Portland Home Value

We provide complimentary, no obligation home value estimates for any homeowners considering selling their property in the next 12 months. Expert Realtor home valuations always outperform online estimates.

If you’re thinking of selling your home in the next twelve months, Stephen would love to tour your home and provide a pricing estimate. Call today to set an appointment.

Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor
4% Max. to Sell a Home
Cancel Anytime Policy
Licensed Since 2003
503-714-1111

Homeowners are Becoming More Accurate at Predicting Home Value

September 1, 2023

We’ve been reporting on the discrepancy between what homeowners believe their home is worth and actual market value for several years. During that time the trend of homeowners overestimating their home’s value held steady, as it had been doing for years. According to a June 2020 article published in the Journal of Housing Economics, “… in most scholars’ opinion, dwelling owners tend to overvalue their properties by about 5%.” Recently though, we’re seeing an interesting deviation from the tendency of homeowners to be overly optimistic about potential sales prices – to now underestimating the market value of their home by an average of 0.77% – a difference determined by comparing homeowner opinions with appraiser estimates. A Shift in Homeowner Perception...

top home value estimates

Top 4 Free Home Value Estimates to Check, Before Selling a Home

August 7, 2023

Curious about your home’s value in a fluctuating Portland real estate market? I get it. Licensed since 2003, I’ve seen the ups and downs of Portland real estate pricing. In fact, I keep a category of this site dedicated to home value articles of interest and create greater Portland metro real estate reports – monthly. Whether they should or not, these online home value estimate websites drive customer perception about what their home is worth. While none of these sites can estimate a home value with the accuracy of a licensed appraiser or experienced local seller’s agent, there are better and worse home value sites because they come with different feature sets and levels of accuracy. 4. Redfin.com’s Home Value...

zillow zestimate off target

Is the Zillow Zestimate® Accurate? 2023 Update

May 19, 2023

These days, anyone interested in selling or buying a home is familiar with the home search engine Zillow and the proprietary Zestimate® formula it uses to place an estimated value on a property. Many times people will be motivated to make decisions about selling their home based on the Zestimate® they discover online. Or buyers may feel like they must offer a certain price based on a number generated by Zillow. But unfortunately, this price estimate can be misleading and has a wide margin of error according to Realtors, other sites, and even Zillow. This might cause you to wonder why Zillow would continue to post the Zestimate® and what is useful for if it cannot be trusted to accurately...

Top 5 Colors to Paint Your Home to Increase Home Value in 2023

May 15, 2023

If your home is in need of a fresh coat of paint or you are considering painting your exterior to enhance its curb appeal for potential buyers, choosing the right color can feel like a weighty decision. It’s true that the most important photo for your home’s online listing is the first one, and that first impression is crucial for capturing a buyer’s attention. Learning about the types of colors that work well for your home’s design and in your neighborhood – as well as colors that are currently trending for home exteriors – can go a long way toward narrowing your choices. We’ve provided an overview of the most popular home colors this year to help you discover the...

Cork Stripped Flooring: Better than Hardwoods?

April 17, 2023

If you’re looking for an earth-friendly material to replace or refinish your floors, whether in the interest of sustainability or to achieve a natural aesthetic or both, cork stripped flooring might just be the superior choice – even over the ever popular and time-tested hardwoods. There are several options in this category, but cork and hardwoods take the lead as both the most environmentally friendly and the most appealing to homeowners and homebuyers alike. Cork stripped flooring is made from the bark of the cork oak tree. Beginning when the tree is 25 years old, the cork is carefully harvested by hand with a small hatchet without damaging or hurting the tree. The cork is first punched into wine and...

portland kitchen remodel

Modern Kitchen Upgrades to Boost Your Home’s Value in 2023

February 6, 2023

As a real estate agent in my 20th year working in the Portland metro, I have seen every possible style of kitchen, from those that seem to be “frozen in time” and never updated after being built or up to a certain decade to high-end remodels complete with the latest technology, and everything in between. A common saying among real estate agents is, “kitchens sell houses”, and with the way we live at home, with meals, activities and socializing revolving around the kitchen, and the reality that updated kitchens are the number one priority for prospective homebuyers, this adage rings true. Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value report for 2022 reveals that the national average return on investment (ROI) for a...

portland real estate price per sq ft

The Bigger the Home, the Less it Sells for Per Square Foot.

January 30, 2023

After selling homes in Portland, Oregon for twenty years, I’ve picked up on a lot of consistent patterns that helps me to price homes correctly and give my clients the best possible real estate advice. Whether it is the best time to sell or buy a home, knowing the factors that causes a home to sell for more or less, or the reasons why a home sells or doesn’t, I’ve enjoyed the process of learning and researching over the years. I can tell my clients exactly how much value is added to a home if they add an ADU, solar panels, or a swimming pool (all based on local statistics). Through my local research I can let them know how...

solar panel impact on home value portland

Do Solar Panels Increase the Value of a Home in Portland, Oregon? 2023 Report

January 16, 2023

There have been a number of national studies on the impact installing solar panels has on home value. But, as one might imagine, there is likely a strong regional effect. Installing solar panels in Arizona might be a lot more desirable and have a greater impact on their home values, than adding solar panels to a home in the cloudy Pacific Northwest. So it is important to have some local research done, so a homeowner knows what the home value impact will be where they live, in this case Portland, Oregon, which is also likely to reflect the impact of solar panels on home values within its greater region – the Pacific Northwest. (We conduct many other regular research reports...

Top 5 Front Door Colors to Sell your Home in 2023

October 24, 2022

The exterior door of your home has multi-purpose functions: first and foremost, it keeps you and your family safe and secure and protects your home’s interior from the elements, and it also enhances your home’s aesthetic for curb appeal. Choosing an eye-catching color that revitalizes your home is an inexpensive way to give its facade a refresh, help it stand out from all the other homes on your block, adding value, and ultimately, make it more marketable. In this article, we’re looking at the top five exterior door color choices into 2023. The theme? Think post-pandemic, no-limits creativity. This doesn’t mean, though, that we’re likely to see a free-for-all. Basic color theory still applies. How to Apply Color Theory to...

Modern Bathroom Remodeling Ideas to Increase Home Value in 2023

October 10, 2022

If you’re thinking of selling your home and are wondering how to increase its value without breaking the bank, upgrades and remodels are a good place to start, especially in the bathroom. If that sounds expensive already, know this: there’s plenty you can do in this realm to see a return on your investment when it comes to sale price. Whether you choose to renovate (updating fixtures, for example) or take on a full-blown remodel (changing the functionality) of your bathroom, you’ll stand a better chance of attracting the attention of earnest buyers and getting more at closing. Upgrade Your Bathroom With Safety and Sanitation Features in 2023 The pandemic stirred up concerns over sanitation and safety. Example: touchless faucets,...