Barb & Josh are some of our favorite people to work with. We recently sold their home and have been looking for months for their perfect new home they could call their own. Low and behold the home that was a near perfect blend of what they both envisioned came on the market. By day 1 we got in the home, and Josh & Barb knew it had to be theirs. So, we submitted our offer that day in the hopes to take it off the market before the sellers’ scheduled open houses that weekend. Our offer was above list price, but soon we felt the flurry of other offers coming on the table and suddenly we found ourselves sinking from the top place. Barb & Josh are wise and they knew the offer they submitted was their highest and best so they knew they had to pull some heart strings to get the sellers to choose theirs. Barb has what we call the magic touch for a seller letters, and her words were truly heart felt and convincing. That evening minutes before our offer expired, I received an accepted offer in my inbox along with a call from the listing agent congratulating us on our excellent presentation and killer letter. My face lit up with job to be able to deliver such amazing news. Barb & Josh were so relieved that they would have their new home days before both of their birthdays.
During our inspection people were still trying to view the property thinking it was still on the market because of how hot the property was, which sealed the fact that we were so blessed to have them in contract on this amazing home. Another victory was that we were able to negotiate a substantial credit for Josh & Barb. Barb & Josh stood their ground and asked for what they believed was fair. Time and time again I have seen good things happen to this pair and they were able to get a beautiful home with fair terms. Our hearts are so full today because it’s finally key delivering day, and we get to finally hand them a long awaited token of joy from all their hard work.
We love you Barb, Josh & Parker and are so excited to see what new adventures you both will continue to have together.
A rare find! Beautiful Old PDX style modern home, built both for efficiency and classic beauty. Perched up off the street this home offers light filled open spaces, gourmet kitchen, custom details and so much more.
Paloma and Mike are amazing clients and together we achieved something almost beyond belief!
Every now and then I get to work with incredibly easy clients and I have to pinch myself because they seem too good to be true. Hanne and Andrew fall into that category. They were referred to me by a long ago client, and when we met up to talk about working together, the process of buying a home and the kind of house they were looking for for their first home purchase, their needs were simple. They loved old houses, wanted at least a couple of bedrooms and wanted to be within easy biking distance (easy for them at least) from their jobs in inner East Portland and had a realistic budget. Shortly after we met and they got their pre-approval, I sent them all listings west of 82nd that were financeable and seemed to have some potential. I can’t remember how many listings I sent them- maybe 15-20, and by the next day they sent me back their comments and questions about all of them. One in particular looked intriguing to them- an old farmhouse in the Woodstock area. The house hit the market at the end of September, right when the market flat-lined for a few months. It was now mid-February and had been on the market for five months, seemed reasonably priced where it was at, and the photos made it seem like a cute house. Of course, the question arose of- what’s wrong with it?
Back in 2011 I sold my buyer Erika and her then husband their first home- a glorious mid-century in Laurelhurst. Since then, we’ve kept in touch and about 5 years ago I worked with her parents when they purchased a dream home on the Willamette. But life has a funny way of going a different path than the one you think you are on, and Erika and her first husband had an amicable divorce. Erika has a new partner, Jake, and they have been living in Gladstone, where Jake works as a teacher. Erika’s kids school, her job and her kids Dad’s house were all in her old Laurelhurst neighborhood, and the commute was eating Erika alive. Erika touched base with me about 4 months ago as she and Jake started thinking about moving back to the Laurelhurst area. We looked at a few houses over a few months, but none were quite right.
Ali and Jeremy marched into their search for their first home with determination and motivation. They had realistic expectations of where we would find houses in their price range, and after recently getting married after 10 years together, they were eager to start the next phase of their lives. After we met and they got their pre-approval, they set their eyes on the prize. The first step was checking out a few homes at open houses, and then we went and looked at about 5 homes that could nicely be called dregs. While visiting each house, Jeremy would ask Ali what she liked about the house and what she didn’t. Ali is a bright side sider and she was always able to find something about each house that she liked. By the end of our tour, I had a pretty good feeling for what Ali was looking for. The fact that she was even willing to consider a couple of these homes (like the one that had cigarette burns all through the carpeted house, or the one that had two sets of front doors, but no rear or side doors, or that one with the creepy gun room in the basement), told me that her standards were pretty low. After that day I think they felt resigned to the fact that all the homes under $350k with a good sized yard for Moira and Hubble- their shepherd mix pups- and enough bedrooms and space to start a family in, would be less than ideal.
My buyer Bev moved to Portland two years ago, and at the time she moved here, she wasn’t that familiar with Portland so when she decided to buy a condo, she bought a sweet space in Gresham tucked alongside the Springwater Trail and some parks. After a year of living in Gresham, she decided that she would rather live in Portland because the drive for work, friends and everything else was getting tiresome. Last summer she contacted me after being referred by a friend. She had found a cute little 1 bedroom house on a flag lot in the Foster Powell neighborhood. She wavered on putting in an offer, and even came into my office where we sat down to write the offer. As we started to go through the paperwork, she hesitated and decided that she wasn’t ready to buy yet. Four months later she contacted me again because she was now ready to buy a house.
