By Katie Merritt, September 14, 2021
Louise, Andrew and Lauren do not stand on convention.
The home ownership model which classically limits occupants to one single family per address struck them odd. They knew three separate homes within their individual budgets would land each in “unhappy housing”, as in spaces that suffice, not thrill. They also realized that three individual homes would collectively cost them buckets more than one single, substantial house.
So they set out to purchase a communal home. Together we scouted houses ample enough to meet the demands of friends, Louise and Andrew, for music and art space plus enough additional semi-private square footage to house third pal Lauren as a rental for herself and her young son. It took the better part of the summer to locate one residence with the ideal balance of shared and individual space in a desirable location proximate to everyone’s daily destinations and… to find these elements within a home everyone genuinely liked. Come August, by gum, we found a NE Portland bungalow that checks all the boxes in fairly spectacular form. So…they scooped it up!
I recently read that the median US home price in 1960 was $11,900, the equivalent of $98,000 in today’s dollars. Hmmmm. Here in Portland we’re up against median home prices hovering around $600,000.*
Louise, Andrew, Lauren…I salute you! You met an affordability conundrum with pluck, ingenuity and a laudable readiness to replace the “single family home” notion of yore with your own definitions of family and housing.
Honestly, I’m a smidge jealous of the fun I know you’ll have together. Congrats!
*Per 8/30/21 Altos Research Report, the median single family price in Portland was $599,900.
Katie Merritt
Broker | OR
She/Her
When People Call, I Answer.
I learned at the top that mega sales volume is an obstacle to the individualized client care that I love most about my work. So, when I moved my business from San Francisco to Portland in 2009, I created a real estate practice fueled by rooted relationships and kitchen table conversations. Mornings I get out of bed energized by the people I work with and the client wins I personally manage thanks to the simple success of driving a human rather than transactional business.
I believe in real estate for wealth creation and the specific joy that the right four-walls-and-a-roof brings to our daily lives.
Specific skills? I’m a dogged advocate who’s at her best finding creative solutions and negotiating my clients ambitions across the finish line.
Good things abound outside of the office too. My 14-year old son is on-fire at Riverdale High where I serve on the PTC board. He and I are hikers who hit the trail here and on our travels. Five years free of cancer, I’m finding that I’m ready to talk about it through various forms of volunteer outreach. Art & design are best described as my brain’s happy place and my current real estate project…remodeling my own fixer is a nice channel for those design impulses, though honestly, I can’t wait to update this note to say “job complete”!
Want to talk real estate for immediate needs or game-planning your future? Let's do it. I'm here to listen, advise and see if we might be the right fit to work together.- T: 503-956-0464
- katie@hellomerritt.com
