I couldn’t be more excited for my very dear longtime clients Emily and Ben. They outgrew their vintage cream puff bungalow in Foster Powell that I helped them purchase 7 years ago, and despite the horrors of the current market, they were able to sell their very much loved home and get under contract and close on an even better and bigger house that hit nearly every single one of their check-list items before they have to be out of their bungalow.
When we started looking, they knew they wanted to stay in SE, preferably south of Powell and their ideal home would be a south facing mid-century home with all the space they needed with a minimum of 3 bedrooms, a separate space for Emily who works from home, a space for Ben’s music studio and a dedicated area for arts, crafts and sewing. And plenty of room for growing Emily’s beloved flowers. They love mid-centuries and the more original, the better. We looked at a bunch of houses that were of course not quite right, and then we went to go see a super cool mid-century right off Mt. Tabor. We spent quite a bit of time in the house, and they were absolutely in love with it. The house had all the spaces they wanted and a fantastic layout, the yard was perfect, it had a detached studio space and rumpus room in the basement. While it was not south of Powell, at the time we left the house, they felt like they could work with the location because they loved the house so much. There were a couple of things they weren’t crazy about though- mainly that hardwood floors had been replaced with engineered wood floors, and a lot of the mid-century charm had been made a little too slick for their taste- but it was done so well that they were ok with how fancy it felt. The house was at the top of their price range, but they always felt that for the right house, they would be willing to stretch.
A day later, after sleeping on it, with tears in their eyes and hearts, they decided to go with their gut feelings and not put an offer on the house because of the 2 things that weren’t perfect- the location felt too far north for them and they would prefer a less updated and more original mid-century. It took a few days to get over that house, but they did. And then about a week later, a house came on the market south of Woodstock in Eastmoreland Heights and from the photos, it looked really similar to the mid-century house they decided not to write on. We went and saw it and realized that not only did it look like that other house, it was literally the SAME house! Same exact size, same layout on the main floor, a similar but better layout in the basement, same location of closets, and very similar yard. The Mt. Tabor house had the garage in the basement, and this house had a detached double garage which meant more living space in the basement, and with the large garage, a perfect space to turn into a music studio. And even better- this house was still much more original in terms of mid-century charm. One of the things they loved about the Mt. Tabor house was that the sellers on that house took down the wall between the dining room and kitchen for an open layout, and while this new house still had the wall intact, Emily and Ben felt like this was a house where they could take one of the things they loved about that Mt. Tabor house and do the same thing in this house- only they would get to do the kitchen exactly how they wanted.
Before we left the house after seeing it, we knew without a doubt that this was their home- no ifs, ands or buts. We went home, wrote up a fantastic offer and then waited for the weekend to run through it’s course. In the end, there were 6 offers, but we had written up such a good offer in terms of price and terms, and we were the first offer in and I shared the listing on Mt. Tabor with the listing agent to show him how much my buyers wanted this house, that the sellers accepted Emily and Ben’s offer. And to top it all off, the house had a brand new roof, new sewer line, brand spankin’ new central air conditioner, new water line, and a decommissioned oil tank with paperwork so the house is totally move-in ready. Meanwhile, the Mt. Tabor house closed and it turned out that they are spending $170,000 LESS then what Mt. Tabor version of the house sold for. This was the ultimate in finding the right house, in the right spot, at the right price.
One of my favorite parts of my job is helping families come together to live in the same town. About 7 years ago I helped one of my very favorite clients R & P buy their home in the Woodstock neighborhood. Then last summer R’s sister and brother-in-law moved to Portland from the Bay Area and I helped R’s sister D and her husband G buy their first Portland home in Irvington. The plan all along is for the whole family to live in Portland, so a couple of months ago R and D’s parents sold their long-time home in Ohio to join their daughters here in Portland, and I was lucky enough to get to work with them and help them buy a home in Bethany. Now the whole family is here!
