Discover Roseway: East Portland’s Hidden Gem

Roseway is an up-and-coming area in outer East Portland, and it’s blossoming fast! With exciting newcomers like the 72nd Food Cart Pods at Junior’s Coffee, the Reeva Pizza Food Truck, and the iconic Sandy Jug, this neighborhood is quickly becoming a hotspot for millennial fun. Here are some of the best local spots you need to explore:

 

🌟 Cameo Café – East Portland’s Korean-American Diner Star!

Looking for charm and flavor? Cameo Café is your spot! This kitschy diner brings together American comfort food with Korean-inspired dishes, served with a side of personality. You might even have the owner, Sue Gee Lehn, pop by to say hello! And if you love the food (which you will), don’t forget to grab a bottle of their famous hot sauce to take home!

 

🍻 Park City Pub – Dive Bar Vibes, Elevated!

Dive bar lovers, this is your place! Park City Pub is all about good times with pool tables, fantastic food, and super-friendly staff. Their new outdoor patio is perfect for chilling, and with daily specials like Taco Tuesdays and Wing Wednesdays, you’ll want to make this a regular stop. Sports lover? They’ve got you covered! Catch all the big sports games here!

 

🎨 Mason Street Mural – A Colorful Celebration

Behind Park City Pub, you’ll find the city’s latest masterpiece: the Mason Street Mural! This vibrant piece, crafted by the City Repair Project in September 2024, celebrates growth and gardening on a grand scale. It’s a community-funded project, so don’t miss your chance to see this stunning work of art and support the local arts scene!

 

📚 Gregory Heights Library – Your Cozy Community Hub

Need a quiet space to dive into a good book or get some research done? The newly painted and landscaped Gregory Heights Library, part of the Multnomah County system, is your go-to. Open Monday through Sunday, it’s the perfect place for some peaceful reading or work time.

 

🍸 My-O-My – Drinks, Vibes, and Wallpaper Goals

If you’re into stylish atmospheres, My-O-My should be high on your list! Located across 82nd and up Sandy, this bar has ALL the vibes. From its cool drinks to its jaw-dropping wallpaper, this place is a must-visit. Don’t forget to check out their rotating food trucks on the patio—it’s always something delicious!

 

🌲 The Grotto – A Peaceful Escape in East Portland

You don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate the serene beauty of The Grotto. With its park-like atmosphere, the “Stations of the Cross” loop offers a peaceful stroll through the woods, perfect for reflecting or simply enjoying nature. Think of it as East Portland’s mini Forest Park!

 

🏺 The Sandy Jug – Iconic Design, Now Reimagined

Known for its unforgettable architecture, the Sandy Jug is a must-see! Once a strip club, it has been transformed into a funky, one-of-a-kind bar by the team behind Portland’s Sandy Hut and Holman’s. The “jug of jugs” retains its quirky roots but with a cool new vibe. Stop by for drinks and admire the unique décor!

 

🐾 Sacajawea Park – For You and Your Furry Friend

This adorable park is perfect for both humans and their four-legged pals! With a large fenced-in dog area and views of Mt. St. Helens on clear days, Sacajawea Park is a peaceful little retreat in the Cully neighborhood, a short walk for people in Roseway. It’s also adjacent to Sacajawea Elementary School, making it a great spot for families.

 

🌳 Wellington Park – A Hidden Green Space

A bit smaller than Sacajawea but just as charming, Wellington Park is a 4-acre gem shared with Scott Elementary School. It has a great playground for the kiddos and is perfect for a quick stop or a leisurely pass-through from West to East Roseway.

 

🚶‍♂️ Skidmore Trail – A Local Secret Worth Discovering

Between 82nd and 79th on Skidmore (not 100% sure on the exact blocks, but trust me!), there’s a secret trail winding between properties. It’s like stepping into a hidden world for a few blocks—super cool and worth checking out!

Roseway is quickly growing into one of East Portland’s most exciting neighborhoods, so get out there and start exploring! 🌸✨

 

🏡 Make A Move

Want to live here? Check out this Remodeled 2bd/2ba Bungalow with Original Charm!

Portland Market Update Early-April 2024

Find out what’s happening in the Portland real estate market for Early-April 2024.



Hi, I’m Gabrielle Enfield, Real Estate Magician at Working Magic Group and Oregon Broker for Living Room Realty, here to give you the scoop as we enter peak real estate season here in Portland, Oregon.

A Major Shakeup?

Headlines may make you think there’s commotion happening in the real estate world. In short, the National Association of Realtors is facing a Department of Justice settlement tied to buyer agent fees and how they’re communicated, as well as the agreements that need to be in place before a buyer can tour a home for sale with a licensed agent.

