Central Oregon Real Estate Info

La Pine offers a great outdoor lifestyle however, it is rare that a property comes on the market that has it all ready for you.  This beautiful 2 acre lot is nicely treed with mature Ponderosa Pines, is fenced and gated.  Deeded access to the timbr land and public land for easy access for riding or a nice hike.

1809 Square foot home with 2 car garage that includes a shop area and a bonus room with a pool table that stays with the property - worried about plowing the driveway or smoothing out the corals, no need, the 1947 tractor stays with the property too.

Covered RV Storage on cement slab with sturdy metal roof to keep the sun and snow off the RV while not in use.$309,900

 La Pine is known for a lot of great outdoor activities and a beauty that many only dream of.  The town motto is "The Outdoors at Your Front Door." 

Most of the homes in La Pine have a domestic well for drinking water.  The water in La Pine tastes like water many people buy.  But with this water source comes a few items that an out of area REALTOR® would not know were necessary for each transaction.

Every time a home sells that is supplied water by a well the water must be tested for nitrates and ecoli.  The test is simple and can be done by a third party for less than $100 usually.

Many agents will suggest that the seller complete the test and take it to the lab or worse the REALTOR® will do the test themselves.  I highly recommend you not do this, hiring a third party that is neutral can save you a lot of head aches.

Ecoli and nitrates are both found in soil - if your well has a small cave in after the test it can appear that you pulled the water from a different source.  By having a neutral third party pull the water you have saved yourself the possibility of an issue.

Some lenders such as VA loans do require a flow test in addition to the State mandated tests.  It is very easy to have the same professional pull the water for the water test and do the flow test at the same time.

Many of the locals have their water tested every year or so, just to be sure of what they are drinking. 

As February comes to an end it is time to see exactly what the Real Estate market in La Pine produced in the month of January.  The market is starting to move, buyers are able to travel easier than they did earlier.  If you are considering listing your home now may be a good time. 

La Pine has seen an improvement of offers being presented and sales closing.  Frame built homes saw 11 homes close escrow with 14 in pending status.  Manufactured homes had 5 sales and show 5 pending.  Land is showing movement we have not seen in a while there were no sales, but there are 10 pending sales.  We will be watching to see how those fair in the sale process.

Three Rivers South excluding Crosswater, Caldera Springs and Vandevert Ranch shows one manufactured home sale and none in pending status.  Frame built homes did see better movement of properties with 11 homes pending and 5 sold homes.  Land sales in Three Rivers South show on sold property and 7 sales in escrow.

There are great properties on the market in all of Central Oregon, for a complete list of properties please email or call we can customize a list that fits your wish list.

Fame Built Homes La Pine January 2008

Manufactured Homes La Pine January 2008

Land La Pine January 2008

Three Rivers South Fame Built Homes January 2008

Three Rivers South Manufactured Homes January 2008

Three Rivers South Land January 2008

We were blessed with clear skies for the Lunar Eclipse tonight - athough my camera battery did die so you only get the begining of the eclipse - I thought I would share it with you.  The next Lunar Eclipse for us is in December of 2010. 

Central Oregon offers great outdoor activities and having the opportunity to sip a hot cup of coffee and snap photos of this spectacular event was the topping of a great Central Oregon Day.

Silverstar will have to look at other options for Village at Sunriver expansion and remodel.  Although the majority of voters approved the sale of the 6 plus acres being sold to Silverstar the final tally was 300 votes shy of the 60% turn out that was needed to approve the sale.  Silverstar already owns or has options for the 20 acres of the current mall.  Many of the homeowners in Sunriver are disappointed, and many are rejoicing.

I have always said that change is one of the most difficult things for people to embrace, but it appears to me that Silverstar came pretty close to having the community support they needed.  I have no idea what the next move for Silverstar will be, but I hope it is something to bring activity, beauty and support to this aging area of Sunriver.