Congratulations to my buyer Brooke on beating out 10 other offers to snag this perfect home in the Richmond neighborhood. Brooke found me because her sister’s kids attend the same school as my kids in SE Portland, and they were looking for an agent familiar with the area. Brooke is from Seattle and recently went through a divorce and sold her longtime home in Seattle with the intention of moving to Portland to be closer to her sister. Brooke has a daughter that has some disabilities and is mobility challenged, so the home she knew she wanted to purchase would ideally be near her sister, and have the right set-up for her daughter to be able to get around on the ground floor, and have a flat backyard. We spent a good 2+ months on the hunt, which meant nearly every weekend for 2 months Brooke drove down to Portland from Seattle to check out houses. She wrote offers on 3 homes and while it was brutal to go through rejection after rejection, in the end it was all good because like most buyers, the best house was the last house we saw and she wrote on.
My buyer Alison got in touch with me over 3 years ago after she was referred to me by her close friends, who are old clients of mine. Alison thought she wanted to purchase a condo at a complex in the Brooklyn neighborhood because she had a friend who lived there, and the idea of easy maintenance seemed appealing to her at the time. For what turned out to be a blessing in disguise, none of those units came on the market while she was looking. She then decided to go to grad school and put her house hunt on hold while she went through school and figured out the next phase of her life.
Back in November of 2018, Kelley and Satomi were referred to my by one of the lenders I work with. They had just been given notice that they needed to be out of their rental home soon, and they were in a bit of a pickle. I met them for coffee and I think within 48 hours later they had an offer accepted on a skinny house over in Mill Park. When they bought that house, they were using the Oregon Bond, and they were literally the last buyers to lock in a low rate- within an hour or two of the lender locking them, the Oregon Bond rate went up enough so they would not have been able to afford to purchase the home. They loved their home, but when their daughter was accepted into a magnet school in Portland Public Schools, they decided they needed to move to a house within PPS district, so we started planning to get their home ready to list.
My clients Jake and Greg purchased a blah mid-century rancher in St. Johns in 2017. Over the last four years they worked tirelessly to turn the bland into beautiful. While they loved their home, they really wanted a larger mid-century with a basement and in their dream world, they would be able to move in inner-SE Portland. The first time I visited their St. Johns home I was totally wowed by their home and what they had done to it. Like a lot of would be sellers who want to buy a move-up home in Portland, their biggest obstacle was the uncertainty that goes along with putting a house on the market without knowing where you are going to move. They ran all the numbers with their lender, and to get the kind of house they wanted, they realized that they would have to sell their home first before they could buy. In years past, this would have been the type of situation where getting a contingent offer accepted would have been the path. But it’s 2021 and contingent offers are just not a thing with the incredible demand. We looked at a couple of houses that came on the market, but those homes were receiving multiple offers and with the need to write a continent offer, they knew they had no chance.
Back in 2015 I helped one of my very favorite people Tiana purchase a home in Cully on a large lot with her then wife. Back then, the market was competitive, but not so competitive that a buyer with only a small down payment couldn’t get a house on the first offer they wrote. Two and a half years ago life circumstances changed and Tiana and her ex-wife broke up and I helped them sell the house. At that time in late 2019, the market had pretty much flat-lined, and when we sold that house, it did take a few weeks to go pending. Ever since then, Tiana has talked about getting back in the market to buy another home.
My buyers Alexandra and Ray are first time home buyers and just scored on a great ranch house in Fo-Wo section of Woodstock- between Foster and Woodstock. They were fantastic to work with because they knew what they wanted and they were prepared to jump head first into this nutball of our early 2021 market where there is 1 house for every 20 buyers. After walking into what would become their house, the first thing they said was- we could be friends with this seller. The seller had quite the display of rocks, gems and minerals and before we got very far into the house, my buyers were ooohhhing and ahhhhing over the sellers collection- admiring and even naming some of the rocks. Once we got past the rocks we explored the house, a mid-century 900 sf with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom on an oversized lot graced by a front yard tree with a trunk the size of a truck. I could tel as we walked around that this was “the one” for them. They are also woodworkers and one of their strong wants was a home that had a great space to build stuff in, and this house has a newer oversized garage/ shop that is perfect for woodworking.
