About Colleen
From a young age, Colleen knew how to swing a hammer. As a child, Colleen assisted her father with house projects and soon fell in love with interior design. Between playing beach volleyball and teaching Pilates, she double majored in finance and real estate and quickly landed a job in commercial real estate.
In 2007, Colleen moved to Portland and fell in love with the city’s beautiful homes, unique neighborhoods, and artistic energy. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else! Just 3 days before her 24th birthday, Colleen purchased her first home, a 1900’s-era Portland four-square in the SE Brooklyn neighborhood. Sticking to her roots, Colleen completely rewired and re-plumbed her home as well as laid tile, hung drywall, and everything else in between (and she passed all her inspections with flying colors)!
Colleen is both thorough and resourceful, and loves getting to know her clients, analyzing their needs, and scrutinizing the marketplace to find their perfect home.
Outside of work Colleen is a yoga enthusiast who loves learning about obscure wine varietals, dining at new Portland hot-spots, and running around with her miniature Australian Shepherd, Cricket. To know more about Colleen, feel free to check out her website CocotheRealtor.com or follow her on Instagram at @CocotheRealtorPDX
Colleen Glaab
Real Estate Broker
Licensed in the State of Oregon
office: 503.238.7617 x 108
cell phone: 503.970.8178
fax: 503.234.9511
Words From Colleen’s Clients:
“We enjoyed working with Colleen Glaab so much! We had a very shortened timeline to accommodate a big purchase in Portland and Colleen stepped up to that plate in a beautiful way. We arrived from out of the country on a Friday night, saw a lot of properties over the next two days, found the perfect house, had a little bidding challenge which she helped us navigate, and ended up closing on our new home in just under two weeks. It was a whirlwind, but very clean, clear and satisfying from beginning to end. She was thorough and calm, and had a positive, can-do attitude. We would absolutely recommend Colleen and/or work with her again. Thank you Colleen!!”
“Colleen and Sally were our realtors during the purchase of our first home, and they were really great. They were always responsive and helpful, took care of scheduling all the professionals to come for quotes during the negotiation time, they really helped us a lot. Thank you :)”
“I just recently sold my Portland home, and I had the pleasure to work with Sally Schwartz and Colleen Glaab. They are truly the best in the business in my personal opinion. Back in April of last year I sent a message to Colleen about what the process of selling my home would be. At this time I still was not quite ready to sell my home but Colleen was so nice and helpful. She sent me detailed information and a step by step process for how my house would sell. It really helped make the decision to finally sell. I reached back out to Colleen in December and she was quick to respond and get the process started for me. Then in January Sally came onboard to help with the sale of my home. Sally is truly amazing. She held my hand through everything and that is something I truly needed. It is scary to sell a home but Sally reassured me and walked me through the process step by step. Whenever I needed something she was quick to respond and very helpful. Both Sally and Colleen are amazing and very knowledgeable. I couldn’t have sold my house without them. I can’t recommend them enough. Thank you for helping make my dreams come true!”
“Colleen is the best real estate agent we have ever worked with. She was calm, consistent, available, knowledgeable, hard working and professional. We will use her again and feel confident recommending her to others.”
“Colleen with Portland Alternative Realtors was easy to work with and instilled trust from the very beginning. She is very knowledgeable, timely and professional. She helped us every step of the way in order to find the perfect home for our lifestyle. We highly recommend Colleen and hope that others are as fortune as we were to work with her! “
“I fully recommend this company if you are looking to buy or sell a house. In this time of COVID 19 we managed to sell our house and buy a new house in just 2 months time. Colleen is amazing and guided us every step of the way. We weren’t sure if we should move forward with this process during a pandemic, but Colleen assured us that we could do it, and we did. She was extremely helpful in recommending contractors to fix up our old house, and knew what needed to be done and not done to sell the house. She knew exactly what we were looking for in a buying a house, and found us the castle of our dreams in 3 shorts days of looking. We never could of navigated this difficult process without her.”
