By Living Room Realty, July 2, 2020
I was connected to Tumi somewhere in between the moment when handshakes became faux pas and dousing myself in sanitizer before and after touring homes felt necessary. She called me as she stood outside a seemingly beautiful victorian in John’s Landing wanting to take a look. As an outdoor enthusiast and in particular a lover of paddleboarding on the Willamette, anywhere close to the river was calling her. As we chatted, I looked up the back-end of the listing which uncovered information that would have turned most buyers off and shared it with her. I will admit that I wasn’t at the time particularly eager to go meet a new buyer at an occupied home with who knows who living there. We talked for a while longer, and I got a feel for what she would be looking for. Thanks to her I was once again inspired to engage with the outside world!
From there we kept in touch when homes came up that might work for her and did extra upfront due diligence to make sure we were purposeful with our outings. We toured a few homes together, and each time she would bring up this cute home in close-in SW. She had visited the open house a few months prior, but it was just out of her comfort level price-wise especially given the unknowns in the world as we know it. This was clearly her benchmark, so a call into the listing agent (who also happened to be a partner in the flip) was in order. From our conversation it was clear how much pride the agent/seller had in how much work and money had gone into the home to make sure it was done correctly. The conversation led to a bit more rapport with that agent which is good, but in the end we were still left with a $20,000 gap in what each party hoped for.
We continued the search, and found another great home that inspired her enough to take the leap with an offer. This home was grossly underpriced and I knew it would get crazy. While we put in a solid offer but lost out due to a huge bidding war that drove the final sale price up by over $50k – again above her ideal comfort level, and one that didn’t sting so much as she understandably was not going near that number. I knew Tumi’s home was out there, and wasn’t about to let her get discouraged.
Cut to a couple of weeks later, when we saw the “dream house” had a small price reduction and we decided we needed to see it together. I could immediately see why Tumi was loving this home so much, and after getting to know her needs through touring, my antannae was telling me that this was her house and I had to help her make it happen. I reached out again to take a temperature of motivation and through strong communication and advocacy for my client felt we had the right ingredients for a winning offer. In the end, we got the home on the terms she wanted, and bonus points as it’s close to the river. I could not be more proud of her for following her heart during her homebuying process. Thank you Tumi for the reminder of why I love doing what I do!
“There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t meant to be.” – John Lennon
I would love to be part of your next move…
Erin Primrose, Principal Broker Licensed in Oregon with Living Room Realty
503-317-8111 | www.ErinPrimrose.com | Erin@ErinPrimrose.com
7830 SW 35th Ave., Portland, OR 97219
Erin Primrose knows Portland’s west side and enjoys being a top-rated
realtor in SW Portland and President of the Multnomah Village Business Association
