Bend Homes and USDA Loans

by Thesa Chambers, Principal Broker, ABR on January 26, 2012

There are two basic types of USDA Loan Products, the direct and the indirect.  A direct USDA loan is a low income loan with really low interest rates which a purchase is funded directly from USDA.  The direct USDA loan can be a very slow and painful process as the buyer and seller at the mercy of the funding of the program, money comes and goes through this program and often times a closing can be delayed for months.

Today however, we are going to talk about an indirect USDA loan which is works very similarly to a standard loan. What makes a USDA loan appealing to many is that you can finance 100% of the purchase price.  Now that does not mean you can buy a home and not have it cost you anything.  There are costs associated with purchasing a home which typically run just from just under $2,000 to about $5,000 on a $150,000 purchase.  The difference comes in whether or not the seller will agree to pay your closing costs.

So, what should you expect to need the funds for and when do you need them – the list below will help you understand what the costs of purchasing a Bend home with a USDA loan is;

  • Earnest Money – a typical earnest money for a home that qualifies for USDA is between $500 and $1000 these funds do go towards the purchase of the property and sometimes these funds can be refunded at the time of closing but not all the time.  These funds will be cashed by the title company upon acceptance and they will sit in escrow throughout the purchase process.
  • Home Inspection, most home inspections run under $500 and most home inspectors want to be paid at the time of the inspection.  The home inspection is typically done within 10 business days of the seller accepting your offer.
  • Appraisal, the appraisal is ordered by your lender and your lender will collect the fee from you prior to ordering the appraisal.  The appraisal is generally ordered about the same time as the home inspection happens. A typical appraisal will cost about $500 to $600.
  • If your seller does not pay closing costs there will be closing costs at the time you close the deal which will be 30 to 45 days if all goes well after your seller accepted your offer.  These costs can and should be calculated at the time you write your offer, although they will be an estimate they should be pretty close.

Not all homes in Bend qualify for the USDA loan, most of Bend in fact does not.  However there are homes that do, these homes are outside the city limits generally.  Deschutes River Woods is one neighborhood that does typically qualify for a USDA loan.

Homes for Sale in Deschutes River Woods That Qualify for USDA Loans

 

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It’s A Buyer’s Market BUT Homes Are Not Free!

by Thesa Chambers, Principal Broker, ABR on January 25, 2012

Bend Oregon Home Search Click Me

Buyer’s Market?

Many real estate professionals have been saying for years that we are in a Buyer’s Market.  And we ARE!  But what exactly does that mean?  Does it mean that every home on the market is over priced?  Or that every seller will replace or repair things to make the home appear brand new?  Does a buyer’s market mean that there is a set percentage a buyer should consider making an offer for?  The answer is NO!

A fellow Real Estate Blogger said it perfectly!

You Can Buy a Home, but You Will Never Ever Steal One - Katherine wrote a great post to help buyers in her area understand that although prices are low, you need an agent to help you determine what a great deal truly is.  After reading her post it became apparent that buyers in her area have some of the same thoughts as home buyers in Bend do.

An agent that is knowledgeable in the area can tell you if a home is priced well.  Katherine shows this great example;

Some sellers, the smart ones, will price their homes accordingly.  Maybe their home in great condition would be worth $250,000, but because their carpet is trashed, and the new buyer would have to buy some new appliances, and maybe touch up some paint, they’ll drop the list price to $245,000.

A Lesson Learned?

While reading Katherine’s post I could not help but think of a couple I was working with, they knew exactly what they wanted in a second home.  The perfect home came on the market and they made plans to visit the area and see the property. On the Friday prior to their arrival the home had a major price reduction, one that I knew as their agent would most likely bring multiple offers.  This did not worry me as I knew the buyer was well informed of the market and since this was a river front property priced well below any other river front properties I knew they would see the value and make a respectable offer.

The buyer arrived, and they did love the home.  We were writing an offer, and the listing agent called to let me know that another offer had been received and that they were giving us the opportunity to submit our offer and have both offers presented at the same time, still I was not worried after all my buyers knew exactly what the market was and they were well educated in the process, we had talked multiple times about when a home hits the sweet spot on pricing it is time to move swiftly and as cleanly as possible.  This home had hit the sweet spot.

