When should I contact a Portland Real Estate Agent?

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You’re thinking about relocating to Portland and are planning a trip here in the next few months. Or maybe you already live in Portland and you’re ready to buy your first home, or move up or down to a home more your size.
Have you saved searches on Zillow, cruised Craigslist, or been to an open house? You might be wondering, is it time to get in touch with a real estate agent?

Here’s the market advantage that most buyers just don’t employ because they don’t think they’re ready: Finding a buyer’s agent sooner rather than later.

Just as it’s perfectly fine to walk into a store without planning on buying anything, contacting a buyer’s agent doesn’t commit you to buying a home. I’ve helped dozens of people get to know the Portland market without actually making a sale, while other clients may take years to find exactly what they’re looking for. Good real estate agents consider it part of their job, and trust that great customer service will pay off in the long run. It’s certainly worked for me!
I know what you’re thinking — I’m just looking, and I don’t want to be pressured. It’s a legitimate fear, but getting pressure from a real estate agent is a good sign that they’re hungry for a sale and you should steer clear. When you email or call my buyers’ team with a question about a property or the market in general, we’re happy to answer and leave it at that. You haven’t consigned yourself to months of unwanted emails and phone calls.

On the other hand, while looking for property online is pretty easy, there are still benefits to finding a real estate agent to help you get a handle on the market. The smartest buyers enlist the help of the experts right away so that they can make informed decisions. As real estate agents we have the advantage of the Multiple Listing Service and other tools that give us more complete and accurate information about listings, including permit problems, environmental hazards, zoning issues, future neighborhood development plans, and an array of potential problems (that might explain why a home is not selling or priced low).

Establishing a relationship with a buyers’ agent team early on also means that you can act quickly when that perfect property does come on the market. Let’s face it — the Portland real estate market right now is hopping. There is a short slow down over the holidays, but that won’t last long. The market picks up speed again by mid-January. Buyers who put in offers early have an advantage. If you wait until your dream home lands in your inbox to find a real estate agent, you may have already lost it!

So, what do you need to enlist our help? Just tell us the basics — how big of a home you’re looking for and where you’d like to live in the Portland metro area. A price range is helpful but not essential to get started. The most important thing is, just get started! There’s a whole world of real estate out there waiting for you.

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What My Clients Are Saying

Stephen was just simply a fantastic realtor to work with in selling our home. If we had another 50 properties to sell, Stephen would be in charge of all of them. He was so professional in handling every detail of our sale, and he was so responsive to every question that came up in the course of our transaction. My wife and I are very thankful that we found Stephen.

Alan