Who are the Turners?

We are, Realtors Charles and Jennifer and Ryan, one year old today. Our team is rounded out by Jennifer’s mother who works the Salem area and our assistant Lisa (whose son, Will, is seven months old and just becoming mobile). Why do you care? Because real estate is personal and it should put this blog in a little better perspective. Most of what I write is reflective of the experiences we have had in our own real estate encounters. I was surprised that after a year, a regular reader didn’t know we had a son. Ryan writes his own missives over at www.RyanJamesTurner.com. We were married in 2002.

We own our own home; a historic registry house that we nearly stripped to the studs before we moved in. We wrote the application for the Special Assessment Program and believe that the program does what it should- help save historic homes; we could have built five condos by tearing down the William L. Brewster House and would have if the Thankgiving Housebeque had turned out differently. It’s the fourth home that we have owned where we have seen the studs. We worked through the City of Portland’s permit process in the Historic Alphabet District; something now that I would recommend using an architect for.
We own four rental properties. We have a manufactured home in Waldport, south of Newport on the coast, which Jennifer has owned since before we go together. The home that she lived in when we were dating is now a rental. The other two were the result of a 1031 Exchange were we sold one home and bought the two. My first house was bought while I was at Lewis and Clark College with the help of my father and the inheritance from my grandmother. My roommates paid the mortgage. I had it for a rental for a few years, moved back in for two and sold it as our primary residence. I made some very expensive financing mistakes with that house (did you know there were 40 year mortgages in 2001?). Live and learn (and hopefully help our clients not make the same mistakes).

We have had and currently have great tenants. We’ve had some unpleasant surprises too: I know more about medical marijuana than I care to know (hmmm…that wall in the basement with the deadbolt wasn’t there the last time I was here) and the girlfriend of a tenant committed suicide in the bathtub. Patching bullet holes is morbid and sobering. Our leases all feature a “buy through us” and we’ll break your lease. Numerous renters have followed that path.

I’m a licensed contractor and a member of Sapphire Development LLC. We’re currently converting a 1926 duplex into a single family residence in Irvington. It’s the first true “filp” that we have been involved with. I’ve got the financial and business skill and Terry, the other member of the firm, has the hands-on-how-to knowledge and is on the jobsite day-to-day. The project is going well, both physically and on paper but the proof will be in the closing.

So that’s who we are.