(maybe less than excited about that but they’re still cute), and HOLY JEEZ POSSUMS Y’ALL. I’ve got the possum sweats y’all. I’m ready to be their queen in my castle AND CREATE A KINGDOM. Bring it.”
Dave used to live across the street from me until about 2 or 3 years ago (who can keep track of time these days?) when he and his partner divorced and he moved into an apartment a few blocks away. His oldest kid and my oldest kid have been besties since before they could walk or talk, and it was Dave and his 2 kids who we had our last out of our family bubble non-socially distanced get together with on March 14th, 2020 at my older son’s 10th birthday party. When we parted ways that day, we didn’t know when we would be able to get together again in such a carefree way because the following day we all went under lockdown. And nearly a whole entire year later, we are still waiting for that day.
Who doesn’t love getting an email from new buyers letting you know they want to work with you because you could be their dream agent. And that’s exactly what my buyers Liz and Alex wrote to me when they first got in touch. After we had a Zoom meeting, I could tell they were going to be dream buyers. Liz and Alex were looking for a home where they could start a family, live as close-in as possible on the east side, and wanted vintage charm out the wazoo.
My sister Jamie moved from our hometown of Portland to New York City to pursue a career in visual arts in 1999, before Y2K, before 9/11, and during the last year of the Clinton era. Along the way she met my now brother-in-law Paul, bought a townhouse in Brooklyn during the height of the recession for a rock bottom price, had my now 8 year old niece and adopted the sweetest little mutt who they named Zucchini- an homage to our childhood dog Squash. For the past 21+ years Jamie, and then Jamie and family, have spent extended amounts of time in Portland, usually at least a couple of months over the summer. They had vague plans of moving to Portland “some day” but no super motivating factor to do the hard work of packing up, figuring out where to live in Portland, and all that goes along with moving across the country. Then 2020 came and like millions of other folks, they re-evaluated where they lived, and the motivation to live closer to family (us) and to get out of the suffocating humdrum of life in New York during the pandemic became stronger with each passing month. We had fantasies of them buying a house in my neighborhood, Ladd’s Addition, and being walking distance from each other so our kids could easily go back and forth between houses.
Seven years ago I helped some of my favorite buyers ever, Hanna and Kylan, buy their first home in Foster Powell. From the moment I started working with them, I fell in love with them- they are so on it and we spent so much time laughing together. Not long after they bought that home, they had their first kid. Two and a half years later in the summer of 2016, Hanna was pregnant with their 2nd kiddo and with new adventures out of state awaiting them, I helped them sell their first home. A couple of years ago, they moved back to Portland, and Kylan started working in Tualatin. Not wanting to spend hours in traffic every day commuting, they rented an apartment within walking distance from Kylan’s job in Tualatin. A couple of years of living in an apartment with 2 rambunctious boys and 2 dogs was starting to wear on them, especially as the pandemic raged on and everyone is home all the time.
My clients Elizabeth and Tom contacted me in early October. They were getting all their ducks in a row to start the home buying process within the first 6 months of 2021. After we spoke, Elizabeth got in touch with a great lender and it was after she spoke with the lender that they realized they were actually a lot closer to making home ownership a reality then they had anticipated. Once pre-approved, they realized that with rates below 3%, buying a home sooner then later to take advantage of the low low low rates was within their reach. Besides staying within their budget, location was the most important feature, and they knew they wanted to be as close-in as possible, preferably west of 82nd and within walking distance of places you would want to walk to and near transit so once the pandemic ends Elizabeth could easily get downtown to her job at Mercy Corps.
