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September Events

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Can you believe we have made it to the final stretch of summer? Us Either! We do hope that September stays warm, especially for these great events! There are quite a few fun and free things to choose from this month. Here are our top picks!

First Thursday

Stroll through the art galleries in the pearl for an evening of art, music, and wine! Parking is difficult so public transit is recommended

The Pearl District

Free

  • September 1st
  • 5pm – 10pm though gallery hours vary.

Art in the Pearl

  • Fine Arts and Craft Festival celebrates 26 years of bringing art to the community. The distinctly artist-run event has long been a favorite in Portland, and it’s the perfect Labor Day destination to gather and celebrate the end of summer.
  • Northwest Park Blocks

Free

MORE INFO

September 3rd-5th, 10am – 6pm

Rose City Comic Con

  • While its primary focus is on comics, comic creators and the creative process, Rose City Comic Con also provides its attendees access to gaming, sci-fi, cosplay, anime, fantasy and everything in between. Its goal is to provide you with a rewarding, fun, family-friendly event experience.
  • Oregon Convention Center

starting at $45 – TICKETS

MORE INFO

  • September 9th: 1pm – 8pm
  • September 10th: 10am – 7pm
  • September 11th: 10am – 5pm

Chapman Swift Watch

Join the community for one of Portland’s favorite events. Every year as many as 16,000 birds swarm the old smoke stack at chapman elementary as the migrate from Canada to South America.

Chapman Elementary School

Free

MORE INFO

Evenings in September

Dahlia Festival

  • Stroll through almost 40 acres and a beautiful display garden of stunning dahlias featuring over 370 varieties. You can take home a bouquet, order flowers for spring plantings, or just enjoy the food carts and live music.
  • Swan Island Dahlias

MORE INFO

  • Open everyday except Wednesday
  • 9am-5:30pm

Dragon Boat Festival

  • Enjoy Portland’s annual Dragon Boat Festival, featuring dragon boat racing along with food vendors, a beer garden and more. The event features as many as 96 dragon boat teams from all over the world who race in Taiwan-style dragon boats. 
  • Tom McCall Waterfront Park – (riverplace Marina)
  • *Free*
  • MORE INFO
  • September 10th – 11th

Grand Prix of Portland

  • Every fall since 2018, Portland International Raceway has hosted the celebrated open-wheel racing. Held from 1984–2007 under various names, the race is back at Portland International Raceway as the only Verizon IndyCar Series race in the Pacific Northwest
  • Portland International Raceway
  • Starting at $70 – TICKETS
  • MORE INFO
  • September 2nd-4th

We hope to see you at some of these awesome events!

Looking for something else to do? Check out our best of lists!

August Events

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Can you believe we are already nearing the end of summer? Us Either! We do hope though that this lovely warm weather continues through September. We have some fantastic events for you this month and we hope to see you out there enjoying the city!

Pickathon

  • The three-day festival on 80 acres just outside Portland attracts a range of indie, rock and rap artists as well as the bluegrass troupes that gave the event its name. You can camp with a weekend pass, or just do a day pass!
  • Pendarvis Farm – Happy Valley

Weekend passes from $390 and day passes from $170

TICKETS

MORE INFO

August 4th – 7th

Vanport Jazz Festival

  • The Vanport Jazz Festival honors the city of Vanport and the voices that formed Portland’s jazz community.
  • Colwood Golf Center

starting at $60 – TICKETS

MORE INFO

  • August 5th: 6pm – 9pm
  • August 6th: 12pm – 9pm

First Thursday in The Pearl

Stroll through the art galleries in the pearl for an evening of art, music, and wine! Parking is difficult so public transit is recommended

The Pearl District

Free Event

  • August 4th
  • 5pm – 10pm though gallery hours vary.

Bridge Pedal

Join your friends and neighbors for the one opportunity each year to bike or walk on Portland’s car-free streets and bridges. Bridge Pedal is one of the largest community bike rides in the world!!

Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Starting at $35 – TICKETS

MORE INFO

August 14th

Hip Hop Week

  • Portland Hip Hop Week is a celebration of Hip Hop culture in the city of Portland. Enjoy great performances from Portland artists and performers who have contributed to Portland’s Hip Hop scene.
  • Multiple Locations

Pricing varies per event – TICKETS

MORE INFO

  • August 20th – 26th
  • times vary

Adult Soap Box Derby

  • Put down your video game controllers and step away from your Mario Kart. The best way to race isn’t on a screen, it’s down an extinct cinder cone volcano in Southeast Portland. This event is so much fun, its a Portland MUST!
  • Mt. Tabor Park
  • *Free*
  • MORE INFO
  • August 20th

Hood to Coast

  • Hood to Coast is the world’s largest running relay race, stretching 200 miles from the top of Mount Hood to the Pacific Ocean in Seaside.
  • Timberline – Seaside
  • Tickets sell out months in advance, but you can watch along the way!
  • August 26th

We hope to see you at some of these awesome events!

Looking for something else to do? Check out our best of lists!

July Events

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Happy Summer! Festival season continues and we are so excited about some of the things coming up! Beer, movies, music, e can’t wait to see you at some of these great events.

Blues Festival

  • This music festival is one of the longest running and helps to showcase both local talent and national celebrities. With beautiful views of the willamette and a firework show, this festival is not to be missed!
  • Waterfront Park

$35+ TICKETS

MORE INFO

July 1st – July 4th 9am – 6pm daily

Craft Beer Festival

  • This brewfest is unique in that all the participants are brewed and created within the city limits of Portland!
  • The Fields Park

$30 TICKETS

First Thursday in The Pearl

  • Stroll through the art galleries in the pearl for an evening of art, music, and wine! Parking is difficult so public transit is recommended
  • The Pearl District
  • Free Event
  • July 7th 5pm – 10pm though gallery hours vary.

The Big Float

  • This year is the very last big float (at least hosted by the current organizers) so if you want to get in a floaty and ride across the willamette now is your chance!
  • Tom McCall Waterfront Park
  • $10-$15 TICKETS
  • MORE INFO
  • July 10th 11am-6:30pm

Cathedral Park Jazz Fest

  • This annual summer favorite is a prime showcase of Portland’s homegrown talent, natural beauty and neighborly charm.
  • Cathedral Park

*Free*

MORE INFO

July 15th – July 17th times vary

Cinema Unbound

  • A Portland tradition of watching a film under the stars but make it a little extra, with thematic and experiential surprises galore.
  • OMSI
  • $20-$75
  • GET TICKETS HERE
  • July 7th- July 31st

Fuji to Hood Beer Fest

  • Fuji to Hood is a beer and food festival between 40 like-minded breweries, cideries, and distilleries in the shadow of Oregon’s Mt. Hood and Japan’s Mt. Fuji.
  • The Bindery Annex
  • $30-$40 TICKETS
  • MORE INFO
  • July 16th

Oregon Brewers Festival

  • While we may have many beer festivals, none truly compare to this one. with over 80 different breweries, there are so many beers to choose from and its a must attend event.
  • Waterfront Park

$10 for a mug $2 per token

MORE INFO HERE

July 28th -30th

World Naked Bike Ride

  • This is one of the truly loved Portland traditions. Thousands of people bike around portland naked to protest our dependency on oil.
  • Secret Location TBD

*Free*

MORE INFO HERE

July 30th

Montavilla Street Fair

  • Stroll down Stark Street and enjoy district businesses, a farmer’s market and family-friendly entertainment and activities. 
  • SE Stark st in Montavilla

*Free*

MORE INFO HERE

July 31st 10am-5pm

We hope to see you at some of these awesome events!

Looking for something else to do? Check out our best of lists!

June Events

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It’s June! That also means it is the start of festival season! We are kicking things off with the rose fest, pride, and some beer! If you don’t love festivals, we have some other great things to do this month also! We are excited to share these June events!

Peony Festival

  • Visiting the gardens will include walking 25 acres of production fields, strolling through 2 acres of display garden, and enjoying many different colors of gorgeous peonies!
  • Adelman Peony Farm, Salem

*Free*

MORE INFO

May 1st – June 15th 9am – 6pm daily

Rose Festival

  • Parades, rides, fireworks, greasy food, what more could you ask for?
  • Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Parades are free, city fair requires a ticket

Portland Pride Festival

  • Portland is widely known to be a gay-friendly destination, but you can count on us being even more fun for the pride festival and parade!
  • Tom McCall Waterfront Park
  • *Free*
  • MORE INFO
  • June 18th and 19th

First Thursday in The Pearl

  • Stroll through the art galleries in the pearl for an evening of art, music, and wine! Parking is difficult so public transit is recommended
  • The Pearl District
  • Free Event
  • June 2nd 5pm – 10pm though gallery hours vary.

