“As first-time homebuyers, working with Sally and Carla was a dream come true. Not only did they explain everything to us in ways we could understand, but they connected us with an incredible team of other real estate professionals who helped us navigate the incredibly volatile 2021 market in a way that got us into our dream house AT ASKING in under two months from the time we started looking...with all our contingencies intact. All in all, they were incredibly supportive, fastidious, responsive, and kind—honestly, after working with this team, I wouldn’t even consider making a purchase like this without one or both of them at my side.”

“Working with Carla and Sally was the best real estate experience ever! They clearly prioritize their clients and make it a personal and enjoyable experience. Highly recommended!”

“Carla Mink was entirely wonderful in every way. She was on top of my condo purchase from beginning to end, phoning, texting and emailing continuously. I thought being out of town would be daunting and impossible in such an endeavor…Carla made it easy. She also kept in touch with my daughter in Portland, so the two of them made quite a team. Needless to say, I will want Carla to sell this condo for me when the time comes! Can’t wait to meet her.”

“Carla really understands the market in Portland. I had a different realtor before I hired Carla and the property did not receive a single offer in over four months. After hiring Carla, she rebranded the entire property, had it back on the market within 2-3 weeks and after we listed, I had 4 offers in three days. She truly did an exceptional job from the first interview all the way through to the day it closed. I would highly recommend her for your realty needs.”

“I had the privilege of working with Carla on two transactions, and I couldn’t have had better representation. First and foremost, Carla listens to her clients and the advice she offers is consistent with their wants and needs. At the outset, Carla described her philosophy and approach as client-focused – her primary goal is to act on your behalf and help guide you in the direction you want to take. True to form, Carla laid out a plan for me based on my wish list and timeline. She created detailed tracking spreadsheets for me and asked how I wanted to engage. Did I want to be involved in every detail, or be more hands off? How frequently and in what form did I want communications? What were the things I considered non-negotiable? Her considerate and thoughtful planning set the tone for our interaction, which was maintained through the transactions.

Because one of my transactions was lengthy (by no fault of Carla), I had a lot of time to observe her work style. Carla is skilled at negotiating and a strong advocate for her clients. Even in tense situations, Carla is calm, respectful, and kind. I found that while quick on her feet, Carla is not reactive; she carefully thinks things through and gathers information so she can give you an informed perspective. And she offered creative solutions to challenges – things I never would have come up with on my own.

There are a lot of other positives that would turn this review into a novel. I highly recommend Carla and her team at Portland Alternative – they made the buying and selling process a great experience.”

“Carla gave us great advice and was always available for a valuable brainstorm whenever we needed her. I highly recommend her!”

“Carla is an outstanding realtor. She used to own and run a local boutique in Portland and it really shows.

Customization and service are her absolute strengths as a realtor. She is always thinking about the exactly right fit for her clients and, once the process becomes more formal, is always at least two steps ahead of what needs to be done next in order to meet deadlines and get the best value.

From the first conversation we had with Carla about moving from our condo to a single family home, we were immediately a team of three. Throughout the process she checked in with us regularly and seamlessly tailored her suggestions to our desires. In the time of Covid 19 she was always incredibly conscientious about wearing masks, having hand sanitizer, observing social distancing etc.

She was such a delight to work with that we quickly found and purchased an absolute gem of a home at a very reasonable price. She was in fact so good that she is now helping us sell our condo!”

“Carla Mink is an absolute Rockstar. She absolutely knows her stuff, and worked tirelessly to get our deal done right and done fast. I highly recommend her.”

“From the beginning, Carla provided excellent advice. When we toyed with selling directly to someone to avoid the whole process of showing the house, she was gracious in the discussion yet confidently stated that doing so would not bring the best value to us.

Once we geared up for the listing, Carla brought Sally onto the team, and they made a great duo to guide us through the myriad of decisions to be made. We chose to bring in contractors to address a few repairs before the listing, and they had helpful recommendations for that and even helped nudge a few contractors to get the results we needed. They worked as a true team with us throughout the process, which resulted in an excellent group of offers and a relatively smooth path to closing.

