Portland Real Estate Blog

This is a top 100 real estate blog in the world according to Feedspot.com. In particular, this is a local real estate blog written by a top 1% real estate agent in the U.S., Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor. Stephen regularly reports on the greater Portland metro area’s real estate market including annual housing forecasts and best time to sell or buy a home reports. He gives home selling and home buying professional advice. He also writes informative articles on Portland neighborhoods and suburbs as they relate to the real estate market. Finally, he writes to inform the general public about real estate agents, such as annual average real estate agent commission reports and more.

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Top 10 Portland Neighborhoods: 2021 Update

February 26, 2021

Thinking of buying a home in Portland but not sure where to start? Right now is a very strange time to be buying a home. It’s the middle of a pandemic, which makes it much more difficult to get a feel for neighborhoods. When even the concept of indoor dining is at times hypothetical, how do you get a gauge of a neighborhood? But the good news is that means there’s still so much out there to be explored! So to help you in your search for a new home, we’ve gathered up our top ten favorite neighborhoods in Portland right now. If you’re wondering how we decide – well, the thing about neighborhoods is they’re organic. There’s something ineffable...

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Home Buyer’s Closing Cost Report 2021

February 24, 2021

Closing costs, let’s face it, are not one of the most looked forward to aspects of buying a new home. They’re technical, involve multiple complex parties, and potentially put another dent in your wallet. So who’d want to talk about that too much when they could be thinking about their dream home kitchen instead? But understanding how buyer’s closing costs work can pay off big in the end. You’ll want to budget for them and know how to work with your real estate agent to get the best deal you can. If you’ve done any basic searching around for what you should expect to pay, you may see most sources quote the same figure: 2 to 5% of the sale...

How to Pick a Brokerage: Splits, Leads, Training

February 22, 2021

I’ve been licensed nationally since 2003 for residential sales, and in the last eighteen years or so have hung my hat at a few different Brokerages. Choosing the right Brokerage or Realty company to work with has always had a significant impact on my personal business and on the business of the team I run in Oregon and Washington. I could easily rank each Brokerage by a multitude of factors including Realty splits, leads, fees, training, oversight, office space, technology, and more. I could tell you which Brokerages are best for individual real estate agents, real estate teams, new agents or experienced veterans in the industry. It would be impossible to put everything I’ve learned in one article, but let’s...

Is Portland, Oregon Safe? – 2021 Update

February 19, 2021

Is Portland, Oregon Safe? This is a legitimate question and like most good questions it has a nuanced answer. There are parts of Portland that have been hit hard recently, and other neighborhoods that haven’t seen any statistical crime increase. Thankfully, we have exceptional, official Portland Crime Maps provided by the city itself. This crime map is incredibly detailed down to the street level and you can even select what type of crime you’d like to research. You’ll notice the current map is the feature image of this article and downtown Portland is not faring well. Portland Crime Charts 2021 The Portland Police Bureau creates detailed monthly crime charts and makes them available to the general public. Here again, you...

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Portland Real Estate Market Update February 2021

February 16, 2021

Portland home prices have been on the rise for the past several years. But we’re not alone. Home prices across the nation were up an average of 10% in 2020, according to the Washington Post and Attom Data Solutions. So how is Portland shaping up? Keep reading to learn how much it costs to buy a home in Portland today and how that’s changed in recent months. Median Sale Prices for Homes in Portland Our most recent RMLS monthly data reveals that the average sale price for a home in the Portland metro area in January 2021 was $514,700. This number is an increase of only $700 over the average price in December 2020. Before we start thinking of it...

Top 10 Real Estate Websites by Traffic – 2021

February 12, 2021

A top real estate agent will know the trends, which real estate websites have the most home buyers on them, and how to best promote their clients’ homes on those same sites so their homes get more attention, sell faster, and for more money. So every year I put out a report looking at the winners and loosers, which real estate websites are gaining in traffic and which are dropping. As a top 1% sellers agent in the United States, serving Oregon and Washington, I pay extra to the top sites on behalf of my clients so their homes sell faster and for more (I already said that, but honestly most don’t understand huge impact it has), and so, of...

5 Things You Didn’t Know – Milwaukie, Oregon

February 10, 2021

Milwaukie is the kind of suburb that you’ll sometimes hear city-dwellers might as well be part of Portland – but isn’t. In its quaint downtown, you’ll find local retail and dining reminiscent of some quieter Portland neighborhoods. And yet, it still manages to feel like its own cul-de-sac, tucked just south of much less price-friendly Sellwood and Eastmoreland. With easy access to the MAX and its own brand of small town charm, Milwaukie is a suburb not to be underestimated. Read on to find five reasons why not. 1. It’s Home to Two Iconic Oregon Businesses So Milwaukie is just a sleepy suburb of Portland, right? Think again. You might not find a huge Nike campus here, but you will...

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Portland Vs. California: What’s Driving Migration in 2021?

February 8, 2021

It’s old news that Californians love Portland, and a lot of them have been moving here! It’s a trend that’s been going strong for many years now, sometimes to the chagrin of native Portlanders. According to the Oregon Employment Department, Oregon saw an average net in-migration of 21,784 Californians every year from 2014-2018. While there’s no denying that’s a huge number, it doesn’t mean they all came to Portland. As we found last year, Portland isn’t receiving a disproportionate number of California migrants. Rather, Oregon saw population growth statewide. But as we all know, 2020 was an unusual year. Covid-19 has affected so many aspects of our lives, but what about moving? It’s impossible to understand migration to Portland from...

Down Payment Assistance Programs and Grants for Home Buyers: 2021 Update

February 6, 2021

We know the home buying process can seem obscure, even formidable. But one of the great benefits of navigating the Portland real estate market is that so many programs are in place to help out first time home buyers and encourage home ownership regardless of income level. If you dream of buying a home of your own but feel like you don’t have the funds – think again. It’s very possible you may qualify for a number of down payment assistance programs that can give you a foot in the door to your new home. Down payment assistance programs are a murky territory, though. They come at federal, state, county, and city levels (often with overlapping stipulations). Today we’ll lay...

Portland Real Estate Condo Market 2021

February 3, 2021

Portland Condo Market 2021 Condos finished better in 2020. As in all Portland market sectors, it was a rough spring, with buyer activity tanking in March. But things picked up again in summer, and the peak month for 2020 condo sales was September, when nearly 900 were sold. Numbers stayed strong through the remainder of the year, and the number of condos sold in the second half of 2020 was overall a pretty close match to the activity in 2019. 2. Condos span the price gradient. As you can see from the chart above, there are condos available across the Portland metro area in a range of prices. To generate your own graph showing change in condo prices over time...

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Stephen FitzMaurice

Team with eXp Realty