Bend Oregon Homes for Sale Archives - Page 2 of 3

Spring 2013: A Good Time to Sell?

For the last few years the Central Oregon real estate market has been a buyer’s market. Buyers have had their pick of homes at prices not seen in these parts for years. The average price per square foot dropped as low as $102 but there were homes that sold as low as $50 per square foot and buyers had their pick of great deals. But those days appear to be over.

Over the last year the tides have turned against buyers and the market has become more favorable to sellers. The average price per square foot rose to $123 in January of this year. The number of bank owned homes for sale has been steadily declining to the point that today they account for less than one percent* of all single family, stick built homes for sale in Bend. Bank owned homes are no longer dragging prices down with them. While they used to sell at a steep discount compared to traditional sales, today any discount is marginal.

One thing that may surprise some is despite the fact that prices are rising and competition amongst buyers for the few houses that are for sale is strong, buyers are staying in the game. The number of buyers from month to month has stayed pretty steady and that tells us that there are even more out there waiting for the right house to hit MLS. If you look at the second graph in this post from last week you can see that there were actually more homes sold in 2012 (4244) than 2011 (3763) even though prices were higher and there were fewer homes to choose from.

Those who should consider selling now are people who are not under water with their mortgage and have been wanting to buy a bigger home or more land or those who bought in the last three years and are looking to lock in profits made through rising prices. We are once again seeing homeowners with equity and if you are unsure of your situation please give us a call at (541) 508-2930 for a FREE market analysis of your home. Find out what your home is worth, today.

*Sales figures courtesy of Central Oregon MLS

Rental Market Strong and Getting Stronger

The news for investors who own rental property keeps getting better. According to Moody Analytics, demand for rentals is expected to remain strong for at least the next two years. They cite the foreclosure crisis, an uncertain economy and fear of making a bad investment as influencing people to choose renting over buying.

While Moody’s data is national in scope, their findings hold true in Bend and Central Oregon. Preferred Residential’s property management division currently has zero vacant properties. When we do have a tenant move out we are having very little trouble finding new tenants ready to move in. In fact, I can’t remember a time in the last year where we had a house sit vacant for more than 15 days. Additionally, our owners have generally been able to raise their rents between 5 and 10 percent this year.

With all this good news for residential investors we have seen a large number of new investors coming into the market. Recently a client asked us if he should buy a nice, big “house on the hill” as a rental. Our answer was, no. It might make sense for some investors to buy a house like that, especially if the investor intends to move into the house at some point in the future. But this client wasn’t buying his dream, retirement home. He was just looking for a place to invest $300,000. Our suggestion was that he buy multiple homes instead of just one.

There are a few reasons that buying two or three homes instead of one expensive one makes sense. Rents don’t necessarily increase in step with the purchase price. A house bought for $150,000 will likely rent for about $1100/month in Bend. A house bought for $300,000 might rent for $1800. Of course this isn’t always the case but it is true more often than not.

Another reason to consider buying more than one rental home in this situation is cash flow during vacancies. What happens if the tenant moves out of your $300,000 rental? You have no income for as long as it takes to find another tenant. If you own two $150,000 homes and a tenant moves out it might be a little painful but at least there is still money coming in from the other rental.

The size of the pool of prospective tenants is also a reason that we would suggest buying multiple homes in this situation. No one wants their rental to sit vacant between tenants any longer than absolutely necessary. In Bend, a house that rents for $1100 fits within the budget of far more prospective tenants than one that rents for $1800. More prospects means a better chance of finding someone to move in and minimize the length of any vacancies.

Whether you are looking for multiple properties or just one, if you need expert, professional advice about investment properties in Bend and Central Oregon look no further than Preferred Residential. Send us an email or give us a call at (541) 508-2930. Whatever your real estate or Bend property management needs might be, we can help.

More posts about the strong rental market in Bend and a Spring 2013 Property Management update.

Pronghorn Golf Club and Resort Under New Management

Search Pronghorn Homes for Sale

(PRWEB) May 22, 2012

Auberge Resorts, owners and operators of celebrated boutique luxury resorts and clubs in North America, announced today that the company has assumed management of Pronghorn Golf Club & Resort in Bend, Ore. The award-winning luxury resort and golf community joins a collection of acclaimed North American Auberge properties renowned for their spectacular settings, extraordinary restaurants and spas and highly personal service. The Auberge portfolio includes Napa Valley resorts Auberge du Soleil, Calistoga Ranch and Solage Calistoga; Esperanza, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, S.C.; Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colo.; Auberge Residences at Element 52, Telluride, Colo.; and Auberge Residences at Mammoth, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

Auberge Resorts, whose hotels and private residence clubs are annually recognized as some of the best in the world by authorities such as Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Andrew Harper’s Hideaway and Robb Report, plans to implement its signature service and design philosophies at Pronghorn and update the resort’s culinary and spa programs. The planned enhancements will align with Auberge’s goal of creating a completely immersive guest experience that reflects the essence of Pronghorn’s unique setting.