While it may sound like a shakeup, it’s really just putting a bold underline on what we – as licensed agents in the Northwest – have been doing all along, especially here at Living Room Realty.

It’s tied to client advocacy and what’s in their best interests, while clearly communicating the value we, as Realtor Fiduciaries, have in one of life’s biggest decision making moments. Right now, we are in a wait and see period, with regulatory changes expected in July. If you have questions or want to discuss your options and what this means for you, please reach out, we are here to help.

Buyers

Now, onto the really juicy stuff – what’s happening in our local real estate market?

At this week’s Living Room team meeting, our agents put gobs of homes under contract, representing mostly buyers. So if you were wondering if now’s the right time to hit the touring circuit – the answer’s a big old yes! Really, anytime you’re ready to enter the real estate market is a good time, it all just comes down to the strategic levers you and your agent can pull.

Here’s the deal…. if you run the numbers on a home that you could see yourself in for the next few years, and you can afford it now, you should probably make a play for it. Rates are expected to head below six percent sometime in the future. The minute they do, buyers are going to rush forward and create a very competitive landscape. This will likely push pricing further upward and in some cases further out of reach. You being the smarty pants you are, you’ll have the option to refinance on your rad house down the line.

Let’s Look At The Numbers

Right now, at Living Room, homes under contract averaged 2 offers, and went for roughly $15,000 over asking with an average pending price is $702,000 dollars

Across Portland Metro, the market action index is hovering around 47, still tipping in favor of sellers. Median days on market is 42. The median listing price for new listings is $675k – that’s about 40 grand more than this time last year.

Get Your Home On The Market

No matter the political or economic climate, real estate operates on a somewhat predictable cycle. If you’re thinking about selling, NOW is the time for action. It’s important to have your house on the market before the first week in July. After that, we Oregonians goof off and want to be settled before fall routines kick in.

An advocate like me will help you identify your punch-list to get your house ready for its close up. You’d be amazed what changing the front door color does for a place – my favorite is saffron yellow. 3 cheers for color!

 

Make A Move

Real estate is a lot, and takes practice, precision and market intelligence. If you’re feeling like you’re ready to make a move , call us today! We’d love to help you find your next Living Room.

 

Just Listed – Charming Arbor Lodge Ranch – 7008 N Mobile Ave. – $424,900

CHARMING ARBOR LODGE RANCH

Come see this charming ranch with the perfect open layout. South facing french doors make this home light and bright all day long. This home has fresh interior paint, an eat-in kitchen with bay window, laundry/mud/pantry off the kitchen. Primary bedroom has a bonus room with an exterior door that could serve as a third bedroom, office or whatever your heart desires. Fully fenced corner lot with detached garage on a quiet street. Close to Arbor Lodge Park off-leash dog park and Chief Joseph ES.
Open House | Saturday March 11 from 10-12 | Sunday March 12th from 1-3

2 bed | 1 bath | 1042 sq. ft.
MLS# 23248336 | Taxes: $3205.61

The Winning Contingent (Offer)

In an ideal world, our homes are our source of stability, our base of operations, and the nerve center from which our lives proceed and evolve and change. So it’s not uncommon that when those life changes require a new home that better fits those changing needs, the question arises: how do I purchase a new home if I need the net proceeds from the sale of my existing home in order to purchase a new home?

That’s when a contingent offer situation comes into play. In addition to generating the funds for purchasing the new home, a contingent offer allows you to shop for a new home while still living in your house; if the timing works out, you only move once. But, and this is a big caveat, it can be a complex and time-consuming process, so it’s important to know what to expect prior to getting started.

And that’s what I just helped my clients Peter and Erin do: we navigated a very competitive segment of the NE Portland market, found a house that fit all of their future needs in terms of size, location, condition, and price, and were fortunate to have their contingent offer accepted and moved into first position. (Their offer was originally in a back-up status before the first buyers withdrew their offer.) We crafted a strategy that positioned them for success, and it was a complicated process of meeting multiple milestones with two sets of parties, and keeping everything organized and synced up.

Let’s dive into the various details of a contingent offer situation, and how to develop a winning strategy:

First of all, contingent offers are just like all other offers to purchase a home, except for the condition of your own home sale. Because of this condition, contingent offers are less attractive than most other offers. In a competitive market such as ours, it’s a big lift to ask sellers of a home to accept an offer that hinges on a home that hasn’t yet been sold or perhaps even put on the market. In Peter and Erin’s case, they were not able to put their house up for sale until they secured an accepted offer on a new home. With two young boys and a dog, and with Peter working from home, it would have been very inconvenient and expensive to sell their home first, and then look for a home – with no guarantee of a timeline for finding that new place.

