How to Improve Your Home’s Exterior Before Listing

There are several tasks to take care of before putting your home on the market.

For example, you need to take the time to boost your curb appeal. After all, you want to make a good impression on your potential buyers. If they arrive at your home and notice an unsightly exterior, they may be hesitant to step inside your home. It is important to keep the following ideas in mind for boosting your curb appeal.

Clean Your Exterior

Start by spending several hours cleaning your exterior. You should put away any toys and outdoor equipment, and be sure to clean up after your pets. Remove the leaves and debris from your lawn, driveway, and pathway. You can also rent or borrow a pressure washer to use on your windows, siding, and gutters. If need be, you should also sweep and declutter your porch.

Maintain Your Landscape

It is also important to ensure your greenery is healthy and visually appealing for your buyers. You need to mow the lawn and pull the weeds, and you also need to trim the branches, hedges, and bushes as needed. Do you enjoy gardening? This is a great time to show off your gardening skills. If you are short on time, you can always add a few planters of beautiful flowers.

Decorate Your Porch

Once you clean up your exterior and landscape, consider adding a little pizzazz to your porch. Your porch needs to appeal to all buyers, so it is best to keep it simple but welcoming. Utilize your space with outdoor patio furniture, or add a touch of nature with a few outdoor plants.

Upgrade Your Fixtures

Now is a good time to see if you need to upgrade any of your porch elements or fixtures. You may need a new set of address numbers or a new mailbox. It may also be time to upgrade your porch light. Finally, you may decide to welcome your potential buyers with a new door knob and knocker.

Repair Your Roof

The last thing you want is for your buyers to notice a damaged roof. Even minor damage can turn away a buyer who is not prepared to take care of a roof repair. If you think there is a problem with your roof, be sure to have it inspected and repaired by a group of professionals.

When you take the time to boost your curb appeal, you are raising the property value of your home before putting it on the market.

Get more tips like this on RISMedia’s Housing Call.

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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New-Home Costs Rising at Unparalleled Rate

They’ve jumped 42% over the last three years, data shows. What are builders doing to bring some relief to the market?

Inflation is pushing up homebuilding costs at an unprecedented rate, according to Bank of America’s Who Builds the House? report. Supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages are adding pressure to rising prices.

The average cost for materials to build a single-family home jumped 42% from 2018 to 2021, adding thousands of dollars to the price of a new home, according to the report. The median sales price of a new home in April reached a record $450,600, a 20% hike from a year earlier, Commerce Department data shows.

The higher material costs have been passed along to home buyers, who are facing the double whammy of rapidly rising mortgage rates. First-time buyers, in particular, are increasingly becoming priced out of the new-home market, with only about 10% of new homes in April on the market priced at less than $300,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders. A year prior, that share was 25%.

As buyers back away from the new-home market, builders are slowing production. Housing starts have fallen to a 13-month low, and single-family construction dropped 9.2% in May, according to the Commerce Department.

“Residential construction material costs are up 19% year over year, with cost increases for a variety of building inputs, except for lumber, which has experienced recent declines due to a housing slowdown,” says NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. What’s more, “The increase for mortgage rates for the first half of 2022 has priced out a significant number of prospective home buyers.”

Some builders are reducing their prices. For example, the share of new-construction homes with price cuts has quadrupled compared to a year earlier in metro areas like Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn., according to Redfin data. Price cuts in new construction have tripled in Phoenix and doubled in Tampa, Fla.

Stuart Miller, executive chairman of homebuilder Lennar, told CNBC that he expects prices will readjust moving forward due to higher mortgage rates, which have nearly doubled over the past year. Rising material costs combined with accelerating mortgage rates have left buyers facing “a little sticker shock, and that will likely lead to a pause … and then some reconciliation,” he said. “But there is still a housing shortage across the country. We’ll adjust prices as need be. … Pricing may come down a bit to accommodate affordability. But America still needs homes, and we’ll continue to fill that void.”

Building Material Woes Continue

Framing lumber and engineered wood have experienced the largest price increases among materials, according to the Bank of America report. Lumber prices have been volatile over the past year; prices hit an all-time high in 2021, adding $18,600 to the average cost of a new home, according to the NAHB. However, lumber prices have fallen in recent weeks and are trading at yearly lows, though they are still higher than in 2020. Still, housing analysts say it likely will take time before consumers see any savings due to the price dip.

Other material costs in home construction also have contributed to rising prices, such as upticks in concrete, flooring and paint. The price of exterior paint jumped 14.5% in the first five months of this year, the NAHB notes. Window and door shortages, which have been blamed for many construction delays, also have added to costs. The plumbing sector has been hit hard by a labor shortage that is also leading to delayed timelines, builders note.

Further, inflation is adding to consumer costs in household furnishings, which saw prices climb 9.3% annually in January, according to the Labor Department. Appliances were up 8.5%, and floor coverings up 7.2% in the same time period.

Read more.

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Prioritizing People Over Cars Won’t Happen Overnight, But It’s Worth The Effort

It’s an actual scene readers may easily imagine: Two families come to visit Bend during the busy July 4 weekend, a gaggle of bikes in tow, planning to ride the Deschutes River Trail.

