Portland - looking for a place to live

This past week we stayed at Kristen and Terrance's house looking for a place to live for when we move to Portland in June. We originally planned on renting a place and really had no intention of buying. However, when we got there and realized that Portland is really a renter's market we were shocked. Rent rates are very high there and talking with Kristen and Terrance (who both used to be in the mortgage business) we realized there was a very good chance that if we bought a place our mortgage payment would be less than a rental payment.


So we got together with Mike Howe, a Realtor who is friends with Terrance and Kristen to start looking at houses. He was awesome and super helpful. He explained all about this $8000 tax credit coming up and also put up with us sending him hundreds of listings to view. After looking for a few days, however, we realized that what we were looking for was just a touch out of our price range and we didn't LOVE anything in our price range. We felt like we would be settling if we did buy and that we should be patient and wait until we move up to Portland and be able to have more time to look. We also realized that this will be Derek's last significant vacation for quite a few years and that we were spending it stressing over houses and scrambling to find the perfect one instead of relaxing and enjoying it. So we decided to go back to the rentals, and take one that is smaller (and an apartment) than we would have normally gone for (and therefore cheaper) and begin the search again once we are back in Portland. We also only signed a 10 month lease so that if we do find something to buy that we love we won't be committed for too long to a rental. I will be sending out change of address cards / graduation announcements shortly. I'm just SO thrilled to have an address to call home...even if only for 10 months! :)


Throughout our stay in Portland, Kristen and Terrance really wined and dined us. They were amazing and so helpful with our hunt for houses to buy as well as places to rent. They also brought us out to one of their favorite bars for trivia night which was a blast. We went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant (can't remember the name but it was SUPER yummy!) and also got to experience lots more of Terrance's professional cooking! Their two and a half year old, Jack, as well as their two dogs made the living situation exciting and also constantly full of entertainment! Thanks again for an awesome time in Portland! We can't wait to move there!



We flew down to San Diego late last night and will be here for just about a month. We have quite a few little trips planned throughout so our free time is actually very limited here, but we are hoping to catch up with and see as much family and friends as we can before we head up to our new home in Portland!