By Alyssa Isenstein Krueger, December 10, 2019
Molly and Nathan were referred to me at the end of 2018 from some past clients of mine. At that time, their housing situation felt unsettled in that they were living in a house they technically owned in North Portland, but it had been recently remodeled to the gills by a family member, and in the end, the remodel was too over the top for their taste or budget. It wasn’t long after they moved in to their North Portland home that they started considering their exit strategy with the goal of buying a home that really felt like their own. It took them some time to negotiate and navigate some tricky family dynamics, but by September, their North Portland was on the market. Given the terms they had negotiated to sell the house, another real estate broker in town listed their North Portland home, and as soon as they were pending on their North Portland home, they hit the go button with me. I sent them some listings in the areas they were interested in and in the price range they were comfortable with, and even though inventory is disappointingly low, a couple of homes stood out to them. I met them on a Sunday at one of those houses, but it wasn’t the right house. However, just prior to meeting me at the house we saw together that day, they had stopped in to check out an open house at a smaller bungalow in Grant Park and were smitten. After we saw the house we had set out to see, we all went back over to the Grant Park house to check it out so they could see it a second time and I could see it in person. Once inside, I could see the butterflies swirling and dancing in their eyes.
If possible, I prefer my buyers sleep on it before deciding if they want to write an offer on a house. The next morning, they woke up still enchanted and excited about the house. The 1925 picture perfect bungalow was largely untouched- with all it’s charms and quirks intact, for better or worse. Every room is pretty original with hardwood floors, old wood windows, vintage light fixtures, and with the exception of some flooring changes, even the kitchen and bathroom were straight out of 1925. Thankfully Nathan is a woodworker/contractor so has the skills and connections to turn the house into exactly what they want. The location, less than 2 blocks from Grant Park and walking distance from Beverly Cleary grade school couldn’t be better for a family with a toddler on the move. Meanwhile, the buyers on their North Portland home had finished inspections and they were in the final repair/credit negotiations. We wrote up the offer on the Grant Park home, and it took a couple of days to get Molly and Nathan’s offer accepted while we waited for the buyer’s on Molly and Nathan’s North Portland home to finish up repair negotiations. The minute those negotiations were complete, I sent over that addendum to the listing agent on the Grant Park home, and within a couple of hours the offer was accepted.
Before Molly and Nathan started looking for their new house, like most buyers about to embark on the sell then buy with a toddler in tow, they were pretty anxious about finding their next home given the low inventory. They had 30 days of occupancy after close on their North Portland house, but that never feels like enough when you don’t have a house in sight. In the end, we were able to line up the closing of the Grant Park home one day after the North Portland home sold, which gives them a month to get the new house into a condition where they feel comfortable moving in. I must say this at least 20 times a year to clients, but I strongly believe that when it comes to buying and selling homes, everything works out the way it is supposed to, and Molly and Nathan are yet another example of the chips falling into the right places at the exact right time.
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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