Crush on Oregon

  • Enjoy Wine tasting, local eats, and entertainment at this annual wine festival!
  • Castaway

$50-$70

GET TICKETS HERE

Sunday June 5th

Cider Summit

  • The regions largest cider festival is back! With 150 different selections made by 40 producers, you’ll fund something here to love!
  • The Fields Park
  • $40 for general admission
  • GET TICKETS HERE
  • June 10th and 11th

PDX Beer Week

  • We may not need a special week to drink beer, but this 11 day “week” will feature specials, rare beers, and fun events!
  • Various locations
  • Prices Vary – find all the events on the FB page
  • MORE INFO
  • June 17th -26th

Festival of Balloons

  • Hot air balloons take flight every June and you can enjoy the view with just a quick trip to the south!
  • Cook Park – Tigard

$12

MORE INFO HERE

We hope to see you at some of these awesome events!

April Market Update

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Its time again to look back at the numbers and see how healthy the real estate market is. With all the news about being in a bubble and an incoming crash, it is more important than ever to really look at past and present statistics. Let’s dive in to the numbers for April 2022!

Since November we have been seeing the inventory hover right around .8 months. This means if no one else listed their home, everything would be sold in less than a month. This is still true for April, but the number is climbing. When we have the stats out for May I expect the number to be closer to .9 or even 1. We have really been feeling the extra inventory and are so grateful for it.

The average sales price is up 13.4% compared to April of last year and a whopping 4% from just last month. The former is not surprising as we have been seeing double digit appreciation for the last couple years. The 4% increase from last month is astonishing, but not unbelievable. As soon as we saw the rates increase, we noticed people throwing out crazy offer numbers so they could lock their rate in. We noticed multiple homes that closed in this timeframe sold for around 30% over what they were listed for.

Summary

Now that everyone has settled into the newly increased rate hikes things are back to “Portland normal”. We are still seeing the really cute homes fly off the shelf for about 100k over asking price. Many people are still waiving some or all of their contingencies, and homes are getting multiple offers. The biggest difference is we are mostly seeing 2-3 offers instead of 20.

We expect this trend to continue as things settle a bit. We don’t expect to see any big drops or dips. Despite what major news outlets may be saying, the market correcting itself is a good things and will benefit everyone involved!

If you want specifics about what the changing market means for your home sale or purchase, we would be happy to chat with you! If you want to chat with a lender about your purchasing power, you can see who we trust here

Love it or List it?

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I’m sure you’ve seen Love it or List it- where a family has totally outgrown their space but one of the partners just doesn’t want to leave, so they decide to renovate. 

And if the renovations aren’t fixing the issue, then, and only then, do they move…

While reality TV is fun to watch, the reality of living in a construction zone while shopping for a new house, isn’t.

That’s why I recommend doing one or the other. Let’s break it down.

A lot of times, people get frustrated with their space. They’ve had another baby, fallen out of love with their condo, or started dreaming of retiring in a smaller space near the beach. 

Whatever the reason, it’s very important to first identify WHY you are considering a move, and then go from there. 

Here’s five things to think about…

#1 Can it be fixed easily? 

If you want an updated kitchen, swapping out fixtures, painting cabinets, and buying new appliances is a pretty easy fix. But if you want a bigger kitchen, you’re going to have to move.

#2 Can you deal with contractors?

Hiring an interior designer or general contractor to manage your project will help, but renovations require you to work with multiple companies and contractors on a daily basis. And you’ll be totally dependent on their timeline, expertise, and quality of work. If you don’t want people coming in and out of your home for weeks on end, it may be time to move into a turn key home.

#3 Can you live with the mess? 

Renovations can be dusty and dirty and shrink an already hard-to-navigate environment. Tools will be everywhere, equipment will be everywhere, and people will be everywhere. Is a renovation going to get in the way of school, work, or travel? If so, something turnkey may be more appealing.

#4 Can you tolerate a move? 

You may dread the thought of having to pack up your entire home while paying a moving company thousands of dollars to pick up your heirloom armoire and try and make it through the front door. If this sounds unbearable to you, it may be cause to stay.

#5 Do you love your location? 

If the view, zoning, corner lot, or amazing neighbors are the reason why you moved to your current house to begin with, then moving may not be the answer. In this case, it would be better to renovate the inside of the home to match the amazing benefits of the outside of the home. 

