By Alyssa Isenstein Krueger, May 23, 2018
A few years back, my buyers Sasha and Paul entered the Portland home buying market and found themselves awash in the real estate frenzy back when every house was getting 12 offers and nearly every half-way decent house was going for at least 10% over list. After losing out on several homes, the pressure was too much so they bowed out of their home buying adventure. Fast forward a few years and in a better place financially, they decided that for once and for all, they were going to buy a house. They were introduced to me by a dear mutual friend and we hit it off right from the start. After a couple of months of pulling together what they needed for a pre-approval, we started looking in earnest. Sasha and Paul checked out a lot of open houses, I showed them a few houses, and then in mid-April they stopped by an open house in Kenton. I went back to the house with them the following day, and while there, Sasha asked me if after you see a house if you can’t get it out of your mind and then you start looking at Pinterest for design ideas does that mean you love the house? To which I emphatically responded, YES! That’s often what happens when you find the right house.
After seeing the house in person, it was easy to see why they fell in love. Upon opening the front door, you walk into the mid-century living room, and the entire south side of the house is wall to wall windows looking out onto the expansive yard- a double lot in fact. The stunning wall of windows connects the house interior to the backyard so seamlessly, that curling up into a chair next to the window feels like you are lounging in the backyard. Add in the mid-century style fireplace, re-styled and dialed kitchen, 3 good sized bedrooms upstairs and a full basement with 8’+ ceilings, and the house is a total 10. Unlike the last time Sasha and Paul went house hunting, there was only one other competing offer so they didn’t even have to offer that much above list price to get the house. The transaction was smooth as silk, and as soon as at the sellers move to their new home in a couple of weeks, Sasha and Paul and their family get to move in just in time to enjoy a glorious Portland summer in their new home.
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
