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The housing crisis provided many opportunities for investors to purchase distressed properties at bargain prices and hold them as rentals or flip them at a higher price to a buyer unable to qualify for a loan at the time. This was evident with the increase in rent-to-buy homes and other seller financing options. In a […]
Most people who have IRA accounts have the type which is administered by a custodian—which is typically a bank or investment brokerage. Recently though, there’s been more talk of self-directed IRAs that allow you to use the funds on other investment opportunities, including real estate. A self-directed plan is controlled by the client rather than […]
Pretty much everyone in Bend is aware that we have a seller’s real estate market. This often makes sellers price their homes for more than they are worth. While it is natural to want to get the maximum return on your home investment, it is very important to price it correctly. In our current market, […]
Since this week’s theme for the Source Weekly is bikes, I was asked how important bike-able neighborhoods are to buyers. The only time bike-ability was important was for buyers who were mountain bikers and they liked having nearby access to trails. Bike-ability for commuting has never come up as being important, probably because most people […]
Last week’s British vote to exit the European Union may have beneficial effects on our real estate market because of the effect on mortgage interest rates. Various blogs from the National Association of Realtors, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, to name just a few, are reporting some optimistic news. The Wall Street Journal on June […]
The main challenge for most first-time homebuyers is coming up with the down payment. This is difficult when rising rents eat away at potential down payment savings. Here are some options that are often overlooked: Ask the seller to pay closing costs. It is not uncommon to ask and receive up to 6 percent of […]
This week’s article is about an actual real estate experience recently encountered with a sidewalk in need of repair. Both buyers and sellers should take note. As most Bendites know, there are a lot of sidewalks uprooted by tree roots in Bend. Replacing the damaged section with a new sidewalk is only a temporary fix, […]
A reader named Krista recently wrote to the Source Weekly about Senate Bill 1533. She wondered whether the bill really accomplishes anything in terms of helping create affordable housing, and expressed concerns about the bill’s definition of affordable housing: “Affordable housing” means housing that is affordable to households with incomes equal to or higher than […]
There is an abundance of reasons why buying a house with solar panels is a great idea, but there are also some negatives that can arise when a house is being sold. Solar panels have been cited as adding $15,000-$20,000 to the value of a home if purchased outright. This is because of the appeal […]
Bend is a seller’s market, so buyers often wonder what is an appropriate offer on a home, particularly when competing offers are likely, which is increasingly common nowadays. This past week, the April real estate statistics for Bend were released, and according to the Beacon Report, the median sales price rose to $365,000, with a […]
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