Waterfront homes are one of the most sought after properties in Central Oregon.  Central Oregon offers many choices of riverfront property.  Pricing, style, age and type of home varies as much as the bends of the rivers.

The Big Deschutes River is navigational by motor boat, it is the widest and deepest of all 4 rivers in most places.  The Big Deschutes River has private and public land along it’s banks.  Many of the homes located on The Big Deschutes River are located on what is often called the high side of the river.  When purchasing a property on The Big Deschutes River there are several things to keep in mind.  The water quality, the type of sewer, river setbacks and if there is a dock is it an approved dock?

The Little Deschutes River joins The Big Deschutes River at Crosswater Golf Course.  Several beautiful homes are located on The Little Deschutes River, such as Vandevert Ranch, Crosswater on the upper end and for more affordable homes Lazy River South is one of the most well known.  The Little Deschutes River is not generally navigated with a power boat or even a drift boat for any distance.  The Little Deschutes River does tend to have trees down and areas that are unexpectedly shallow.  Most of the recreational activities you will find on The Little Deschutes River is tubing, rafting, fishing and swimming.

Fall River is a shallow river that is extremely beautiful.  The Fall River Fish Hatchery is located on this river along with the subdivision Fall River Estates.

Spring River runs into The Big Deschutes River at Sunriver.  Homes on Cooper Drive are located on Spring River.  There are several homes currently for sale on this road, prices are varied from the high $400,000 to over a million.

When purchasing property on any of these rivers there are things you need to know, there are issues that an experienced Realtor® should know and also will need to disclose to you.  I am available to answer questions and show you the beauty that Central Oregon has to offer.

Click below to obtain your personalized list of Central Oregon Riverfront Properties or any other list YOU would like.

River Front Homes

In all honesty the current real estate market in Central Oregon has brought out a series of buyers that vary almost as much as the Central Oregon landscape.  One common thread Realtors® hear no matter what the price point of the buyer or the type of home a buyer might like is that they would like to see foreclosures.  The public knows that a foreclosure is priced below the market value and that they can get more bang for their buck.

You Can’t Buy a Foreclosure!

Foreclosure is a process not a status of a home.  As an experienced real estate agent in Central Oregon, I don’t correct my buyers when they say they want to see foreclosures, I show them Bank Owned Homes or homes that are also known as REOs (Real Estate Owned).  A foreclosure is the process that a bank, homeowner and property go through when the homeowner is behind on the payments.  In Central Oregon most mortgages are actually Trust Deeds, meaning that if you default there will be a process that leads up to a Trustee’s Sale.  Once you are 90 days past due the bank can issue what is called a Notice of Default.  At some point during this process your lender will turn the information about the default out to the public. That is where websites like RealtyTrac, Zillow and Trulia (Zillow and Trulia appear to actually get this information through RealtyTrac) pick up homes that are listed as FORECLOSURES.  These homes are often listed on these sites with a price of half what other homes are selling for or obviously great deals.

It May Not Be For Sale!

This week it became painfully clear to me that the public needs to understand that those websites out there that show homes in the foreclosure process that are not for sale. I was cruising through Trulia and had answered a couple questions that the general public had asked to have answered, something I do occasionally.  (sometimes it is fun to see out of area agents try and explain things from Central Oregon they can be pretty humorous) Then I noticed a common thread, there are a lot of buyers out there looking at these Foreclosure homes and asking for information.  Sometimes the addresses are listed a price and even a photo, why would a buyer not think they could buy this home.

Beware of Owner!

So let’s say that one of those homes really peaked the interest of a buyer.  Saturday rolls around and the family is out for a drive and the parents say, oh that house we saw online last night is in this neighborhood, we should stop and take a look.  They pull into the driveway it appears the house is vacant, the yard is slightly over grown, there seems to be signs of disarray. When people get into financial trouble, they often give up or sink into depression.  Back to our happy buyers, they pull into the driveway, and the kids start running around the yard, mom is working her way around back to look in the kitchen window and dad is heading for the window on the side of the garage, just then he hears a voice (or a gun being chambered) can I help you?

