Don’t be an asshole.
Tag: gay REALTOR® pdx
0% Down Success Story!
There are lots of great programs out there to help buyers become home owners with a variety of down payment options. A lender colleague of mine sent me a couple who were using the 0% down program. It’s a great tool for people who can clearly make a mortgage payment but don’t have a huge savings, so basically MOST people. The hard part in the Portland market is that you’re competing with multiple offers who usually have large down payments. The reason why it puts the buyer at a disadvantage is because there are several components to an offer that make it strong. There’s price, down payment, earnest money deposit, inspection period, closing costs, etc….
From a seller’s perspective, a 0% down payment means that the bank is 100% responsible for the loan if the buyers should stop making their payments. In a real estate deal, when it’s time for the appraisal they will be looking hard at the house to make sure there’s nothing that might put the bank at risk for taking on 100% of the loan. What that can translate to is the seller having to make repairs in order for the buyer to get their loan. Most often a seller will go with not just the highest price but the strongest down payment because it puts them at less of risk.
All that said, it’s a challenge to find a house without multiple offers. These clients were very specific about what they wanted. It had to be a 3 bedroom in Kenton or Portsmouth. We looked at all the old inventory to see if there were any overlooked gems but there wasn’t too much sitting there. It didn’t take long before a house popped up directly across from my old house in Kenton where my kids live half the time with their other mom. I happened to know the seller because he was my neighbor for 10 years. The buyers loved the house and location so we wasted no time getting our offer in. Miraculously, they accepted it the same day.
The rest was smooth sailing because the hardest part was finding the right house and finding a seller who was willing to work with us. I thought this process might take months but we were able to find it in a matter of weeks. Now we have some awesome new queer neighbors and kids across the street. Congrats Jean and Sarah!!! Come borrow eggs or butter anytime!
My Partner in [Gay] Crime.
![My Partner in [Gay] Crime.](https://www.livingroomre.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Gay-Crimes.jpg)
(This is not promoting violence or crime, I’m not into that.)
Ya’ll.
I asked my partner for some great blog ideas and let me grace you with their written response.
Look at #6, #8, & #14! I cackled.
1. Pandemic rom-com list
2. You can’t tell a house by the doorknob
3. Why are dogs incompetent at life? Asking for a friend
4. Let me name your baby!
5. What kind of pie should you bake in your new kitchen? A culinary adventure.
6. Looking for another oil tank, please don’t be a haunted house
7. 12 reasons an adult should watch frozen
8. I catcall houses while I drive around town, “ooh baby, new roof.” (It’s true)
9. Teacher for professor, social worker for social worker and other stories about people supporting people.
10. Which room of a house is most important to you?
11. I miss Thorns games.
12. Best sale items from Big 5 from the last 2 years.
13. My next career once Zillow makes agents obsolete.
14. Let’s give them pumpkin to talk about, 10 fall quarantine dates, oh my gourd!
15. Like, please tell me, did any other 90s movies hold up as well as Clueless?
12. Best sale items from Big 5 from the last 2 years.
13. My next career once Zillow makes agents obsolete.
14. Let’s give them pumpkin to talk about, 10 fall quarantine dates, oh my gourd!
15. Like, please tell me, did any other 90s movies hold up as well as Clueless?
This is one of the MANY REASONS why my partner Camille is one of my favorite human beings.
Before and After in Arbor Lodge!
I LOVE when clients send me pics or have me over after they’ve remodeled. These two, Hayley and Ethan, would not compromise on location AT ALL and they wanted the impossible. The process took months and we wrote lots of offers but couldn’t land it. The goal was a minimum of 2/2 not past Cully, not past Kenton with walk-ability, good light, garage, yard, and a basement they could eventually rent out and under $400k.
Finally, on a quiet Memorial Day weekend this little hoarder house popped up in Arbor Lodge. It checked every box but needed heavy cosmetics. They were bound and determined to bring sweat equity and breathe life back into it. These photos are just the beginning.
This Saturday at 7am, Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism!
Our hearts are so heavy right now and I’ve been thinking a lot about how to talk to my kids about racism. I’m excited to see what Sesame Street does with this. Tune in this Saturday at 7am.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/06/02/us/cnn-sesame-street-standing-up-to-racism/index.html
Some good news from Portland Water Bureau.
Portland Water Bureau response to COVID-19
We’re all in this together. That’s not just a catchy saying to us, it’s part of our ethos. It guides every decision we make. Many Portlanders are struggling right now as we all adjust our lives and respond to COVID-19, here’s what we’ve done to help: No customer will have their water shut off. No late fees for non-payment. Our Customer Service team is staffed to answer any questions. It’s best to reach out by email for a quicker response at PWBCustomerService@portlandoregon.gov. We offer crisis vouchers and have programs for income-qualified customers. We’re all in this together. You can stay update on how we’re responding to COVID-19 here: https://bit.ly/2VEwDWK
Your water: Safe and available during the COVID-19 crisis
Official web site of the City of Portland Water Bureau
portlandoregon.gov
Lucky in the Time of Corona.
