First Time Home Buyer? Some Tips to Get Started

March 6, 2022Posted inReal Estate
There’s nothing quite as exciting as buying your first home, whether you’re looking for something to start out with and build equity or your “forever” home. It can also be a stressful process, filled with unknowns and market-specific factors that are constantly changing. While the last couple of years of the Portland housing market has mostly favored sellers, we're now seeing shifts in the market that allow buyers more time and flexibility to shop. Still, there's much to learn and the market…
Why Asking Price Doesn’t Matter

Why Asking Price Doesn’t Matter

February 17, 2022Posted inReal Estate
In the past twelve months, about two-thirds of single-family houses listed for under $1 million that have sold in the greater Portland metro went for over their asking price. The remaining third was about evenly split between those that sold at list and those that sold under. Distill all that down, and only about one in seven houses that sold went for the number on the price tag. It would be an odd way to shop if you walked into Target…

Stop the Insanity!

February 9, 2022Posted inReal Estate
I work a lot of open houses, which means I get plenty of face time with potential buyers. Visitors to open houses come in all shapes and sizes- those that have just started looking, neighbors who want to check out the new house for sale, and the battle-hardened who have already been putting in offers for a while, with no success. One question that seems to come up no matter who is asking is the Big Question of the Day: when…
What YOU Need to KNOW Right NOW Before GOING to an Open HOUSE (You Won’t Believe #4!)

What YOU Need to KNOW Right NOW Before GOING to an Open HOUSE (You Won’t Believe #4!)

January 27, 2022Posted inReal Estate
If you really stop to dwell on it, there's something quite strange about open houses. You leave your home- with all your memories and your toys and that open Gatorade bottle in the back of the fridge- in the care of a real estate agent that you may not have ever met or seen or whose name you know, so strangers can walk through your house for a few hours and judge how you live. If you're fortunate enough to not…
What the F*** is a “Zestimate,” Anyway?

What the F*** is a “Zestimate,” Anyway?

October 19, 2021Posted inReal Estate
(Update: this whole post is now moot, glad I took the time) Folks in my business tend to see Zillow and other techy real estate companies as anywhere from benign presence to the Anti-Christ. I land somewhere in the middle, as I have a healthy distrust of any giant company but can see how when they offer real value, it's best to figure out how to work with them or they'll eat your lunch. I have seen firsthand what kind of…
What the Hell Are You Talking About

What the Hell Are You Talking About

October 5, 2021Posted inReal Estate
There's an old saying in marketing that half of all marketing works, but nobody knows which half. That's likely an outdated metric, what with the new army of data scientists and algorithms that didn't used to exist, but there are still plenty of places where art is called for more than science. Take for example movie advertising, my old bailiwick. When deciding what tagline to put on a poster, or which review quotes to include in an ad, it's mostly hunch.…

Get Real: Portland vs California Real Estate

September 2, 2021Posted inReal Estate
One of my favorite recurring features in the NY Times is their What You Get column, in which they'll pick a budget (say, $850,000) and tell you how much acreage that'll get you in Texas versus what size of refrigerator box it will be in San Francisco. I'm now going to shamelessly rip this feature off (albeit strictly in a Portland and California way), but I'd like to make it more of a competition. Gladiatorial, perhaps. Each house included in the…