“I can’t say enough good things about Portland’s Alternative Realty! My husband and I worked with Colleen and Erica. We were living in Southern California and wanted to move closer to family in the Portland area.I had a meeting with both of them about a year ago, just to get acquainted and talk about what we wanted. They were great about checking in periodically, but let me move along at my own pace. In February I was visiting my daughter and showed her some of the places we had been looking at online. She suggested we call Colleen and try to see a couple of houses. It was a very last minute thing, but Colleen managed to arrange the viewings for us. She was very helpful in preparing our offer and making sure that I understood what the contract I was signing meant. It was a pleasure working with her! Once the offer had been accepted, I worked mainly with Erica. She did an amazing job of handling all the inspections, work proposals, and negotiations with the seller’s agent and my bank.She made sure that everything went smoothly. Erica was always calm and professional, even though I was finding the final negotiations with my bank rather trying. Both Colleen and Erica made buying an out of state home much easier than I could ever imagine. They were super responsive and lovely to work with!”
“We bought our home in 2018 with Colleen Glaab, and she was an amazing guide through what could have been an extremely stressful experience. She organized meetings, arranged estimates with contractors, and helped us navigate the numerous aspects of each property we looked at in a way we could have not done successfully on our own. Our family can’t give her enough praise, and it’s nice to know we have a realtor for life.”
“As first-time home buyers, we’re fortunate we found Colleen Glaab to help us navigate the process. She let us set the pace, was always available, and is extremely knowledgeable about a myriad of details about homes and home-buying. And when we finally found the place we now call home, she kept on top of all the details, making the process smooth, even when covid-19 added a unique and unprecedented set of challenges to our closing. She’s the best!”
“I love love loved working with Colleen. She is smart, incredibly hard-working and knowledgeable. I recommend her whole-heartedly. I bought an older building and Colleen’s ability to anticipate possible problems and help guide me through solutions and workarounds was so valuable.”
“I was fortunate enough to have Colleen as my realtor while purchasing my first home. It is a surprisingly overwhelming experience and Colleen walked me through the entire process. She is very knowledgeable, professional, and dedicated, and I felt at ease knowing I had her to advocate for me. She showed me things to look for when buying a home that I wouldn’t have even considered, was very communicative and accessible, and she dedicated a lot of her time to help me find my perfect home. I genuinely felt like she had my back through the entire process. Purchasing a home is such a huge life decision and I am so grateful that I had Colleen representing me! Thank you, Colleen!”
“Colleen was such an amazing Realtor to work with! She is kind and very professional. She walked us through all the steps in such a way that took the stress out of it for us. I couldn’t recommend her more!”
“We are so very happy with our choice to work with Colleen Glaab at Portland’s Alternative Realtors! She made the entire home buying process as smooth as possible and was incredibly attentive to our needs every step of the way. I’m sure she has other clients but she always made us feel like we were her focus. We love that this is a locally owned agency, too!”
“Amy and Colleen helped us with both the purchase and sale of our home and they were wonderful to work with. They know and understand the market and are very professional.”
“I recently purchased my first home using Colleen Glaab as my agent. I selected Colleen after reading her reviews, meeting in person with several agents and decided she was the best fit. She was easy to get along with, very knowledgeable about the wide span of neighborhoods I was searching in and went above and beyond my expectations. We ran in to some issues with the sewer line running through the neighboring property which could have been a major roadblock. Colleen worked with the sellers agent, made several trips to the city of Portland Permit office (yuck), and worked with a plumber to ensure everything was recorded properly and resolved the sewer issue in time for closing.
I would recommend Colleen to anyone buying or selling a home in Portland. She helped me find the right house in my budget, showed me the pros and cons of each house we visited, was not pushy when it came to writing offers and had great negotiating skills when it came time to finalizing repairs and contracts. I am so happy to have found my first home think that she was a key part in making my dreams come true!”
“Colleen Glaab acted as our buyer’s rep for a home we purchased in Portland in August 2018. The following isn’t only a testimonial for how great Colleen was to work with, but also a sincere thank you for being the wonderful person and professional she is.
This is the 3rd time we’ve used a buyer’s representative to help us find a home and navigate the buying process. For those of you who don’t know, unless you have a buyer’s rep, a real estate agent has a legal responsibility to the seller to attain the highest price possible for a house. Even though you may be driving around with a realtor for weeks looking at homes, and that person appears to be friendly and helpful, the fact is that they can share any and all info they glean from your conversations with the home seller, such as whether you’d be willing to pay more than the offer you’re making, or if your finances are good enough to put more down, etc. etc. Having learned the hard way with our first home purchase, we will always use a buyer’s rep for all future home purchases. A buyer’s rep has a fiduciary responsibility to the buyer, not the seller, to hold all information in confidence and help attain the lowest cost possible.