Personally I would have liked to see a respected vote with enough people voting allow for a pass or fail.  To loose an election by default of homeowners not voting is a sad statement to me.  Do these people not care, did they not know what the issues were or did they simply forget to send in their ballots?  No matter what the answer is, the fact is only 56% of the homeowners voted and no matter what the vote 60% were needed for approval of this project.

edited to explain further - the majority of the votes approved this sale - however law required 60% voter turn out to approve - so because only 56% voted - the ballot failed - not because of lack of yes vote but because of the lack of 300 votes - if 300 more people had voted the land sale would have been approved. 

It was brought to my attention that the first report of the number of votes was misunderstood or incorrectly reported - there was a large enough turn out for an approval if 300 more had voted in favor of the sale it would have passed.  The vote required a 60% in favor and although the owners in favor out numbered those opposed they did not meet the 60% requirement.  Oregon does have voting guidelines that require a percentage of votes, my apology is extended to any one I may of offended.

Other articles on this subject

KTVZ - Channel 21 - Your Central Oregon News Source

Oregonian

KBND News Talk 1110

SaveSunriver.org

strike out and itlaics were added on 2/26/08 when it was brought to my attention that this was incorrect - thank you Luis Bayol

Looking for real estate in Central Oregon?  La Pine Oregon real estate offers a wide variety of choices in price, land size and home style or size.  Currently many consider our real estate market to be a buyers market.  With prices lower than the last couple years, interest rates low and seller's motivated we do have a great buyer's climate. 

La Pine is a great small town that offers more elbow room than many other areas of Central Oregon yet is an easy half hour commute to Bend on most days.  Real estate in Lapine offers a lot of great options.  Whether you are looking for Mt. Bachelor view homes, Deschutes River front homes, a nice home on a city lot or a beautifully treed setting you can easily find it in LaPine.

The table below will give you a quick snap shot of homes available in La Pine Oregon - a complete list of homes for each category can be seen by clicking on the link in the title of each heading.

Three Rivers South is most likely one  of the most confusing areas to the buyer.  The Three Rivers South area generally speaking is the area from Spring River Road (the road at Sunriver Junction off HWY 97) to La Pine State Recreation Road.  When you search for homes in this area you will find that they have a Bend address and they all share the zip code 97707 - the same zip code that Sunriver uses.  When you search for real estate this can cause confusion.

Three Rivers South does include Crosswater Vandevert Ranch and Caldera Springs, these three communities are completely different than the remaining area of Three Rivers South.  To help the buyer know what is available in each area you can download the list of available properties by neighborhood and sometimes in a price range.  All stats and reports are taken from searching the Central Oregon REALTORS® Association MLS on this date.

Three Rivers South

There are currently 106 frame built homes listed for sale in Three Rivers South 76 of these homes are under $500,000.

76 Homes are priced under $500,000 average a sales price of $321,271, 1725 square feet and are priced on average at $189 a square foot.  Complete List of homes under $500,000 in Three Rivers South.

30 Homes are over $500,000 with an average sales price of $834,840 with an average of 2536 square feet, at an average rate of $353 a square foot.  Complete List of homes over $500,000 in Three Rivers South.

Three Rivers South has 25 Manufactured homes for sale - the lowest priced is $125,000 the highest is $595,000 with an average of $229,168 - average square footage is 1496 with a price per square foot of $158.  Complete List of manufactured homes in Three Rivers South.

Caldera Springs

Caldera Springs is the newest hot spot in Central Oregon.  Caldera Springs is located just across South Century Rd from Crosswater and complements the natural beauty of the area.  Caldera Springs still has lots available as well as 12 new homes ready for sale, including a few of the "cabins" that make up the resort area of this beautiful resort prices vary from $850,000 to $1,595,000. 

Currently there are 37 lots for sales many with mountain, golf course or water views.  Caldera Springs has 4 nice man made lakes with a beautiful stream that runs through it connecting the lakes together.  Lots are priced from $275,000 to $509,000.  Complete List of Caldera Springs Properties.

