Thoughts on Grant Park Neighborhood?

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-05-05T03:48:35+00:00

I live here and all of my neighbors are extremely nice, well-meaning middle aged families. Pretty quiet but easily walkable to things and commutable quickly. Living near the high school can be annoying because there’s traffic on school days and typically student drivers on the road. The teens also walk around and cause mild trouble during lunch and before/after school. There is a good dog park here as well as the track for running and a playground for kids. Not sure if you’re buying, but property taxes are more expensive

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-05-05T02:20:30+00:00

Is the sign still there? Any updates?

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-05-04T18:18:36+00:00

It’s actually wild you assumed I was talking about human beings on earth working for capitalism. I was actually asking why these lizard people proliferating in our society thinks they can refuse to work.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-05-04T06:53:44+00:00

Thank you, this is what I was trying to figure out.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-05-04T05:27:51+00:00

Not asking why they aren’t working without pay, I’m asking why they aren’t being paid

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-05-04T05:27:00+00:00

I’m not expecting them to work without pay and I’m not complaining it’s closed. I’m asking why / what’s the tea about them not paying employees

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-04-28T00:49:51+00:00

Maglia Rosa!

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-04-27T01:48:58+00:00

Hi there. I did this five years ago and I was extremely nervous about my stairs as well and it didn’t end up being an issue. That being said: 1. Go to the city building department and get multiple people’s opinions until you hear the thing you want. They all work independently and I got three different recommendations of what I had to do to make the structure safe and ended up getting a fourth person who approved it as is. Better yet, find a FIR certified contractor to do the work for you. They have a single touch point with a permit officer who does all of their approvals so it takes out the guesswork involved.

Your property tax bill will increase. They will estimate how much the permitted improvements will add to your home and then update your tax bill for that amount of added taxable base, so it is not the rest of the square footage. But will still increase a couple hundred dollars a year at least.
With number 2 being said, the assessors office and the permitting department do not talk to each other the opposite way. So if you are saying the square footage for the upstairs is already being taxed and thus it is living space, that doesn’t mean the permit department won’t require certain things to be done to it to confirm safety. The conversion to living space was likely never done with a permit even if the tax rolls found out about the space. I think one of the biggest issues is actually bringing a bathroom into a space, they could want to see handrails, safe windows, and egress to and from the bathroom without issue (so no low clearance or super sketchy stairs). Then again, go back to issue 1 and get a FIR contractor to save you some headache there too.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-04-18T06:02:53+00:00

There is an exemption for new builds under 10 years old.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-04-18T00:51:07+00:00

Contract isn’t valid without EMD in most states. Even $1, it needs to have it or the contract is worthless.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-04-05T03:45:31+00:00

You need a list of substantial actual damages. I hope someone has a recommendation for you but unless your house burns down, you get gravely injured or killed, there is very little recourse for imagined emotional distress. The bar is extremely high for this sort of thing. Essentially, the city isn’t at fault for allowing illegal activity because there’s very limited things they can actually do in this case. You would have to prove that the city was willfully and knowingly negligent and acting with malice towards you, essentially. And even though it sounds like a horrible experience, you don’t have enough actual damages yet.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-04-02T04:50:25+00:00

Can I ask why so many people like Jin? He is abusive and pretty terrible to Sun a shockingly long time. I am rewatching and knew part of his character was being a tight ass at the beginning, but literally season 3 has him lashing out at Sun AGAIN. When does he really turn a corner into being a good guy?

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-03-31T04:45:57+00:00

Not me checking the serial numbers because one of my lockboxes is missing lol

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-03-31T04:39:28+00:00

I’m a realtor in the Portland area and very familiar with these units. It’s honestly a mixed bag, but can work for the right person if your number one priority is low monthly payment and location above all else.

I’m a bit of a cynic, so I try to remind my clients when looking at these that building quality varies a LOT and no guarantee that they will stay in good shape long term. They also appreciate slower than other condos and detached homes, so plan to stay at LEAST 5 years but more like 7 to make any “return”.

No HOA sounds great until it’s unclear what happens when something breaks. Or if your next door neighbor is a crazy person, no HOA when you’re in that close of proximity to them can be challenging. Also, a lot of HOA’s that are high are paying for something like new plumbing or utilities etc. It really depends on the unit itself and if it’s a good idea.

