Avoiding The Snarl

When I first moved to Portland 13 years ago, I was told to stay away from this area. People called it Felony Flats. A lot of the yards had pit bulls chained up in them, next to the carcasses of dead cars and appliances.  Oh how things change.  It’s still one of the more affordable neighborhoods in the city, but according to Portland Monthly the median home price is now $384,999. Felony Estates, more like.  It’s the area between SE 52nd and SE 82nd, north of Woodstock and south of Foster. (Cool fact: Foster Road was named for Philip Foster, who owned a trading post near Estacada in the late 1800s and was married to Mary Charlotte Pettygrove. Another cool fact: Foster Road was built on top of the northern fork of the Oregon Trail.) The centerpiece of the Mt. Scott Park neighborhood is… wait for it… Mt. Scott Park. It’s a quiet, family-friendly park (which is code for homeless people tend not to camp out in it and I can let my kids run loose there b...

Note: This is not the definitive history, but my version, which includes maybe a little heresy, a little mythology... Something like 45 years ago, the federal government decided to put a freeway into Portland and bought up a swath of old houses along the proposed route –– SE Division Street. Scrappy Portland citizens said “no fucking way” and managed to force the project to be abandoned, which left the government holding a crap ton of properties. The government decided to get rid of the properties and because governments are so good at turning a profit, they sold the houses for pennies on the dollar.  Where hippies once tread... The timing was perfect for hippies. San Francisco was getting pricey. So tons of them hitch hiked up north to a land where you could drive a VW bus 20 minutes in almost any direction and find yourself in a gloriously beautiful setting –– you could take a quick hike through misty woods, pluck a couple psychedelic mushrooms, and bliss out naked i...

Zillow just announced that it’s going into the house flipping business. Wall Street loves the announcement. The stock is up more than 23%.  But you know me. I have questions.  The first question has to do with its current business. As far as current users are concerned, Zillow does three things: It tells you what your current home is worth, it helps you find a new home, and it tells you what the homes you’re looking for are worth. Does this new business line support the current business model? How credible is a Zerestimate® if you know it comes from a company that wants to make money by buying your home? They may be able to walk that line. It’s hard to know. But I’ll tell you this, there’s a good reason car dealers aren’t in the business of valuing used cars –– they leave that to Kelly Blue Book .  But let’s assume the new business line doesn’t devalue Zillow’s current business line. How exactly does this new venture work? Presumably, I go onto...

Big news (for me, anyway, but you might find it mildly interesting). From now on you’ll find me at Inhabit Realty .  I’m excited to be working with a company that’s more in line with my values and by that I don’t mean anything disparaging about Keller Williams.  Inhabit is a small operation –– the plucky Bad News Bears who by dint of their courage and smarts and integrity are determined to make a name for themselves in the increasingly impersonal, digital, sales-heavy world of real estate. They –– we –– are people who drink more tea than coffee and more kombucha than tea. (Okay, bad example. I don’t drink kombucha. It scares me.) But I do get to work with people who feel the same way I do about Portland, access to tons more relevant resources, and a logo that’s not red.  So if you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, or you know anybody who is, please think of me. Me and the not-red logo. Thanks.  You can reach me by phone at 310 854 24...