My clients Laura and Umar contacted me in mid-October because they had just been approved to purchase a home at 
About 5 years ago I helped my clients Tim and Elizabeth purchase their first home in the Cully neighborhood. It was an older home on a nice sized lot with a lot of old house quirks. Earlier this year in the year (though it feels like it was 10 years ago) they contacted me because a new co-housing development was about to break ground right in the heart of the Cully neighborhood called Cully Green. Built by Orange Splot, who is well known for their green building, use of whimsical features and lots of real wood in their buildings, Cully Green is a community of 23 homes- 22 newly built townhomes and 1 home from the 1920’s that is original to the space. Tim and Elizabeth heard about this new community and had gone to a couple of meetings to learn more, and realized this was going to be exactly the kind of community that they wanted to be a part of. Featuring a community building, gardens, and even a sauna- some of the highlights of physical features of living in a co-housing situation along with the opportunity to build a new community from the ground up was super appealing to them. The buildings in the development are built around several courtyards with large covered front porches designed to invite neighbors to pull up a chair and chat. We wrote up an offer on a yet to be built unit in early March,and at the time we wrote up the offer, the expected completion date was around January/February of 2021.
A little over 4 years ago a most fabulous lady named Claire contacted me to help her purchase her first home. At the time, she was working for a non-profit and while she didn’t have a lot of funds or a high paying job, she did have fierce determination to buy a home. It took a while, and included several grants and first time home buyer programs, but she wound up purchasing the most adorable condo ever that I was listing. My seller on the condo had purchased the condo a couple of years before, and then met the love of her life and they sold the condo to buy a bigger home. Claire wound up buying the condo after a break-up with a former partner. Fast forward 3 years and Claire contacted me again because she had met the love of her life Timothy. Claire had moved out of the condo into a larger apartment with Timothy, and she was ready to sell the condo. I listed the condo and within a couple of weeks got a great offer and a month later she closed on the condo and that chapter of her life. Timothy is a veteran and eligible for a VA loan. I hooked them up with Jennifer Leon over at Umpqua who is fabulous with VA loans and they got pre-approved for a nice sized loan. Off we went to go look at good sized detached houses with 3 and 4 bedrooms in great parts of town.
Way back in May- just barely into the pandemic, my buyer Elizabeth contacted me to see about working together. She picked me because my profile photo has me holding my Italian Greyhound pup, Pinto, because Elizabeth also has an Italian Greyhound mix pup named Whiskey. She gave me the basics of what she was looking for, but what was really important was to be in her own home by election day. Given it was only May, that seemed like an achievable goal.
Houses with the sunburst pattern in the siding over the front porch are special and this Irvington home with the sunniest of siding is no exception. My buyers recently moved up to Portland to be closer to family and after a couple of months of looking for the ONE, they found it here. Because it’s a special house, of course it had 3 great offers. My buyers were the first to write on the house, and when it came time for the sellers to choose which offer they would accept, thankfully being first offer in was a big point in our column. Congratulations to my buyers on getting the first and only house they wrote on!
*Appraisals and timelines associated with real estate transactions are starting to feel the pinch of the huge surge in home purchases that Portland is experiencing.
I helped my buyers Brooke-Lynn and Ivan sell their classic mid-century in Rose City Park back in March. They loved their old 2 bed 1 bath home, but were ready for something bigger and in closer-in NE Portland. When they sold their home they had multiple offers and were able to get a buyer who gave them 2 months of rent-back. Once late May came around, they still had not secured their next dream home, so off they went to stay at friends houses, then AirBnB’s.
