I’m a Baja guy. I’ve been going to Mexico since 2003; that was the first year that I drove there with my brother. We only went halfway down the peninsula, but I was totally hooked. Since then I’ve driven down, as far south as Cabo San Lucas, multiple times and now we share a van that is stored right by the Los Cabos airport for easy access.

This time of year, I usually do a blog giving my thoughts on what I think the next year will bring in the Portland Metro Real Estate Market. With experience, I have found that it is next to impossible to predict what rates will do, how buyers will react and what that will mean for prices + inventory. What I can do is lay out the current market dynamics and how I think that will trend into the future. The two biggest players in these dynamics are rates & inventory.

I’ve changed brokerages!! After a decade at Living Room Realty, I’ve decided to move my Real Estate Practice to Real Broker. The change happened about two weeks ago and in my interactions with colleagues, friends and clients, the big question has been: why?

That will usually prompt the question: “what kind of options are out there?”. Where do I start!!

There has been this notion out in the zeitgeist for the past decade that you can just “put a sign in the front yard and your house will sell”. From my seat, it has never been that simple.

Pulling off the buy/sell is complicated. As a part of that process, one thing that I always offer up to clients is to go look at some homes in their price range + geographic region just to make sure that their expectations are in line with reality before we list their home. It is also a good exercise to build some excitement because, as you might imagine, it is a big project and any additional motivation you can dig up can be useful.

I discovered the Grateful Dead in 1994 during my junior year of college. It was late at night and I was on the verge of what could have been a trip into a dark psychedelic experience. A friend of mine recognized my distress and said “oh, you need to listen to this.” The music pulled me back from the brink and opened my eyes to a different world on many levels. From there I was hooked. Jerry Garcia died just a year later in August of 1995. I was never able to make it to a show, but the music was still a big part of my coming of age.

Going back to being a white belt in anything is a fantastic way to find some youth, come to grips with who you are and perhaps gain some perspective and humility along the way. Here’s to the struggle!!

My crystal ball has been a bit murky lately, but I can tell you what I do know. 2022 was a wild ride in Portland Real Estate. The year started with off-the-charts demand and minimal supply causing sale prices to rocket into uncharted territory. With mortgage rates in the 3%’s, money was cheap and bidding up an extra $20k on top of the already-over-asking-offer was no big deal in the eyes of the buyer; anything to win. In the summertime rates shot up dramatically and caused a gravitational shift in the market. It didn’t exactly grind to a halt, but the presumptive “offer deadline on Monday” became a thing of the past.

At my house we are always talking about: “what we should do.” You know, trying to make the best use of our space and the whole project is an evolution. Sometimes we want to move and other times we want to do nothing. We love our house, love our neighborhood and couldn’t dream of leaving until the kids are out of school. BUT our bedroom configuration doesn’t quite fit our family.

In the arc of my Real Estate career I’ve found a pattern: I sell a house to a young couple that they live in until they have a second child. Then they trade up for a bigger one. Soon after that I usually get a call from the Grandparents who’d like to move here from the Mid-West, East-Coast or California somewhere. It is always a process to get the Grandparents here often because they’ve been in their current house for decades and are pretty dug into their community. And there is the practical matter of dealing with a fast-moving market from thousands of miles away.

The Overlook Dream: Live It, Love It. Just a few blocks to Killingsworth amenities and Adidas HQ. Loaded with natural light and original details. Rad tuck under garage and fun front porch. Welcoming living/dining room with oak floors, corner built-in + cute fireplace. Bright kitchen features stainless steel appliances, granite tile countertops and ample cabinet space. Finished basement with second bathroom + family room that doubles as a 4^th bedroom. Back patio + potting shed. The details here: lovely and the vibe: perfect.