Finding Our 1st Place

Scott searches for the perfect raspberry --
will he use the same approach in selecting a house?

We are very grateful to have found an almost-new 2 bedroom apartment with a loft extremely close-in, in the Southeast.  Our apartment is a hop, skip and a jump away from the Spring Water Corridor and the East Bank Esplanade, which Scott uses to bike to work daily.  We love walking to grab coffee, see music, eat dinner or just pick up some groceries.  Our place is super convenient, but tiny.  After settling into our new jobs and making sense of a new city, we decided we were ready to start looking for a home so that we could gain some elbow room and really feel a part of a community that we love.

We asked colleagues and friends for referrals and scoured the internet for savvy agents.  We stumbled upon Living Room Realtors and immediately felt drawn to their ethos and the quirkiness of their realtor profiles.  We feel fortunate to have connected with Amber Turner to help us find our first home.  First of all, she referred us to JJ Lee Kwai of Rose City Mortgage, who was such a welcome surprise after seeking pre-approval for a home loan with several other local financial institutions.  JJ is responsive and brilliant.  She's the kind of person that you want to talk to -- how many people can say that about their mortgage lender?

Amber made sure to get to know us as people and know our values, not just our needs and wants in a home.  We respect Amber's involvement in her NE Portland neighborhood and her promotion of environmentally conscious design.  Amber has expert knowledge about the housing market and she's highly strategic.  She is also patient and has been encouraging throughout the home search process.  One of the things we love most about Amber is that she is understated and prefers to listen and let us draw our own conclusions before giving us useful feedback.  Although we have yet to find a home, we have learned quite a bit about what to look for in a home.  We feel extremely grateful for Amber's professionalism, kindness and support. 

Meredith smiles will picking a raspberry - will she be able
to keep that smile when picking a house?

Here's the nitty-gritty, since you already know our story: 

House budget: $225,000-315,000

Needs:
Close-in location
Quiet, safe street
Runnable and walkable area (coffee, grocery, parks and library are our priorities)
Over 1,000 square feet
2 beds/1bath
Well lit
Bug free
Newish roof
Safe area
No mold or water issues
Safe area
Two levels (a basement counts)
*A Puppy

Wants:
A yard
3 beds/2 baths
Move-in ready
Hardwood floors
A Garage/Off-street parking
An Upstairs
Energy efficient

*Once we buy our home

When we seriously embarked on our home search in early January, we assumed it could take a few months to find a home since the market tends to be less active in the winter.  We never imagined that there might be even fewer appealing listings at the end of March than at the beginning of January.  At the start of the home search process, I don't think we would have believed that offering $20,000 over asking price for a home in a "realistic" neighborhood wouldn't be accepted.

Questions ran through our mind after losing out on the first home we loved in early March: How can we compete in a market where homes are selling for over their appraised value?  Isn't the Great Recession still lingering - how are these bidding wars possible given the current economic context?  Can we ever hope to compete in a market with many all cash buyers?  Will we be priced out of the inner east side of Portland before we find another home we love?

With right action and intention, we do believe that things happen for a reason.  We have tried to put that first home behind us and learn from the experience.  Historically low-inventories and intensely competitive bidding wars will continue to characterize the housing market going forward and it is likely that it will take quite some time for us to find a suitable house and have our offer accepted.  In this sense, long-distance running has been apt preparation for a process that requires great endurance and strength.  Because there are so few homes to even consider (we have gone weeks without a single viable option coming on the market), we decided to channel our energy into this blog to share our love of running and our journey to home ownership.