We definitely recommend Carla and Sally!”

“I had the pleasure of working with Sally and Carla to sell my first home and I cannot say enough good things about my time with the two of them. Sally and Carla made the entire process incredibly easy; they were always on top of the work, scheduling, paperwork, and in general went above and beyond to help me sell the house. They clearly laid out the process and timelines in the beginning and their honest opinions helped me get a great price for the house and on a timeframe that worked well for my schedule. I was selling the house from out of town and both of them were incredibly accommodating with additional work that fell on them since I was several states away. They were just wonderful. No question – you should work with these two.

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““We moved to Portland from California, so it was especially important that we worked with a well-connected realtor who could walk us through the process even from afar. We ended up connecting with Sally Schwartz and we are so lucky we did. In August we came up to Portland for a week and she blocked it off just for us so we could see 3-4 houses a day. She has a wealth of knowledge not just when it comes to neighborhoods but also potential costs of repairs and the routine yearly costs of upkeep. She makes sure you’re thinking of the total costs to maintain a home and not simply the list price. She also kept us in check about downsides should we ever need to sell. Ultimately, she was able to help us close on a house in SW Portland for under asking AND negotiate us a new roof and water heater as part of the deal. Throughout the process she was extremely easy to reach and had impeccable follow-through at every stage. Even after closing, she’s been a fantastic resource to us as we navigate home-ownership for the first time, more than willing to field our silly questions and point us in the right direction. We’ve been so impressed with Sally, and we couldn’t think of her more highly after experiencing the dedication she shows her clients.”

“Sally Schwartz was my realtor for my recent home purchase and she made the whole transaction fun and stress free. She is very responsive and accommodating, plus she has immense knowledge of Portland and the surrounding areas. She’s also hilarious and will keep you laughing!! She’s honest and straight forward and helped me get exactly what I wanted!”

“We chose Sally to be our real estate broker, and I don’t think I could have found a better fit for our needs. Sally was very kind, professional, thoughtful, and attentive throughout the process. She really went above and beyond my expectations. She was very knowledgeable, friendly, and communicated reliably and clearly throughout the process. She was able to help us find what we wanted, help us understand each step of the process, and assist when needed with any questions we had. I cannot recommend Sally highly enough, she is both a great real estate broker, and an awesome human being. I would trust her again for our real estate needs without reservation. Thank you Portland’s Alternative Realtors, and Thank you Sally!”

“Working with Sally Schwarz at Portland’s Alternative Inc., Realtors has been nothing short of a great experience. She is exceptionally user-friendly, and has a ton of integrity. Her background in real estate and design are a huge plus. But wait, there’s more; we were able to get our dream house, because of the relationships she has in the Portland area.”

“Sally Schwartz is an amazing human and an even better real estate agent. She has a wonderful sense of humor, is kind, informative, and made every step of the home buying process as simple and as easy as she could make it. My partner and I were first-time buyers, and we quickly felt overwhelmed by the massive amount of time and energy that goes into the buying process. Sally was quick to help in any way that she could. Our time searching for homes fell right before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were out-of-towners, and our dream home just happened to pop up mid-May. After Sally masked and gloved up to give us a virtual tour of the home, we soon realized that this was our home. We made the 14-hour drive to Portland after two months of quarantining in Los Angeles. Had our offer accepted. And are now just a few short days away from move-in. Because of Sally we now own our dream home. Trust me when I say, Sally Schwartz is second to none when it comes to a reliable, kind, hard-working, and knowledgeable agent. Thank you for everything. We couldn’t be more happy. Sally’s email reads, “May the Schwartz be with you,” and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

“Sally at Portland Alternative Realty recently helped us sell our home in NE Portland in one would call an up and coming neighborhood. She helped us navigate the current market, made recommendations that made sense for our property and hosted two successful weekends of open houses during the busy summer season. All her efforts lead to numerous offers and then ultimately a quick and painless closing experience. Sally is professional, outgoing, easy to work with and I can not recommend her enough”

