One of the many reasons people are moving to Bend Oregon is the Bend Film Festival. The 5th annual Bend Film Festival is around the corner. It will be October 9-12, 2008. This is an exciting event and helps put Bend on the map. For more information go to their web site at http://www.bendfilm.org/default.aspx.
There is still plenty of money available for financing Bend Oregon real estate. The days of no money down, no job and bad credit are gone. But if you have at least 3% down, a credit score over 700 and means to repay the loan (job) you can still get home financing for around 6%.
There are hundreds of homes on the Bend market today with some really good buys! If the bureaucrats come up with a plan we may soon see the bottom of this mess. Bend is a very desirable place to live and we still have people moving to the area from all over the county. Between now and next summer is a great time to buy that dream home or investment property in Bend.
There is a good choice of Horse Properties for sale in Bend and Central Oregon. Bend and Central Oregon is “horse country.” In Central Oregon you need deeded water rights in order to irrigate pasture and hay. Good horse properties will always have water rights.
The least expensive horse property listed for sale in the Central Oregon MLS is a 33.8 acre property between Bend and Redmond. It’s listed for $499,000. It features 23.5 acres of irrigation water and a house and huge barn built in 1925. The old farm house needs some work but the barn features 8 stalls. This brings back feelings of the “old days.”
On the other hand there are 6 properties listed for sale between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000. These upper end horse properties are on 30 acres or more and feature luxury homes and premium horse facilities.
I was showing horse properties yesterday and found a great buy for $749,500. It was on 10 acres east of Bend in a secluded location. The home was around 3,000 square feet with attached triple car garage. There was 5 acres of irrigated pasture and a premium 9 stall horse barn with hot and cold running water, wash rack, foaling stall, great tack room and all the amenities you could ask for in a horse facility.
Prices are down in Central Oregon and now is a good time to pick up a nice horse facility at a good price. There are currently 55 horse properties for sale in the Bend and Sisters area with 5 or more acres of irrigated pasture.
Bend Oregon – Freddie Mac reported that fixed-rate, 30 year mortgages dipped to 5.93% last week. These are great interest rates and you can count on them to head back up when this market bottoms out. I’m predicting we will see the bottom next year sometime, possibly in the spring.
Now is a great time to buy! There are hundreds of homes to choose from and some really great prices available. In most instances you can buy an existing home for less money than it would take to build a comparable home. In ten years we are all going to look back and wish we had bought more real estate in this market.
One of the many reasons people are moving to Bend Oregon is the hiking. Bend and the surrounding Central Oregon has hundreds of miles of great hiking trails. My wife Connie and I left our home on the Deschutes River in SW Bend this morning and drove to the Green Lakes trail head at Sparks Lake in the Cascade Mountains West of Bend.
We hiked up the fairly easy trail (4.5 miles) to Green Lake. It was a beautiful hike along a rushing stream with many water falls. We saw Mule deer and several species of birds. This is a wilderness trail so there are no motorized vehicles allowed. We had lunch on the lake. I took a short cat nap and we walked back out. It’s a good day hike and we were gone from home about 7 hours.
There are many hikes that are closer to Bend and easier. Check out this web site. http://www.trails.com/stateactivity.aspx?area=10005 A very popular hike is up Lava Butte. It’s steep and a great work out. You won’t be alone as there are many Bendites walking the trail all the time. Hiking and Bend’s fresh air are only a couple of the many reasons people are still moving to Bend.
There are currently 558 vacant building lots listed for sale in the Bend Oregon MLS. 102 of those lots are $100,000 or less. 62 of those lots are $80,000 or less! These lots all have utilities to the property line including city water and sewer. A few years ago builders and developers couldn’t develop lots fast enough to keep up with demand. Now there is a glut on the market and you can buy an existing home for less than you can build one.
There are 93 lots listed for sale for $500,000 or more. The most expensive lot for sale in Bend is listed for $2,000,000 on the golf course at Pronghorn. No matter what type of lot your looking for there are many many choices at good prices. I talked to a contractor client of mine and a friend of his is buying repossessed lots directly from the lender for $60,000 each.
