A lender is a financial institution that makes loans directly to you, such as a major bank. A mortgage lender is represented by a loan officer who typically speaks only for that particular bank’s product line. In contrast, a mortgage broker is an independent professional who can shop around to find the best deal among […]
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Portland Growth Concerns Resonate with Bend’s Current Challenges
A recent article in the “Portland Monthly” addressed the growth challenges for Portland. While Portland is a much larger city, many of the concerns there are similar to what we hear voiced in Bend—providing some interesting information to consider. According to Wikipedia, Bend’s land area is about 33 square miles. Portland’s is about 133 square […]
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What Does The Election Mean For The Housing Market?
The housing market was pretty much ignored by both major party campaigns. Still, our local and national housing affordability crisis personally affects a large number of voters, and we are all affected in one way or another by home and rental prices. Because the candidates (at least on the national scale) did not address affordable […]
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Eleven Oregon Counties Follow Lead of Multnomah County Lawsuit Against MERS
Many of us who own homes have seen MERS appear on real estate documents. MERS stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. Whenever a mortgage is sold, Oregon law requires that the transfer is recorded in county records. As mortgages were sold and bundled into securities, banks came up with their own system to expedite and […]
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Central Oregon Market Recap
The Central Oregon Association of Realtors released the third quarter market data this week. For Bend, the third quarter of 2016 was a seller’s market. The number of new listings was down 1.4 percent from one year earlier and the median home price of $379,000 was 8.5 percent higher compared to third quarter 2015. The […]
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More Opportunities and Expectations for Housing Millennials and First Time Buyers
Nationally, first time homebuyers increased to 34 percent of the market share in September. A lot of this is attributed to the fact that most families with children—as well as move-up buyers—tend to make their moves during the summer months, thus easing inventory a bit for the first time homebuyers. The increase in September was […]
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Presidential Candidates Need to Address Housing Policy
It is disappointing to see that housing has not received greater attention during our current presidential race. Housing is such an important part of the economy, yet it rarely comes up as a point of discussion. Our declining homeownership rates have hit a 50-year low. Escalating rents and short supplies of affordable housing, many years […]
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Do Presidential Elections Affect Housing Prices?
When it comes to presidential elections, the prevailing wisdom seems to be that you should wait until after the election to purchase a home. As a realtor, I have heard this a few times. Each time I questioned the person to explain the basis of their opinion, they were only able to say that they […]
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Fall Home Maintenance Checklist
The end of September marked the beginning of fall and reminds us to get ready for cooler weather. If you are currently selling your home, the following tips are great to remember as they are also items that a home inspector will check once you have a buyer. That is because they are important items […]
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Bend Energy Challenge
Green Home Tour shows how small things can make a big difference
The Bend Energy Challenge Week, a program offered by the Environmental Center, was filled with many events to educate the public in energy efficiency and renewable energy. I was particularly interested in the two homes on the Green Home Tour that were retrofits, and I learned a lot about how small things can add up […]