Everyone in the Portland metro "knows" Washington wins on taxes. But in truth, it's more complicated than that — and for some people, Oregon actually comes out ahead.

This week on Disclosures, we put Clark County (WA) and Multnomah County (OR) side by side: no income tax in Washington vs. Oregon's tiered income tax, Washington's excise tax on selling (roughly $16,855 on a $1M home in the Vancouver area vs. nothing in Oregon), the property-tax gap that's smaller than most people think, Portland's stacked local levies (SHS and Preschool-for-All), estate tax on both sides of the river, and the remote-work question a lot of Nike and Intel employees are quietly asking: can I live in Washington, work for a Portland employer, and stop paying Oregon income tax?

The short version: over a 10-year horizon, Washington usually wins. But if you're earning in Oregon, selling quickly, or flipping, the math can flip on you. We walk through when each side makes sense — and roughly where the break-even lands.

Run your own numbers with our rent-vs-own calculator: https://www.thetartanteam.com/calculators/rent-vs-own

New to the show? Episode 5 covers whether buying still beats renting at all — the groundwork for a lot of this one.

Not tax advice — we say so about six times on the show, and we mean it. We're brokers, not CPAs. If you'd rather talk it through, or want a referral to a good local CPA, reach out: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Disclosures with Nick & Dave · Episode 6

CHAPTERS

0:00 – Taxes: the topic everyone thinks they've got figured out

2:57 – The short answer, before we complicate it

3:47 – No income tax in Washington vs. Oregon's tiered rates

5:30 – The excise tax that surprises every Washington seller

6:18 – Excise vs. "deed tax": what the charge actually is

8:27 – How the excise brackets really work

10:00 – Property tax: Clark County vs. Multnomah

14:01 – Portland's local layers: SHS and Preschool-for-All

15:53 – "Portland's Weirdly High Taxes" — second only to NYC

19:19 – No sales tax in Oregon (and where the jobs are)

19:59 – Live in Washington, work in Portland — do you still owe Oregon?

20:50 – The rule that decides it: presence, not paycheck

24:56 – Oregon's real win: the Best Buy run

27:38 – Break-even: how many years until Washington wins?

29:38 – Rent vs. own, and the tax that eats your gains

32:08 – Estate tax on both sides of the river

36:42 – What the excise tax does to house flipping

40:26 – Landing: where you earn changes everything

42:51 – Money isn't everything (the honest caveat)

45:26 – Wrap-up

Renting a home in most major metros right now is about 37% cheaper per month than owning the same home. We're realtors, and we're telling you that anyway.

This week on Disclosures, we dig into whether homeownership is still the American dream — or whether the dream itself needs redefining. We get into the dispute over the average first-time buyer's age (NAR says 40; the Mortgage Bankers Association says closer to 32 — and the difference in how they count matters), the $141,000 household income now required for the median U.S. home, why the buy-vs-rent break-even has stretched from 5–7 years to roughly 10 at today's rates, and the transaction costs that quietly eat $50,000 of equity faster than most sellers expect.

Then we take on the "dream home" itself. The house with everything you could imagine often comes with a payment that kills every other dream you have. We'd rather help you find the home that funds your life than the one that displays it.

Talk through your own situation with us: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Also mentioned in this episode:
Nick's coverage of Zillow v. MRED at Realtor Gone Rogue: https://realtorgonerogue.substack.com

CHAPTERS
0:00 – Back from Chicago: Zillow v. MRED

1:21 – A July 4th phone call from Compass CEO Robert Reffkin

2:51 – Is homeownership still the American Dream?

6:01 – Is the average first-time buyer really 40? (NAR vs. MBA)

8:05 – $32k gifts and the $141k income question

10:38 – Renting is 37% cheaper per month — the math

12:08 – The net worth gap: $430k vs. $10k

13:40 – Why the buy-vs-rent break-even is now ~10 years

14:40 – The forced-savings effect (and the disciplined-renter loophole)

17:06 – The real reasons people buy: stability, control, roots

23:19 – The "forever home" myth

25:57 – Transaction costs: how 9–10% eats $50k of equity

28:02 – Is 6% actually an outlier? Rates in historical context

30:31 – Redefining the dream home

36:00 – Buy what's important, not more

38:38 – Why most agents won't tell you to rent (we will)

40:19 – Frenzy regret and the lock-in effect

43:21 – Don't rush: our closing advice

45:56 – Wrap-up

Last week we made the case for flat-fee, retainer-based buyer agency — so why does the listing side go back to a percentage? Because when you're selling, a percentage points in the same direction you do: you both want a higher number. Flat-fee listing rewards closing fast, not selling well.

Nick and Dave break down how the Tartan Team represents sellers across three tiers — full service, limited service, and hourly consulting — what it actually costs to market a home, the value of a negotiation buffer, and where the flat-fee MLS platforms fit in.

