Bend Oregon Real Estate

BEND OREGON BANK FORECLOSURES are selling fast!  They seem to be a hot commodity these days.  They are selling at a rate of almost one per day.  There are currently 105 bank owned homes in Bend for sale through the Central Oregon Multiple Listing Service.  There have been 50 bank foreclosures sold in the last 60 days and there are currently 58 pending sales that should close within the next 30 days or so.  

These numbers represent homes in the Bend area only.  They do not include town homes, condominiums, and bare land, commercial or industrial property.  Foreclosures nation wide are up 30% over a year ago according to the Bend Bulletin.  Bank foreclosures will not stop soon but I think we will be seeing a decreasing number of them for sale.  Several of the major lenders have temporarily halted all foreclosures.

The 58 pending sales are not included in the 105 that are listed for sale!  The homes sold in the last 60 days averaged 87 “days of the market.”  Days on the market can be misleading because there’s usually 30-45 days between the time a listing goes pending and it closes.  So most bank owned homes are in escrow and off the market in less than 60 days from the time they hit the market.

Two bank owned homes just went pending on Awbrey Butte, one of Bend’s most desirable residential neighborhoods.  One sold in less than a week.  The other was on the market for several months.  The good properties that are priced right sell quickly.  The last 3 offers I wrote on foreclosures had multiple offers on them.  The banks on the average are taking 95.6% of list price.  Some are selling over list price where there are multiple offers and the list price is low.

One thing that is confusing buyers in our real estate market in Bend is short sales.  A short sale is a property that is listed for sale at a price that is below what the seller owes the bank.  All short sales are subject to lender approval.  Short sale listings are misleading because some of them are listed at an unrealistic price which is below market.  There is no way a lender will allow a sale and take huge loss on a sale that is under current market values. 

If you are looking to buy a home my advice is to avoid short sales and concentrate on bank foreclosures.  You can get tied up in a short sale for up to six months.  An offer is made and accepted by the seller.  Then it is submitted to the lender.  The lenders can take months only to come back with a counter offer that is unacceptable.  Some lenders will not take any offer because the seller has too much income and too many assets to justify the short sale.

Another avenue to buy a bank foreclosure is at an auction.  However, as far as I can tell real estate auctions in Bend Oregon are not that great of a deal for buyers.  I recently attended an auction of one lender’s foreclosures in SE Bend.  There were six properties up for auction.  The bank had a “reserve” on all of these homes.  If they didn’t get their price they wouldn’t sell.  Not all the homes sold.

One of my clients had his eye on one of these homes.  All the homes were supposed to be open for viewing 2 hours prior to the start of the auction which was held at a different location.  My client waited until 30 minutes before the auction and the house he was interested in was still locked up.  He never got to see the inside.

The home in question had previously been listed for sale by the bank in the Central Oregon MLS for 208 days.  It was listed for $172,000 and did not sell.  The listing expired and the home was put up for auction.  It ended up selling for $160,000 plus a 5% premium which put the sales price at $168,000!  I’m sure if someone had offered $165,000 while it was listed the bank would have taken that offer.  My point is that auctions aren’t that good of a deal for buyers.

After a notice of default is filed there is eventually a foreclosure auction on the court house steps held by the local sheriff.  However, 99% of the time these homes go to the lender in 1^st lien position. It’s usually a waste of time to attend these auctions.  One good reason not to buy these homes is that you do not have an opportunity to see inside or have any type of inspection. 

The Central Oregon Multiple Listing Service receives the bulk of all bank owned homes as soon as they are put on the market.  These listings as a general rule are priced very well.  Sometimes they are as low as 50% of the sales price a couple of years ago.  There is some good money to be made today in Bend Oregon by buying bank foreclosed properties.

If you’re serious about buying Bend Oregon real estate you should sign up for Jim’s free New Listing Notification Service or call or e-mail Jim 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.