Selling a Portland Home: What to Know

The Home Energy Score

Since January 1, 2018, the City of Portland has required sellers of most single-family homes inside city limits to obtain a Home Energy Score and Home Energy Report before the home is listed or publicly advertised in any way.

• What it covers. Detached houses, attached single-family homes such as side-by-side townhomes, and new construction. Stacked condominiums, manufactured and floating homes, and detached ADUs are not scored.
• Where the score goes. The numerical score and a link to the online report must appear in all advertising, whether online, in print or on a sign, and copies of the report must be available at showings.
• Exemptions. Foreclosures, short sales and certain other distressed sales are exempt, and income-qualified sellers can get help or an exemption. A home sold privately and never publicly advertised is not covered.
• Inside city limits only. Check the address on PortlandMaps; homes in neighboring cities are not covered by Portland's rule.

The City's program pages explain who scores homes and how to apply for an exemption: City of Portland Home Energy Score.

Disclosures

Oregon seller disclosure

Oregon's seller disclosure law sits in ORS chapter 105.

• The form. ORS 105.464 sets out the seller's property disclosure statement, and ORS 105.465 requires a seller who is not excluded to deliver it to each buyer who makes a written offer.
• Exclusions. ORS 105.470 lists the sales that are excluded; a seller who claims an exclusion completes only the first section of the form.
• The buyer's right to revoke. Under ORS 105.475, unless the buyer has waived it in writing, a buyer has five business days after receiving the disclosure statement to revoke the offer. If a required statement is never delivered, the right to revoke lasts until closing.

Heating oil tanks

Many older Portland houses were once heated with oil, and some still have a tank in the yard or basement. When you sell, Oregon DEQ says you must make sure any abandoned heating oil tank is empty and give the buyer documentation. The best documentation is a decommissioning report from a DEQ-licensed heating oil tank service provider, registered with DEQ. See Oregon DEQ: heating oil tanks for homeowners.

Historic districts and demolition review

Portland recognizes City historic districts such as Irvington, Ladd's Addition, the Alphabet District and King's Hill; conservation districts such as Kenton and Mississippi; and National Register districts such as Laurelhurst and Eastmoreland. If your house is in one, buyers will want to know whether it is a contributing resource.

• Exterior changes. Alterations to designated properties can require historic resource review by the City.
• Demolition. Demolishing a City-designated landmark, or a contributing house in a historic, conservation or National Register district, requires demolition review before a permit can be issued. Some other listed resources are subject to a 120-day demolition delay instead.
• What to have ready. The district, the contributing status and any past City reviews or approvals for work on the house.

Start with the City's historic, conservation and National Register districts page.

ADUs, permits and the lot

Since August 1, 2021, the Residential Infill Project has allowed duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and expanded accessory dwelling units in the R2.5, R5 and R7 single-dwelling zones. For a buyer, what a lot can hold can matter as much as the house on it, and an ADU or added unit is only an asset if it was permitted.

• Pull your records first. Permits for additions, ADUs, conversions and major systems. PortlandMaps is the City's property lookup for zoning and property details.
• Know the zone. The base zone and any overlays shape what a buyer could build.
• Protect the original. In older and historic houses, original windows, built-ins and woodwork are part of what buyers are paying for.

Taxes that come up in a sale

• Property taxes do not reset. Under Measure 50, Oregon taxes property on assessed value, generally limited to 3 percent growth a year, and values are tied to the property, not the owner. A buyer inherits your assessment, although improvements discovered at sale can raise it.
• Transfer taxes. Measure 79, passed in 2012, bars new real estate transfer taxes in Oregon. Washington County's existing transfer tax remains; Multnomah County has none.

Multnomah County explains assessments in its property assessment FAQs.