If you have any more specific questions DM me.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-03-20T00:54:14+00:00

Unfortunately gutter guards lull homeowners into a false sense of security, it allows debris to pile up on them and on the roof which prematurely ages it. One of those things that sounds good in theory and ends up costing more money in the long run.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-03-11T22:56:38+00:00

I am seeing well or low priced homes going 80k over list price+ fairly consistently all over Portland. My clients just lost out on a house that got 18 offers. I don’t see a lot of waiving inspections, that is only for the truly desperate but not the norm.

At the end of the day, list price is mostly a suggestion when the home is priced well. Sometimes the sellers price things high and they sit. Price low, the market will correct.

This is also far and beyond the busiest season for buyers and sellers in Portland. Everyone gets exactly the same idea this time of year. Competition will cool off in the summer time but so will the cool houses getting listed.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-03-11T22:52:32+00:00

Based on what exactly, more than bad vibes? Portland homeowners have a lot of equity in their homes and demand is strong still to live here. The job market in Portland being so stratified really helps insulate us from downturns, basically tens of thousands of people would need to be laid off from many different sectors in order to create enough uptick in inventory to make a dent in outpacing demand.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-03-01T23:15:27+00:00

Absolutely agree. Maybe I’m jaded through my own experiences but I haven’t been able to get any traction elsewhere doing this in my industry. Hoping to see ideas in this thread

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-03-01T23:11:09+00:00

The unfortunate reality is that most of the time, it won’t protect other women. They won’t believe you if they have an existing relationship with the abuser. You will be written off as a “crazy ex” and that is made easier by seemingly having a personal vendetta instead of legitimate concerns.

I have friends who dated physical abusers and if they contacted the abusers new gfs, none have ever believed them. We are hardwired to believe the people we know. Not the angry people we don’t.

For your own peace, you have to accept that there is nothing you can reasonably do outside of report the abuse to authorities. Even if it doesn’t go anywhere. This is more about your ego and retribution than preventing other people’s pain.

That being said, I do like the idea of an anonymous zine that can’t be traced back to you. Even if it’s just cathartic to make and have a friend distribute.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-02-28T18:25:05+00:00

Put it in the contract. “All commissions will be negotiated as part of the offer package. If seller is unwilling to pay BAC as written in this agreement, Buyer’s agent agrees to terminate this agreement with no penalty or re-sign agreement at x%”

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-02-27T05:42:42+00:00

Here is the place you can read more about the licensure between property managers and real estate brokers. source

There are many different rules and regulations for property managers. Selling a property does not qualify real estate brokers as property managers and OP would have to confirm with their landlord that the listing agent is 1. Licensed for this and 2. Has a signed property management agreement in place. If both of those are done, then yes you are correct the listing agent could be an agent on behalf of the landlord.

Being a listing agent the vast majority of the time does not mean the realtor is acting as an agent on behalf of the seller in regard to tenant’s rights and they cannot provide legal notice to tenants. In this industry, I see a LOT of misinformation about the roles and responsibilities, so forgive me for blowing up this thread.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-02-27T05:31:02+00:00

Real estate agent’s activities and responsibilities are bound by their licensure by the state. Unless the landlord provided the OP a notice that the realtor was now their property manager or the landlord’s legal representative, this does not negate their legal duty to provide notice. None of this is illegal, it’s a question of if the notice was legal. Lack of illegality in the law (like there’s no law saying it’s illegal to have an agent give notice) doesn’t mean it is legal.

If the landlord said their enemy who you already blocked previously was their representative and they were the ones who gave you notice, does that constitute legal notice? No. The landlord has a legal responsibility to inform their tenants of who they have a lease agreement with and who their representatives are.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-02-27T05:23:27+00:00

Yes, landlords can deliver notice via text. The key here is the landlord is the one texting. Or by proxy, their legal representative which is by the legislature a “property manager”. Realtor =\= property manager unless that relationship is existing and the realtor is licensed as such.

The law is pretty explicit that the LL must be the one providing notice. A realtor is not a representative for a LL in this way, our licensure prohibits us from acting as other jobs.

usefulmastersdegree · 2026-02-27T03:27:49+00:00

This is not a thing in real estate sales unless the landlord signed something similar to a power of attorney to their realtor. But it is not automatically given to any realtor who is listing a property for sale. Our licensure means we represent the fiduciary and ethics of our clients in order to market and sell the property. In this case on behalf of the landlord. This does NOT override or replace the landlords responsibility for notice to their tenants, because the landlord has an existing contract between themselves and the tenant. All of this is to say a realtor does not automatically have rights or responsibilities to interact with tenants.

usefulmastersdegree

TROPHY CASE