Listen… I hate crawlspaces. I hate them more than I hate Portland drivers who camp out in the left lane on the freeway. I hate them more than I hate HOA boards. I hate them more than I hate when a seller tells me “the house is photo-ready” and then I walk in and it looks like a raccoon-themed escape room. I am a full-grown adult with a mortgage who also has a childlike fear of dark, tight...

We had another great Halloween this year. Yeah it rained (because of course it did) but that didn’t stop the dedicated trick-or-treaters from showing up to my driveway. Apparently we’re officially “that house” now. The one with the hot chocolate, the full-sized candy bars, and the beer and wine for all the parents who absolutely needed a drink after wrangling a sugar-high toddler in a dinosaur...

Buying a home can feel like walking into a haunted house blindfolded. You know there’s something lurking in the shadows, you just don’t know if it’s a great investment or a financial poltergeist waiting to jump-scare you! So let’s exorcise those demons, shall we? Here are the Top 5 Home-Buying Fears and how to nuke them like a Ghostbuster with a mortgage pre-approval. 👻 Fear #1:...

🤔 “I didn’t want to bother you…” I can't tell you how many times I've heard that or something along the lines of:“We’re not quite ready yet.”“We’re still deciding what to do.”“We just started looking online.” Look, I appreciate the politeness... but stop it. You’re not bothering me. You’re doing exactly what you should be doing. You’re asking questions before...

People love to debate whether it makes more sense to rent or buy. So instead of vague hypotheticals, let’s use two actual homes sitting half a mile apart in Beaverton right now. For Rent: 16827 SW Shelby Ct — $2,995/mo on Zillow. Just Sold: 16838 SW Cynthia St — closed at $525,000 (listed for $540,000). Same neighborhood. Same vibe. But the difference between paying rent and owning?...

Guess what? Mortgage rates finally blinked. We’re sitting right around 6.27% on a 30-year fixed, which is the lowest we’ve seen in a year. That’s not a headline you want to sleep on. Because here’s the thing: when rates drop, your money stretches further. Same monthly payment, more house. Or same house, for less money. That’s just math, and the kind of math that doesn’t make you want to...

Last week was heavy. Between another heartbreaking school shooting, the anniversary of September 11th, and the sudden loss of Charlie Kirk, it feels like our nation has been reminded once again of both the fragility of life and the weight of the freedoms we hold dear. September 11th We will never forget September 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost, families were forever changed and our...

Online house-hunting is a gift from the real estate gods. You can filter out half the nonsense; price, beds, neighborhoods, and school zones without burning a gallon of gas or pretending you “love the bones” of a house that smells like old soup. But let’s be real: photos lie, staging lies, and your phone screen will whisper sweet nothings until you walk through the front door and say, “What the...

Labor Day, a day to honor the working class by not working; unless, of course, you’re moving. In that case, welcome to the seventh circle of hell. Between lifting boxes you definitely overpacked (because how heavy could books really be?), losing your will to live somewhere between the U-Haul ramp and the IKEA dresser you swore was “easy to move,” and bribing friends with pizza and beer that...

If you’ve been watching the housing market like it’s some rigged casino where only the whales win, here’s a reality check: you don’t have to be rich to invest in real estate. In fact, as a first-time buyer, you might have a cheat code hiding in plain sight: a duplex. Why a Duplex is a Power Move When you buy a multi-family property (like a duplex, triplex, or four-plex), banks don’t just...