They load up their kids and snacks and gear and begin to plan a cycling route from the place they’re staying on the east side—only to find, with so many kids along for this ride, several sketchy street crossings mean this 1-mile trip to reach the Deschutes River Trail is beyond their comfort level. Back in the car they go, adding theirs to the many clamoring for parking in the densest part of tourist Bend.

How many people like this come to Bend, expecting to enjoy its “bike town” reputation, only to find the streets not safe enough to ride with
their kids?

Having just returned from the bike mecca of Amsterdam ourselves and coming home to find this scene in our own backyard, it can be overwhelming and frustrating to know how far we have yet to go to see Bend be the type of place where it’s safe and fun to get a kid out for a bike commute. Seeing Amsterdam’s protected bike lanes and merry families getting everywhere on two wheels, it can feel like we’re begging for scraps with the local efforts to make or improve up to three safe crossings over (or under) the railroad tracks and the Bend Parkway to connect east and west. 

Yet, where there’s a will there’s a way. Amsterdam, too, was once a city dominated by cars, and it took 40 years of urban planning and public input to transform it into the city it is today, where cars must yield to bikes and where there are now more bikes than people. It didn’t happen overnight, and it won’t here, either. There, planners adopted an “if you build it they will come” philosophy, understanding over time that even those who don’t presently desire to bike to work or school tend to move that direction when the infrastructure to do so is in place—protected bike lanes being a key piece of the puzzle. 

In a 13-year study published in 2019 by teams at the University of Denver and the University of New Mexico, researchers found that separated and protected bike lanes were the keys to reducing deaths for all users—including cars—by 44 percent. On top of that, with the protected and separated bike lanes came an increase in cyclists, the study found. 

City leaders are hip to this, too, and while it’s slow going, a few key projects will pave the way, ideally, for more public enthusiasm around these
concepts. 

The City of Bend has just wrapped up its online open house for the Midtown Pedestrian and Bicycle Crossings Feasibility Study, where it asked the public to weigh in on their favorite concepts among several offered for crossings at Greenwood Avenue, Franklin Avenue and a proposed new bridge crossing at Hawthorne Avenue. The City has several proposed concepts for each of these crossings, several with protected lanes for bikes. 

We’d like to see all three crossings built out with lanes separating bikes from cars, and with pedestrians, too, having ample room to feel safe. But one stands out as offering not just that level of protection, but also a showpiece that can get people talking: the Hawthorne Bridge crossing. While three concepts for the bridge are afoot, the two that allow people to pedal, wheelchair or walk across without the use of an elevator or stairs appear most attractive in terms of ease of use. Whichever of the three might happen to go forward, building a bridge dedicated to everyone outside of a car would be a statement: Bend prioritizes multi-modal transportation. With elegant design and/or by incorporating artistic elements, it could also dazzle those whizzing underneath it on the Parkway, further inciting conversation. 

Because public support has been so crucial in making other cities into the bike meccas they are today, residents who care about seeing a safer transportation system for Bend should continue to weigh in as these projects move from ideas to reality. With more public support, three crossings in the center of town can be only the beginning.

Learn more about the Midtown Crossings project: bendoregon.gov/city-projects/what-s-being-built/midtown-ped-bike-crossings

Read more opinion pieces like this on The Source Bend.

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Just Listed: Cozy Home in Central Metolius Location

Central to all things the Central Oregon lifestyle brings.

Just blocks from the popular Desert Inn Bar and Grill, and local dog park. The possibilities with this land and home are endless. Call your favorite broker to see it today!

Listed by Ricky Baker for West + Main Homes. Please contact Ricky for current pricing + availability.

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Have questions?
West + Main Homes
westandmain.co
hello@westandmainoregon.com

Presented by:
Ricky Baker
(503) 449-4422
ricky@westandmainoregon.com

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Just Listed: Gorgeously Renovated Home in Timber Ridge

Situated on 1/2 acre in the friendly community of Timber Ridge, Bend’s hidden gem.

Timber Ridge is adjacent to Bend Golf and Country Club and has 52 acres of lush-wooded grounds with 87 homes. No overcrowding here other than the herds of deer. Excellent access to the Old Mill and downtown Bend. Beautifully renovated single level home offers 2187 SQ FT, 3 bedroom, 2 bath remodeled in 2020. Open floor plan that flows into a living room that can be closed off with decorative pocket doors. This home boasts an abundance of natural light with 3 skylights and large windows. Slate-stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. New Mitsubishi Mini-Split in the living room. Generous sized bedrooms and closets. Oversized primary suite with large closet. Hall bath has a shower over a jacuzzi jetted tub. Patio has a decorative iron fence Extra deep 2 car garage with insulation, extra deep golf cart bay. Park like setting with spectacular views!

Listed by David Keyte for West + Main Homes. Please contact David for current pricing + availability.

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Have questions?
West + Main Homes
westandmain.co
hello@westandmainoregon.com

Presented by:
David Keyte
(541) 797-8356
dave@bendrelo.com

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