Chapters
00:00 — Cold open: rain, fireworks, and the PNW
01:41 — Teaser: the Zillow–MRED hearing in Chicago (more next week)
03:04 — Why the sell side goes back to percentages
05:37 — Aligned incentives: when commission actually works
08:32 — How flat-fee listings turn into a volume game
09:24 — Full service: 3% to $600K, 1.5% above — and why
10:24 — What it actually costs to market a home
12:50 — Who full service is for
16:21 — Limited service: judgment and legal cover, less in-person
18:24 — Open houses and the negotiation buffer
23:31 — Emotional pricing and stale listings
26:57 — Flat-fee platforms, and why we don't compete there
33:10 — Non-agency consulting for true FSBOs
34:50 — Pushback welcome + how to reach us

Mentioned in this episode
Listing fee comparison calculator → https://www.thetartanteam.com/pricing
How we sell → https://www.thetartanteam.com/sell
Last week's buyer-agency episode → https://youtu.be/Z749WWb_gJQ?si=L-e7RhDaMhMRfXgq

Thinking about selling? Book a strategy call → https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Reach us directly: [email protected] · [email protected]

Every other buyer's agent in Clark County will work with you for free up front and only get paid when you close.

So why do we ask for a retainer before we start?

Because "free until closing" isn't actually free — it just hides the cost, and worse, it quietly works against you. When an agent only gets paid if you buy, every month that passes without a deal turns into pressure: pressure to overlook the water in the basement, to talk you into the house that's good enough, to close something before the contract runs out. A lot of the complaints behind the NAR lawsuit came out of exactly that dynamic.

In episode 3 of Disclosures, Nick and Dave break down how the retainer fixes it.

When we're fairly paid for our time regardless of outcome, we can do the thing a good agent should be able to do: tell you not to buy. Re-sign the lease. Walk away. No hard feelings, no hidden incentive pulling the other direction.

We also lay out the full model for the first time — three tiers of buyer representation, what each one costs, who each one is for, and the honest tradeoffs (including the parts we're still working through, like making the retainer workable for first-time buyers).

If you've ever felt your agent get a little too eager as the clock ran down, this one explains why — and what a different model looks like.

The model, in plain numbers:
• Full Service — $15,000 flat (not a percentage), $3,000 retainer up front, credited toward the total at closing. We're with you for everything: search, showings, inspections, offers, negotiation.
• Limited Service — $9,000 flat, $1,500 retainer. Virtual buyer agency for confident buyers who tour on their own; you're paying for our judgment, negotiation, and contract protection, not our drive time.
• DIY Consulting — $450/hr, non-agency. A sounding board when you want to run the process yourself but check your thinking at the key moments.

Retainers are collected at signing and exist to keep our incentives aligned with yours.

Want to connect further?
Reach out directly: [email protected] | [email protected]

Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book
More at thetartanteam.com

Timestamps:
00:00 Recording in person for the first time

01:12 Recap: what we covered in episode 2

02:39 The core problem with how buyer agents get paid

05:23 Why "free until closing" works against you

09:48 How this fueled the NAR lawsuit

14:17 The fix: a retainer (and where the idea came from)

19:24 Why the retainer protects you, not just us

23:47 The full model: three tiers and what they cost

31:23 The hurdle we're still working out (first-time buyers)

34:11 "That sounds expensive" — and the real math

41:38 The agent who tells you no

42:52 How to reach us

The 2024 NAR settlement was supposed to bring real estate commissions down. Two years later, buyer-agent commissions have barely moved — by some measures they've crept up. So what actually changed, and why does the day-to-day still feel the same?

In episode 2 of Disclosures, Nick and Dave walk through the history that got us here: how buyer agency was invented in the first place, why buyers historically had no say in what their own agent got paid, what the Sitzer/Burnett settlement actually required, and how steering worked when commission offers were hidden on the back end of the MLS.

Then we get practical. If you're buying a home, the single most useful thing to understand is this: what you pay your buyer's agent affects your leverage on every offer you make. We break down a million-dollar example showing how a flat fee can either come back to you as a price reduction or make your offer more competitive at no extra cost — and why most buyers never have that conversation.

Whether you're buying or selling in Clark County or just trying to understand what the lawsuit really did, this one's for the people who read the contract.

Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book
More at thetartanteam.com
Connect with Nick: [email protected]
Connect with Dave: [email protected]

Meet Dave Miller — cabinet-maker, finish carpenter, electrician, and the newest co-founder of The Tartan Team — who recently traded Minnesota for Southwest Washington.

First episodes are mostly introductions, and this one's no exception: Nick sits down with Dave to get into how he came up in the trades (general construction with his father and uncles, cabinet-making school, his own electrical company) and how he ended up buying his first house at 22 and renovating it room by room while living in it. So when Dave talks about what's worth paying for in a home and what isn't, it isn't theory.

Along the way: how century-old Minneapolis housing stock differs from the newer homes out here, why house hacking still holds up for a first-time buyer, which upgrades earn their cost before the drywall goes up, and the line Dave keeps coming back to — the cheapest quote is often the most expensive one. Plus how to spot a house that's been polished up to hide what's underneath.

(You'll hear us call this the "Mostly True Real Estate Podcast" a couple of times — that was the working title. We landed on Disclosures.)

Hosted by Nick Aufenkamp and Dave Miller of The Tartan Team, brokered by Real Broker, LLC. Serving Clark County and Southwest Washington.

Thinking about a move, or just have questions? Book a strategy call: thetartanteam.com/book