My buyers ran to grab some lunch while I prepared the paperwork.  When they came back I had everything in order, all the necessary documents a current Comparative Market Analysis (CMA in Real Estate Lingo) just a couple blanks to complete some signatures and they would be ready for acceptance.  This is when they told me what their offer price was, and all that education, all the time we had spent searching for the perfect home in the sweet spot went out the window.

Multiple Offers!!! They Really Do Happen!

Knowing they were in a multiple offer situation, knowing the house now listed about $30,000 under value they wrote their offer for $15,000 under list price.  No matter what the numbers showed, no matter what they already knew they were determined this was a good offer.

Sadly they did not get the house, and sadly 3 years later even in this decline they have not found the perfect home in the perfect sweet spot.  In almost every correspondence I have with them these same words can be found… if only we had listened.

Buyers it is a buyer’s market out there, but what that means is there are a lot of things that can go your way, not that you get to have your cake and eat it to.  There is a lot of inventory, prices are low, interest rates are low and often times there can be some heavy negotiating to get you a lot more for your dollar.  But when a home is priced well, and is in a price range or area that creates good movement you really need to investigate the situation, and listen to your agent.

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Bend Bank Owned Homes

by Thesa Chambers, Principal Broker, ABR on January 24, 2012

Bank owned homes in Bend are for more than the first time homeowner.  The choices in homes that have gone through the foreclosure process vary in price, location, size and style.  There of course are areas that have been hit harder by foreclosures than others but with patience and perseverance you can find just about any type of home you are looking for as a bank owned home or REO (real estate owned).

Bend Bank Owned Homes Under $225,000

Full List of Bend Bank Owned Homes Under $225,000

Remember that bank owned properties are generally priced under market value and priced to sell quickly! Occasionally a bank owned home will go through a price reduction or two before a buyer will write an offer. Remember that when a home is reduced and it excites you, it very well may be exciting others too! If you the home you decide is right for you and it is bank owned, be prepared to act quickly.

Bend Bank Owned Homes OVER $225,000

Full List of Bank Owned Homes OVER $225,000

Bank owned homes in Central Oregon can be anywhere from move in ready to almost needing to be torn down.  Some of these homes have been vacant for a year or more and some of them were just recently vacated.  Many times there is deferred maintenance and sometimes they are pristine.

Unlike Bend Short Sales, you will not wait weeks to months for an answer from the bank.  A bank owned home can move through the purchase process just as it would if the home were a traditional sale.  The bank has already taken their loss and is ready to sell these homes.

Many bank owned homes offer to pay the buyers closing costs right up front and even if they do not many times these costs can be covered when you write your contract.  When purchasing a bank owned home using an agent that understands the area, what is happening in the market and has good relationships with the listing agents that the banks use can make your bank owned home purchase go much more smoothly.

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Bend Short Sales

by Thesa Chambers, Principal Broker, ABR on January 23, 2012

Ever since the collapse of the real estate market buyers and sellers alike have had multiple questions about short sales.  The Bend real estate market has seen and continues to see it’s fair share of short sales.  The good news to both buyers and sellers is that Short Sales are getting closed and they are doing so in a shorter period of time than we saw at the beginning of this environment in most cases.

Bend Oregon Short Sales

These listings are just a sample of homes currently listed as short sales in the $100,000 price range. At the bottom of this post you will find a link to an entire list of homes currently listed as short sales in Bend Oregon.
 

 

Searching for homes and including short sales online can be very frustrating for the Central Oregon buyer. There are some simple explanations but it does not make it any less frustrating.

Quick Over View of Short Sale Process

  • The home is listed typically at the low end of fair market value.  This brings a quicker offer obviously.
  • A buyer makes a written offer
  • The listing agent changes the status to – Contingent Short Sale – which means the seller has accepted the offer and the seller and seller’s agent is waiting on the bank to approve the written offer.
  • The property still shows on websites as available – because although the seller has accepted the offer they do not know if the bank will accept the offer…. so there is always a chance that the seller will be starting over so the marketing does not stop.
  • When the bank accepts the written offer – the Listing agent will change the status to pending and it will no longer show as available online.

The message in the steps above is to realize that even though these homes show active, do not be surprised if you call, drive by or ask me to show you a home, I may tell you there are other offers on it.

Bend Short Sale Properties

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Bend Sellers You Deserve Better!

I am surprised more often than not at the lack of marketing done by agents on homes that failed to sell in the Bend market. I grew up in South County (Proud to say La Pine) and for years La Pine has been the area I mainly focused on. But life has changed and I [...]

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