
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  • T: 503-369-9139
  • sophie@livingroomre.com

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