Carson Mead – Living Room Realty

Carson is so helpful, especially if you’re new to the area. I found it overwhelming to go through all the available listings when I didn’t know the area. I knew what I wanted, Carson helped me find it. He pointed out the positives and negatives that I just couldn’t see. Plus he was fun and pleasant to spend time with looking at places.

Our move across the larger part of the country was daunting enough and we needed to know we had a friend on the other end to coordinate our search for the perfect rental to call home. Carson quickly got to know our needs better than we knew them ourselves. He was exceptionally attentive to what we liked and did not like; he asked all of the questions we would have overlooked when touring properties. Carson guided us towards the neighborhoods and properties that suited us — he has fantastic knowledge of the subtle differences in areas and how they will complement certain lifestyles. In an unfamiliar city, we would not have even known where to begin. Months later, we are more thrilled every day with the neighborhood and the home Carson found for us. Furthermore, we know we would not have found it or snagged it in time without him on our side.

My boyfriend & I recently relocated from Austin Texas to Portland. We both work full time and were in the process of getting my house ready to sell in Austin which didn’t leave much time for a trip to house hunt in Portland. After weighing our options, we decided to hire someone to help us find a rental in Portland, sight unseen. We contacted a few companies but weren’t impressed with any until we came across Living Room Realty. Carson promptly contacted us to go over the details of how the process works and what the cost would be. The fee is not cheap but worth every penny. Carson sent us new rentals nearly every day and also called any that we were interested in to find out if they would meet our requirements. The fact that rentals in Portland are in high demand made the process tricky to begin with. On top of that, we have 2 dogs, a cat, wanted a cute house with wood floors, a fenced yard and a covered porch, that’s in a safe and «hip» neighborhood and last but not least, affordable. Carson rose to the challenge, quickly learned our preferences and found us a place that we love in less than a month. Communication was excellent throughout the entire process. Carson attended several open houses for us and when we finally found a place, he did a walk through and asked our landlord to fix a few things. After the lease was signed, we began furniture shopping from Austin and needed to know if a king size bed would fit in one of the bedrooms as it’s a pretty tiny home. Our landlord was unable to provide the dimensions so we reached out to Carson for his thoughts. Without us asking, Carson took time out of his weekend to drive by the home and promptly called us back with his thoughts.
We are so happy with our experience that we’ve asked Carson to help us find a home to buy, when we’re ready. To boot, not only is Carson great at his job but he’s also a really cool and nice guy. After our arrival, he sent us several recommendations on things to do around town and we have plans to catch up with him next week for some food and beers. Highly recommend!

Moving from Michigan to Portland was a snap, thanks to Carson. We had several phone/​email exchanges with Carson to determine which neighborhood and type of home we were looking for in Portland. Carson then sent several sample listings so we could have an idea of price and square footage, as well as check out the neighborhoods online. We were lucky enough to come to Portland and see some properties and have Carson explain the Portland rental process to us. Carson found a perfect home for us, and we can not thank him enough for all of his hard work. Since we were reliant on public transportation, Carson was kind enough to meet us at our rental and drive us to see properties.

My husband and I are in the process of relocating from (sunny) California to (less sunny) Portland, and wanted as smooth a transition as possible. With very limited Portland experience under our belts and knowledge that the rental market is highly competitive, we knew we had to enlist the help of a professional. Lucky for us, we chose the right professional.
From the beginning, Carson has been so responsive to our every last question. He quickly grasped what we were looking for in a rental and gave us dozens of listings to pursue until we found something that caught our eye. Perhaps more importantly, he also let us know when something that seemed promising online was far less promising in real life (e.g., funky layout, weird smell, etc), and he made it clear what he thought was a good deal.
We also appreciated that he was able to physically visit the rentals, meet the owners or property managers, and guide us through the entire process. At the expense of his cell phone data plan, he gave us virtual tours of the potentials via Facetime, which was the next best thing to actually being there. Also, Carson’s extensive knowledge of what neighborhoods suited our tastes was extraordinarily helpful.
Is the service cheap? No, it’s not. But by hiring Carson, it’s more than worth it. He is with you until the lease is signed and you are moved in. It was very important to us that we found a place we really liked in a neighborhood we can see ourselves enjoying, which is what we’ve accomplished. Can’t really put a price on that!

I’ve just completed finding the perfect apartment, thanks to Carson Mead. He’s been so easy to work with. He’s a great listener, and quickly directed me to several complexes that were all good matches for me. By knowing the apartment complex and floor plan that were at the top of my list, he was able to get it for me without it ever appearing on the website of the complex for others to get a short at it. Very highly recommended.

Carson is the best! We met with a few realtors and chose Carson because he really understands the Portland market, what we were looking for and had lots of knowledge in construction (a plus for us because we had two homes fall through after inspections). He thoroughly inspected the house we were interested in before we made an offer – he even went into the crawlspace with a flashlight to check the foundation. He’s very professional and also a really nice person to work with.
After our offer was accepted, he went above and beyond to make negotiations go smoothly and worked some magic by getting second opinions on bids for things that had to be fixed before closing. He’s got great ideas for any homebuyers interested in sustainability and gardening. The whole process was incredibly smooth, and we owe it all to Carson!

When my wife and I had decided to move to Portland from California we faced a challenge that will sound familiar to anyone who has moved long distance: how do you find a new home in a city you don’t know, has a «hot» rental market and is not within a day’s travel distance?
A Google search led us to Living Room realty. Based on a first look at their very nice website with pictures of people actually living in their newfound homes, we decided to reach out.
Carson was the agent who got in touch not long after the initial inquiry. After meeting with him the first time and sharing some preferences, Carson started his search, providing us with updates and available options. What’s great about Carson is that he truly wants to find the best home for you, which was exactly what we needed after a suboptimal experience in previous houses. He was honest when we had identified a nice house in SE and told us it would not be right for us and suggested we pass and provided options for potential temporary housing, really thinking with us about the long distance move. The temporary housing in the end was not necessary, but gave us so much peace of mind.
We now live in a beautiful house in a great neighborhood in SE Portland and are very thankful for having been able to work with Carson — his knowledge of the city and its neighborhoods, combined with honesty and communication style have resulted in now living in the best living room ever.