Portland Real Estate Podcast
116 episodes - English - Latest episode: 18 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingIf you are looking to buy or sell a home, get all the information and the latest updates, tips, and tricks from The AskSarita Team powered by PLACE - your professional Portland Real Estate Real Estate Agents.
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Episodes
The Latest Stats From the Portland Real Estate Market
April 27, 2018 20:05 VideoToday I want to give you some of the latest stats for the Portland real estate market. Our local MLS has just released the stats from March and there are just a couple of noteworthy things I wanted to share with you. First, the average price is up. As of March 31, it sits at $449,500. That’s up $4,000 from February and a good $17,500 from last year at this time. Portland is becoming less and less affordable. I still love where we’re positioned on the West Coast between San Francisco and Se...
How Has Technology Changed the Real Estate Industry?
April 03, 2018 18:17 VideoMany of you know that photography is one of my favorite hobbies. I love taking pictures. Photography is just one way that technology has changed the real estate industry, and virtual tours have made a huge difference. We take professional photos and do virtual tours of our listings for all of our sellers. We also use Matterport 3-D cameras to create dollhouse tours so that buyers can sit in their pajamas at three in the morning anywhere in the world and get a good idea of what the house lo...
Understanding How Property Taxes Are Calculated
March 16, 2018 18:45 VideoHow are property taxes calculated? Why does one house in one neighborhood have such a high property tax and another house in an adjacent neighborhood have such a low one? Here are a few guidelines to help you understand. First, the good news—one of the amazing things about living in Oregon is our property taxes don’t go up over time after we buy a home. For example, if you buy a home for $200,000 and over time it adds up in value and you sell it later on for $600,000, a tax assessor can’t...
How to Understand Escrow Better
February 27, 2018 20:51 VideoToday we’re going to talk about escrow. It’s a big part of our lingo as real estate agents and escrow is an important part of any real estate transaction, but we rarely define it for our clients. The best way to describe escrow is by using this example from the past. Back when eBay first came out around the turn of the century, I would bid on something and win, but the following back and forth with the seller was tough. I wanted to buy the item and the seller wanted to sell to me, but ther...
6 Tips that Will Make Your Home Shine During a Showing
February 05, 2018 10:16 VideoWhat do you need to do to make your home show beautifully? I know the truth of the matter—we all live differently than when our home is on the market and we’re trying to sell it. When I was selling my home, I even vacated it so I could stage it properly. Here are a few tips that will make your home shine when it’s time to sell it. 1. Light your home up. Turn up all the lights and open all the blinds and curtains. We live in Portland where it can get a little gray sometimes, so no matter ...
For Any Question Big or Small: Ask Sarita
January 09, 2018 10:25 VideoToday, I’d like to tell you a story from my past. Before I was a Realtor, I had an experience as a client that I want to share with you. At that time, I remember my agent paying a lot of attention to my husband. Admittedly, I was jealous. I felt that no one was paying attention to me. We were moving to a new area for my husband’s job, but I had a lot of important life changes going on myself. Not only was I adjusting to having a new baby, I was also adjusting to life in a new area. I had...
Tangible Proof That Portland Is the Place to Live
December 20, 2017 14:20 VideoPortland has been in the news recently in a big way. Specifically, there were a few recent articles in Forbes that I wanted to address. The first is a list of the companies with the happiest employees. Nike, where my husband works, came in at No. 2. Keller Williams actually took the top spot! We’re so grateful to work for such great companies and we can definitely say that we are extremely happy to be where we are at. “This is a great place to be in business.” Another article from Forbes...
A Holiday Message From Our Team to You
December 11, 2017 10:37 VideoI’m getting into the holiday spirit today, as you can see from my choice of headwear. I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for all your support this past year. To all my friends, clients, family, and colleagues, I’m so grateful for your business and more importantly, your friendship. We are looking forward to an even better 2018. To see my full holiday message, watch this short video. “We are so grateful for your business!”
Should You Inspect Your Home Before You List It?
November 28, 2017 14:35 VideoAre pre-inspections a good idea if you’re a home seller? Not necessarily. You see, if you have the home inspected, make all the noted repairs, and then list the house, guess what’s going to happen? The buyer will also have the home inspected and pay anywhere from $500 to $1,000 for a battery of their own inspections. When they hire an inspector, they’ll want to get their money’s worth, so you can be sure that they’ll find many other problems with the home, because no two humans are going ...
The Importance of Working With a Buyer’s Agent
October 30, 2017 11:58 VideoI talk to friends and buyer clients all the time who say that they don’t want to waste my time because they’re still trying to figure out what they want in a home. My reaction to that gracious sentiment is always the same. You’re not wasting my time. In fact, if we visit a home and you don’t like it, that’s the opposite of a waste of our time. You see, it’s my job to help you. To do that to the best of my ability, I need to understand exactly what you’re looking for. The more homes we look...
Are You Asking Agents the Right Questions?
October 25, 2017 11:17 VideoToday I’d like to go over the five things you need to ask when interviewing a potential listing agent. How long have they been in business? What experience do they have in your neighborhood? How are they going to price your home? What is their marketing strategy? Do they have a team? If they’re an individual agent, how will they cover all the tasks? Selling homes is a complex job. This is one instance where numbers really do matter. The following example is one way I like to ex...
The Inspection Process Is All About Give and Take
October 09, 2017 10:50 VideoToday’s topic is one that is near and dear to my heart: inspections. This subject is loaded with expectations. For right now, I’d like to cover it from the buyer’s perspective. When buyers move forward with purchasing a home, it’s very exciting. Then the inspection comes and the buyer is given a 53-page report detailing everything wrong with the property. One thing to keep in mind is that inspections have a two-fold purpose. The first objective is to find anything that needs to be repaire...
How a Home's 4 L’s Will Tell You Whether It's the Right Fit for You
October 06, 2017 10:06 VideoWhat are a home’s four “L’s?” Before we get to that, I’d like to go over something I often ask my buyers to think about. When I sit down with clients, I like to ask them what their “must-haves” and “would-be-nices” are. Must-haves are non-negotiable items, like the number of bedrooms or bathrooms they want in a home. Would-be-nices are items like hardwood flooring, or other negotiable features. This is where the four L’s I mentioned earlier come in. The four L’s of a home are features of...
2 Reasons to Get Pre-Approved Before You Look at Homes
September 22, 2017 11:52 VideoMany buyers call me feeling excited to get out there and start looking at homes. However, I do recommend that you talk to a lender first, because it’s important to get pre-approved before you begin your home search. There are a couple of reasons why. First of all, getting pre-approved lets you know what your price range is.There’s nothing worse than looking at homes in a higher price range and finding out that you can’t afford them. It’s like test-driving a Lexus only to be told that you...
Why Right-Pricing Is Essential
September 06, 2017 15:17 VideoA lot of people ask me, “What’s the best pricing strategy? Should I just price the home a little high so we can leave room to negotiate?” That strategy may work in certain markets, but not in this one. The most important thing when selling your home in this market is setting the right price.To do this, we take a look at other properties that have recently sold and are similar to yours. We compare things like the square footage and home additions/improvements to get the right price. “Overp...
Why We Don’t Mind Breaking the Deal
August 22, 2017 13:37 VideoWhen you work with the AskSarita Team as your buyer’s agent, we work with you and we’re on your side. This means we protect you and your interests. If we were looking at a house, we would look at everything through the lens of your needs and interests. If we were looking at a home on a Sunday afternoon on a busy street, it would be a bit quiet. Whereas you might fall in love with the home’s big kitchen or master closet, I would tell you to look at the busy street and the fact that it’s 3 ...