No Sign – No Agent – Generally Means Not For Sale

On these foreclosure properties, the home is generally worth less than is owed, so if the house is for sale, it MOST of the time is listed through a real estate agent.  If this home is not upside down it might be a for sale by owner, or it simply may not be for sale.  Just because a home owner gets behind in their payment does not mean they will lose the property.  Home owners do find ways to bring the payments current, or have the bank modify their loan.

List of BANK OWNED HOMES

La Pine Bank Owned Homes

Three Rivers South Bank Owned Homes

Sunriver Bank Owned Homes

Bend Bank Owned Homes

Sunriver has not had the number of short sales or bank owned properties that the rest of Central Oregon has seen.  But there are a few great homes to choose from that fall into this category, remember not to limit yourselves to just the bank owned or short sale, a lot of  sellers have lowered their prices to compete with the bank owned and short sales in Sunriver.

Click here for your List of Bank Owned and Short Sale Homes in Sunriver

Are you a buyer looking for a great home in Sunriver and think that bank owned or short sales are the way to go?  Think again…. Sunriver has not been hit nearly as hard with short sales or bank owned foreclosure homes.  However, prices have fallen to give you the same pricing without the hassle of a short sale or constraints of a foreclosure.

It was not that long ago you could not find a home in Sunriver for less than $300,000, no matter where the location, size or age of a home.  Today that has changed.  I am including a list of homes for sale in Sunriver under $400,000 (this is link).

Many of the homes under $400,000 have a proven rental history and are being sold furnished.  Although most of the time renting a home on a vacation program does not pencil out and pay for itself, it certainly can help pay the mortgage.

Any time is a great time to visit Sunriver as a buyer.  In the summer more homes are rented out and so your choices may be a little less (vacation rentals can not be viewed while occupied). Than other times of the year homes on rental programs are more likely to be vacant and available to see.  Give me a call, or drop me an email and let’s see what may suit your needs in Sunriver. A quick side note, none of these 3 homes are my personal listings, my reason of telling you about them are because a lot of people think that the prices in a resort like Sunriver are beyond their means.  In reality Sunriver is more affordable than it has been in years.

Many times throughout the last couple years I receive requests to provide listings or show bank owned homes.  We have a lot of them in Central Oregon and in the past most of the Bank Owned Homes were priced well below a traditional sale.  Today we are seeing some changes in that pricing.

Every area of Central Oregon, offers a few awesome bank owned homes but they also offer some great buys in a traditional sale.  So, what is the difference you might ask, below is a list of things you can expect with a purchase of a bank owned home and a traditional sale.

Bank Owned Home

• No guarantee how long a home has set vacant – in our extreme temperatures this can be an issue.
• No repairs – other than major safety or code violations
• No  history of the home to know how something may work
• Occasional delays because the asset manager (person over seeing the transaction) has multiple files.
• Title and escrow is generally handled with an out of area company
• Often times past due water and sewer accounts are not checked.

The Traditional Sale

• Home has been typically lived in or at least taken care of
• Sellers are more inclined to do repairs to sell the home than a bank will
• Sellers are generally willing to share how the systems of the home work, like winterizing the sprinkler systems and such.
• Sellers are more motivated to get documents signed and keep the contract moving forward
• Title and Escrow is handled in the area of the home, where the title company is familiar with the local associations, districts and so on giving you better protection.
• Water, sewer and other expenses are generally current, or are brought current at time of closing.

Great prices are available in both the bank owned listings and the re-sale listings – if you would like to be notified of listings that fit your price, or other needs I would be happy to set you up with an automatic email for listings that fit your specific needs.

La Pine Bank Owned Homes

Three Rivers South Bank Owned Homes

Sunriver Bank Owned Homes