My buddy Lauren bought her house in Woodlawn back in 2009 and lived there with various roommates and girlfriends for 10 years until she moved into her girlfriend Karmen’s house a couple years ago. Since then she’s been renting to friends until she figured out what she wanted to do next. When she told me a few months back that she was thinking of selling we made a plan to get the house spruced up and get the tenants sorted out so we could hit the spring market. We made a punch list for the handyman, lined up the painter, and Lauren, being an electrician, installed some new lighting. The place was looking good.
Simultaneously, some friends that work for Equal Exchange came into Sloans for happy hour back in January. One of them, Shawn, was telling me she and her girlfriend, Raina, were about to get pre-approved and start looking for a house. They wanted a 3/2 and figured they’d have to be looking pretty far out to get that in their price point. I mentioned to her that my friend Lauren was getting ready to sell her 3/2 super close-in and around that price range and that I’d let them in for a sneak peek before it hit the market.
So fast forward to March, we had everything ready to come on the market mid-month and shit starts getting serious with the Corona. I had shown Shawn and Raina a handful of houses all over town but they weren’t finding anything they liked. They really wanted to see Lauren’s house before it came on the following weekend so I took them through it and they wanted it. I talked to Lauren to see if she’d be open to selling off market and she was excited about the possibility of an easy sale and keeping it in the community.
When a situation where two sets of our clients enter into a deal together, my business partner Teddy and I split off from each other and represent one party each. That way, there’s no conflict of interest and both sides are represented fairly. I worked with Lauren and Ted worked with Shawn and Raina.
To accept an offer off market, it has to be enticing enough that you feel comfortable letting go of whatever possibilities a multiple offer situation might bring you. Shawn and Raina wrote an attractive offer and Lauren took it. The deal was super straight forward and easy. There were a handful of things to fix/repair and we were able to get them done before the world shut down. We were even able to close early.
So, that’s the story of my recent win-win. Lauren was able to dodge the Corona bullet and Shawn and Raina got their 3/2 house in Woodlawn at an unheard of price. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to work with those two, but they were in good hands with Ted. Congrats my dudes!
Hometown Homo Gets a Homo of Her Owno!!!!
This client needs no introduction. Adrienne Graf is a born and raised Portlander with deep ties to the queer community, a champion for victims of sexual assault, and a loud as fuck renter’s advocate. Not someone you’d want to get into a Facebook tangle with about renter’s rights because she will eat you alive. She herself never thought she’d one day be a home owner in her town because of impossible prices for first time buyers.
Her brother is a mortgage broker and they had this idea that maybe she could borrow off her retirement account for her down payment. Seemed legit so she started looking. She sent me a house that had just come back on the market in St. Johns. It was an adorable little 3 bedroom ranch and from what the listing agent told me, the previous buyer before us just got cold feet. We checked it out and it was love. I couldn’t really find anything wrong with it other than the electrical panel and a slightly older furnace. We were up against one other offer (so surprising with all the LIFT buyers) so we had to come up in price a few thousand but we got it!
Inspections went great and all was moving along until we found out that she was unable to borrow from that retirement account. The deal was dead in the water until her brother, Thomas, being the saint that he is, decided he was going to loan her the down payment because he really wanted her to have this opportunity at home ownership and that’s what family should do. It was one of the kindest acts of love I’ve seen in this business.
We negotiated a new panel and a tune-up for the furnace and Adrienne is now the proud owner of her perfect little witch cabin. This was the best way to start off the new year and set the tone for what’s to come. Congrats, paisan! We did it! Special thanks to Thomas Graf, the real hero here.
Never Have I Ever…
Mary Ann came to me as a referral from one of my favorite clients to date, I already knew I would love her based on that. As we toured her home for the pre-listing walk through, I began to jot down my regular notes: take down posters, narrow down decorations, put away unnecessary kitchen counter top appliances, yadda yadda. She was clearly making mental notes as well, and I could see she was up for the challenge. We cruised through her (incredible!) theatre toward her master bedroom, her sweet pup- Phinn, trailing close behind. Mary Ann watched me closely as I peeked into each closet accessing its future. As I reached the master bedroom I saw her grin and mumble “uhhh open that one slowly… I have kind of a shoe thing…”. You guys. I’ve never seen so many shoes in all of my life! Nordstrom has nothing on Mary Ann! She had neatly lined each pair up row after row after row, after row… after row. I closed my gaping mouth, gave her my punch list and prayed to all of the listening shoe Gods. I returned a week later to finalize the listing and almost fell over dead, SHE DID IT! Mary Ann did every single thing I asked! Talk about dream client!! All of the hard work paid off 7 days later when she got her offer and we sailed into a smooth closing. Congratulations Mary Ann! Thank you for trusting me and letting me participate in your move to the next chapter!
