The Journal → Buyers

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Buyers, all of it.

11 articles on this, in plain English. Everything else is on the Journal.

Rose Editorial · Aug 12, 2026

Buying your first home in Portland: the plain-English playbook

No jargon, no pressure, no pretending it isn't stressful. The exact sequence I walk first-time buyers through, from first coffee to keys.

buyersfirst-time buyers

Lauren Rose · Aug 10, 2026

Moving up in Portland without gambling on timing

The second home is harder than the first, because you are both buyer and seller. The four ways to sequence it, and how to pick one.

buyerssellersmoving up

Lauren Rose · Aug 7, 2026

The ADU question: what it does to a Portland buy

A basement apartment or backyard cottage changes the math on a purchase, and not the way buyers assume. What Portland allows, and what to check.

buyersADUportland rules

Lauren Rose · Aug 4, 2026

Reading an HOA packet: the four things I check

Most buyers skim the HOA documents and sign. A healthy association and a struggling one look identical from the sidewalk. Here is where I look.

buyerscondosHOA

Lauren Rose · Aug 1, 2026

Six days or forty-six: how fast Portland ZIPs sell

Two homes at similar prices, twenty minutes apart, can take a week or two months to sell. What that gap should change about your strategy.

buyerssellersportland market

Lauren Rose · Jul 28, 2026

Buying east: what the Gresham commute really costs

East county buys more house for the money than almost anywhere in the metro. The price is time, and most buyers underestimate it badly.

buyerseast countycommute

Lauren Rose · Jul 23, 2026

Portland or Vancouver? The tax question, honestly

The no-income-tax pitch for Vancouver is real, incomplete, and constantly repeated wrong. Here is the actual shape of the question.

buyersvancouverwashington

Lauren Rose · Jul 18, 2026

The sewer scope I never let a Portland buyer skip

The cheapest inspection in the transaction, and the one most likely to cost you real money if you skip it. What it finds, and who owns the pipe.

buyersinspectionsportland rules

Lauren Rose · Jul 13, 2026

How I plan your first Portland home tour

The first tour is not about finding the house. It is about finding out what you actually want, which is rarely what you told me.

buyersfirst-time buyersneighborhoods

Lauren Rose · Jul 13, 2026

Where Portland's bungalows are, and what they cost

Everyone moving here wants the Craftsman bungalow with the deep porch. Here is which neighborhoods actually have them, and what owning one costs after you close.

buyersolder homesneighborhoods

Lauren Rose · Jul 8, 2026

Alberta or Beaumont-Wilshire? An honest comparison

Two northeast Portland neighborhoods, twelve blocks apart, that attract completely different buyers. Here is how I help clients tell which one is theirs.

neighborhoodsbuyersnortheast portland

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