“We are delighted to take over the helm of this stunning golf resort and community and are honored to help create what will be the premier luxury resort in the Pacific Northwest,” said Mark Harmon, Principal and Chief Executive Officer, Auberge Resorts. “We are also pleased to expand our portfolio of private residence clubs to six and offer members additional choices for their family vacations and romantic getaways.”

Acquired by The Resort Group in February 2012, Pronghorn Golf Club & Resort is situated on 640 acres in Central Oregon and features a 48-suite luxury lodge, which opened to the public in 2010, two championship golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio, a full-service spa, multiple fine-dining restaurants and a variety of real estate options, including custom homes, condos and home sites. Pronghorn also features a golf academy and The Trailhead, a facility for family recreation and outdoor pursuits. Guests and homeowners have unparalleled access to countless outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, rafting, fly-fishing on the nearby Deschutes River and skiing at Mt. Bachelor, North America’s 5th largest ski area.

Pronghorn Golf Club & Resort will be the first Auberge Resorts-managed property in the Pacific Northwest and the sixth in its portfolio of one-of-a-kind luxury private residence clubs, with reciprocal access available to members of all six communities that span a variety of geographic locations, including South Carolina, Napa Valley, Coastal Baja and the Colorado Rockies.

About Auberge Resorts Auberge Resorts is a collection of exceptional hotels, resorts and private clubs, each with a unique personality that assures a memorable guest experience. While Auberge Resorts nurtures the individuality of each establishment, all are characterized by a set of communal elements: intimate, understated elegance; captivating locations that inspire exceptional cuisine and spa experiences; and gracious yet unobtrusive service. Among the Auberge collection of distinctive properties are: Auberge du Soleil, Calistoga Ranch and Solage Calistoga, all in Napa Valley, Calif.; Esperanza, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, S.C.; Hotel Jerome, Aspen Colo.; Auberge Residences at Element 52, Telluride, Colo.; the Aspen Club, Aspen, Colo.; and Auberge Residences at Mammoth, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., with several others currently in development. For more information about Auberge Resorts, please visit http://www.aubergeresorts.com. Follow Auberge Resorts on Facebook at facebook.com/AubergeResorts and on Twitter at @AubergeResorts.

See all current listings of Pronghorn Homes for Sale

Rents Rising, Vacancies Falling

We have been writing about a strong rental market here in Bend for almost a year now. Homes are being rented almost as fast as investors can buy them and fix them up. The property management side of Preferred Residential has had no problem filling homes with qualified tenants either. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we had a house sit vacant for more than a couple weeks. On the sales side, a large percentage of our buyers over the last 12 months have been investors. It’s a hot market and if Paul Dales, a senior economist with Capital Economics is to be believed, the market will only get hotter.

Dales was quoted in a recent article on HousingWire as saying, “We expect the annual rate at which rents are rising will rise to 3% this year and remain at that level in 2013. Assuming that the economic recovery gains firmer footing, in future years there is scope for rents to rise by around 4% a year.” Three to four percent yearly increases in return on investment is music to rental property owners’ ears. What makes those numbers even better is that Dales expects vacancy rates to keep falling. “As a consequence of Americans being less willing and less able to buy a home, the number of households in rented accommodation is set to rise by at least 850,000 a year over the next few years.”

Of course, Dales was speaking about the national rental market, not Bend, Oregon. However, we are seeing something very similar with residential rentals in Bend. As I wrote in February, rental rates rose significantly in from 2010 to 2011 and don’t show any signs of slowing down. If you would like to see properties with great rental potential in Bend or Redmond then give us a call at (541) 508-2930. We are uniquely qualified to advise real estate investors in Central Oregon.

More posts about the strong rental market in Bend.

Warren Buffett Says Smart Money is in Homes

The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, sat down for an extensive interview with CNBC last week to share his views on the economy and investing. It is was a very long interview with the transcript running 73 pages but there were some interesting tidbits that came out of the interview regarding real estate. Buffett has made billions investing in assets that he felt were undervalued and he feels that single family homes are “cheap” right now. In fact, he said that if it weren’t such a daunting task he would buy a “couple hundred thousand homes” and take mortgages out on them at “very, very low interest rates.” As property managers we can appreciate what a large undertaking that would be but we definitely wouldn’t shy away from the opportunity.