This Family Caught the House Bug.
Amy and Luis were along for the ride last month when Amy’s sister Kara bought her house. Two weeks after that house closed, Luis texted me with a house he wanted to see for a rental. The idea was to either buy a house that Amy and Kara’s parents can move into, or just a house they can hold onto for a long term investment. We hung out for an hour at a really beat up bungalow. It had been a rental forever and the tenants had a weed operation in the basement. The location was cool, but the house needed a minimum of $100k to bring it back to life.
As we were standing by our cars talking about the offer we were going to write, I mentioned that I’d really like to see them buy a mid-century instead of an old bungalow for an investment. Even if it were a grandma ranch, the bones would be a lot more solid and it would likely only need cosmetics. I had a house on my radar that I was meaning to check out for myself so I showed them photos of it online. Ten minutes later we were there.
The house had been on the market for two weeks at $625k. I really think the only reason it didn’t fly off the shelf was because it came on during a holiday weekend. The history of it was that it had been in the same family for 50 years and when the mom died recently, the daughter came up from Florida and updated all the systems. She replaced the roof, electrical, furnace, painted, remodeled a bathroom, and added an egress to the basement family room. It was important to her to honor her mother and the home she grew up in and get it ready for market. It was immaculate and bright with pass-through picture windows that look out into the large landscaped back yard. She left all the mid-century details untouched and did all the right things to make it modern.
Because this house has a full basement with egress and it’s own entrance separate from the main house, it would be very easy to convert to a duplex. Everyone left in love and an hour later Luis called to tell me to write it up. Because it wasn’t going to be his home and there’s less emotional attachment with a rental and there were no other offers, he offered $25k under asking. The next day the seller accepted.
There wasn’t much to negotiate on this deal because everything had already been done. The only tricky part was the sewer line but we were able to get the seller to replace it before closing. The timing worked out perfectly because Amy and Luis married last Saturday and Amy’s parents were still in town Monday when it closed to check out their potential new home. I love these clients and I LOVE when deals go super smooth. Congrats Amy and Luis!!!
The End of the Milwaukie Era.
When my friends, Chey and Naomi, sold their North Portland house to find a house in the burbs I thought they were nuts until we found this mid-century in Milwaukie with an pool. It was a time capsule of 60’s well built perfection with a spacious open floor plan and a party basement. We had so many parties and so much fun in this house the last few summers.
But when the seasons start to change the drive feels impossible and becomes less frequent from the friends. Naomi was driving up to work in North Portland 5 days a week and was growing tired of the commute. Most of our friends have kids now and it’s so hard to get together for spur of the moment hang outs with them so far away.
When they told me they were ready to sell and move back to North I was thrilled but also panicked because no one else has a pool. They won’t be having their big 4th of July pool party this year but they are they have found a new home in Kenton! More on that purchase soon, it’s been a giant project.
Get it While It’s Hot in FoPo!!!!
Adorable Victorian Farmhouse in hot Foster/Powell! Light and bright, this home has big sunny windows, fresh paint, and beautiful hardwood floors. Nice open floor plan, new gas fireplace, proper dining room, handsome kitchen cabinets, a breakfast nook, and all around good vibes! Has detached garage with electric, new roof, fully fenced yard, landscaping and garden. Bike score 97! It doesn’t get any cuter. Open Houses Sat+Sun 11-1. Call me to see, 508-340-1456
Dream McMansion in Milwaukie!
Christy and RJ were some of my first clients years ago when I started. I sold them first house in Woodstock just around the corner from Toast. We stayed friends over the years, they showed up with baby gifts when I had my first kid and also turned me on to the world of Portland Storage Wars. They became solid regulars at NWIPA and loved being only 6 blocks away. Christy started getting the itch to move closer to her job in Milwaukie and called me up when she was certain she wanted to move. She had found her dream home on a 1/4 acre lot at the end of a dead end street.
There’s only the 2 of them so I wasn’t sure why they wanted a 5 bedroom 3 bath house, but they realized they have a tendency to take in wayward strays. This house is HUGE. It had been recently gutted and remodeled but I think the selling point was the party basement. RJ pictured a pool table and Christy pictured enough room to display her mom’s furniture. Coming from a smaller house where they had roommates for a few years, it felt like they could stretch out and breathe. This is the home they can grow old in.
Congrats, pals! I loved being a part of your dream home. Off to sell the old one.
Best of Both Neighborhoods!!!
| Nestled between FoPo and Woodstock, you get the best of both neighborhoods! Remodeled bungalow on a corner lot with updates galore! Newer roof, panel, furnace, AC, paint, and windows. HUGE kitchen, proper dining room, master up with bath, fireplace, hardwoods, garage, and basement for storage. Yard is fully fenced with awesome southern light! Great walk score and food and shops at your fingertips. Open Houses Saturday 11-1, Sun 1-3pm. Call me to see! 508-340-1456 |