“Working with Carla and Sally was amazing. They were both professional, knowledgeable and tenacious. Choosing to buy a home in the summer of 2021 was a challenge but working with Carla and Sally made the process as easy as it could be and they expertly guided us through the ups and downs and helped us avoid some potential disasters. We’re so happy with the home we ended up in and couldn’t have made it happen without Carla and Sally’s help”

“I admit I actually considered the possibility that realtors might be unnecessary in a seller’s market like we are experiencing right now…I stand corrected. Our final sale price far exceeded any estimate that I had in mind when we put our house on the market, and I give all the credit to our amazing realtors. Carla and Sally helped us understand what we should prioritize before putting the house on the market which helped use streamline our projects to a list that was actually manageable. They connected us with professionals that helped us with all of that. And finally, when it came time to price the house, they new the magic number that would help to bring in the final price that far exceeded our expectations. We are so glad we chose Carla and Sally as our realtors! You couldn’t ask for a better pairing!”

“Carla and Sally are a powerhouse team. They prepared us well with a list of tasks to complete to update our house for the upcoming sale. We followed their list to the letter, then they staged our house with their incredible design skills and voila – our house sold for (drumroll please) $100,000 over the asking price. That is not a typo. The transaction was smooth and they managed the details for us making our job as easy as it could be. I highly recommend working with these two. They are a rockstar real estate duo. When you do work with them, listen to their suggestions and let them lead. They know their stuff!”

“Sally Schwartz at Portland’s Alternative Realtors recently helped us sell our home in NE Portland. Sally had our home sold in no time flat. It was obvious throughout the whole process that she had our interests in mind and wasn’t seeing us as a monetary transaction. Very personal and professional. I am currently recommending her to anyone I know looking to buy or sell in Portland. Thanks Sally!”

“Sally Schwartz made our first time buying a home Fun and exciting! I had full confidence in her from the first time we met all the way through. I had ZERO knowledge about buying and honestly... was terrified but she listened to every single one of my fears and took them to heart. I knew without a doubt she had my best interest in mind and I am now a home owner and in love with my wonderful 1920s bungalow!

Thank you Sally!”

“I ended up choosing to work with Sally to buy my first home based on her reviews and her genuine communication skills. I ended up thanking my lucky stars that I did because I struggle to imagine a more auspicious home buying process than the one we went through together.

When it came time to seek the assistance of others it was apparent that Sally had amassed quite the all-star team of professionals. There was nothing I could throw at her that she couldn’t handle in spades.

We had a short closing date and she got a highly sought after inspector lined up in record time but that was just the beginning. Due to her unrelenting perseverance and negotiation skills, she was able to get an incredible amount of concessions in the form of repairs. No easy task, considering contractors these days are booked out for months in advance and this was right in the middle of the winter holiday season. Like everything else, she made it happen in the most perfect way while sending me the encouragement and assurance I needed.

Sally is patient, honest, empathetic, meticulous and just a great person in general and I would recommend her if you are looking to work with a realtor that you can trust to do the best job imaginable and truly be on your side. She went from being a total stranger to, in a few short weeks, being not only my realtor for life, but a person who’s friendship I now cherish greatly.”

“I worked with Sally Schwartz to sell my home in NE PDX. It was a very emotional sale for me as I loved my house and did not want to move. Sally was so compassionate and thoughtful with me through the selling/moving process. We ended up having an open house 4 weekends in a row and I truly felt supported and like Sally was on my side every step of the way. I NEVER felt like a $ sign to her which can happen at times as selling a house is so stressful. I have bought and sold several houses and this was by far the best experience I have every had. Thank you so much Sally!!!”

“Sally Schwartz at Portland Alternative Realtors came highly recommended by my coworker and I was very happy with the entire experience of buying my first condo! She is professional, thorough, and fun to home hunt with. She answered every question that came up and I felt like I had the support I needed during this exciting time. She made the inspection and closing process a breeze. Whether it was my first or fifth time buying or selling a home, I’ll want Sally on my team!”