Bend Premier Real Estate Blog

Chelsea Will Join Her Mother Sherry as Part of the Ortega Family Network

Real Estate runs in Chelsea's blood with her mother having been an active real estate agent for over 30 years. It is natural that Chelsea would step into the business as part of the Ortega Family Network which has connections in Santa Barbara, California and Maui, Hawaii. Chelsea brings a global perspective to the family real estate network having lived in SE Asia and Australia, teaching yoga and traveling different parts of the world. Living and working in other countries has enabled Chelsea to recognize that housing is such an important need to people around the world and to appreciate and enjoy the excitement of helping clients find a home the fits their lifestyle.

Chelsea was raised in Bend and graduated from Summit High School.  She know...

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For Bend Real Estate sales, 3D Virtual Tours have become an increasingly important tool since the coronavirus outbreak last year. More specifically, homebuyers, sellers, and real estate agents have had to deal with new restrictions and grapple with safety concerns when it comes to exposure to both the original strain of Covid-19, and now also with the even more contagious Delta variant.

Recently both Matterport and Redfin conducted a survey of 1000 home buyers and 1000 home sellers to learn about their current concerns in the home buying and

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Redmond, La Pine, Prineville and Sisters All Showing Strong Single Family Home Sales

We have been focusing a lot on Bend real estate trends over the past year, but it is important to look at what has been happening in other cities in Central Oregon. We often look upon Redmond, La Pine and Prineville as wonderful towns in which home prices are more affordable and can be great options for buyers for whom Bend is too expensive. Sisters' home prices have been more comparable to those in Bend, but its unique lifestyle, size and location closer to the Willamette Valley make it a small town that may be a destination location for very specific buyers.

The real estate trends for

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Redmond, La Pine, Prineville and Sisters All Showing Strong Single Family Home Sales

We have been focusing a lot on Bend real estate trends over the past year, but it is important to look at what has been happening in other cities in Central Oregon. We often look upon Redmond, La Pine and Prineville as wonderful towns in which home prices are more affordable and can be great options for buyers for whom Bend is too expensive. Sisters' home prices have been more comparable to those in Bend, but its unique lifestyle, size and location closer to the Willamette Valley make it a small town that may be a destination location for very specific buyers.

The real estate trends for Redmond, La Pine,

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 Very Few People But Amazing Views Over Every Hill

We hiked the Obsidian Trail for the first time last year and really enjoyed the beauty of this trail which starts in the Willamette National Forest and traverses through the Three Sisters Wilderness. The photos do not replicate the interesting experience of sunlight reflecting off the sharp obsidian pebbles and larger stones seen in portions of the hike.

Our hike on August 7, 2021 started with smoke filled air blowing in from the Willamette Valley and Washington State. During the course of the hike we had varying degrees of smoke impacting our views and breathing, but the air quality got progressively better as the day wore on. We repeated the hike from last year, but once we reached the Glacial Way trail which loops back to the Obsidian Trail close to White Branch Creek, we elected to continue on north on the Pacific Crest Trail to Collier Cone from which, we had read, wonderful views of Collier Glacier on North Sister would be visible. But once we reached the cut off for the glacier, we elected instead to continue on to Scott Trail traveling north on PCT.  This stretch of the PCT traverses through fascinating volcanic areas to the west and north of Middle and North Sister and then eventually drops into a lovely meadow in which Scott Trail intersects.  Scott Trail has a branch off to Four in One Cone which we didn't take (but hope to sometime soon) and eventually brings hikers back to Hwy 242 (trail maps show a direct path from Scott Trail to the Obsidian Trailhead, but it was closed for restoration). We hiked on the shoulder of the highway 1/2 mile back to the parking lot by the Obsidian Trailhead.  All in all, we estimate we did in excess of 17 miles and roughly 3400 feet of elevation gain, but it was through such an amazing area of Central Oregon that we had never experienced. The few people we met along the way, mostly on the PCT, were backpackers and once we started on Scott Trail, we saw no one else. People looking for a shorter trip can do the Obsidian Trail loop we did last year (under 12 miles) or travel Scott Trail to Four in One Cone (just under 9 miles round trip). 

We hope to come back soon to this beautiful section of the Three Sisters and Mt. Washington Wildernesses to experience additional hikes. There is still much to explore.