I met Jillian and Nick in early November when they began their house hunting adventure. As mid-century enthusiasts, they knew exactly what kind of house they wanted- open floor plan, huge picture windows, fireplace and preferably a vintage style kitchen. The only problem with having a love for that style is they are far from the only buyers out there looking for that perfect little mid-century in East Portland. About a week after we met they found what they thought was their dream home- as much as they tried not to fall in love, they did anyway and all 8 of their combined heart valves collapsed when the sellers selected another higher offer. They felt they would never get over losing that house, yet they managed to find a couple more homes that they liked enough to put offers in on. Considering all of the homes they liked were priced at or near the very top of their budget, they didn’t have a lot of wiggle room to go up in price when the multiple offer situations would kick in, so after they lost two more houses, they were heartbroken, but only in a 2-valve way each as opposed to the first house which was a 4-valve heartbreak.
Katie is my across the street neighbor, the mama of my older son’s best friend and someone who I feel ridiculously lucky to be able to call her a dear friend. We met nearly 9 years ago when my husband and I were on a walk around our neighborhood, Ladd’s Addition, with our then 2 month old packed tightly into his ergo. Katie was hanging out in her front yard with her rosy cheeked son who at almost 6 months old was sitting up and smiling and playing with dirt and grass, while our son was still a little bean who had just recently started smiling. At the time, Katie lived 2 blocks away from us in a rental house. I liked her from the moment I met her, but at the time, it felt like the age gap and development difference of 4 months between our sons seemed like a distance too far for our young sons to traverse and form a friendship. We waved and said hello as we saw each other from time to time in the neighborhood. About a year after we met her she wound up buying the house across the street from us, and by that time my son and her son had bridged the development gap and started playing together, and have been thick as thieves ever since.
In January of 2018, the longtime owner of Longfellows, the bookstore at 1401 SE Division passed away. The building is only a few blocks from Katie’s home, across the street from Abernethy Elementary where all of our kids go to school, and three blocks east of her current shop location. A few months later the building owner’s son who worked with his dad at the bookshop, closed the shop and put the building on the market. The main floor of the building is retail along Division, and upstairs is a gorgeous 3 bedroom apartment with gorgeous views of the west hills, downtown and the street below. Over the years Katie had developed a friendly bookstore-owner to bookstore-owner friendly relationship with the son, and when he decided to put the building on the market, his vision of the perfect buyer fit the exact description of Katie and her shop.
Erik Liu w/ First Tech Credit Union, Mortgage Loan Officer
Four years ago I helped my buyers Megan and Christian purchase a home off NE Alberta. At the time they bought that house, it was a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom with an unfinished basement and attic, with the only way to access the attic through a pull down ladder from a hatch in the hallway. Over the last four years they have converted their basement into a lovely apartment and finished their attic with a master suite and added a spiral staircase for access. Christian has a construction and carpentry background and did most of the work. Being perpetual project taker-onners, they decided they were ready to purchase a second property to have as a rental, and since they excel at and enjoy sweat equity, ideally they wanted to purchase a home that had an unfinished basement that was suitable for turning into an ADU.
I would say wanting the “big city” walkability but the “small town” big yard feel is a pretty popular dream for most people moving to Portland. Coming from the beautiful town of Hood River where this already exists and artists by trade, my buyers were more attuned to this than most. We scoured the market and wrote a few offers on ones that were very close and definitely could have worked. But Portland is still a competitive market with multiple offers on homes like this because it’s such a driver for people moving here. “Buyer fatigue” was definitely starting to set in for these guys.
My buyer Tung and his partner Corey were first time home buyers and like many first timers, their budget wasn’t vast and the number of homes that are livable in their price range was slim pickings. Additionally they needed to find a 3 bedroom home with 2 bathrooms because Tung’s parents who are disabled would be moving in with them so Tung could take better care of them as they age. Tung and Corey really like skinny houses, but after taking Tung’s parents needs into consideration, they realized that they would need a single level home to make it work for their family. So now we needed to find a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home in reasonable shape all on one level and for right around $300k and those are about as rare as a wild ostrich in Oregon.
market was sufficiently flowing so that we could find a new property, write it contingent on the sale of their current home, and start the “ballet” as I call it.
I’m glad to see blue is on the list, because I’m loving the idea of a navy blue bathroom.
About 2 years ago I worked with a wonderful buyer named Ryan. Ryan bought one of the cutest houses in Portland- a little cupcake ranch in the Rose City Park area that was cute and sweet and perfect in every way. On the day that Ryan found his magical house, he brought along his good friend Cory, and that was the first time I met her. About a month and a half ago Cory contacted me because she was now ready to buy a house. We met up for coffee and she shared that she wanted to buy a house just like Ryan’s- a little one-story mid-century ranch in the Rose City Park/Montavilla vicinity. She was living with 5 roommates in a house with only 1 bathroom so the idea of owning her own little slice of homeowner pie was looking more dreamy by the minute. The following day she hooked up with a lender, and by the end of the week she had her pre-approval and financing in order. The following weekend, Cory went to a couple of open houses, and then I showed her a few more homes for sale. And lo and behold, only one week after we met for coffee, Cory found a version of Ryan’s house only 9 blocks away. The house had been on the market for nearly 3 months, and the seller had come down $50k from their original price- which was below $400k to begin with. And because we have turned into a buyer’s market for those houses who probably won’t win a beauty contest, Cory wrote an offer with no competition and had it accepted. The only issue that came up in the inspection was the need for a new sewer, and the sellers agreed to a credit for that. With a little grooming, some paint, carpet removal to expose hardwood floors, this small and sweet 3 bedroom mid-century has so much potential to transform into it’s cupcake.
