Following In His Family's Footsteps

Agent Wren Shiffler's successful Seller Rob (owner of Home Rehab PDX), standing outside his newly Sold property in SE Portland, with a statue of St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of quick home sales.

Following in the tradition of his Catholic parents (who are also a home builder and a Realtor in NJ) Rob buried this statue of St. Joseph in front of the For Sale sign when the house he'd lovingly restored had a sale fail. The second offer came in quickly after that, and sold this week for just over asking price! He's now dug it up, ready for the next rehab project. Congratulations to them both! 

Time To Go House Shopping!

Here's Brooke congratulating happy client, Lucas, after his signing at First American Title with one of our favorite Escrow Officers, Thuy Nguyen.

Lucas sold his home after sifting through several competitive offers and just four days on the market! He put a lot of work into making his Bungalow irresistible, with new butcher block counters and lots of other upgrades and stylish touches. A strategy that clearly paid off.

So what's next for Lucas? In this Sellers' market a lot of home owners are reticent to sell their homes because of the daunting task of finding a new one that they like just as well. But a savvy Agent like Rachel Freed finds a way to make it easy for the Seller by arranging for a comfortable rent-back period that allows the sale to close in good time AND gives the Buyer plenty of time to find their new dream home. Happy hunting Lucas, Tarah, and Ginger! 

Beginners' Luck?

If you're paying attention to the Portland real estate market these days you know how crazy things are (in a meeting the other day someone described it as the wild, wild west). You'll see plenty of stories about multiple offers, back-up offers, The One That Got Away, and eventually The One That Was Meant to Be. What you don't often hear about is The One That Went Off Without a Hitch. Well, this is one of those rare stories.

Stephanie and Adam may not know just how exceptional their first home buying experience was compared to today's New Normal. But their agent, Holly Burton, guided them effortlessly through an (almost) too-good-to-be-true home purchase. 

They got more than they hoped for on their wish list; in the St. Johns neighborhood they wanted; after making just one offer. In a time when many, many buyers are riding the roller coaster of House-Love found, then lost to another, these happy new homeowners  sailed through to the finish line with nary a care, and are now settling into their new home quite nicely, thank you.

Congrats Stephanie and Adam!

The Aarins

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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!

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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!).

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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!

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They've Been Around the World and Chose to Make Portland Their Home

Selin and Craig met on the cruise ship where they both worked (she handling wine for the dinners and he doing lighting for the performances) and spent the early days of their relationship traveling the world together. Eventually, when they felt the call to settle down and plant some roots on firm ground, it was Portland they chose to call home. 

It must have been fate that brought them together with fellow oenophile Brooke Budy and, eventually, to their very first home in Portland's St. John's neighborhood. Craig is currently working on redesigning the kitchen so that it's perfect for them and all the entertaining they look forward to doing, as they prepare to move in with their sweet pups Parker (the big dude) & Minky (the little dude who thinks he's big).

What could possibly make this story any more of a happy ending? Soon they will be welcoming a new addition to the family, a female Chi by the name of Bumblebee!