Selling a Home in Portland

Top 1% Seller’s Agent

Planning on selling your Portland home in the next year or so? You’ve come to the right place. Stephen FitzMaurice, Principal Broker is a top 1% sellers agent in Portland with over 1,000 local sales under his belt and writes extensively about the Portland real estate market.

The Right Way to Sell

We charge 4.5% commission max. and pay more online to market our Portland area homes so they sell faster and for more. We have a reasonable commission fee, while still providing more marketing and services than our competitors. We back it all up with a cancel anytime policy for no charge. Read all about our top home selling service here.

Professional Real Estate Photography – No longer Optional in 2020

November 22, 2019

In the Portland real estate market, professional photos are the expectation and the standard. It is simply no longer acceptable for real estate agents to take terrible photos, nor is it acceptable (in my opinion) for real estate agents to take the photos themselves – use a professional! Also, considering the high-end cameras available on the average smart phone these days, is the term “professional photography” even applicable anymore? Among real estate professionals, the answer is an emphatic “YES”, even from those of us who consider ourselves to be cell phone camera virtuosos.  Study after study shows that using a professional photographer to shoot your home’s listing photos will attract more buyers, generate more buzz around your home, and ultimately,...

Top 5 Home Floor Choices for 2020

November 16, 2019

Are you sick of your linoleum? Any homeowner in Portland who has explored new flooring options lately might be dazzled by the array of materials on the Portland real estate market in 2020. While engineered products and vinyls might provide the most bang for the buck, flooring made from natural materials has gotten a big boost from new technology as well. Here’s a quick guide to what kind of performance to expect out of today’s floors, and our top picks for 2020’s best flooring options. 3 Things New Floors Can Do For Your Home You might think of flooring as simply the stuff that you walk on. As real estate agents, we find that floors do a whole lot more. ...

Top Home Colors and Trends – Portland Real Estate 2019

November 1, 2019

Color, materials, placement: Whether you just purchased your Portland home or are staging to sell a home in the Portland real estate market, the fresh look you’re seeking is possible with some know-how and inspiration.  Read on for our top Portland real estate agent tips for designing and decorating your interior space this year.  In Portland, should you go Minimalist or Maximalist? For the past several years, the “look” has been all about clean lines and grey or neutral tones. Inspired by Scandinavian design, people went overboard with whitewash and grey, accented by copper furnishings and fixtures in pointy geometric shapes.  Now, the decor trend is moving away from such minimalism toward “maximalism” — think rich colors, mixed patterns and...

Top 5 Front Door Colors to Sell Your Home in 2020

October 28, 2019

We’re not exaggerating when we say that home buyers really, really love a freshly painted front door. In fact, a recent study by Zillow found that this one upgrade can add thousands to the final sales price of a home.  But what color to choose? Popularity matters, but so does matching with the paint scheme and style of the home. Keep this in mind as you read through our top real estate agent picks for front door colors that make Portland buyers say “Wow!” #5 Top Door Color: Natural wood Portland has so many lovely craftsman style homes and bungalows that do well with an unpainted, stained-wood door. Wood has a neutral brown color that exudes comfort and warmth. It pairs...

St. Joseph Prayer to Sell Your Home in Portland

October 21, 2019

If you’re a Portland home seller, we wouldn’t blame you for feeling daunted by this fall real estate market. As of September 2019, new listings were down nearly 8% from last year, according to the Portland-area RMLS, and Portland area home prices have also gone down by 2.1% in the past year. Meanwhile, the average number of days a home spends on the market before the right buyer comes along is up to 52 days. When it gets tough to sell a home, we often get asked, “Who is the Saint that is supposed to help your sell your home?” Clearly, home sellers who need to move their home this year are going to have to be patient. And while usual...

Home Improvements that Lower your Home Value

September 9, 2019

Redecorating? Installing new kitchen countertops? Thinking of adding a pool? Not all home improvements in the Portland real estate market increase your home’s value. Consider the following: The average homeowner hangs on to their home about 10 years. When it comes time to sell, some improvements done in that time will retain value, but others will actually detract from it. Our team of top real estate agents came up with a list of eight ways that home improvements could send buyers running (or cause them to submit a lower offer).  Neglecting accessibility. Let’s face it: Portland home buyers are aging. Many baby boomers are now empty-nesters, and they want to downsize and/or retire in Portland. But giving up square footage...

Selling a home in Portland? Check these 5 Media Tips

August 19, 2019

Real estate is all about connections — and lucky for those who buy and sell homes, we live in a very connected world these days. But constant connection with friends and strangers alike can have its drawbacks as well. Here are our quick tips for taking advantage of social media’s benefits when selling a home in Portland, while avoiding the pitfalls. 1. Don’t share it all. Public posts on social media about accepting offers or starting the moving process are fun for your friends and followers. They’re also a goldmine for anyone who would take advantage of your home’s vacant status. Criminals may be watching. Even if you think nobody is listening on Twitter or Instagram, if it’s a public...

Sellers: Does your home’s description appeal to buyers?

August 16, 2019

When it comes to marketing your home online, high-quality photos are number one. Second place goes to the keyword-driven home description. It will capture or miss the interest of potential home buyers. Forty-four percent of the time, according to the National Association of Realtors, buyers start their home search online. Another 17% contact a real estate agent first. At the end of the day, 95% of home buyers will look for their next property online. The home’s description that gets entered into the MLS (we put it in two different MLS systems) follows your home across its marketing platforms, from Zillow to Realtor.com to home flyers, and will play a major role in converting a click — or a drive-by...

Best Return on Preparing Home for Sale: Deep Cleaning

August 5, 2019

Cleaning your Portland home before listing it on the real estate market is an essential first step. In fact, the best return on your time and money in preparing a Portland home for the real estate market is deep cleaning. You need to clean your house thoroughly before showing — it’s one of the best ways to appeal to buyers. A clean home is one in which they can imagine themselves living; dirt and grime make rooms appear smaller and dimmer. A deep cleaning makes the home feel move in ready, warm, and welcoming. A clean home creates a blank slate for the home buyer to picture themselves living in.  When you live in any home for a while, things...

Basement ADUs in Portland, 10 Things to Know

July 26, 2019

How many unfinished basements are there in Portland? As a top local Portland real estate agent, I can say with confidence – thousands! Many of those are perfect candidates for a basement ADU. Accessory Dwelling Units are of interest to Portland home buyers and home owners alike because of their potential to offset the high costs of owning a home in Portland. With the trend toward rezoning vast areas of the city to allow for higher density housing, the ADU option is looking better than ever before.  Those without big backyards in which to build the traditional stand alone ADU can still participate. ADUs inside the home, built in an attic over a garage, or down in the basement are...