Home Buying – That 1 Realtor Guy

Buying a Home After the Holidays

January doesn’t get enough credit. Everyone’s coming off the holidays. Wallets are tired. Motivation is low. And most buyers are still sitting on the couch saying, “Let’s wait until spring.” Cool. That’s exactly why January buyers quietly win. Right now, we’re sitting at 81 days on market on average, which is up 9 days from November. That’s not nothing, that’s homes lingering....

Why New Construction Might Be a Smart Move

If you're house hunting in the Portland metro area this winter, shopping new may be more appealing than usual. Homebuilders are dangling incentives to attract buyers, and financing offers are especially aggressive. For many buyers, this could be the sweet spot. What Builders Are Offering Right Now Holt Homes - Starting at $375k Holt is currently advertising an introductory rate as low as 2.75%...

🎃 The Top 5 Home-Buying Fears (and How to Banish Them Like a Ghostbuster)

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:...

Bother Me. Seriously!

🤔 “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...

Buying vs Renting: A Real-Life Example in Beaverton

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?...

Stop Overthinking and Buy the Damn House

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...

Home Staging or Deception? The Art of Making a Dump Look Decent

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...

Building Wealth Through Real Estate: Why Your First Home Should Be a Duplex

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...

Back to School in Portland

The last scraps of summer are hanging on in Oregon, and you can already feel the pumpkin-spice-everything takeover creeping in. Lattes, candles, air fresheners, pretty soon even your goddamn dog’s shampoo will smell like pumpkin spice. But before we all surrender to the seasonal onslaught, I’m still soaking up the warm evenings and pretending this weather will last through Thanksgiving. On my end,...

How to House Hunt Without Melting: Portland Edition

Summer finally decided to show up in Portland — and she's a sweaty one. Mid-90s this week, which might not seem like much to someone in Phoenix, but for us pale Pacific Northwesterners who run on cold brew and cloudy skies, it’s basically hellfire. If you're house hunting right now, bless your brave little heart. Here’s how to survive July showings without melting into a puddle of...