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, […]
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How Important are Bike-able Neighborhoods for Homebuyers?
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 […]
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Will Brexit Benefit Our Local Housing Market?
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 […]
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Three Ways to Get Help With a Down Payment
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 […]
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Damaged Sidewalk Nearly Sidelines Home Sale
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, […]
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Buying & Selling a Home with Solar Panels
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 […]
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Bend Livability Project Housing Sessions
On Saturday, June 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Bend Livability Conference will have some interesting housing sessions on affordable housing. The conference will have many speakers including representatives from local government addressing the urban growth boundary and related issues, the need for affordable housing, and even a session on tiny homes, cottage […]
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Affordable Housing via Community Land Trusts
Community land trusts develop affordable housing on land held in trust by a non-profit housing organization. Portland has such a program called Proud Ground that has provided affordable housing since 1998. Many of us are familiar with community land trusts that are conservation oriented, but the housing ones are conservational to the extent that often […]
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Finding the Right Offering Price
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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Competitive Strategies for Bend’s Tight Market
As all of us in Bend know, homes are selling quickly, prices are rising, and we have an inventory shortage. Like many parts of the country, Bend is truly a seller’s market. It is not uncommon to have multiple offers and occasionally bidding wars. With competing buyers for the same property, it’s necessary to act […]