Oregon City Love

I received a random text from a co-worker from a previous job. “Hi Ben, my mother in law wants to see this house today are you available?”.  It was one of those days where I was contemplating yard work or going for a run.  Neither of which I felt like doing at the time.  I immediately said “sure” and asked where and when and was told Oregon City and as soon as you’re available.  I had previously done a transaction in Oregon City, known as “OC” locally, and it was new construction, easy to get to, and the clients knew exactly where they wanted to live.  It was quick and clean as I like to say.

I received the address and went there early to get it ready for the showing.  I heard some voices outside and opened the door.  There were 4 people outside: The client, Marie, my co-worker (Heather) and her mom, her husband (the son of my client).  We looked through the home and decided it wasn’t the right fit.  We set up a future date to look again.

Fast forward to today.  After 2 months of looking, 26 homes, 4 offers, 4 disappointments, placing her own home on the market and selling quickly, we were in a time crunch.  We were all over Oregon City, Gladstone, Milwaukie trying to get our contingent offer accepted.  We had about 5 days to get under contract or else Marie would have to start staying with friends and/or family for a while.  While looking, Marie decided to write a letter to accompany her offers.  I proofread it and was embarrassed by my lack of understanding where my client was coming from.  I knew she was moving from Battle Ground, WA because the upkeep was too much.  I knew her son and wife had just adopted a child and she wanted to be closer to them.  I didn’t know that her cancer had returned and she was fighting it with support from her Dragonboat support team in Portland.

I’m happy to say we found a home for Marie.  We pulled up to the house and immediately knew it was the one.  There is a kids park 3 houses down, it’s a 1 level home with low upkeep, a small well maintained yard, and most importantly 5 minutes from her new grandson.  Marie is an inspiration and I can’t be more proud to help her with this next chapter in her life!  Congrats Marie!

Please check out and support Marie and the women that support each other:

Wasabi/Team SOAR

Ben Samson

Broker

I have been told by many people that "Portlanders don't like outsiders". Well I'm not from here. I come from a place that rates high in food culture, architectural history, and questionable politics. It's called Chicago and I miss it a lot and loved being born and raised there. That being said, I am not going back. I came here to Portland for a visit and couldn't get it out of my mind. The proximity of Mt. Hood and all of its wonders, the food carts, the waterfalls, the Gorge...are just a few of the beautiful aspects of this state that spoke to me. I moved here in July 2013. The first year of living here I wondered if I would stay despite the aforementioned qualities of Portland and Oregon in general. The more I worked and had some introspective moments the more I realized, I'm staying because of the people. Portland and its people are nice. Plain old nice and proud. They are open and welcoming. They ask "What made you want to move here?" knowing that they want to share their reasons for living here. The air here is literally and figuratively clean. I've had multiple conversations with people about their love of Oregon and all it has to offer. A LITTLE MORE... I went to college for business, dropped out, went back and finished with a degree in healthcare. Then went back to finish my BS in Business Administration with a minor in International Finance. While working in some of the busiest Emergency Departments in Chicago, Manhattan, and San Francisco I was always searching for more. I co-founded a sports uniform business that supplied basketball uniforms to approximately 45 schools throughout the city of Chicago. After selling my shares to the co-founder I obtained my Realtor license in Chicago in July of 2007. I became rookie of the year for my company and fell in love with all things real estate. Now I'm here and have purposely waited to obtain my Portland Realtor license until I felt I could speak to clients about the neighborhoods, schools, personalities, and quirks of Portland. I want to share my knowledge and new found love for Portland and its people with others and help them find their LIVING ROOM.

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• T: 503-217-4449
• F: 503-961-8224
• ben@livingroomre.com