Lisa and Matt and their 4 year old son had been renting an apartment in Irvington and were ready to branch out and buy their own home. Their needs were pretty simple- at least 2 bedrooms, cute/vintage, reasonable condition, a yard to play and garden in and relatively close to where they had been renting in inner North/Northeast. And a basement would be the cherry on the top. We looked at a few homes and even a condo that was a condo conversion from a 1960’s complex that was similar to what they had been renting. We found a great home that met all their needs within a few days. A house that had been sitting on the market with no action for nearly 3 weeks. We wrote up a great, full priced offer, and what do you know- someone else decided that day to put in an offer as well. The house seemed to have some condition issues and the other buyers offered a 2-week close, meaning it would be nearly impossible to negotiate repairs, let alone have any repairs done, prior to closing. So when Lisa and Matt’s offer was not accepted, there was a little heartbreak which was quickly dealt with via some condolence vermouth. But then, the very next day, a cuter-then-a-cupcake circa 1940 bungalow came on the market in Piedmont. We went to see it and I could tell my buyers were in love. Given it was cute, well priced, and in a fabulous location, it did receive multiple offers and Lisa and Matt were able to beat the other offers with a super clean offer and a small escalation clause. The inspection revealed a few issues including the need for a new roof, furnace and other old house stuff that was past it’s useful life. Thankfully the sellers were great and we were able to negotiate a fair credit amount and a small price reduction to account for the work needed. And then my favorite day in the whole transaction arrived- closing and key day!
The layout and flow throughout the home is absolutely ideal for a home of this size. Through the hall, you’ll find three bedrooms filled with natural light and ample closets. Also, a roomy bathroom with double sinks and stylish updates.
My buyers Shay and Mike contacted me in mid-April, about a month into quarantine, and a couple of weeks after my last pre-covid transaction had closed. They were living in a rental, had a 2 year old and were pregnant with their second child. Shay had just started a new job but due to Covid she had never even been into the office of her new company. They figured with the second kid on the way, now was as good a time as any to find a new home. They had just gotten pre-approved in mid-April one month into quarantine. We had no idea what the Portland market was going to do. Everything had come to a stand still in real estate and we as a collective body of real estate agents did not know how long the pause would last. Would it be for a couple of weeks? A couple of months? Forever?
Josh and Evayn were referred to me by some great past clients of mine. We met for the first time via Zoom and we talked about the current state of the market and what to expect as a home buyer looking to purchase a home in close-in North or Northeast Portland. I explained how despite the pandemic, real estate was as busy as it’s ever been with nearly every good house getting multiple offers and almost always going over asking. Having caught them up to speed on the state of the market they were prepared for the worst, or at least prepared that it might take a while before they found the perfect house and had an offer accepted. We discussed what they were hoping to find, and they mentioned that they had seen a house listed in Overlook that seemed to check all their boxes. It had just gone pending so unfortunately that was off the table as an option. Or was it?
Kat was referred to me in mid-May by a former client of mine, about two months into the pandemic. Like a lot of first time home buyers, being home all the time with roommates while also running a business had lost a lot of appeal after two months into Covid. Kat is an artist and has developed a successful business selling dice for role playing games and was looking for a cozy vintage home that also had a large enough space to move her business operations into. She also wanted to live as close-in as possible. We looked at a few houses to give her a feel for what was on the market, and nothing was close to ringing her bell. And then like magic, the perfect little 1910 bungalow with a nice front porch and porch swing on the back porch popped up in Creston-Kenilworth. It is sweet as a bell in the sunshine with high ceilings, a true to period re-done kitchen and bathroom and vintage charm galore. And the basement set up is perfect for running her business out of with an outside entrance that will allow her sweet pooch to run in and out of all day long. Like a lot of houses listed these days, it was unfortunately listed under market. In this frenzied market, even buyers with great down payments, over asking offer amounts and fantastic terms are having to write offers on multiple homes before one sticks. I had prepped Kat for this, and so we wrote up a really strong offer and then just bit our nails while we waited for the seller to review the 7 offers they received. Thankfully they did select Kat’s offer. A home run on the first hit for Kat. The sellers had done all the hard stuff so the inspection went well and a month after her offer was accepted, I got to meet Kat at the house to hand over keys.