By Living Room Realty, July 18, 2020
As I round my ten year anniversary of my own relocation to Portland, the openness and curiosity that comes with newcomers, connects me to own path of joy.
Typically they fly in for a few days to “look around”, and see if they can quickly get a feel for the Portland real estate market. They tend to appreciate my over-the-top enthusiasm for whatever lifestyle their hoping to find here.
When the opportunity is by way of an introduction from another kindred spirit, chances are high it’s going to be an interesting & fun adventure.
This was true of working with VK. We had a pre-meeting chat over the phone and in the first 5 minutes I had cheek pains from his wit & humor. He’d sold his long time home in California and was contemplating life at a different pace with more trees. I got the feeling he was seasoned in home buying, and would appreciate working with someone savvy to navigate choices, local market conditions, and negotiations.
On his first visit I organized a tour of a mix of homes and was able to get a feel quickly for his tastes, preferences, and priorities to share in the evolving vision of the type of home that would suit his needs. After a few days of touring we came really close, but the right set of variables just wasn’t there.
He went back home as he still had some other business to attend to before making the leap of uprooting and moving to Portland. We stayed in touch and enjoyed talking smack about homes online and life in Portland in general. We shared a few tours of homes on Facetime & Zoom to help him keep the energy of his search alive.
Then the day came he called me and said, “I’m ready to move to Portland, let’s find the house.”
As this point we’d developed enough rapport, I knew I’d be able to hunt it down fast.
The market had heated up and multiple offers in hot neighborhoods were almost certain. It was mere days later that we laid eyes on “the one.”
Chances were high it would get bid up beyond the budget and out of reach, so I encouraged making an offer with some attractive terms that would offer the Sellers some flexibility.
If the joy and cuss words shared when I called to tell him the offer was accepted could be bottled, I’d cherish it forever.
It’s a beautiful property, and an extremely rare combination of Spanish style home on a tree-lined street up high on the block, yet still close to everything inner east-side living has to offer. I love that it has all the charm he was dreaming of & touches of SoCal to remind him of home.
