Introductions

Hello! My name is Ian, and my wife and I recently relocated to Portland from Stuttgart, Germany. We loved living in Germany, and so far we've loved Portland even more! When we arrived here in November we decided to rent a house so we could explore the different Portland neighborhoods. We were taking the risk that home prices would continue to rise, but we figured that was better than buying a house in a neighborhood that we didn't like.

And boy are we glad we didn't buy last year!

It's been a crazy 10 months as we've unpacked, settled in and started exploring restaurants in the Hawthorne, Belmont, Alberta, Hollywood and other neighborhoods. We've surfed real estate web sites, drooled over all the beautiful craftsman houses and bungalows in town, and tried to pick one neighborhood over the other. We've also been frustrated by the crazy price increases that Portland has seen in the past few years, and wonder if we'll really be able to find a house we really like, that we can also afford.

But then a funny thing happened. As spring sprung, houses started to pop up, and up, and up and suddenly in seemed like every other house in Portland was for sale. And then prices started to fall. And then the mortgage industry imploded. And suddenly there was hope that we'd find a good deal after all. So stay tuned for my "outsider" view of the Portland market as we try to find the perfect duplex to live in for the next few years!