As real estate agents, we get many questions about Vancouver's best neighborhoods and other nearby areas of Clark County, especially from buyers moving to Vancouver from other cities. Everyday life in Vancouver and its surrounding towns can range widely. That’s why home shoppers will find it useful to narrow their choices early in the home buying process (if only to save a little time and aggravation). There's no better way to do that than to compare neighborhoods based on the kind of lifestyle each offers. What do we mean by that? Here are two ends of the spectrum that can illustrate these c ..read more

Initially settled by the Chinook Native American people, Ridgefield, Washington is now a rapidly growing town of a little over 9,000 people. Ridgefield's population has more than quadrupled over the last few decades and doubled since 2010. Originally named Union Ridge, the town gained its current name in 1890. Ridgefield is surrounded by fertile farmland, river tributaries, and forests. Downtown sits on the banks of the Columbia River, which forms the boundary between Washington and Oregon. The Pacific Ocean lies roughly 50 miles to the West. Vancouver, Washington, is just 10 miles south. The ..read more

In nearly every part of the United States, sellers who contract with an agent to sell their residential real estate sign one of three types of listing agreements: (1) the exclusive listing (2) the exclusive agency listing, and (3) an open listing. Home sellers are obligated to pay listing agent after their home is sold. However, questions arise when the seller finds a buyer on their own and then wonders of their agent deserves the commission. Home sellers must first understand what type of listing agreement he or she signed with their agent. In most cases, home listings are signed under exclu ..read more

Portland’s suburbs are better suited for home shoppers who want more space than they would otherwise find within the city’s boundaries. These smaller cities and towns offer a more suburban lifestyle but still give their residents the option to travel to the city easily. In fact, for those living near Beaverton, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, Clackamas, or Gresham, the MAX train is a carefree way of getting around the region. Here are some quick snapshots of cities and towns in the Portland Metro. Beaverton is located west of SW Portland along Highway 26 and is home to Nike's Headquarters. Beavert ..read more

Being a buyer’s agent in real estate transactions, I often get asked these questions. It is a legitimate and a very important question for home buyers. It is also a very broad question that comes with many different answers in both black / white and gray areas. So the question is, “When can I cancel my contract to buy a home after I already signed it?” A quick answer is that there are many scenarios where you can as a home buyer and it depends on your situation and what the contract says. In real estate transactions, there are so called “contingencies”, which allow the transaction to cancel a ..read more

If you are a home buyer, missing the inspection deadline will bring a severe consequence including not receiving any repair credits, being stuck with home’s poor conditions or losing out on your earnest money. Every real estate contract states how many days a buyer has under the contract to perform inspection due diligence. The language in the agreement dealing with this inspection may vary from state to state but in Oregon, below is the language in our current standard real estate agreement form everyone uses since 2018. "Buyer shall have 10 (if not filled in otherwise) business days, after ..read more

Many Portlanders are dead set on where they want to live. Some fans of the Eastside swear they will never live on the Westside and vice versa. Each of Portland's official neighborhoods can be so different; crossing the Willamette River transports one to seemingly disparate worlds. But what makes each side of town so distinct? Simply put, the Eastside offers more entertainment and culture, whereas the Westside provides more space and privacy. In this article, we review the apparent reasons to consider the Eastside or the Westside and aspects of each that home shoppers want to know. P ..read more

Portland neighborhoods differ quite a lot in terms of lifestyle, architecture, access to nature, local amenities, and much more. Home shoppers will find Portland houses ranging from high-rise condos Downtown to two-acre farms in the southeastern corner of Pleasant Valley neighborhood. As a real estate agents, we hear a lot from our clients about their preferences and priorities when trying to identify their ideal place to live in Portland. Given that a "best neighborhood" is subjective and based on one's preferences, we've grouped communities by their pace of living and amenities. S ..read more

The chart below shows who pays for what in Oregon between the home buyer and seller including how much each pays. This is an example for a $350K home. Home buying and selling can be a costly process. Many people jump into their dream of home buying or selling without realizing all the costs involved in the process. Often real estate agents do not properly inform first time home buyers and sellers of all the involved costs. For consumers, having to find out these later in the process after signing the contract can be frustrating. So the question is who pays for what for closing costs includin ..read more

Buying a rental property is a great investment to prepare for one’s retirement. The idea is to pay off the mortgage one day and enjoy the monthly rental income when you are no longer working in your retirement. Portland real estate market has been appreciating so much in the last few years that home prices are way too high to justify a good return in some saturated inner-city areas. Gross rent multiplier (GRM) can be easily over 20 in areas that won’t provide a positive monthly cash flow. In good areas, GRM can be as low as 13-15 but may not rent as quickly as areas with higher GRM. The key i ..read more