No matter whether you decide to love it or list it, it’s important to have a good Realtor to help you understand how renovations will affect your home value and help you decide if you’re better off packing up or staying put. That’s where I can help.

If you’re thinking about making a move (or know someone who is), Please reach out! No pressure, no sales tactics, just helpful advice and the guidance you need!

And finally, if you’re not thinking about making a move just yet, feel free to save this page for future reference, so you can come back to it! 

If you want to get to know either of us better you can go to our pages Jessica or Tekela

Portland Distilleries

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Here in Portland we love our alcohol, distilleries are no different! Most people know Portland for our IPA’s or for our pinot noir, but we also make some incredible liquor! Sorted by location, here are some of the places we think you should visit! As a bonus, these distilleries are all a part of Portland’s distillery row, you can buy a passport and have many of the tasting fees waived, or get other fun perks! You can see all the details over on the website.

Freeland Spirits

  • 12-6 pm daily
  • 2671 NW Vaughn St
  • Women owned and operated
  • Gins and Bourbon

New Deal Distillery

  • 12-6 pm daily
  • 900 SE Salmon St

Vodka, whiskey, gin, rum, liqueurs, pre-made cocktails.

Westward Whiskey

  • 12-7 pm Thursday – Monday
  • 65 SE Washington St

A variety of whiskeys

Straightaway Cocktails

  • Hours vary, visit website for details
  • 901 SE Hawthorne Blvd

premixed cocktails made with various liquors

Stone Barn Brandyworks

  • 11-5 pm Monday – Friday, 12-5 Saturday and Sunday.
  • 3315 SE 19th Ave B

Brandy, Whiskey, Liqueurs

503 Distilling

  • 3-9 pm Thursday – Sunday
  • 4784 SE 17th Ave

Cocktails in a can!

Shine Distilling

  • 4-10 pm Wednesday – Sunday
  • 4232 N Williams Ave
  • LGBTQ owned and operated
  • Vodka, Gin, Whiskey

Wild Roots Spirits

  • 12-6 pm daily
  • 77 NE Grand Ave

Vodka, Gin, Vodka sodas

Aimsir Distilling

  • 4-10 pm Wednesday – Sunday
  • 2117 NE Oregon St

Gin, Whiskey, Bourbon

Aria Portland Dry Gin

  • 12-6 pm Daily
  • 2304 NW Savier St

Gin

Bull Run Distilling

  • 12 – 6 pm Wednesday – Sunday
  • 2259 NW Quimby St

Whiskey and Vodka

Did we miss anywhere that you love? Let us know in the comments!

Year End Market Update

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The year end numbers are out for the Portland market for 2021. The year was absolutely insane in many ways, so lets dive into the numbers!

year end review
Appreciation

Firstly, if you bought a house more than a year ago, you averaged a 15.8% appreciation. To put that into perspective a $500,000 house is now worth, on average, $580,000. Some areas are even seeing much higher numbers. For example, Oregon City and Troutdale both saw an average appreciation of over 19%. The rural areas around Mt. Hood are up over 30%. If Covid has taught us anything, it’s that people wanted more space. So rural areas had really aggressive bidding wars and some serious price jumps.

Average Home Price

The average home price in the Portland metro is now at $582,000. I know many people are waiting on the market to drop and this simply isn’t going to happen. It will cool down, especially as climbing interest rates push people out of the market, but prices will continue to climb and affordability will continue to be an issue. We predict that 2022 will be just as competitive as 2021 was. We are still seeing houses get bid up to 100k over list price in many instances, and almost everything is still getting multiple offers. If you are on the fence, now would be a good time to get off of it.

Average Days on Market

The average days on market dropped yet again to the lowest numbers on record. We had just over 2 weeks of inventory for the month of December. This isn’t surprising because it’s December, there are a lot of holidays, and not many people want to move during this time. We have seen a lot of houses coming on the market in the last couple weeks and that number will start to tick back up.

We hope these numbers help you to get a pulse on what is going on in and around Portland! If you want specific numbers for your neighborhood, let us know and we will happily send them over. If you need anything else real estate related, feel free to submit the form below and we will get right back to you!

Ready to jump in but want to know more about us? You can read about Jessica or Tekela! Also, if you need a lender, you can find some that we love HERE