Portland Real Estate Blog

This is a top 100 real estate blog in the world according to Feedspot.com. In particular this is a Portland real estate blog written by a top 1% Portland real estate agent, Stephen FitzMaurice, Realtor. Stephen regularly reports on the Portland real estate market, including short sale and foreclosure news. He gives home selling and home buying tips. He also writes informative articles on Portland neighborhoods. Finally, he writes to inform the general public about real estate agents and the industry.

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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...

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Troutdale, Oregon

October 25, 2019

Located 12 miles east of Portland, at the confluence of the mighty Columbia river and its major tributary, the Sandy River, the city of Troutdale is known as the Gateway to the Gorge. You can bet that Troutdale is a tourism hotspot — but many Portland home buyers overlook it as a place to settle down. They’re missing out. Here are five reasons why Troutdale is worth exploring for your real estate investment. 1. Troutdale is named for a fish for a reason. Dales of trout. Sea captain John Harlow bought the original land claim in the Troutdale area in 1872, and built an expansive estate. Ponds forming in the dales of his land held abundant populations of native trout...

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...

Portland Rental Laws: 2020 Game-Changers

October 18, 2019

Right around $2,000/month: That’s what the median renter pays in the Portland metro area, according to Zillow. For those looking to buy an investment property, that might sound like a pretty nice number. Of course, those who do their research on renting out a home in Portland will soon find that it’s not as simple as it first seems. From property taxes to maintenance, owning a Portland rental can be costly. Then there are the Portland laws governing landlord-tenant relationships, which in 2019 are more complex than ever. As real estate agents, we do encourage anyone interested in purchasing an investment property — or purchasing a primary home and renting out a bedroom, basement or Accessory Dwelling Unit — to...

Best Time to Buy a Home in the Portland Market – 2019 Update

October 15, 2019

Every year we post a best time of the year to sell a home update, and now we are starting a best time of the year to buy a home in the Portland real estate market. As you would imagine, these market times are in nearly opposite every year. Exception: if you need to sell and then buy again right after selling, make sure to read the real estate advice just for you at the bottom of this article. Best Time to Buy a Home – Month by Month Analysis January Inventory – Low Buyer traffic – Low Weather – Poor January isn’t the best time of the year to buy a home, but its not the worst either. Low...

Multnomah County. Bigger than Portland.

October 11, 2019

The name “Portland, Oregon” is known across the nation. But what about Multnomah County? This roughly banana-shaped jurisdiction follows the Oregon side of the Columbia River from Bonneville Dam to Sauvie Island. It stretches south to encompass most of the City of Portland. Quick Facts about Multnomah County Big little county: Area-wise, Multnomah County is the smallest of Oregon’s 36 counties. But it’s also the most populated, with an estimated 807,555 residents. Native roots: The word Multnomah (“down river” or “toward the great water”) is the name of the band of Chinookan people who originally resided in the Sauvie Island area. We get around: In Multnomah County’s 431 square miles of land and 34 square miles of water, there are...

How many showings on average to sell a house? – 2019 update

October 4, 2019

In Portland your real estate agent has access to the MLS, here called the RMLS which gives an incredible amount of real estate market data, including weekly buyer traffic reports and total inventory reports broken down into active, pending, and sold properties. Basically your real estate agent has access to the information to be able to tell you how many showings on average it takes to sell a house. Prefer a podcast version? Our podcast episode below goes over the number of showings it takes to sell a home in our area and also takes on the end of single family zoning in Portland. Two powerful forces in the real estate market. Number of buyer showings. RMLS makes the weekly...

The End of Portland Single Family Zoning

September 30, 2019

In late June, 2019, the Oregon State Legislature passed a bill that requires cities to allow homeowners and real estate developers to add housing units where the demand is highest. How does this affect the zoning changes already developed by Portland’s Residential Infill project? And how will it affect the look and feel of Portland neighborhoods? Prefer a podcast version? Our podcast episode below goes over the number of showings it takes to sell a home in our area and also takes on the end of single family zoning in Portland. HB 2001 and Portland Real Estate The new bill, HB 2001, requires Oregon cities of more than 10,000 to allow “missing middle” housing types to be built in all...

Is Portland the New California? – 2019 Update

September 27, 2019

Median rents are going up across Portland. The population is growing, and Portland real estate market values are all over the place. For an explanation, some would look to our neighbors in California. The Golden State is by far the biggest exporter of residents to Oregon. According to the Oregon Employment Department, about 40,000 people move here from California every year. Currently, 43% of adults living in Oregon were born in the state, while 18% were born in California, says the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. All this migration to Oregon has significant impacts on the Portland housing market: We need more homes, especially in the Portland area. But is it fair to say that California is taking over the...

5 Things You Didn’t Know about Parkrose, Portland

September 23, 2019

Nestled in Northeast Portland, close to the hip Hollywood District and a short commute to downtown, Parkrose has just about anything a homebuyer could want in a Portland neighborhood. But what is it, exactly, that sets Parkrose apart as a real estate hot spot in 2019? 1. It’s even more affordable than you think. This summer, we did the research and brought you the ten 10 Most Affordable Neighborhoods to buy a home in Portland. If you haven’t read that blog post yet, here’s a spoiler alert: Northeast Portland, especially the Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, Hazelwood and Argay neighborhoods, are the most affordable in the whole city right now. Zillow estimates the median home value to be around $330K for this...

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Stephen FitzMaurice

Real Estate Team