By Living Room Realty, September 12, 2019
I had helped Ivan and Heather sell their Piedmont home back in November and they had been living with relatives ever since. When I received their call about being ready to begin their home search, it was the start of Spring and things were beginning to trickle in on the market.
They were far out on the West side and wanted back over on the East side of the River. Open to anywhere from St. Johns all the way down to SW Portland, but their ideal home was located close in NE or SE Portland. A home that they could enjoy with their young daughter and ideally have family members stay with them from time to time. They stressed that a multi-generational house was ideal, one with a kitchen where they could share their love of cooking with their daughter, and a place for Ivan to work from, as he worked from home a few days out of the week.
Ivan is a Commercial Banker and his knowledge of how interest rates affect buying power was key to getting the home they wanted. As our search progressed from Early Spring to Late Spring, then from Early Summer into late Summer, we felt like we had exhausted everything on the market. Their price point started in the low $400k range, but due to lowering interest rates, they were able to keep increasing their price point and as they did, new types of homes started opening up. More importantly, homes that were in their target areas. Most Buyer’s aren’t sure how fluctuations in interest rates can affect the monthly payments, but Ivan did, and he was keenly aware of how a shift of a 1/4 percentage down, increased what they could purchase.
Enter this lovely 2014 built Renaissance Home located in the Woodstock neighborhood. It was at the absolute top of my client’s price point, but it stood out amongst the turn of the century homes and tall skinny builds littered through the city that we had toured. We needed a few rounds of negotiation to get the property at a point where it worked for my clients, but with an extremely professional Listing Team from Home Team Realty, we were able to get the parties into an agreement and a month later, Ivan and Heather became homeowners once more.
Congrats to Ivan, Heather and Olivia on their new home. I hope it brings many happy memories in the years to come!