Fortunately, after more than 15 months of searching, they found their ideal place and were ready to make an offer. Prior to submitting the offer, I spoke with the listing agent to explain Peter and Erin’s situation. This is something I do with all of my clients, but it was especially important here to attempt to find some stronger bond and connection between the sellers and my clients. Accepting a contingent offer in many ways is an act of deep trust, and working to ensure that trust was in place early in the process was crucial. Fortunately, the sellers shared a lot in common with Peter and Erin and their family, and remembered themselves in that same situation years ago.

Peter and Erin’s offer stated that upon acceptance of their offer, or placement into first position, they would put their home on the market within one week. That meant a lot of uncertainty if and when we would put their house on the market. I counseled them to expect about 2-3 weeks before we had greater clarity on the first position buyers. It takes about this long to work through the inspection period and subsequent negotiations, and this is often where a deal will fall apart. Indeed, about two weeks later, we got word that the buyers backed out, and Peter and Erin were moved into first position. We then had one week to get their house ready to be listed, and fortunately I had already helped them start to prep with decluttering, organizing and cleaning, and I had all of the relevant data on their house ready to go. We just needed to get photos taken, and we went live on Halloween day…auspicious, perhaps, but not spooky!

Their offer also stated that they would notify the sellers of their decision to move forward or terminate within 28 days. From my market research, we knew that 23 days on market was the average for a house like Peter and Erin’s, and I was confident that we’d find a buyer in that time period. Since the new house was also in this same market area and segment, the listing agent understood that a 28 day promise was reasonable and supported by the data. Indeed, we went pending 21 days later.

Here are the basic components of this unique contingency:

  • If your home is not yet listed for sale, you must provide a date when this will happen. Obviously, the quicker, the better.
  • You will then provide a deadline date by which you will accept an offer on your home.
    • This is where your broker must have a solid understanding of the average days on market for similar homes to yours in your neighborhood, in order to provide a clear timeline to the sellers on how long it should be before you accept an offer on your existing home. Of course, the shorter, the better.
    • If that date passes without you receiving an acceptable offer, you then have two standard choices, and one potential option:
      • Remove the contingency and move forward with your purchase.
      • Terminate the offer by letting that date pass without further action. If you terminate the offer in this manner, you will receive your earnest money deposit back.
      • A third potential ‘option’ is that you negotiate to extend this date with the seller — this ‘option’ is not guaranteed and shouldn’t be part of your plan.
  • The seller who accepts your contingent offer is still allowed to continue to market their home for sale, and even accept other offers that are more attractive than yours. Your status as a contingent buyer puts you in what’s called ‘bumpable status’, although sometimes the sellers will just leave the house in a pending status and not provide other potential buyers with the opportunity to view the home.
  • If the seller does receive a better offer than your contingent one, before you’ve notified the seller that you’ve accepted an offer on your existing home, you will receive notice from the seller, and you’ll have (typically) one day to choose between one of three options:
      • You’ve accepted an offer on your home, thereby removing your contingency;
      • You have not yet accepted an offer, but you will remove the contingency of your home sale and agree to move forward with the transaction and pay for the balance of the home with other verifiable funds; or,
      • Terminate the transaction and receive a refund on your earnest money deposit.

Here are a list of things to think about and discuss before choosing a contingent offer approach:

  • If you’ll be living at your home while it’s on the market, you will need to keep your house in a ready-to-show state, with showings occurring with little notice, likely for a solid 3-4 weeks. Think about what this will mean for your daily life, and whether and how you can adjust to make this possible.
  • Ask your broker’s opinion on days on market for your house, and how this will help/hurt your chances of a contingent offer being accepted.
  • Consider the crucial importance of pricing competitively. When you have limited time to accept an offer on your home so you can buy your next home, this is not the time to set an unreasonable, unsupported or stretch listing price. The hope with a competitively-priced home in a competitive market is that you will receive multiple offers and you can ultimately get more for your house than you listed it for. In fact, we experienced this very thing: Peter and Erin received an offer over their original listing price, despite making a $10,000 price reduction after two weeks on the market.

In the end, everything came together very smoothly. It was the result of a great strategy, excellent planning, teamwork and communication, a deep reservoir of patience and fortitude by Peter and Erin, and skillful, quality agents on the other sides of both transactions.

Now, finally, Peter and Erin get to welcome a new decade with their two young boys and their beloved dog, in a new home that meets or exceeds all of their needs. It was well worth the wait, and their joy is my joy – a huge reason why I do this work.

If a contingent offer makes sense for your situation, I’m happy to discuss more details with you and to help form a strategy for your success!

Header Photo and Credit: Natalia Y on Unsplash

ANDY MEEKS
Living Room Realty

Licensed Oregon Broker  | Earth Advantage REALTOR®
andy@livingroomre.com | 971.400.0195 | PDX

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