If you arrived home to some surprise gourdness on your front porch last night, you might be a client of Agent Haley Overton's! Haley decided to celebrate the Halloween holiday spirit by delivering these adorable Pumpkin Pop Bys, and she's already getting some great feedback - the clients simply love them!
Life in Portland Blog
The Aarins
Some Agent/client meetings are just meant to be. Agent Liz Getty recently helped a young family find their dream home in Portland - a rocky road to success, but hard fought and well won. The Aarins had not even landed in Seattle yet, and the market research was underway - according to Liz, they were excellent at communicating exactly what their needs were from afar. Aaron wanted the classic old Portland Craftsman, and Erin was pretty insistent that there be NO BASEMENT!
With a contract for employment under negotiation, they wrote their first offer, and lost - but they were up against 21 other Buyers! Their second offer they landed back-up position against 11 other Buyers. Finally, their Meant To Be home hit the market. 3 bedrooms, South-facing, solar panels, and NO BASEMENT (but a huge garage!) in their first-choice neighborhood of Woodstock. Liz, Aaron & Erin moved fast, beating out 11 other offers in less than 24 hours on the market! Whew! The house inspected beautifully, and they were even able to negotiate $5,000 towards closing costs due to a solar contract that benefitted the Seller over the Buyers (nicely done, Liz!).
After closing and the delivering of keys, everyone went to Benjamin Moore to pick out exterior colors - because as Liz well knows, a good Agent's job is never done! Big congratulations to this lovely little family - including the ridiculously beautiful and quite perfect baby Ayla - on their new Woodstock home!
SW Surprise
Photo courtesy of Nathan Jones of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices NW Real Estate
Agent Danielle Moody recently closed on this incredible SW PDX home for her clients, Trent & Jessica - this luxurious and fun party house featured a gorgeous lagoon-like pool, plus a theater/pool room! And the best part is that they all somehow managed to keep the entire process of purchasing a house a secret from their two teenaged girls, Madaly & Hailee. On the day of closing, there was a little surprise party to show the girls - they were shocked, to say the least!
Congratulations to both Danielle, and this lovely family, and here's to many fun parties, gatherings, and happy surprises in their new home!
Urban Nest Unplugged: Agent Sarah Moon Lunde
As a Realtor touring countless houses over the years, you could imagine that they'd all start to blur into one after a while. For PDX Green Team member Sarah Moon Lunde, something that piqued her interest was stumbling upon the occasional vintage wallpaper. Fascinated, she started to document them, saying that after a while, it became a bit of a scavenger hunt.
Here's a selection of some of Sarah's cool finds, from an age where wallpaper was the design choice in a contemporary home;
Sarah says: "Recently I've been taking and collecting photos of interesting wallpaper I find in the houses I show. I've always been especially drawn to anything from the 1950s - that whole Donna Reed era really appeals to me. From the hairstyles and the fashion, to hot rods and the birth of rock 'n' roll, there was so much history being made at the time.
Maybe I'm just nostalgic for a simpler life involving the whole American dream? Whatever it is, you rarely see wallpaper in today's world, unless you find it in a really upscale remodeled home, or notice it deteriorating in a '50s ranch somewhere.
And of course, the word 'wallpaper' has a whole new meaning in today's world of smart phones and tablets. So I've actually been using some of my '50s wallpaper photos as the virtual wallpaper on my phone. It's two eras coming together, each one making the other a little bit more fun."
Quirky, creative, and cool - that's Sarah. We love seeing yet another aspect of her vibrant personality.
What are your thoughts on wallpaper? Are you ready for a retro revival?
Urban Nest Unplugged is intended to highlight the diverse interests, aesthetics, and ideals of our wonderful agents. What inspires them, what makes them tick? We love them, and we know you will, too.
Urban Nest Unplugged: Agent Lindsay Robbins
Since today is Giving Tuesday, we thought it would be the perfect day to spotlight one of our Agents who is dedicated to giving back to the community. Lindsay Robbins' contributions to Central City Concern have already been mentioned here, but what's really cool is how her efforts are creating a ripple effect in Portland. Her Move-in Kits inspired Urban Nest owners Holly Burton & Rachel Freed to contribute some baskets of their own - and now, after seeing a feature on Lindsay in Central City Concern's newsletter, a "large local company" has not only pledged to donate baskets of their own, but will also be running an advertising campaign highlighting the baskets and how they benefit the recipients.
Lindsay understands that the process of someone choosing to change their life completely is a lot of work, and can be incredibly overwhelming. She feels that this contribution of basic household items is a small way to ease the burden of literally starting from scratch.
We're so happy for Central City Concern, who work hard to get homeless people back on their feet and safely into a home of their own. But we're also very proud of Lindsay, who reflected on the experiences of people she cared about, and came up with a resourceful, compassionate concept that is inspiring to those around her.
Urban Nest Unplugged is intended to highlight the diverse interests, aesthetics, and ideals of our wonderful agents. What inspires them, what makes them tick? We love them, and we know you will, too.