We found Colleen through an internet search of well-rated Buyer’s Reps in Portland. Colleen was absolutely fantastic to work with…knowledgeable, friendly, hard working, low keyed…really terrific in all respects! She keyed in on what we wanted, where we wanted to be, and the priorities we had for the type of house we wanted. Colleen has an impressive amount of knowledge about homes, plumbing, electric, and city ordinances. She quickly assesses homes for what they are and what they’ll need to make them more livable. As much work as she put in to finding a house, she quadrupled that effort during the buying process and closing on the house. Though we’re hoping this might be our last-ever house, we’d use her again, in a second, if we needed to buy another house. Colleen is a fine person and a great real estate agent. We couldn’t have been any happier with our experience with Colleen and would readily recommend her to friends and family looking for an agent.”
“Colleen Glaab is an absolute pleasure to work with! She is thorough, highly communicative, and an indispensable resource for first-time home buyers, like myself. She was always available to answer questions, schedule tours, and provide guidance throughout the process. Would definitely recommend Colleen to anyone.”
“As a first time buyer, Colleen and Erica were an answer to our prayers. We needed someone patient, personable, and professional. And they are exactly that. Their constant updates of available homes was filtered to our wants and needs, saving us a ton of wasted time. They gave in-depth advice and did comprehensive research to make sure we made the best decisions throughout the entire process. And they were always available either through email, text, or call to answer questions, calm nerves, and congratulate us on our big life moment. I can’t recommend this team enough, for anyone wanting to purchase (or sell) a house in the Portland area.”
“It was a pleasure working with Colleen and Emma. Since my husband and I don’t live in Portland, Colleen and Emma were really helpful when we visited to hunt for a rental property. It was a really good experience meeting them, and we liked how they prepared a list of neighborhoods to check out so that we get a sense of the city.
They were organized and responsive throughout the whole buying process. I would highly recommend your business on various social networks. Thank you for following up with us.”
“Colleen Glaab is fabulous! My home buying situation was a little tricky with one of us being out of the country but Colleen made it a breeze! From talking with my out of state lender, to ensuring that my power of attorney was good to go, she is very thorough in all aspects of the home buying process. She was very quick to answer any questions that we had and made excellent recommendations. I would HIGHLY recommend Colleen to anyone looking to buy a home in Portland!!”
“(Five enthusiastic stars) My fiancé and I recently purchased our first home with the help of Colleen and Erica, and we only have wonderful things to say about the experience! Coming from out of state, they expertly accommodated all of the associated challenges. What we expected to be overwhelming and intimidating was actually fun because Colleen and Erica were so knowledgeable, attentive, and patient with us. We would absolutely work with them again and will be recommending them to any family and friends.”
“Colleen Glaab guided us through the purchase of our first rental property with calm, responsive, caring, thorough expertise. She navigated a web of communications between an astonishing number of parties with ease and diligence. And she advised us masterfully at every turn. With her help, what could have been a confusing and stressful experience was exciting–even fun–and ultimately satisfying.”
“Colleen was a pleasure to do business with and I would definitely work with Portland’s Alternative Realtors Inc again.”
“Colleen and Erica were incredible to work with. It was our first home buying experience, and after meeting with a few realtors that didn’t feel authentic or personable I was feeling very nervous about being pressured into something we didn’t want. Colleen and Erica were very warm and receptive. They matched our level of interest as it waxed and waned between looking at many houses daily, to taking some breaks. Colleen was incredibly knowledgeable about the kinds of things to look for in a home and thoroughly answered all of my many questions. Erica helped with the negotiations and inspections. She worked quickly, ensuring we followed all of the timelines correctly, while never pressuring us. She was thoughtful and supportive and continues to be an incredibly helpful resource.
Buying a home can certainly be a harrowing experience, and I don’t know what we would’ve done without Erica and Colleen. They are the best.”
“When we chose to purchase a home in Portland while still living in San Francisco, we knew that our choice of realtors was going to be a key component in determining whether the experience would be smooth or a huge source of stress.
Colleen Glaab was our realtor, and she made the purchasing process a breeze. We viewed many, many homes over 2 weekend trips, with Colleen giving us the local perspective and feedback on properties and different neighborhoods.
Colleen handled so many of the details for us, including negotiations with the seller, setting up and meeting with inspectors, and Facetimed/texted/emails/called us throughout the process. We now have a home that we love, but the next time we buy, we would definitely work with Colleen again!”
