Hot summer nights, more concerts than one could imagine, heading to the high lakes or the coast to stay cool, more trendy new restaurants and food trucks have marked a summer of fun for most.
As most of us know Bend is a pretty cool place to live. When you look around there are very few places that can offer the variety towards your “quality of life” that Bend can! The places that can compete usually are priced well beyond what most of us can afford. Which is pretty interesting when you consider that around 46 percent of the homes listed for sale in Bend last month are asking for a million dollars or more.
Now I know some of you will pine about the good old days and how Bend is now overrun with constant changes to the point that many say they do not recognize it anymore. If you are in that group and ready to move on, I understand I am here to help you get your home sold so you can buy a fantastic home in the next great destination.
There is good news to report for those who have been looking to sell and move to the next phase of their lives. It appears that the Fed is strongly considering lowering the prime interest rate, which in a roundabout way affects home mortgage rates. While the retreat for interest rates will be slow and small in nature, the change marks a return to a more normal financing situation for buyers.
For those looking to buy, August will mark the beginning of a new age for buyer’s and their broker. Moving forward, for any broker to show a home or property to a prospective buyer, the buyer and their broker will need to enter into an agreement that specifies how much the buyer’s broker can receive as a commission for their services.
Previously the buyer’s broker was paid through the proceeds of the sale which was accounted for on the seller’s side of the closing balance sheet. Now with a buyer/broker agreement the onus of paying the buyer’s broker falls to the buyer. Though the funds to pay either the buyer’s or listing broker have always come from the buyer bringing the funds for the purchase.
In talking with other brokers around Bend the expectation is that when writing offers their buyer clients will request that the seller contribute to covering the buyer’s broker compensation expense. For listing brokers most will be counseling their clients to consider offering buyer’s broker compensation as a tool for attracting more buyers. All of that said, currently there is no clear cut answer for what will be the new standard of doing business.
It will be interesting times to see how this all plays out over the coming months.