Buffett was also asked about whether he would tell a young individual investor to put money in stocks or a home. Without hesitation he said he would recommend buying a home with a 30 year mortgage because it is a “terrific deal.” He went on to say that he feels buying a home is “probably as attractive investment as you can make now.”

Ok, so Warren Buffett thinks homes are cheap and the best way to buy them right now is not with cash but a mortgage. There is a lesson there for investors and people in the market for a primary residence. At Preferred Residiential we have seen a lot of people from both groups buying homes with cash. While there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with that, Mr. Buffett (remember, he is really smart when it comes to money), thinks the smart way to buy a home is with a mortgage and so you can spread your cash among multiple properties. His argument is that if interest rates go lower you can always refinance but if they go up then “the other guy’s stuck with it for 30 years.”

What do you think? Is he right? Leave a comment below then give us a call to discuss what you are looking for in the next house you buy.

Mixed Signals for Housing Market, Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about the negative signals coming from the housing market. Those signals include the expectation that banks will repossess more than 1 million homes in 2012, news that housing prices ended 2011 at their lowest point since February 2003 and an amazing estimate that there are still more than 10 million homes with negative equity. Today I will discuss reasons for optimism and the signs that some people say point to the beginning of a recovery.

We can’t have a recovery without buyers and if the pending home sales numbers from January are any indication it appears that buyers are coming back to the market. According to the National Association of Realtors® their Pending Home Sales Index was at 97 in January. This is the highest it has been since April 2010 when it reached 111.3 and the home buyer tax credit was still in effect. A number of 100 is considered healthy. While we haven’t reached that “healthy” level of pending sales yet, Home Depot could be a leading indicator of good news on the horizon.

For the quarter ending January 29th, Home Depot reported that their net income rose 32% exceeding Wall Street Estimates. While it is tough to know exactly what prompted a jump in home repairs some analysts suggest the increased activity points to hopeful owners sprucing up their homes for the spring selling season. Generally speaking, people won’t invest large chunks of money in their homes unless they feel they have equity and it is secure. Maybe this bump in home improvement is just deferred maintenance but if people really are getting ready to willingly list their homes for sale that speaks volumes about how the market is perceived (in a good way).

Home builders also perceive the market to be improving and home owners getting ready to list their homes for sale gives builders even more reason for optimism. Those owners have to move somewhere and builders think they have a good shot at convincing people to buy new homes. For the last five months the Builders Sentiment Index has been on the rise, in January reaching its highest level since May 2007. There is still a long way to go before construction of new homes will be at the level of a strong housing market but builders definitely seem to think there is reason for hope.

With all this hope and optimism floating around should we declare that the housing market has hit bottom and is on its way to recovery? Probably not. There are still many factors that could hold the market down this year but that doesn’t meant that now is not a good time to buy. Now is a great time to buy a home. If you have been thinking about buying a home now is the time to get off the sidelines. Mortgage interest rates have never been better and home prices are still at 2003 levels. Call us now.

Mixed Signals for Housing Market, Part 1

Whether you are an optimist or a pessimist about the housing market there is plenty of data available to support your position. During my search for what to write about today I came across a number of articles supporting a recovery in the housing market and an equal number of articles suggesting we aren’t out of the woods yet. I will start with the bad news today and finish with the good tomorrow.

Perhaps the most depressing news is that there are still approximately 10 million homes in the United States that are worth less than what their owner still owes on them. That is almost a quarter of all residential properties with a mortgage. That is a staggering number. Now just because all those homes are under water doesn’t mean they will be foreclosed upon but it wouldn’t take much, like say, gas prices reaching $5/gallon (or more) to see an increase in the number of homes that actually do reach the foreclosure stage.

The number of homes that reached the foreclosure stage last year was down almost 34 percent from 2010 but it appears the main reason for that was the legal problems banks had with their repossession processes (primarily robo-signing). Bloomberg is reporting numbers from RealtyTrac that say banks are likely to foreclose on more 1 million homes this year. That number would signal a 25 percent increase in foreclosures year over year and would likely keep home prices from rising in 2012.

The final bit of bad news is that home prices closed the year on a low note. The Case-Schiller Index of home prices in 20 cities around the country closed 2011 at its lowest level since February 2003. Of course, 20 cities is a fairly small sample of housing markets in the United States and there are certainly cities where prices are not at nine year lows and are even rising.

For those of you who are optimists I hope this post doesn’t dampen your hopes too much. I think I would suggest cautious optimism. The numbers above do not signal the end of the world but rather that the climb out of the hole which resulted from the housing bubble bursting won’t be easy or quick. Tomorrow I will post reasons to be optimistic about a possible housing recovery.

