By Alyssa Isenstein Krueger, April 23, 2021
Some friends of mine purchased their first home, a sturdy 1910 bungalow right off Alberta street nearly 20 years ago. Seven years ago and 2 kids later, they outgrew their Alberta house and I helped them purchase a larger home in NE where they still live. They loved their Alberta house, and even though they had moved out, they weren’t ready to part ways, so they held onto it as a rental. They have had a great run of tenants and their current tenant has been there for over a year. My sellers have talked about selling the house over the years, but were also quite happy to keep it as a rental. And then almost on a whim, my sellers purchased a dream property on the Washington side of the Gorge as a vacation property. They weren’t sure they really wanted to own 3 homes, and with the market as on fire as it is, now seemed like a great time to consider selling their rental.
The next door neighbors are close with the tenant who lives in the Alberta house, and when the neighbors found out my sellers were considering selling the house, they took the bull by the horns and went for it. The neighbors didn’t want to lose the tenant as a neighbor, so last month they sent my sellers an offer to purchase the home and keep the tenant. My sellers weren’t quite sure they were ready at that moment to sell, but with a tenant in place, the idea of selling it to the neighbors started to become more attractive. We discussed all the pros and cons of putting the house on the market vs selling it off market, and in the end, the pros outweighed the cons. Had their not been a tenant in the home, their decision may have been different, but they really respected their tenant and wanted to do right by him. The offer the neighbors sent over wasn’t quite high enough, so we countered back at a higher price and selling the house as-is with no repairs. The neighbors accepted and we went under contract. The transaction went really smoothly and we just closed. Selling a home off-market is not necessarily the in the best interest of a seller in such a strong sellers market, but with a tenant in place, in this case, selling it off market turned into a win-win-win for my sellers, the neighbors and the tenant.
Alyssa Isenstein Krueger
Broker | OR
She/Her
I am living the dream. Working as a real estate broker in my home town brings this native Portland gal joy beyond measure.
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I took the round-about-road towards this career. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in NY two decades ago with a degree in liberal arts/creative writing, I returned to my hometown of PDX and got a job in a legendary record store of days gone by, worked as a music and culture writer for Portland’s oldest weekly publication while pursuing a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Portland State University. Armed with my masters degree, I moved into the realm of affordable housing, community development, and urban planning, and then rounded the corner with a long stay in arts management then back around the bend when I got my real estate license and went to work for a non-profit housing builder at the cusp of the market crash in 2007.
In the time between that market crash and the ensuing madness, I’ve stayed on top of the market like a dog guarding a bone. Using a magical combination of experience, instinct, and market data, I know what homes are worth, I know how to write a terrific offer, and I know how to help a seller market a home and receive and accept a great offer.
Mutual trust and tender relationship building is the basis and foundation of my real estate practice. I use my skills as an active listener, creative solution finder and ace negotiator to get my clients the best price on a home, win the multiple offer roulette, and have as smooth and easy transaction as possible. Timely and responsive communication is the most important aspect of building trust and I don’t take that part lightly. I am a stickler for details and nothing pleases me more than guiding a client through the home buying or selling process (and sometimes both at the same time). My role is one of advocate, advisor, partner, transaction organizer, and counselor. I am a partner broker with Portland Housing Center and relish the opportunity to work with eager first time home buyers.
I have a knack for seeing the potential in almost any home and love to help clients see past what is and help them envision what can be. I have a decade of first-hand experience renovating and caressing my bungalow in Ladd’s Addition and had the honor of having my own home featured in a story in the Oregonian’s Homes and Gardens section. I can feel the love for any and almost all homes, but my heart goes all aflutter when entering a museum quality time capsule house -- the solid mid-century ones with the original pink or green tiled bathrooms, those charming early 1900’s farmhouses with the original kitchen cabinets and fir countertops, the cozy bungalows with the built-ins still intact.
When I’m not working with clients, you’ll find me hanging with my two boys, Kalman and Saul, and my husband Robert, a Fine Art Conservator with his own business, Cascadia Art Conservation Center. Retired racing greyhounds have been my constant companions since 1997, and our family includes Peanut the greyhound, Pinto the South Korean Italian greyhound, our 2 cats Spaghetti and Will, and our chickens, Rosie, Lil' Peck, Penelope and Nugget.
I am an obsessive gardener/plant fiend and love that we live in a climate where I can grow eucalyptus trees (I have 3 in my yard including a couple I started from seed) alongside blueberry bushes (6 in my yard). Given some free time, you’ll find me junking at an estate sale, dreaming of high brow junk, low brow art, making things, sewing, reading and dreaming of tropical locales.
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- T: 503-724-6933
- PDXHappyHouse@gmail.com
