April 2009 Real Estate Statistics

I would like to thank all of you that actually read my blog and website for these statistics. I received several emails from people wondering when the statistics would be available. Sorry for the delay. Between weddings, work, and training for the Pole Pedal Paddle (my team took 3rd!) I've been busy, but here they are.

April 2009 Real Estate Statistics

I'm seeing two distinct real estate markets in Bend. One is the foreclosure market, the other is everything else. I'm working with a few buyers right now that are interested in purchasing bank owned homes and I can't tell you how many times we've run into multiple offers on homes they were interested in. There was a home in The Parks at Broken Top that was listed in the morning and by the afternoon they had 7 offers. It was listed at $270,000 and sold for $285,000. There was another home in Skyliner Summit that I showed and they had already submitted 2 offers to the bank but neither of them had been accepted yet. We submitted an offer but the bank accepted one of the other offers before they had a chance to review ours. That home was shown 36 times in the first week it was on the market.

If you're interested in bank owned properties, you have to be ready to submit an offer as soon as it hits the market. Get preapproved for a loan before you even start looking. The banks will require that you include a preapproval letter with your offer. Make sure your agent calls the listing agent to check on the status before you look at bank owned homes. You'll want to know if any offers have been submitted and also if there are any issues with the home. Many bank owned homes have problems like water damage from frozen pipes. You can find great deals but you have to be ready to act quickly.

You should NOT be paying to search for foreclosures. Many websites out there require you to pay to view their list of foreclosures. Contact me or any Bend real estate agent you know and request a list of foreclosures. Banks list these home through Central Oregon Realtors and they are in the MLS.