For folks who only know Billy Grippo from his advertising on one of around 28 bus-stop seats on Portland’s eastside, or smiling from the pages of several neighborhood newsletters, they are missing a lot there is to know about this affable, humor-rich Windermere real estate broker with signature-spikey hair.
A native New Yorker of Italian heritage on his father’s side—hence the telling surname—Grippo landed in Portland in 1992 by way of Santa Cruz, California, where he had lived for about 12 years. As a youngster in New York and later in California, Grippo’s 20-year career prior to coming to Portland was food-focused, working in restaurants for many years. During his stint to the south, and with classical French training from the Culinary Institute of America, Grippo was a chef and co-owner of a California-cuisine and seafood restaurant. “We were doing farm-to-table at the time—we just didn’t know it.”
All those years around food brought an appreciation of the importance of meal-complementary wine Grippo’s way; he’s a consummate collector. Although he’s quick to explain that while he enjoyed good food at his paternal grandmother’s house in New York, and wine was served with every meal, it wasn’t anything special. “I didn’t get my wine palette from Grandma Grippo,” he says with a laugh.
In 1991, knowing he was slated to head this way, Grippo bought his first house in Portland’s Sabin neighborhood, well ahead of it reaching the hip status it enjoys today. And while he’s moved since then, he has stayed in that neighborhood. Grippo says he was immediately drawn to Portland’s eastside, attracted to its cultural diversity and urban neighborhoods. “It was perfectly comfortable for me. Where I grew up in New York, I was a minority!”
When he launched into the real estate business soon after landing in Portland, Grippo’s choice to live east of the Willamette River—and to invest in a bevy of bus seat ads—served him well. “I became known as the ‘Eastside Guy,’ and west side realtors would refer me any residential business on my side of town.” In his real estate heyday, Grippo sold a record 134 homes in one year. But raising children brought the need for balance in his life, and today he works at a more reasonable pace, selling 40 to 60 homes a year. “Real estate sales can be kind of addictive. But with ‘two homemade kids and two bonus kids’ from an earlier marriage, I knew I needed to be more present.”
Grippo is a longtime, supportive advertiser in this newsletter. Reach him at Windermere Real Estate by calling (503) 497-5249 or by emailing bgrippo@windermere.com.