Real Estate Agents and Realtors

Curious about Realtors?

We write regular articles about average real estate agent commission rates, the number of real estate agents working in the Portland metro area, the difference between different types of local real estate licenses, where to find the best real estate agent reviews, best questions to ask when interviewing local agents, and much more. Enjoy!

Portland Real Estate Agent Reviews & Ratings: 2018 Guide

June 1, 2018

Best Real Estate Agent Review Sites These days, it’s pretty hard to find a product or service that hasn’t been reviewed and rated on a handful of different websites. In 2018, nothing goes un-rated, it seems, from TV shows to national parks, even zoo animals! Yet how do we tell the worthwhile reviews from the worthless, and what does the number of stars really say about a real estate agent? The Two Best Agent Review Sites Realtor.com and Zillow.com: these are the top two websites we recommend for checking out reviews of Portland real estate agents. Personally, we attempt to get all of our reviews on Zillow.com. I’ll say more on that later. Here’s why we think these are the...

Top Portland Buyer’s Agent – Kami Price

February 16, 2018

The results are in! Kami Price was again a top 1% Portland buyer’s agent in 2017 according to home buyer’s total sales volume and number of buyer represented home sales in the Portland metro area (Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties) per our local MLS, the RMLS. What makes a great real estate buyer’s agent? Experience. Licensed Broker in Oregon since 2004, Kami has had experience representing sellers in top local real estate teams since she started her career and has represented hundreds of buyers. Education. Kami Price is one of the most educated buyers agents you’ll find in the Portland metro area. Not only has she obtained a Masters Degree in Business Management, she also has earned numerous certifications in...

How Many Real Estate Agents Are There in Portland, Oregon and the U.S.? – 2018

December 12, 2017

Number of Real Estate Agents in the United States According to the National Association of Realtors 2017 Member Report, there are 1.22 million Realtors as of March 2017. The median experience level of Realtors was 10 years. The median age of Realtors was 53. The typical number of annual transactions per Realtor was 12. Number of Real Estate Agents in Portland, Oregon How many are real estate agents are in Portland, Oregon? To answer that question we’ll look at the two major Realtor associations in the area and the MLS (multiple listing service) that covers the entirety of the Portland metro area, RMLS, which stands for Regional Multiple Listing Service. First of all, it is important to know that the...

Real Estate Teams vs. Solo Agents

October 20, 2017

In my opinion, everything’s better when I’m on a team — whether I’m completing a project, playing sports, or working as a real estate agent. Years back I never heard about a real estate agent seller’s team or buyer’s team. You typically had individual agents, top producers or otherwise, who would run their own business solo or perhaps with their spouse. The Realty firm would typically supply office space, insurance, branding, and then that solo agent would go out into the world representing both buyers and sellers. This is the way I started my real estate career as well. Now real estate agent teams have a big presence in Realty firms across the country (my team is with eXp Realty)....

The Code of Ethics for Realtors in Portland

July 17, 2017

Realtors are schooled heavily on the code of ethics, but most buyers and sellers don’t become aware of The Code unless they feel there is a situation in which their agent has acted unethically. The REALTOR® Code of Ethics is a lengthy (eight pages as of 2017) document detailing all of a licensed real estate agent’s responsibilities and obligations. It describes a Realtor’s duties to their clients, to the public, and to other Realtors. It’s a good document to read before hiring a real estate agent in Portland (or anywhere) to represent you in buying or selling a home. Before we dive into what the REALTOR® Code of Ethics prescribes, it’s important to make a distinction between Realtors and real...

Our Portland Real Estate Agent Team is Green

May 5, 2017

It’s spring and everything’s coming up green in Portland – including our real estate team! Actually, Stephen FitzMaurice has had Green Realtor certifications since before it was cool. Our Buyers’ Specialist, Kami Price, has also earned her NAR Green Designation. Our extra training in sustainable home features, energy efficiency and more have helped us sell homes faster, and get buyers into the home they want! Here are the designations our team has earned: Stephen FitzMaurice, Earth Advantage Broker Earth Advantage is a non-profit organization based in Portland that certifies hundreds of green buildings and homes every year. If you’ve ever heard of the US Green Building Council’s LEED program, Earth Advantage is similar. They use a point system to verify...

Top Vancouver Real Estate Agent

April 13, 2017

Leslie Krake, a resident of Clark County who has lived and worked there for more than 20 years has joined the Stephen FitzMaurice Team to provide our residential real estate services in Washington! Leslie is familiar with the Clark County’s different neighborhoods, rural communities, school districts, and micro climates. Her husband is a general building contractor and she has spend the past 20+ years buying, selling, and developing property in Clark County and previously in California. She enjoys working with both buyers and sellers and has collected over 70 positive client reviews. She comes with a strong record of success, being the number one real estate agent in the Vancouver Metro area with her former Washington Realty company. Leslie Krake...

Five Things You Must Know About REALTORS in Portland

March 13, 2017

Everybody knows a real estate agent, but how much do you really know about them? As a home buyer or seller in Portland, it’s useful to know what motivates real estate agents, and get behind the scenes into how we do our work. 1. Real estate agents are self-employed, with very few exceptions. All real estate agents in Oregon are also called (officially called) Brokers. Real estate agent is a commonly understood term, but Broker is the official licensing term in Oregon. In Oregon there are Brokers and Principle Brokers. Principle Brokers can, but do not necessarily, supervise other Brokers. (Often if they supervise other Brokers they are called “Reviewing Principle Brokers”.) If real estate agents are not Principle Brokers...

Number 1 Listing Agent in Portland Oregon

January 20, 2017

Currently there are over 10,000 real estate agents in our local MLS, and about 6900 in the greater Portland Metro area. Out of those 6900 who is the number one listing agent in the Portland metro? We are going to answer that question using the total number of homes sold (listings only) in 2016 and the total sales volume for homes sold (listings only) in 2016 in the tri-county area (Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas county combined). These numbers come direct from our local MLS, the RMLS. Certainly there are other ways to determine which agent is better than the next, and I recommend interviewing multiple agents to pick the best one to sell your Portland home. Here is the number...

Portland Real Estate Agent Reviews – A Guide

December 9, 2016

Do a Google search for real estate agent reviews and you’ll get plenty of options. But which sites should you trust? Are any of the reviews verified? The three major sources of real estate agents reviews you may want to consider. Zillow.com, Realtor.com, and Yelp.com all have ways to search for agents and their reviews. Here are the direct links, Zillow.com has “Agent Finder”, Realtor.com has “Find Realtors” and Yelp just has its basic search bar. Zillow is by far the best place to look, Realtor second, and Yelp is the least important (I will explain). Pro tip: There are a number of other sites to ignore. Most of the other sites that pop up when you’re researching for good...