Every once in a while, somebody tells me they are moving out of Portland and then adds something like, “I know you probably cannot really help because we are leaving.”
Excuse me? Who told you that?
Please do not go rogue and Google “best Realtor in Cincinnati” before talking to us.
If you are moving out of Portland, Maria and I may not be the people showing you houses in your new city, but we can absolutely help you figure out who should be. And frankly, I would prefer that you let us.
Finding a Realtor in a place you do not know is weirdly difficult. Search results can tell you who is good at SEO. Zillow can tell you who bought the lead. A beautifully polished Instagram can tell you somebody has access to Canva.
None of those things necessarily tell you whether Maria and I would trust that person with your money, your move, and the inevitable moment when something gets weird.
Luckily, Maria and I have people we trust all over the damn place. We do not want to send you off to work with some fucking idiot.
Apparently I Needed Realtor Friends Everywhere
I did not have some grand master plan to build a nationwide Realtor network. Mostly, people smarter than me kept telling me I should stop pretending Portland was the edge of the earth.
One was an old mentor who kept reminding me that if my client was moving somewhere else, helping them find a good agent there was still part of taking care of them. The other was my friend Marguerite Martin, whose entire business has been built around referrals and relationships and is now my business coach, because I like to keep the people who are right about me around. She basically kept saying, Lauren. Build the damn network.
Eventually I was like, fine. Everybody relax. I get it. Thank dog I listened, because now Maria and I hear versions of this constantly.
“We are moving back East and have no idea who to call.”
“My parents’ house is in another state and I have to sell it.”
“We want to move closer to family.”
“We might leave Portland next year, but we do not even know where to start.”
There are also the more complicated versions, where somebody is dealing with a parent’s house three states away while juggling probate, belongings, travel, work, and approximately 8,000 other emotionally shitty tasks. We have made connections as far as England, Mexico, and Canada when that was what somebody needed.
Usually the underlying request is the same. I already have enough shit to figure out. Please do not make me interview six random Realtors too.
Great. We got you.
Google Is Not a Personal Referral
I say this as somebody whose business benefits tremendously from people finding me online. Being at the top of Google does not automatically mean someone is a great Realtor.
Scandalous, I know.
There are excellent agents who rank beautifully. There are also mediocre (and less than mediocre) agents who understand lead generation very, very well. If you are moving somewhere you have never lived, it can be hard to know which one you are looking at.
So when Maria and I are finding an out-of-state Realtor for somebody, we start with people we trust.
Who do you know in Richmond? Who is good in this town in Pennsylvania? Who would you send your own friend to?
Someone in our office may have lived there. A Realtor we trust may know somebody nearby. We might have to follow the referral chain a little farther until we find the right person.
Then we talk to them.
Yes, We Are Vetting Their Vibe
We want to know how they actually work.
Are they solo or on a team? Who will our client actually communicate with? How long have they been in that market? Do they know the specific area? What does their process look like?
We look at reviews too, including the bad ones. Actually, especially the bad ones. A glowing review tells us somebody had a nice experience. A pissed-off review and the way an agent responds to it can tell us a hell of a lot more.
And yes, we care about who somebody is as a person.
A lot of our clients are queer, progressive, unconventional, or simply looking for somebody they do not have to edit themselves around. I am really fucking proud of that, and it is by design. We have always been clear about who we are and what we care about because I want people to know they can show up as themselves here. So when someone is moving somewhere smaller or more conservative, Maria and I take finding an agent who feels safe and aligned seriously. It can take more digging, but that is part of the job.
In a bigger city, we may have several great agents to choose from and can get picky about personality, communication style, and overall fit. In a smaller market, the pool may be thinner. Then I am looking for the person who knows the area, answers their phone, knows what they are doing, and is not going to make my client miserable.
Most importantly, I want somebody who is willing to tell you when a house is a bad idea.
Maria and I are both very comfortable ruining the fantasy if the actual house does not make sense for your life. I want the person on the other end to have that same instinct.
I am looking for somebody who sees you as a long-term relationship, not a transaction they need to shove across the finish line. That matters a hell of a lot more to us than a shiny website and 42 “JUST SOLD!” graphics.
Selling Here and Buying There Is One Move, Not Two Separate Transactions
People tend to think they will sell the Portland house, buy the new house, and move on with their lives.
The two markets have to work together. Your Portland sale may be funding the purchase, the timing may need to line up, and the market you are moving into may handle contingencies very differently than we do here.
That can change what matters most on the Portland side. We may prioritize a cleaner closing, more flexibility, or getting your house under contract sooner so you can move confidently on the other end. And because good pre-listing strategy starts earlier than most sellers realize, I want to know what is happening in the other market before we start making decisions here.
This is why Maria and I want to be talking directly to the Realtor on the other end.
When are you closing? Do you need the proceeds from Portland to buy there? How competitive is that market? Are contingencies realistic? Does the timing on one side change what we need to negotiate on the other?
You should not have to stand between two Realtors translating all of this shit back and forth. You do not need to know every moving part. That is literally why you hired us.
Your job can throw another wrench into the timing. If you are changing jobs, keeping a remote position, or moving before you have officially started somewhere new, your lender may need to be involved earlier than you think. Maria and I are not lenders, but we know when to pull one into the conversation before you fall in love with a house and discover the financing does not work the way you thought.
And if you are doing the move in reverse and buying here from afar, we have also helped clients buy a Portland home remotely.
Once We Make the Introduction, We Let Them Do Their Job
Once Maria and I connect you with a Realtor we trust in your new market, we are not going to hover over the transaction like somebody’s extremely controlling mother.
We make the introduction, stay loosely connected, and let that agent lead their market.
We may hear that you got under contract or that closing is next week. And if you call us because something strange is happening and you want to know, “Is this normal?” we are still here.
But the whole point of putting time into the match upfront is that we should feel good stepping back and letting them do their job.
Moving Away Does Not Mean Starting Over With Strangers
A lot of these moves are really about some bigger life shift. Family is closer somewhere else. A job changed. Parents need help. Portland just is not where the next chapter is happening.
So if somebody says over Thanksgiving, “Wait… are we actually moving next year?” call us then. You do not need to have the city, timing, financing, or agent on the other end figured out.
Maria and I can help untangle it. We can look at what needs to happen with your Portland house, when to bring in a lender, and who we know where you are headed.
You may be moving out of Portland. You do not have to start over with strangers.
