For me, real estate is all about my clients. I love providing exceptional customer service and helping clients find the home of their dreams, or sell their home quickly and for top dollar. My goal with every transaction is for my clients to walk away as happy as possible, and I believe my passion for achieving that goal comes through in my work.
I have assisted many buyers with their home purchases and have a high track record of getting offers accepted on the first home that my buyers fall in love with. Conversely, I know how to market a home to get it maximum exposure and bring as many qualified buyers through the door as possible. I’m skilled in negotiations as both a listing agent and a buyers agent and help my clients make well informed decisions and strong offers. I’m a great communicator and will make sure you are well versed in the entire purchase process so that there are no surprises. I also have a great team of lenders, inspectors, insurance agents and more to ensure that you are well taken care of every step of the way. I stive to provide value even after the transaction ends and can act as a resource in many different areas for as long as you need!
I grew up in the West Hills of Portland, and I know the city well. I stayed in Oregon for college, attending the University of Oregon in Eugene (Go Ducks!). Throughout high school and breaks in college I worked as a sales-person at Nordstrom, achieving top sales while forming tight bonds and relationships with my colleagues and clients. I continued there for a year after graduating from college, and then changed gears to take advantage of my degree in marketing. I began work at a financial management firm doing marketing and event planning and loved the new challenges that the job brought. However, I realized that my ideal career involved more direct client interaction, which brought me to Cooper Realty!
Besides real estate, my other great love is my family. I have the sweetest daughter in the world, Vivian, and being her mother has been an incredibly rewarding experience that has taught me so much about life. I also have an amazing husband David, the cutest kitty Marshall, and a sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Benny. I'm blessed to have my family, as well as many great friends, all living in the area. I read voraciously, love to travel, and enjoy both working out and eating/drinking everything I can!
Now that I've moved into my new home, sitting in my new living room without writing a review for Rachel would be doing her a disservice after all the help and hard work she put into making my first (and solo) home buying process so smooth -- I don't usually write reviews. At the start of this process, Rachel stayed patient with me while I kept throwing more specific "wants" and "needs" onto my house checklist. When we began touring homes, she was extremely quick to respond to schedule tours, which allowed me the best opportunity to make an offer before other interested buyers had a chance -- Rachel also helped me make a strong offer, while staying in my budget and not overpaying on the property. Towards the end of closing, Rachel remained responsive with frequent updates on the process and came to escrow with me when I signed my closing documents, which made me feel so valued and supported as her Client. Even after closing on my house, Rachel continues to respond to any questions that I have and has reassured me that the door will remain open if and when more questions come up. It's obvious that Rachel takes pride in her work and truly wants to ameliorate the home buyer process for her clients. Thank you, Rachel!!!
Rachel helped my wife and I find our first home as newly weds. I cannot stress how helpful she was throughout the entire process. She was extremely responsive; responding to texts/emails almost immediately. We toured about 10 houses with Rachel. Before each tour, it was apparent she had done her research about the property as she came with helpful information about each house and the area in which it was located. Rachel turned the transaction into a trusting working relationship. I would highly recommend Rachel to anyone in the future.
My wife and I had a wonderful experience working with Rachel as first time home buyers. She was very responsive, professional and knowledgeable about local trends in the market and the buying/selling process in general. We would highly recommend her to our friends and family, and have done so already!
Hi, I have used Rachel both time to sell my condo and then to buy a town house and she has been exceptionally helpful in every aspect of selling and buying, she is very down to earth and very kind person overall and alway ready to work with you, I wish her all the best.
Forever grateful! As first-time home buyers, we were nervous about finding the right house and navigating what at first seemed like a daunting and complicated process. Our standout realtor Rachel Balmforth, who was recommended to us from a friend, made it all seem easy, helping us to refine our search until we found our perfect home in Portland, Ore., bringing much appreciated transparency to the process of buying it and helping us to tie it all up neatly in the end. We are forever grateful for Rachel’s work on our behalf. She far exceeded our expectations with her utmost professionalism and detailed knowledge of the market. Rachel was also a calming force, ever assured we would find the right home amid the extraordinary external circumstances that overlapped with our search (Covid, wildfires, etc.). We cannot recommend her more highly.
I can't thank Rachel enough for her thorough service in purchasing my condo. It can be stressfull and Rachel is chill. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking to purchase or sell a home!
Rachel does an outstanding job! She listens to your needs, is professional and very responsive.
My wife and I were first time home buyers, and Rachel made the process very easy and transparent. She gave frequent updates, so we never felt out of the loop, and she provided helpful, honest advice.
