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.
We spent a solid weekend looking at 10+ houses, and as often happens, they fell in love with the first house we saw. It’s a brand new 4 bedroom home with a legal ADU that sits on the edge of Mt Tabor and has a lovely west facing view. With both of them working from home, this house has plenty of space for a home office and future bedrooms for their hopefully expanded family. And with the ADU on the bottom floor, it provides a great space for a renter or as a space for family to come stay for longer visits once a baby comes on board. After they decided that this was the house they wanted to buy, they got back in touch with Jennifer for a pre-approval letter to go along with their offer, and found at that the interest rate was only 2.5%. TWO POINT FIVE PERCENT! Whut?!? Claire and Timothy had a monthly budget and at that low of a rate, it meant that they could do 100% financing and still pay several hundred less a month then what they had budgeted for. We all had to slap ourselves silly when we found out how low their monthly payments would be- even with zero down.
We wrote up the offer, had it accepted, went through inspections and with the exception of a very unexpected find of an abandoned oil tank on a property with new construction, (that thankfully had not leaked) sailed through the transaction. A little more then 3 years after I handed Claire her first set of keys to her very first home, I had the privilege of handing over the second set of keys to an even bigger and better home.
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.
Five years ago I helped my clients purchase this great 3-bedroom home in Cully at 6001 NE Milton St.. Earlier this year my clients contacted me because they love the Cully neighborhood and were super intrigued by a new co-housing development being built by Orange Splot, called Cully Green. After doing their research they decided that they wanted to sell their home and buy a new home at Cully Green. And then the pandemic happened. But thankfully by the time they were ready to sell their home, we had figured out all the protocols for handling sales. We listed the home, got a great offer, and they just closed on selling this one. Next week- on to buying the new house in Cully Green!
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!
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.
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?
My first time buyer August is smart, diligent, stubborn, fun and funny. Basically, dream client. And, I promised them I’d go skydiving, since they took a leap of faith with me. More on that one later.
Congratulations to Sarah, Scottie and Piggers! Thanks to impeccable timing they were able to get $35k in down payment grants through the LIFT program and University of Portland’s down payment program designed to help full time employees buy their first home near the UofP. Within a week of having the LIFT reservation in hand, we found a great rancher in University Park that checked all the boxes including what we thought would be a difficult to find huge detached garage for Scottie’s blossoming contractor business. This was the week before Christmas, and knowing that the LIFT funds expired in 2 months, and that most likely they were not going to see a house that checked this many boxes in their price range anytime soon, I suggested they offer just a few hairs over asking in hopes that the seller would accept their offer prior to the weekend, and it worked! Three days before Christmas they had their offer accepted, which was just 2 days before I left town on vacation for 2 weeks. Thanks to my excellent colleague Lisa Avena at Living Room who took great care of them and handled their home inspection, I was able to enjoy my vacation knowing Sarah and Scottie were being well taken care of. The inspection turned up a few unexpected surprises in the crawl space, but having a contractor buying a house always makes me feel better when a house is going to need some work. Even though the seller (who was also the listing agent) wasn’t happy, we were able to get him to agree to fix the big stuff. And then the appraiser called out some dry rot on the garage. Grrrr. By this time we were in mid-January and the market had clearly turned a sharp corner. In the 4 weeks from when their offer was accepted to the time the appraisal came back, the market shifted strongly into a sellers market with little inventory and a ton of buyers out shopping. The seller was very aware of this, and reminded me a couple of times that he had someone waiting in the wings who wanted the house badly enough because of it’s huge garage, that this supposed buyer would have taken the property as-is. So when I told him that the appraiser had called out that the garage needed to be repaired before the lender would loan on the property, he refused to the garage repaired. This would have been the end for most buyers, but Sarah and Scottie were not daunted. Scottie knew he could take care of the issue himself in less than a day’s work, so we got the seller’s permission for Scottie to fix the issue and Scottie got to work. Between the 35k in funds, finding the right property at the exact right time, and having the literal skills and ability to fix a problem, this family of three were able to close on the perfect house for them.
Upon entering you’ll notice vaulted ceilings and wonderful natural light. The floor plan flows easily into the formal dining room and formal living room, wonderful for entertaining and intimate dinners alike. You’ll love how the living room shines with an oversized picture window and soaring ceilings. Making your way into the heart of the home is the beautifully updated kitchen featuring ample counter space, storage galore and soaring ceilings. A dining nook and breakfast bar help to make this space feel both spacious and inviting.
DELIGHTFUL BUNGALOW IN ST JOHNS 
Through the kitchen, you’ll find yourself in a spacious den with a big window and bookshelves. 
