First Step In Buying A Bend Home: Mortgage Pre-approval

Posted by Sedonia Darling on March 27th, 2013

Getting Pre-Approved For A Bend Home Loan

If you're thinking of purchasing a home in Bend, the first step is to get pre-approved for a mortgage (unless you're paying cash of course).  The mortgage pre-approval process has become more of a chore over the past few years than it was prior to the real estate bubble bursting.  But it's still a relatively easy process.

First Step of Mortgage Pre-Approval Process

Contact a local Bend mortgage broker or bank, preferably a referral from a friend, family, or your real estate broker. You should interview the mortgage professional and ask any questions that you have.  Make sure to let them know how much you feel comfortable spending on a monthly mortgage.  Ask them about different home loan options,…

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Bend Market Update 2013

Posted by Sedonia Darling on March 14th, 2013

Bend Real Estate Market Summary For First 2 Months Of 2013

The market is going strong in Bend, maybe too strong... There still isn't enough inventory available to satisfy the amount of serious buyers, causing bidding wars.  So prices continue to climb.  Many lower end buyers are getting priced out of our market. A little over a year ago, you could buy a nice, newer home for $150,000 in Bend. Today it's hard to find anything over 1500 square feet and doesn't require a lot of work for under $200,000.

Bend Residential Real Estate Sales January and February 2013

Let's look at the sales of stick-built single family residences through February this year (statistics taken directly off of the Central Oregon MLS, excluding townhomes, condos, and manufactured…

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Buying a HUD owned home in Oregon

Posted by Sedonia Darling on March 5th, 2013

Buying a HUD home in Bend

I'm currently representing a buyer in a transaction on a HUD owned home in Bend, and the process has changed a lot over the past couple of years.  So I thought a blog post on the subject was necessary.

 

HUD stands for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.  FHA (Federal Housing Administration) has been a part of HUD since 1965.  FHA insures lenders against losses due to borrowers defaulting on their home loans.  When a FHA backed loan is foreclosed on, usually HUD ends up owning the property.  They then put the HUD owned home on the market to the public.

Online Bid Process

When HUD puts a home that they own on the market, they will list it with a local real estate broker and the property will be put on the…

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