There are also a few whole subdivisions for sale that would make a good 1031 exchange for someone coming out of a sale of a larger property. The astute investor can pick up some good buys on completed subdivisions right now. I would plan on a 5 year hold and then either re-sell or build homes when the market is right. Between now and next summer is a good time to buy land in Bend Oregon.
Jim Johnson has been selling quality homes and land in Bend Oregon since 1981. Call 541-389-4511 or see his web site http://www.bendoregonrealestateexpert.com . To see more information on Bend Oregon click on the link below http://bendoregonrealestateexpert.com/bendoregon.asp .If you would like to make a comment on this post or on the Bend Oregon real estate market click on “comments” below. Jim is licensed by the State of Oregon as a Principal Broker for Century 21 Gold Country Realty.
Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30 year fixed mortgage rates dipped to 6.35% last week. Mortgage rates around 6.5% are great. I can remember in the early 80s when rates went from 16% to 12%. 12% sounded great at that time!
The prices of Bend Oregon real estate are down and there’s a nice choice of homes to choose from. Now is a good time to buy. I look for the market to bottom out next year.
The Bend Oregon real estate market continues to fall. The median price of a home sold in Bend was down 20.3% from August of 2007. The median price for a home in Bend is now $279,000. This was reported by Mike Caba of Bratton Appraisal Group. The median price is down 25.8% from the median price of August 2006.
He also reported that the number of sales as compared to August 2007 was down to 89 homes sold as compared to 144 in August 2007. That’s a 38% decrease in the number of homes sold.
It was also reported that the average days on the market was 92. This data is taken from the Central Oregon MLS. That may sound good but it does not take into account the number of days a home was listed with another Realtor. We just sold a home in two weeks that had previously been on the market for over 2 years with other Realtors.
It looks like prices will continue to fall until no sooner than next spring/summer. We are seeing a fair amount of out of state buyers looking around for bargains. Now is a good time to buy. Interest rates are good, prices are down and there’s a great selection.
The new Orvis store in the Old Mill District in Bend Oregon is opening an 18 station fly-casting course on the Deschutes River. The Orvis Old Mill Casting Park is set to open in mid October and will challenge fly casters of all abilities. You can read all the details at the Bend Bulletin’s web site. http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/BIZ0102/809030334People continue to move to Bend for it’s excellent fly fishing. Orvis officials believe this course will be a first in the nation. Prices are down on Bend Oregon real estate and now is a good time to buy.
If you have questions about Bend or Bend real estate just type in the subject of your question in the search box in the right hand column and hit search. You can use this blog as your search engine for Bend Oregon real estate.
If you’re thinking about buying a home in Bend you should sign up for Jim’s free New Listing Notification Service or call or e-mail today. Jim Johnson is a Certified Residential Specialist and has been selling quality homes in Bend Oregon since 1981. Call 541-389-4511 or see his web site to search the MLS - Bend Oregon Real Estate. Jim is licensed by the State of Oregon as the Principal Broker for Bend Oregon Real Estate Expert. E-MAIL
There are currently 89 houses listed for sale in the Bend Oregon MLS that are under $250,000. I’ve always felt the best rental houses are 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a double car garage. A newer house is preferable because of future repairs. The 89 houses for sale in Bend meet this criteria and some have 2.5 baths and 4 bedrooms and were built in 2000 or later. This includes bank repos and short sales.
Here’s a good example of a property that has a proven track record as a good rental property. It’s over 2,000 square feet has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, double garage and mountain view. It’s listed for $234,500. Here’s the link to a virtual tour. http://www.distinctivehometours.com/tour.asp?tour=Brody
Bend Oregon real estate has a proven track record as great long term investments. Prices are currently down substantially from a couple of year age and there are some great buys available. The wise investor would be looking to pick up rental properties between now and next spring.
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