By Alyssa Isenstein Krueger, March 9, 2020
Kate and Chris were referred to me by one of my past clients who went to college with Chris. We met and they showed me a map of where they wanted to live. Funnily enough, the boundaries just happened to correspond with the Ladd’s Addition boundaries plus a few blocks to the north. As experienced home renovators, they were willing to take on a project and willing to wait for the right house that met most of their wish list, with primary concerns being location, price and size of home. And since where they wanted to live was so specific and given how much homes cost in Ladd’s, they lead off with “we think it will take a long time and we are wiling to wait for the right house.” One of the main reasons they chose to work with me is because they knew that I live in Ladd’s and have for quite some time. After our meeting, a familiar little voice in my head chirped sarcastically in response to their thinking it would take a long time to find a house, “sure it will.” My inner voice only says that because the words “we think it will take a long time and we’re willing to wait” seem to be the magic phrase that triggers the universe to turn into a giant hiccuping blob that spits out the perfect house within a week or so.
Nine days after we met, a house that had been on the market in Ladd’s since the end of 2018 and all of 2019 came back on the market after taking a month off to re-group. The house was on the market so long was because it was overpriced by over $150,000 when it first came on the market, and then bore the scarlet stamp of “loser” the longer it sat on the market. And now it was back on the market with a new listing team and priced $20k lower then when it went of the market the month before. The house perfectly wonderful- it has great light, gorgeous hardwood floors, a layout that makes sense, and a dreamy dry basement- a rarity in Ladd’s Addition. There are a few layout quirks to the house- a wall was removed to open up one of the bedrooms to create a larger dining room, and to get to the second bedroom on the main floor you have to walk through one of the bedrooms, or go around the kitchen and the landing to the basement off the back of the house. But for the right buyer, those are very workable quirks. Located in a great location off the busy streets, there was no reason why the house should have been on the market so long other than it’s starting price and slow response to the market.
I emailed Kate and Chris the listing on a Thursday, and we made plans to see it the next day. And good thing we did because the listing team was hosting an open house that evening and while there, we got word from the broker hosting that the sellers just received an offer and would be looking at offers at 10am the next morning. Enamored with the home, Kate and Chris decided to go for it. We put in an offer the next morning and by noon on Saturday- less than 24 hours after they saw it, I got word that the seller accepted their offer. We did a 26 day close and on the day it closed and on closing day, I walked over to my new neighbor’s house and handed them their keys. So next time you know someone who wants to buy a house in Ladd’s Addition and thinks it will take a while, have them come to me and say those magic words.
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