My partner and I were first time homebuyers and we are so happy to have worked with Rachel! She made the whole process easy for us and was always there to provide advice and transparency. She was incredibly helpful, resourceful, and always provided frequent updates or checked in to see how we were throughout. When we found our dream home, Rachel was able to help us quickly jump on writing our first and only offer. With her expertise, our offer was competitive and won! We were so incredibly happy how easy it was and we have Rachel to thank for making it happen — successfully and quickly! Rachel is a wonderful and insightful realtor with great positive energy through the entire journey. She will always keep your best interests in mind and make sure you are well informed during each step. We highly recommend Rachel to anyone looking to buy or sell their home!
My family loved working with Rachel! During the times of covid, she managed to help us tour homes in person (thank you to the sweet sellers as well). She's professional, knowledgeable and easy to work with. She MADE our home search a special journey.
Not only will she send daily emails of lisitings to match your budget & wishlist - she stays in touch with you to suit your needs. She was always on the ball and made looking at homes fun and happen asap! Between her and our mortgage broker, it was an excellent experience rather than a stressful one.. Look no further, Rachel will take care of you and help you find your dream home!
Rachel is an incredible realtor! From start to finish, she was phenomenally helpful, supportive, and knowledgeable. Finding and purchasing a house is a daunting process, but Rachel made the process feel as straightforward as possible. Before we even started actively looking, she took a lot of time to thoroughly explain exactly how the home buying process would work, and then remained just as communicative and responsive every step of the way. Even when we were feeling disheartened, Rachel continued to encourage us, and in the end, thanks to her tireless work, we ended up finding our perfect home. Rachel has also cultivated a great network of people to work with, and every professional she recommended, from home inspector to homeowners insurance agent, has been spectacular to work with as well. We can’t recommend Rachel highly enough!
Rachel helped my family purchase our first home a few years ago, the entire process was smooth, thanks to her hard work and diligence. There was no question when it came time to sell and look for a new home that we would be going back to Rachel. We have been in our new, beautiful home for just over a month and we couldn't be happier! Thanks to Rachel we were able to get our new little dream home.
Rachel came highly recommended to us by a friend, and for good reason. She is a profoundly skilled realtor, as well as a very warm and hard-working one. Rachel made the home buying process stress free, even though she is very thorough. She warrants the highest praise, and I endorse her enthusiastically.
I’m a first time homebuyer, and was really nervous about what I was getting myself into, but Rachel was spectacular, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience!
Rachel took time at the beginning of the process to detail exactly what I should expect. This could’ve easily been overwhelming, but she took great care in thoroughly educating me on the home buying process, and assured me that she would be there to help every step of the way.
When it came to showings, she had a very flexible schedule, and was happy to meet me wherever and whenever it was convenient. She let me view the place and form my own opinions before offering her thoughts, and when she did, she had valuable insight to share. I never felt pressured or pushed into anything, and I very much appreciated her expertise as she was able to point out a lot of things I would have overlooked otherwise.
Once I decided to put in an offer, Rachel was wonderful at keeping me informed as to what was going on, and I knew I could count on her to respond quickly anytime I had a question. She sent regular updates about who she was talking to, what decisions were being made, and timelines of when I should expect to hear back from her, the seller, and the bank.
Thanks to Rachel, what could’ve been a stressful and convoluted experience was pretty straightforward, and I was able to go from thinking about buying a place to actually owning one much more easily than I would’ve thought. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her!
I’m so happy that I worked with Rachel on the purchase of my first home! She was easy to talk to and always made herself available to show me homes. When I found the first house that I wanted to make an offer on she was able to negotiate with the seller and ensure that I got my offer accepted, even though there were multiple other offers in this tight seller’s market. During the transaction she was attentive and ensured that the entire process went smoothly and I was never left wondering what was happening next. She was also super friendly, fun and professional the whole time. I would highly recommend Rachel to anyone looking to buy or sell their home!
I am so glad we worked with Rachel to find our first home! She is friendly and organized, and paid great attention to the details of what we were looking for. She was always there for any questions that we had and always provided very thorough answers (despite some of our questions being very fundamental as a first time home buyer). Thank you Rachel, for being such a great real estate agent!
I worked with Rachel for the purchase of my first home and she was great! She made everything about the process easy to understand and was very helpful in finding me the perfect place. I highly recommend Rachel as a Relator!
Rachel's great! Recommended to us by a family friend, and did not disappoint. Rachel helped us span out our search and we finally found a great house that fit our needs. Constant communication, and very honest and forthright. Thank you Rachel!