Bend Premier Real Estate Blog

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Central Oregon Real Estate Sales Feeling Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic

The March 2020 real estate trends have been published and they reflect both the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the closings from strong February home sales. Central Oregon schools shut down Friday, March 13th and stay at home became the norm the following week.  Since the start of the pandemic, home sales have dropped, new listings have slowed, and more sale fails than normal have occurred, often due to buyers losing jobs and no longer qualifying for loans.  However, Central Oregon real estate sales are still happening, although at a different rate than normal for this time of year.

Bend Home Sales Mixed

When March of 2020 is compared with March of 2019 for the sales of Bend single family homes on less than an acre, the following can be noted:

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Great To Go Food in Bend Oregon

If you are anything like us, we have been very sad about not being able to go out to our favorite restaurants during this quarantine. However, this just means we have been changing our focus from dine-in opportunities to the best "To Go" locations in Band! Last week we had the opportunity to try Cody's Catering and for anyone looking for a lot of great BBQ at a fantastic price, this is a must try!

Currently through the end of April, Cody's is offering a special where you can buy one dinner for 4 hot and get a second "easy to heat up" dinner for 4 for half price! For a total of $46 we got enough food for about 4 meals for the two of us. Well of course this was exactly the kind of To Go bargain we were hunting for and it sure was delicious! We ordered the BBQ chicken dinner for 4 as our hot meal and it did not disappoint. We ha...

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Central Oregon Appraisers are Very Busy

Bend Premier Real Estate is fortunate to have Erik Chapin, one of our Premier Brokers who is also a  licensed appraiser, as an expert on the appraisal business in Central Oregon. According to Erik, Covid-19 has had a dramatic impact on appraisals locally.

Erik typically operates with a lead time of 4 weeks to complete an appraisal.  At this time in 2019, he averaged twelve appraisals a month.  Last week over a three day period, he received ten appraisals on top of fifteen he already had. He is working six to seven days a week and is having a hard time keeping up. There are a number of reasons why there is such a backlog:

Why Are Central Oregon Appraisals Backlogged?

1) Low in...

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Steins Pillar Trail Little Traveled Early April 2020

We have focused most of our hikes in the Cascades during our time living in Central Oregon.  However, the Ochocos, east of Prinveille, offer wonderful, less traveled hikes with beautiful vistas and interesting geology.

We traveled an hour out of Bend to find the Steins Pillar trailhead, traveling at the end first on a gravel road for several miles and then a single lane dirt road the last two miles.  When we arrived at 10:00 am, there was no one else there and we enjoyed our two mile hike into the Steins Pillar without seeing any other people. The hike had a few icy sections and patches of snow were still evident on more shaded areas, but the end of the hike being able to see Steins Pillar was well worth it.

Steins Pillar is a 350 foot remnant of a volcano dating back 38 million years. The hike to the Pillar has rock outcroppings, views of the Ochocos, viewpoints of the Pillar when you get closer to it and wildflowers.  The four mile round trip (out and back) is considered moderate and can be accomplished in a couple of hours, depending on how long you spend admiring the pillar when you reach its base.

During our trip out, we passed 4 other parties hiking in.  There were plenty of places to step aside and keep good social distancing. And all the people we passed appeared to be enjoying, as we were, the opportunity to be out of their home.