A New Home For The Holidays

I first met the Carsons in September. They are a family of four and were living in a condo in the South Waterfront and their balcony was being tear-gassed almost every night of the week because of the protests. They were living in 1000 square feet and they were itching to get out and have more space. 

The most important items on their checklist were outdoor space for their two teenage boys, 20 minutes or less for their daily commute to the Pearl, decent schools and a bedroom for each kid. We embarked on a house hunting journey that took us from Forest Heights all the way to Tualatin and in-between. 

When we found this house they walked-in and knew they loved it. It had been really nicely remodeled, had a fabulous backyard for their kids to play, two fireplaces, a big garage, an extra family room and enough space for them to all spread out. And bonus, they wouldn’t have to do any work to it, they could just move right in!

We beat out three other offers. Now they can move in just in time to celebrate the Holidays in their brand new home. They can start making memories here together. And bonus points for the kids: the Gabriel Park Skate Park is also just down the street!

The Portland Market can be Rollercoaster!

As you may know, the market in Portland right now is absolutely bananas. In fact, The Oregonian just wrote an article titled: Portland is Sold Out of Homes! Needless-to-say when my clients approached me in July about finding them a first time home I knew it would be challenging but their journey was more like a rollercoaster ride!

We toured over 60 homes in total all the way from deep Overlook to Mt. Scott. After making a couple of offers that were rejected, success! We reached mutual acceptance on a home near Madison High School. Sadly, after the inspection there were some issues with the foundation that were too scary so they backed out. Then it happened again! We were lucky enough to have had an offer accepted again and this time the mold issues were out of control. So sadly, after six rejected offers, two sale fails, 70 toured homes and more than three months we were back at square one.

Back to the drawing board! We revised our search a little with a small increase in our budget and renewed energy in our step and we went back out there. This time, they at least knew what to ask for when it came to the inspection. 10-15 more home tours and we found this little gem in the perfect Woodstock neighborhood that they originally wanted to be in. They were head over heels! The wood burning fireplace to the fresh maple flooring to the wisteria dripping on the pergola… all with three bedrooms AND two bathrooms! It’s difficult to find any home with more than one bathroom in this price range and with the age of homes in the neighborhood. But this one had it! Everything they wanted.

I knew there would be multiple offers and I wanted to make sure this was the home they would be able to call their forever home. I went to work and drafted an offer presentation that guaranteed our offer would go to closing over all the other offers. All-in-all there were eight other offers and because of excellent communication between Jamis and me our offer won out over the others even though it wasn’t the highest offer!

Getting to work with our own Jamis Minnis at Living Room on the other side of this deal was an absolute dream! Jamis was so helpful and prompt with her responses and communication. Knowing how to write an impressive offer presentation also didn’t hurt…wink! Now my clients have a cozy home in which to build their lives together.

Congratulations to my friends Danielle and Tyler!