REAL ESTATE MYTHS | CEDAR & STONE REALTY GROUP | MAY 2026

She Almost Waited Herself Out of $90,000

When I first spoke with Diane, she had been thinking about selling for two years.

Not casually thinking — actively, seriously, spreadsheet-open-on-the-kitchen-table thinking. She was in a four-bedroom home in Tigard that she'd owned for sixteen years. Her kids were grown. The house was more than she needed, the maintenance had become genuinely tiresome, and she'd found a condo in Tualatin that she loved and could absolutely afford once her equity was unlocked.

So why hadn't she moved?

Because she was convinced the market was about to shift in her favor. She'd read articles suggesting sellers were losing leverage. She'd heard from a friend that prices in the area were softening. She had a number in her head — what she thought her house was worth — and she was waiting until the market confirmed it before she'd list.

The number in her head came from Zillow.

I asked Diane if I could do a proper valuation — an actual comparative market analysis based on what homes had recently sold for within a half mile of hers. She said yes, mostly to confirm what she already believed.

The number came back $47,000 higher than her Zestimate.

Then we looked at the condo she wanted. It had been on the market for sixty days and had just dropped in price — motivated seller, clean inspection history, move-in ready. Between her higher-than-expected sale price and the reduced purchase price on the condo, Diane's net position was nearly $90,000 better than she'd been calculating in her head.

She'd been waiting for a better market. She was already in one.

We listed her home five weeks later. It sold in nine days. She was in the condo before summer.

The last time I heard from her she was on the patio, reading, not thinking about gutters.

The myths we believe about the market don't just shape our decisions — they shape our timeline. And a timeline built on bad information can be a very expensive thing.

Tomorrow's post is about five of the most persistent ones I see in the Portland market. If any of Diane's story sounds familiar, it's worth a read.