“We used Portland Alternative Realtors for the second time just recently. After attempting to work with two other realtors – friend of a friend, we decided to go back to our previous agent. He wasn’t available and referred us to Colleen Glaab. Honestly, we were reluctant at first to work with a young agent. She quickly proved her value and helped us refocus to buy a house in a neighborhood we were less familiar with.
Colleen was terrific and worked hard to help us find a house, get in contract, and close the deal. She consistently exceeded our expectations and we wholeheartedly recommend working with her. Thanks Colleen!”
“Our realtor was Colleen and she was such a pleasure to work with – truly went above and beyond our expectations! We bought our home from out of state and she made the process so easy, and we loved all of her referrals as well for a lender and inspector. She was quick to respond to all emails and phone calls and made everything stress free. So happy with her service, we would definitely recommend Colleen!”
“Emma and Colleen are the best agents you could possibly ask for. Our relationship started with them when we were moving to Portland from out of state. They bent over backwards to find us the perfect house! They were in constant communication and even would Skype us from houses when we weren’t able to see them! So when it came time to sell that house we knew that there was no one else in PDX that we wanted to work with. They made selling our house a breeze! If you want agents that will go above and beyond for you with all your real estate need then these are the ladies to contact!”
“Colleen is amazing. I found her on yelp, so thank you to everyone else for leaving glowing reviews! I joined yelp just so that I could leave her the stellar review she deserves. I have family in Portland and am moving there this fall but I currently live in Texas and my work schedule did not allow me to visit Portland. Colleen helped coordinate EVERYTHING. She put me in touch with a lender who was trusted (helped support me when the sellers made decisions about what offer to accept) and was great about recommendations for offers. Her counseling was invaluable–I think paying this is good, I think that would be too much etc. I never felt pressured to put in an offer and she was always available to look at a house, to Facetime tour a house for me, or to answer questions in the process of buying. She is EPIC at communicating, counseling, advising, and she makes great recommendations. Colleen coordinated multiple estimates, inspections, paperwork, and all with such a pleasant and fun attitude!! I recommend Colleen to everyone! She is the best realtor I have ever worked with, especially for someone buying from out of state–she is really amazing and experienced!”
“We hit the jackpot working with Colleen at Portland Alternative Realtors! As first-time homebuyers from out-of-state, we were eager to explore the Portland market and find a home relatively quickly to accommodate our growing family. Colleen took the time to listen and really understand what we were looking for, which made the house hunting process fun and comfortable! She was patient, responsive and incredibly communicative, which was a huge comfort to us. When we found a house we loved, Colleen expertly navigated the negotiation process, resulting in us landing a perfect place to call home. We’re so grateful for all of Colleen’s hard work and partnership, and would recommend her to anyone. In fact, we recommended her to my parents, who just recently closed on their own dream home in Portland – all thanks to Colleen!”
“My husband and I had a phenomenal experience working with Colleen Glaab of Portland’s Alternative Realtors to buy our home, and we highly recommend her! Colleen is smart, super-organized, a great communicator, very knowledgeable about the PDX market, calm under pressure, and a very effective negotiator. She was a terrific partner for us when we relocated to Portland, answering countless questions about neighborhoods, sharing insights about homes based on her renovation experience, and negotiating a successful purchase on our behalf. Thanks to Colleen, we found and bought the perfect place, and we’re so appreciative. We would definitely work with her again!”
“We worked with Colleen in 2016/2017 (buying our first home) and 2020/2021 (buying our second home and selling the first). I can’t imagine ever working with another agent (because we did before Colleen and KNOW the difference).
Colleen was beyond dedicated to helping us find our first home. We had a set budget and desired located. It was Colleen that found the house and showed it to us, knowing the potential we didn’t initially see. Colleen was engaged every step of the process and saying I felt in good hands is a true understatement.
In 2020/2021 we needed a bigger home for a growing family, and it was Colleen to the rescue again! In a challenging seller’s market, she assisted with us find a home (first and only offer!). Then when she sold our house we literally just were around for the ride as she drove the entire process ending with us successfully selling our home for more than we had ever hoped for.”
“It was wonderful working with Colleen from start to finish in selling my home. The process was smooth and easy, and I felt well taken care of. I highly recommend working with her as a realtor.”
“Everyone knows that selling a home can be stressful and can involve miles of paperwork and decisions. My experience was smooth sailing with Colleen Glaab. Very responsive, great communicator, knowledge of current markets, and a pleasure to work with. Our family felt safe and confident knowing Colleen was handling the process with us and I highly recommend Colleen and her team. Literally have zero complaints!”
