Happy March, everyone! Since I continue to have several folks reach out with their questions, stories, opinions, and what have you, it seems like the right time to have another mailbag. For those who have not read this column before, every month or two I like to take some time out and answer and respond to the various emails I get from our readers. So, thank you to everyone who has taken the time out of their day to read this column, and extra kudos to those who have reached out to me with their real-estate-related questions and topics!
I received quite a response from people about the homeless camp that has been announced on the south end of town, off Third Street near the Les Schwab Tires and across the street from the Holiday Inn Express. While I will not be advocating for either side on this issue, because of the numerous people who raised the issue with me, I felt compelled to respond in some fashion. You can imagine most of what I read was from people who live and work near there, who chimed in with concerns about having a homeless camp (managed or unmanaged) established near them. Like every other site that has been linked or rumored to be any kind of facility for those experiencing homelessness, those located in the immediate vicinity tend to be quite vocal in their opposition. A term often thrown around to describe this type of behavior is "NIMBY" or Not In My Back Yard, for those unfamiliar. NIMBYs are often associated with trying to prevent large-scale housing developments and certain commercial development in their neighborhoods, and certainly homeless camps, managed or unmanaged, fit here, too. While it may be easy to understand why those in the immediate area oppose such development, however the question I pose is, where would be a good place be? Everywhere seems to be too close to schools, neighborhoods, businesses, etc.
The next piece is less of a question and more of a "be aware" type thing since I have heard this from people I know who own land in Deschutes County, as well as at our office. Like my article a few weeks ago, scams are on the rise and we have started to see this happen more and more in our area. Recently our Windermere office (I am sure other Real Estate offices, too) have been getting fraudsters posing as an owner of a piece of land trying to list it for sale. The issue is the owner is out of the area and cannot be there physically (red flag). They forge the listing paperwork (thanks to our county's amazing website DIAL, sort of a double-edged sword), with the end goal of finding someone interested in purchasing the land. Once the terms of the contract are agreed to, the fraudster attempts to use an out-of-state, "fake" or fraudulent title company to close the transaction, so the buyer is sending funds not to a legitimate escrow/closing company, but likely directly to the criminal. The best way to prevent this is to use a local, reputable, title and escrow company. If a seller demands that they use their out-of-state title company that you are unfamiliar with, please take some extra time to verify that the company is legitimate.
Thanks again to everyone who has reached out with their emails full of stories and opinions! Jason, I wish you the best in Nevada thank you for sharing your perspective! Nancy, thank you for your kind words; I look forward to reading your emails!
