Oregon Coast Real Estate Blog

If you’re not familiar with home inspections, then you might have a lot of questions about what gets inspected, how thorough the inspectors are, why you even need one, and what you can expect if you’re walking with an inspector through the house you’re hoping to buy.  At Cascade Sotheby's Realty, the Home + Sea Team is here to guide you painlessly through this process at the beach.  Below is a summary but feel free to call us directly with your questions.

There’s a lot to know about home inspection, and your questions deserve answers. 
Here they are!

 

What is a home inspection?

A home inspection is an event that is basically exactly what the name implies: A home inspector walks through the home, looking at specific elements and features of…

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If you’ve been thinking about investing in real estate, getting your finances in order before you start searching for properties and scheduling appointments will save you from money headaches in the long run. 

At Cascade Sotheby's Realty, we at the Home + Sea Team are known for working in the luxury and investment market on the North Oregon Coast.  But, we don't just work with seasoned investors.  We make our services available to everyone.  The time you spend researching getting started could be one of your largest investments, and unless you have cash ready to invest, you’ll need a plan for financing and a plan for cash flow in the future. Here’s what you need to do before heading giving us a call for an appointment at one of our offices. 

1.…

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Real estate investing is gaining popularity, and if you’ve been giving it some thought, this guide will give you an overview. The goal of any real estate investor is typically to make money. This means purchasing an investment property at a good price so you can rent it out and maybe eventually sell it for a profit. 

The Home + Sea Team work with a lot of real estate investors in the North Oregon Coast market.  Because we are prolific in our region, we're a great resource on what is trending and where and we're happy to share our knowledge with our clients.  Real estate investing is an ever-changing game. To get and stay ahead and make consistent money, you’ll need to do your homework. Here are 9 things to know:

 

 

1. Get Pre-Approved for…

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Just like in any other profession, there are good real estate brokers ... and there are, unfortunately, subpar real estate brokers, too. But how do you know if you've got a driven hard working broker handling your real estate transaction?

One way to know whether you've got a good broker (or not) is to consider some of the tasks and activities that a really good broker will manage for a client, then apply what you've learned to your own broker.    At Cascade Sotheby's Realty, The Home + Sea Team suggest taking a deep look at your broker.  Do they offer every advantage in marketing and network?  How do they rank in their MLS (anything less that top 10 is a hard no).  How will they market your home specifically to get you the most prospective buyers…

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Not too long ago in our country's history, talking about making your house "greener" might get you labeled a tree-hugger. But times change, and as gas, electricity, and water prices creep up, more and more homeowners are seeing the (strong) advantages that come with considering the environment when you make decisions about your household.

Are you interested in making your home more energy efficient -- and saving money in the bargain? You have a lot of options, from cheap to expensive, so read on to discover whether there are some big (or small) energy-saving opportunities that you're missing. The Home + Sea Team at Cascade Sotheby's Realty knows this is pretty basic stuff at this point but 90% of the homes we sell haven't even scratched the…

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Buying a home is always an anxiety-ridden process, and that goes triple for anyone who’s embarking on homeownership for the very first time. There’s so much to do and so much you don’t know that “overwhelming” hardly seems like an appropriate description of how it feels.

Even though you don’t want to scare yourself away from the entire process, you still need to be wary of falling into a few common traps that first-time buyers generally don’t avoid. If you’re aware of these five potential mistakes -- and able to keep yourself from making them -- then you’ll be saving yourself some significant stress on your homebuying journey.

1. Not understanding your down payment options

The biggest headache for so many first-time buyers is the down…

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Another home in Manzanita sold off market by Meadow Davis of the Home + Sea Team.  This beautiful home, was on the green space with a fully fenced back yard w/covered deck, deck, patios and a water feature. The garden shed with power was a nice perk.  The double height living room with a two story wall of windows was not to be missed. This home featured a primary suite on main and was fully landscaped.  But you didn't see it on Zillow..  or anywhere else, unless you called us directly to let us know what you were looking for. 

If you would have called, you would have received a video, 3D Matterport walkthrough, drone shots, floor plans and complete interior and exterior photo catalog.  Why? Because even though the owners wanted to sell off market, we…

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Nehalem home sales prices soared again this year.  The number of homes on the market was down 25% from last year with only 21 coming to market and sales were down 12% from the prior year with 21 homes sold.  A low inventory situation.  The list price to sales price ratio was up this year to 101% in Nehalem.  Competitive bidding was incredible.  Days on the market were lower yet again, 27% lower, to an average of 60 days from listing to close.  Our market in Nehalem is under immense pressure.  See the graph below:

Record Gains

In Nehalem for the 2021 season we saw a reduced number of homes come to market on the back of a record low inventory during 2020.  With that, prices spiked for a record increase in sold property values.  Up 29% from last year. …

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In Neahkahnie news the number of homes on the market was even with a 0% change in homes coming to market.  Sales were also even, a 0% change from the prior year with 9 homes sold.  However the list price to sales price ratio was 108% in Neahkahnie.  Competitive bidding was incredible.  Two homes went for 140% of list in MZ for example and it was not uncommon for us to get over 10 bids on a home.  Days on the market were lower yet again, 36% lower, to an average of 47 days from listing to close.  Neahkahnie, like Manzanita saw amazing pressure on listed homes.

 

It was an incredible jump in average sales price.  Nearly the largest on the coast.  Neahkahnie has come of age.

Record Gains

In Neahkahnie for the 2021 we saw an even number of…

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It seems like I just drafted a report for Spring 2021 and time is flying by.  Real estate pressure last year was intense and non-stop, but I have to say it felt like a simpler time.  So much has happened to our market since then.  While we were trending heavily in 2020/21 with higher home values, lower inventory and endless competitive bidding over homes, we thought that perhaps the pressure would ease and we could all take a breather.  That was not to be.  More on that below.

In personal news Meadow was the number one broker in Manzanita, Neahkahnie and Nehalem once again.  A great achievement in performance and consistency for over a decade.  She makes us proud.  Our daughter Cosma decided to join the Home + Sea Team this summer selling her first…

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