Buy a Home in Portland

Welcome Portland Home Buyer!
If you are thinking of buying a home in Portland, we are here for you. The below home buying articles are written by experienced, top Portland buyer’s agents who know the real estate market.

Top 1% Portland Buyer’s Agent
Kami Price, Principal Broker is our lead buyer’s agent and a top 1% buyer’s agent in the Portland metro area. Kami has been licensed since 2004 and has helped hundreds of local home buyers find their next property. She has a long list of awards and additional education certificates. You can put your trust in her to navigate your next home purchase with incredible skill. Her office phone: 503-773-0000.

Portland Buyer’s Home Search
We’ve looked far and wide to find the best Portland home search program out there. We recommend you give this one a shot! Our search program is updated every few minutes, you can filter by schools, view type, HOA, lot size, garage and much more (just hit the “more” button). You can get instant alerts, save multiple different search criteria, and more.

How Big Should Your Next Home Be? Essential Guide

May 23, 2022

Size is one of the top deciding factors people consider when buying a home. What amount of square footage best meets your needs? How many rooms does your household need to live comfortably? For some, luxury is at the top of the list, so the more space, the better. For others, squandering their money on space they consider unnecessary is out of the question. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, knowing real estate trends and getting clear about your needs will lead you in the right direction. Here, we take a look at what’s happening across the country and around Portland, and we offer three questions of help you decide just how much space you truly need. New Homes are...

How to Win a Bidding War on a House for Sale

May 6, 2022

With all that’s going on in this hot Portland real estate market, including bidding wars, we want to give you some tips on how to navigate it all. But first, let’s take a look at the bidding war claims and see what’s really going on. Are Bidding Wars Really Happening in Portland? Due to the ongoing supply-demand imbalance, potential home buyers in Portland have had to work hard to get the homes they want. Part of the reason for this is that the pandemic has allowed more and more people to work from home. This has resulted in people with more affluence moving to Portland—from California, for instance—which has often meant buyers receiving offers far above their asking price. Not...

Top 4 Portland, Oregon Zip Code Maps in 2022

May 4, 2022

Most people don’t think about the importance of zip codes when house shopping. However, understanding how these numeric representations of cities, their neighborhoods, and their districts work can play a big part in gaining valuable information when deciding where to live. Let’s first take a look at how zip codes work. How Do Zip Codes Work and What do They Tell Us? The necessity for zip codes to achieve expediency and accuracy in mailing anything in the U.S. is common knowledge. That was the U.S. Postal Service’s intent in 1963 when they first instituted use of the five-digit number at the end of any address to which a letter or package would be sent. Finding ways to streamline delivery at...

5 Highly Rated Schools in Portland, Oregon

April 29, 2022

A deciding factor for many people when purchasing a home is the quality of schools in the area. In fact, school rankings strongly impact home values, and buyers have reported compromising on certain “must haves” when picking their next home, just to ensure their kids can attend the best schools possible. Portland has many highly ranked schools, and we’ve included some of them in our Top 10 Portland Neighborhood 2022 Report. How can you find information on Portland Schools? The internet is full of information, which can make it hard to sort out legitimate and helpful content. There are two often trusted sites for school rankings: Greatschools.org and the Oregon Department of Education, specifically the latter’s “At-A-Glance School and District...

Portland Home Inspection vs. Home Appraisal

April 22, 2022

For many people, buying a home is one of the most complicated transactions they’ll ever experience in life, especially if they’re also selling a home at the same time. Wherever you are in your real estate phase of life, it helps to know or be reminded of the various parts of the process. Involving yourself in a real estate transaction can be a stressful and emotional time. Having insight about what’s happening and why can help alleviate a lot of the anxiety and questions. In this article, we’re focusing on the difference between the home inspection and home appraisal, what they accomplish, and when they come in the process. What and When is a Home Inspection? The home inspection happens...

Portland Housing Affordability Rate, 2022 Report

April 4, 2022

We recently wrote about Oregon’s growing population, with many of its migrants being Californians looking for more affordable housing. While this may come as a surprise to Portlanders who have faced increasing rents and home prices, Portland is still more affordable than many west coast cities. But what about those who have lived in the Portland metro area for years? How is the city’s level of affordability affecting them? And how does Portland’s affordability stack up against other cities in the country? We looked into it all and here’s what we found. What is Portland’s Affordability Rate in 2022? RMLS provides a quarterly affordability chart for the Portland metro area. They use the NAR formula for housing affordability: Affordability is...

10 Reasons to Buy a Portland Home in 2022

March 28, 2022

Are you still renting even though you dream of owning a home, thinking maybe “someday” it will make more sense or get easier? The Portland real estate market has seen some interesting changes in the past two years. Home prices have increased by dramatic amounts, yes, but there are still plenty of good reasons to take the leap and buy. We’re still in a strong seller’s market, however, we think it’s an ideal time for you to start your search for a home. The reason: supply is lean, so it may take a while for you to find the best one for your needs. Why not start the process now and get your head in the game before interest rates...

5 Essential Portland Neighborhood Maps

March 23, 2022

Maps have existed for thousands of years serving to help people get where they’re going and educate them about geographies and terrains. While we’re long past the practice of plotting maps on clay tablets and parchment, we all still rely on them every day. If you’re thinking about moving to Portland, if you’re new to the area, or even if you’re considering moving to a new neighborhood in the city, a variety of good maps can help. Many of Portland’s neighborhoods are self-contained entities full of plentiful resources within walking distance. It’s easy to stick close to home and not get too familiar with the city as a whole. But if you do plan to relocate, getting a broader view...

Portland School Ratings Change Home Values

March 21, 2022

Several considerations factor into buying a home, and school district might play a part in your decision-making process. The reason being: school rankings impact home values. A home’s value gets assessed and appraised both before listing and before sale. For more information on this, read our article on the differences between inspections and appraisals. While school rankings aren’t directly taken into account by appraisers and assessors, they do affect a home’s value. So, how does a school’s ranking figure into it all? Before we get to that, let’s get clear on what a school ranking is. What Makes a School Ranking? First off, we’ll say that school rankings are somewhat tenuous. There is no overarching, prescribed process or method to...

Portland, Oregon Home Renovation Loan Options

February 28, 2022

Whether you’re buying your first home or you’ve been in your current home for several years, you know that it’s both a soft place to land at the end of your day, and it’s also likely your biggest financial investment. What if you love your current home but you’ve outgrown it and want to do an addition? Or renovate to take care of some major updates and give it that new-home feel? Or maybe you found your dream home in the perfect location, but it needs some work and you can’t begin to fathom where you’ll get the money to make it happen. Before you think about selling your current home or crossing that home you just found off your...