Bend, Oregon Named One of World's Best Ski Towns

National Geographic has named Bend, Oregon one of the top 25 ski towns in the world. The list includes well known names such as Aspen, Telluride, Jackson, Park City, and Ketchum in the United States and international destinations including Chamonix France, Zermatt Switzerland, Kitzbuhel Austria, Whistler Canada, and Niseko Japan. Some impressive names to say the least.

The towns in the list are not ranked but identified for what sets them apart. Bend is recognized for being the best place for multisport junkies with a taste for microbrews. The author mentions being able to ride the mountain in the morning and mounain bike in the afternoon as a multisport option. Last year, with Mt. Bachelor open on the Fourth of July, skiiers could have also golfed at one of the many local courses, rented a paddle board or kayak on the Deschutes, fished in one of the High Lakes, or wakeboarded one of the reservoirs. The possibilities are seemingly endless even before the usual end of ski season on Memorial Day. Then you can finish the day downtown on Bend’s Ale Trail sampling beer from the ten local breweries.

With so many outdoor activities you can see why Bend is the largest town on this list. Sure it is a great place to visit but once you’ve spent some time here it becomes difficult to leave. That’s where Preferred Residential comes in. We can help make your dream of living or owning a vacation home in Central Oregon a reality. With interest rates at historic lows and prices that haven’t recovered from the bubble bursting, now is a fantastic time to buy a home in Bend. Don’t wait, call Becky now.

A Warning About Earnest Money

Bank owned homes for sale are nothing new in Bend, Oregon or any other real estate market for that matter. However, we have noticed at least one bank recently that is asking for something unusual. This bank has two homes for sale in Bend. In both cases the bank is asking for earnest money to be released to them with submission of an offer. That is not how earnest money is normally handled.

In most cases, a copy of the earnest money check is submitted with an offer to purchase a home. Once the buyer and seller agree on price and have both signed the sales agreement then the earnest money is deposited with the escrow company or the selling firm’s client trust account. With the money held in escrow the buyer then has the opportunity to inspect the home in whatever way they wish with confidence that the money will be returned to them if they find anything wrong with the house and want to back out of the deal. Buyers don’t necessarily have that option if they release the money directly to the seller before they have even agreed on a price.

By releasing earnest money directly to the seller with submission of an offer the buyer is essentially saying, “Here is my money. I think it is generous of you to allow me to consider buying your home. I know your time is valuable so if I decide not to buy your home you can just keep my earnest money.” Do you know anyone who is that generous? In one case the bank was asking for 10 percent up front. I don’t care who you are or how inexpensive the house may be, that is a lot of money to hand over before you have even agreed on price or inspected the home.

While you may not be likely to hand over the money in this situation there are many circumstances like this that can arise during the course of a real estate transaction. Whether you are a buyer or a seller you would be wise to have a knowledgable and experienced licensed broker on your side. Becky Seim, owner of Preferred Residential, is the preferred choice of many happy home owners and sellers in Bend and Central Oregon. Take a moment to read some of their stories here then give us a call to find out for yourself.

More Foreclosed Homes in Bend's Future?

Where are we at with this whole foreclosure mess? That seems to be the million dollar question lately. Last year (2011) we saw a 39 percent reduction in the number of foreclosure filings in Oregon from 2010 which for now has been the peak year of foreclosure activity. So does that mean we are out of the woods? Not according to an article by Suzanne Stevens in the Portland Business Journal. She quoted a statement from RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore who said, “The lack of clarity regarding many of the documentation and legal issues plaguing the foreclosure industry means that we are continuing to see a highly dysfunctional foreclosure process that is inefficiently dealing with delinquent mortgages. There were strong signs in the second half of 2011 that lenders are finally beginning to push through some of the delayed foreclosures in select local markets. We expect that trend to continue this year, boosting foreclosure activity for 2012 higher than it was in 2011, though still below the peak of 2010.”

The chart above is from RealtyTrac and illustrates foreclosure activity by county in Oregon. You can see that Deschutes County has one of the highest foreclosure rates per housing unit in the state. Another, less scientific reason to think that there are more bank owned homes in our future is my daily drive. There are three vacant, bank owned homes not yet on the market within a mile and a half of our home. Actually there are probably a lot more than that but I only counted those on my route. There is no way to know exactly how many homes in Bend are in the same situation but I think it is safe to say that if I can find three without trying, there are many more. Here are photos of those homes. The second and third homes have views of the Cascade Mountains.