“We can’t recommend Colleen enough. We had a fantastic experience working with Colleen. She helped us buy our home two years ago (2020); and more recently in 2022, she helped us sell two rental properties this year. So, we’ve been able to work on both sides of the transaction with Colleen and in all three cases – she has been simply fantastic. She clearly has an excellent grasp on the market. Her communication was prompt, clear, and thoughtful. She’s an excellent listener – which I have seen lacking in some prior rellators. Highly recommended!”
“Colleen is incredible! I’ve both bought and sold a home with Colleen. Before moving to Portland, she took the time to help orient me to the different neighborhoods in town – sending me a driving tour with local pit stops for each neighborhood. I trust her opinion and would recommend her to anyone moving from out of town, or anyone looking for a friendly realtor and home search partner!”
“We worked with Colleen, and she did an amazing job helping sell our house quickly in March 2022. It was a stressful time since we were moving out of the state, but she helped guide us through the process, and we felt confident that we were in good hands. Thank you so much Colleen for working with us!”
“I worked with Colleen Glaab to buy my first house in 2019 and we worked together to sell it in 2022.
As a first time homebuyer, Coco was a joy to work with. She clearly explained the whole process and walked me through things to look out for when searching for a house.
She gave great advice when it came to navigating putting in offers as well as handling the crazy market that was spring 2022.
If you’re in the market to buy or sell, and want to have a good time while doing it, I would highly recommend Colleen Glaab!”
“Working with Colleen was an absolute pleasure! She was available, responsive, and so resourceful. She was helpful through every step of the process and was a perfect fit for a first time home buyer! She went above and beyond to advocate for my needs and to ensure that I was completely content with my home buying experience, the home I purchased, and negotiations. I cannot recommend working with her enough! “
“My family has been working Colleen through two house purchases and a sale. She is incredibly diligent, responsive, and personable. A joy to work with!”
“Colleen Glaab was absolutely great to work with when I sold my condo. Her experience and guidance made the sale go quickly and smoothly. Her realtor group is lucky to have her on their team. Thank you Colleen!”
“We had an a fantastic home buying experience with Colleen Glaab! We wouldn’t use any other agent or agency to buy/sell in the Portland area.”
“Colleen IS the realtor you want to work with!
“Colleen Glaab is just the best. She was flexible and dedicated to helping us find our new home, even when our wants and location kept changing. Once we found our house, she did it all. It was impressive. If you want the best, you want Colleen.”
“Colleen Glaab my Real Estate Agent from Portland Oregon is The most perfect,Kind,generous and the most Experienced Real Estate Agent I have ever worked with it wasn’t even work it was fun she made sure everything was always at with hardly any work .. she made sure exactly what I wanted and than an extra bonus at the end .. please Choose Colleen Glaab as your next Real Agent .. my name is Gabriel Chavez and My Agent from Portland Oregon helped me get my New House all the from California to my new house in Portland Oregon and I Love my new house.. it has a beautiful experience to work with an agent the loves and cares about your budget your down payment and the bonus that comes with it when you start your journey to find the home you Love at your own pace … Thank you So much Colleen Glaab for everything you did for me to find my Forever home in Portland Oregon.. ️ ️ ️ ️ “
“Colleen was amazing to work with! She was knowledgeable, readily available, and really made the difference for us in having the home selling process go smoothly. We highly recommend her and would absolutely work with her again as a buyer or seller!”
“We were lucky enough to get to work with Colleen Glaab with this group. Colleen went above and beyond to make purchasing our first home as comfortable as possible! She always came to viewings with all the information in hand and was eager to move on to another home if something didn’t feel right. She never made us feel pressured or discouraged when looking for a home and kept such a positive and delightful attitude. She gave us great advice throughout the process and was just such a joy to work with. I cannot recommend her enough, thank you Colleen!!!”
“We were lucky enough to work with Collen Glaab and Erica Dagle when purchasing an investment property back in 2017. They helped educate us on what to look for and really guided us through the whole process. Then in 2024, when it was time to move our mother to town, it was a no-brainer to call in the ‘Dream Team’ again. Both Colleen and Erica were stars when it came to showing property to us with our Mother on Zoom. Pointing out the good, the bad and the ‘no way’. They were very patient, informative and handled selling a house long distance like pro’s. They made us feel like they were moving their mother to town. They are both very professional, warm and friendly but most of all experienced and knowledgeable. Portland Alternative Realtors is the only agency to call.
mic drop”