Portland

Market Trends, Portland

Reflecting on 2020: How has real estate changed?

When COVID-19 first came to Oregon, most of my clients put their real estate activities on hold. It really looked like it was going to be a few weeks or months of wait-and-see. I did not expect to sell much until post-pandemic, whenever that might be. My expectations could not have been more wrong. Once […]
Portland

Why is it so hard to find a house with a yard?

One of the top requests I get from homebuyers is that the house they buy has to have a big yard. A place for kids to play safely. A place for dogs to run around. A place to garden. A place to drink tea in the summer afternoons. But the houses in Portland, and even […]
Market Trends, Portland

A Look at Current Market Conditions

As winter comes to a close in the Northwest, the real estate market is gearing up for another busy spring and summer season. Will it be as hot as 2016? What does it mean for buyers and sellers? Let’s take a look at some telling trends. The above graph represents real estate sales in Washington […]
Portland

How much does street noise affect a home’s comfort?

My first job out of college was in an office that had been converted from an old train depot. Trains went by, within inches of my office window, several times a day. The first time it happened, when I was there for my interview, I was caught off guard in a spectacularly embarassing manner. But […]

Market Trends Reflecting on 2020: How has real estate changed? When COVID-19 first came to Oregon, most of my clients put their real estate activities on hold. It really looked like it was going to be a few weeks or months of wait-and-see. I did not expect to sell much until post-pandemic, whenever that might be. My expectations could not have been more wrong. Once […]

Portland Why is it so hard to find a house with a yard? One of the top requests I get from homebuyers is that the house they buy has to have a big yard. A place for kids to play safely. A place for dogs to run around. A place to garden. A place to drink tea in the summer afternoons. But the houses in Portland, and even […]

Market Trends A Look at Current Market Conditions As winter comes to a close in the Northwest, the real estate market is gearing up for another busy spring and summer season. Will it be as hot as 2016? What does it mean for buyers and sellers? Let’s take a look at some telling trends. The above graph represents real estate sales in Washington […]

Portland How much does street noise affect a home’s comfort? My first job out of college was in an office that had been converted from an old train depot. Trains went by, within inches of my office window, several times a day. The first time it happened, when I was there for my interview, I was caught off guard in a spectacularly embarassing manner. But […]

Home Decor Blackout Curtains for the Late Summer Sun Legally, a room has to have a closet and a window in order to be called a bedroom. The best sleep I've ever had was in what's known as a "non-conforming" bedroom. It was a basement addition that had no windows. When the door was shut and the light was off, it was completely dark. Insulated […]

Finance What Buyers Can Do to Get Ahead in a Seller’s Market You've no doubt heard that it's a hot real estate market here in Portland right now. Last week I wrote about how quickly everything is selling in Portland. When we talk about a hot market, though, we mean it's a hot time to sell. For buyers, though, it means more competition and, often, more difficulty. […]

Finance Portland Real Estate: Why It’s Not A Bubble KGW recently reported that Portland has the fastest-rising home prices in the United States. Check out this graph representing Multnomah County. The line at the top is the average sold-price-to-asking-price percentage, and the bars represent days on the market. It's incredible! Days on the market — from listing to closing! — is averaging less […]

Portland That’s So Portland! When I talk to my friends about my life in Portland, I hear the phrase "That's so Portland!" all the time. This city is full of unique opportunities and experiences, and living here, it's easy to take for granted just how unusual — not to mention fun, interesting, exciting — my routine can be. We've […]

Portland Is Winter Over? Outside the office this morning, I saw a whole bunch of robins, and also a hummingbird. Is it spring already? One can dream, right? The weather may not be ready to cooperate, but spring does come quickly to real estate. We saw the typical yearly slowdown with the holidays this year, but two weeks into […]

Portland How Accurate is Portlandia? People who have never been here often ask me if Portland is anything like the satirical comedy Portlandia. Of course it is, or the jokes wouldn't make any sense. Maybe they don't make any sense anyway, but that's one of my favorite things about this place. It's okay not to make sense sometimes. I usually tell […]

Portland What is Rip City? You're probably aware of Portland's many nicknames: Rose City, Stumptown, Portlandia, Bridgetown, Beervana…each has its own significance in our city's lore, but one that may not make sense to you is Rip City. Why Rip City? What does Rip City mean? Originally, it didn't mean anything, but it quickly gained great significance for Portland Trailblazers […]

Portland A Few of My Favorite Portland Things: Mountains On my first visit to Oregon in late 2007, I could not take my eyes off Mount Hood, unless it was to gape at Mount St. Helens, or maybe Adams or Jefferson. I grew up in the mountains of Virginia — what I've since learned native Oregonians would refer to as "foothills." The Blue Ridge Mountains […]