Bend Home Buyers Need A Great Real Estate Agent to Work With

Ask any Bend real estate agent right now how the market is, and the answer will be "crazy." In this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, home buyers are flocking to Central Oregon and buying Bend homes faster than they can be listed.  This is resulting in a severe shortage of available homes for sale and in turn, a huge increase in the number of multiple offers on these properties.

Often referred to as a "bidding war," multiple offers can drive the price of a home up beyond the listing price and often the winner is the buyer willing to offer more money with better terms than the other buyers. Having an experienced real estate agent to work with is essential to help a buyer win the home.

Can't I Just Offer Low and Expect the Seller to Counter Higher? 

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We have lived in Central Oregon since 1985, but during this entire time we have never hiked to Camp Lake.  The start of this hike is located just outside Sisters off McKenzie Hwy on Forest Road 15 at the Pole Creek Trailhead. The hike into Camp Lake covers 7.1 miles (14.2 miles round trip), the first 4 through a burned forest, the result of 2017's Milli Fire. However, it is interesting to see how new plant growth is returning in the burned area.  And the open areas provide for wonderful views of both Middle and North Sister.

Once we left the burned forest and entered the higher elevations, we had the opportunity to cross the North Fork of Whychus Creek and hike even closer to Middle Sister. Several trails off the main trail lead to the summit of Middle Sister, a hike only for very experienced hikers with recommendations for climbing gear. Our hike left Middle Sister at this point and traveled further southwest to end at Camp Lake, part of the Chambers Lake series of high elevation lakes in the area, at the base of South Sister. Many campers stay in this area - hiking in and enjoying the area before leaving the next day. The elevation change over the 7.1 miles is just shy of 1700 ft (5300 ft at the trailhead to 6980 at Camp Lake), but it is gradual enough that many take this hike, including children. The books call this a difficult hike, but we would call it more moderate - just longer than many other hikes in the area.

Tumalo Mountain is One of the Best Places to View Mt. Bachelor

We have hiked Tumalo Mountain several times, but each has experience been enjoyable. The 4 mile round trip has 1400 foot elevation change, so it is fairly steep going up.  However, once you reach the top, the views of Mt. Bachelor, South Sister, Broken Top, and east toward the Ochocos are fabulous.  During July, the evidence that Mt. Bachelor is a renowned ski area is obvious with the ski runs and maintenance roads visible, but the beauty of the mountain is also easy to see.  Tumalo Mountain is a popular hike and plan on seeing people during your trip up and back. Bring plenty of water and enjoy the experience.

We had never hiked Black Crater on McKenzie Summit until this month and it turned out to be a wonderful experience.  Despite the burned area at the beginning of the hike, the result of the 2017 24,000 acre Millie Fire, the 7 miles up and back was easy enough, although steep in sections, and signs of new life in the burned forest was interesting to see.  However, the reason people hike Black Crater is for the views at the top. On our day, July 13, 2020, eight Cascade Mountains were visible. We had to get through about 1/2 mile of snow to reach the top, but once the trail opened up, the stunning vistas of Broken Top, the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, 3 Fingered Jack, Jefferson and Mt. Hood were all there and we enjoyed seeing them from this wonderful vantage point. Trail books note the hike as "difficult" or "hard," but we found it more moderate than super challenging. The elevation change is there, but if you take your time, the views are very much worth the effort.

Bend Luxury Homes are Selling!

Ever since coming out from the housing recession, the value of Bend single family homes on less than an acre has increased. From an average sales price of $230,000 in spring of 2011, Bend home values have gone up to exceed $547,000 June 2020.  During the same time, the months of inventory have dropped from 13.3 months to less than 2 and the price per square foot has risen from $113 to $268. From a low of two $1,000,000 plus Bend homes on less than an acre selling in all of 2010, June 2020 alone saw 23 sold.*

Bend Premier Real Estate brokers are currently working with many million dollar buyers, and people calling the office or registering on the company website are frequently searching for high end listings. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic (or perhaps because of it), the demand for Bend real estate with a home office, a backyard or some acreage, and some space in the home has increased. We are seeing multi-million dollar homes sellin...

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