The housing market has been decidedly stuck of late. Sellers with low mortgage rates are holding on to their homes, leaving buyers with scant listings to choose from. And buyers who do find a house face substantial economic challenges as median home prices and mortgage rates remain high. With sellers and buyers at an impasse, misconceptions and outright […]
Touring your dream home during an open house or private showing is pretty exciting, especially if it looks even better than the listing photos. Then again, you might discover the house smells bad or has uneven floors. Good or bad, it’s in your best interest to keep a tight lip about your thoughts. Many homeowners have doorbell cameras, baby monitors, […]
Plunking down big money to renovate a bathroom isn’t in the cards for many of us. New tile, a better shower stall and a luxe tub are big ticket items for homeowners. Plus, renters aren’t usually allowed to rip up a bathroom they don’t actually own. Yet, a better-looking loo is a #goal since you spend quality […]
Errol Heights has an epic slide, a mini skate area, and trails through beaver habitat. On the left: a community garden, a mini skate park, and grassy expanses. On the right: a vast pond constructed by beavers (and currently covered in duckweed). IMAGE: JASON HIL ON AN IDYLLIC FRIDAY MORNING, southeast Portland’s Errol Heights Park hums with activity. Toddlers […]
Opinions on best practices for real estate photos vary, but one thing everyone agreed on—until recently—is that sellers’ pets should never appear in the listing. Buyers want to picture their own lives in the home, so photos should be a blank canvas. But more agents are saying that thinking is for the dogs. “Usually, we don’t put […]
The former home of the late Ursula K. Le Guin is being readied to become a base for contemporary authors. Theo Downes-Le Guin, son of the late author Ursula K. Le Guin, remembers well the second-floor room where his mother worked on some of her most famous novels. Le Guin’s 88 years yielded dozens of books, and […]
No piece of furniture sets the tone for your living room more than the sofa. But besides being the vehicle to advertise your design tastes, it’s also where the binge-watching happens, where family or friends gather for a chat over coffee, or where you curl up with a book and good intentions before an accidental afternoon […]
Leslie Sherman was resigned to being a renter the rest of her life. The 33-year-old couples therapist and her husband, Conrad Useldinger, 30, a dance academy director, live in San Jose, CA. Nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley, where Apple, Google, and Nvidia are based, it is the most expensive housing market in America, according to a Realtor.com analysis. There, […]
PAM’s conservator will use tiny cotton swabs to remove a layer of varnish from 1959. Claude Monet, Waterlilies, 1914-1915, oil on canvas, Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund (Portland Art Museum) Many visitors to the Portland Art Museum have oohed and aahed over Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. The 1914-15 oil painting is a cornerstone of the […]
Porch season is officially here! Sure, it might sometimes still be a little too chilly to enjoy your favorite outdoor perch unless it’s drenched in sunlight, but soon enough we’ll all be sipping sweet tea and basking in some summertime warmth. The beginning of porch sittin’ season always begs the question: How do you revive […]