With the recent proposal for a cottage home community in Bend, I am curious again about tiny homes. Tiny homes have been a hot topic for a few years, offering an affordable home ownership opportunity—but with that come hindrances including building codes and zoning laws, not to mention financing. In regard to the proposed community […]
Take Me Home
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Time to Winterize Your Home
Like it or not, winter is coming early as usual, with Mt Bachelor already open and more snow in the forecast. Last winter is a strong memory to many local minds in terms of the damage that occurred to residential and commercial buildings. The extreme weather meant you couldn’t find the things you needed to […]
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NeighborImpact: Helping People Achieve Homeownership
O f all the nonprofits in town, the work of NeighborImpact has impressed me the most in how they impact so many local residents with regard to housing and shelter. I have encountered several first-time homebuyers who received education and assistance from NeighborImpact’s programs, enabling them to experience homeownership. These buyers are my favorite to […]
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Renting is not just for the young anymore
H istorically, rental housing has been depicted as starter housing for younger people, mainly in their 20s whose goal was to eventually own a home. Apartments were basically just temporary or transitional shelters and therefore had few amenities. The recent housing crash changed that as many, both young and old, turned to the rental market […]
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Haunting Real Estate
When that dream home turns out to be haunted
H alloween is a time when many like to get spooked with ghost stories. Many of those stories center around haunted houses, so with that, let’s discuss buying a home in Oregon with a “history.” Oregon real estate law does not require seller disclosure on deaths—whether natural or violent, brutal crimes or other things that […]
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What’s Going On In Real Estate in Bend
The Beacon Report, based on real estate statistics from our local MLS, released its report of the September 2017 figures—allowing us to compare last month’s and last year’s Bend single family residence sales of 1 acre or less. Closed sales in Bend for the month of September 2017 decreased by 40 transactions over August 2017, […]
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Staging Tricks to Make Your Home Look Bigger
As a realtor who helps numerous clients sell their older homes, I often use Realtor.com for useful hints on how to create an appearance of more space—often an issue in smaller homes, such as those found in the downtown Bend area. As fall sets in and we focus more on the interiors of our homes—and […]
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How the Equifax Breach Could Mess Up a Home Purchase
Y ou may have heard about the Equifax breach, which compromised the information of about 143 million Americans. For consumers trying to obtain a mortgage, this could have serious implications such as delays in loan verification due to additional safeguards that might be implemented. The biggest impact is if scammers use stolen information to obtain […]
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Bend Real Estate Statistics for August 2017
T he Beacon Report, which is based on real estate statistics from our local MLS, released its report of the August 2017 figures which allow some interesting comparisons to last month’s and last year’s Bend single family residence sales of 1 acre or less. According to the report, closed sales in Bend for the month […]
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Flood Insurance in the Wake of Hurricane Harvey
T he recent flooding from Hurricane Harvey and the approaching expiration of the National Flood Insurance Program opens up a lot of discussion about flood insurance. The program was established in 1968 and expires on Sept. 30. The concern is that the annual shortfall of this program is $1.4 billion. The intent of the program […]