 Crosswater

Crosswater is known for it's world class golfing, The Big Deschutes, Little Deschutes, Mt. Bachelor Views and breath taking homes.  You will currently find 6 homes for sale ranging from $975,000 to $2,795,000.  There are 3 lots ranging from $525,000 to $595,000, most of the homes and lots of Crosswater feature at least one of the views mentioned above.  Complete List of Crosswater Properties.

Teri Eckholm tagged me for the newest and maybe the best series of blogs to be published on ActiveRain, Hidden Gems.  Teri's Hidden Gen Was Rebecca Levinson.  Melissa Grant started the challenge on January 26^th and bloggers are taking on the challenge to share with you other hidden gems of ActiveRain.

I thought this would be an easier task that it was.  I had a couple of people scoped out for my article and found that they had quit blogging while I was away... well that would not work for this project.

I did something I use to do often and realized I had not been practicing enough.  I clicked on the new members button off the home page and looked started looking at blogs of people that joined AcitveRain in December.  Cruising through their blogs I found one that really stood out, Gabrielle Nemes.  Gabrielle has received her GRI and is located in Southeast King County in Washington. 

I can tell from reading the first of what I am sure will be a long list of posts that Gabrielle loves the Pacific Northwest as much as I do.  She has a helpful side to her, and the evidence is in her post about converting Outlook contacts into Excel or Word.

Gabrielle tends to write in a manner that she leaves you with the feeling you have to comment, because she leaves you with a question more often than not.

I suspect this REALTOR® will be a great blog to follow and check in with often.

Now for the two people I would like to see their gems

Margaret Woda - Maryland Real Estate

Candy Henthorne - Spring Texas

Heard the market is slow, no one is buying and that we are all doomed?  I have good news and the proof to show you that 37 home sellers in La Pine Oregon are felling a lot different right now.  It is a buyer's market and buyers are certainly in the driver's seat, but they are buying.

January is over, although there may be a few listings still showing pending that have actually closed escrow a quick search of the Central Oregon Association of Realtors MLS shows that there are 37 homes that either have an offer on them or have closed escrow. 

Prices vary and so do the style of homes, most of the sold properties did sell for less than listed for and many of these homes had multiple price reductions before finding a buyer... but they did find the buyer and the buyer did buy.

Click here for the list of homes that are Pending (in escrow) or Sold in the La Pine area.

Are you going to sit on the fence and wait until prices are lower?  What if they go up this spring?  What if the loan you qualify for now is no longer available or rates go back up?  Are you ready to have to wait for the next buyer's market or should you investigate if now is the right time for you?

First time home buyers have some great financing options. Oregon Veterans you have some wonderful options out there.  Talk to your mortgage professional about these options or if you don't have someone you trust, call me I will provide you a list of mortgage professionals that know the market, the area and have a lot of different loan products to find the one that suits your needs.

Buyer's listen up - have you noticed all the negative print and media ads about how tough the real estate market is?  Don't you find it unusual that when the prices of Central Oregon Homes were skyrocketing, homes for sale were getting multiple offers and so on everyone thought real estate was booming?

They have you scared; they have you thinking this is the wrong time to buy.  What is so wrong with buying today versus buying a year or two ago?  A year ago interest rates were low but prices were high and inventory of homes to buy was lower than it is now.  Many of you had to offer higher than list price to even have a chance at an accepted offer.

Today, there are homes on the market ripe for the buying.  Many sellers are offering to pay part or all of your closing costs.  Mortgage rates are still low and there is still 100% financing available.  Many homes are priced lower than you can build a home for. 

Real Estate has always had peaks and valleys; Central Oregon Real Estate is no exception.  Are we at rock bottom, will the prices continue to fall? I can not tell you - but are they going to go up?  That I can tell you, yes PRICES WILL GO UP, the question is when? 

Buyer's this truly is the BEST BUYER'S MARKET IN 20 YEARS!  Some of you are sitting back arguing this point with me... but think about this as a BUYER - interest rates are low, there are many loan options, inventory is high and sellers are motivated.