In the last few years, we have seen housing demand explode in Southern Oregon and far exceed the available supply. It only seems to be getting worse. Currently, there is less than a month’s supply of homes for sale and less than a 1% vacancy rate for rental homes. […]
The pandemic has been an agent of change; years of change have happened in just a few months. We have seen the change in behaviors and habits that have affected many industries short term and long term. Travel, eating out and live events have all but disappeared. E-commerce grew […]
When home prices increase in an area, the highest percentage increases happen for the lowest-priced homes. The greatest demand in any market is for the most affordable homes. For example, 711 Nobility in Southwest Medford sold for $223,000 in December 2015 and then sold again five years later in […]
I just reviewed the 2020 Jackson County Real Estate Forecast we ran in the Review one year ago. In it, we predicted that in 2020 would see over 4,000 homes selling, with the median price surpassing the $300,000 mark. As I write this article, it looks like we […]
The U.S. economy is a mess. The continuing coronavirus pandemic has led to scores of business closures, the worst unemployment since the Great Depression and the steepest economic contraction on record.
Yet, despite it all, the U.S. housing market has been spared and is experiencing a record year. In our […]
If you’ve spent a significant amount of time in Oregon, you understand just how unique and beautiful our state is. Southern Oregon is known for its gorgeous vineyards, the “wild and scenic” Rogue River, and stunning, sweeping views. Most of the area has a rural and small-town spirit which […]
In Southern Oregon, you hear a lot about a summer selling season for real estate and you also hear that it’s best to list your home in the winter when there’s less competition. Both statements have a ring of truth, and there’s a lot more behind the numbers.
The year […]
The number one question we get asked by homeowners who are looking to sell is, “How do we market to buyers moving up from California?” It’s a great question, as buyers from California, and from other states, represent a good portion of our real estate sales, especially on properties […]
As we slowly return to normal, and we can find toilet paper in the stores and restaurants with open doors, we do have to wonder if we’ll ever be the same.
I look back on my life and how all the economic events shaped it and changed its course. I […]
The economy is shrinking, businesses are closing and jobs are disappearing due to the coronavirus pandemic. But in the housing market, prices keep climbing higher.
Home prices plunged during the last recession after the 2007 housing crash caused millions of families to lose their homes, but that hasn’t been the […]
In Southern Oregon, you hear a lot about a “summer selling season” for real estate, or you hear it’s best to list your home in the winter when there is less competition. Both statements have a ring of truth, but there’s a lot more behind the numbers.
The year generally […]
Getting top dollar for your home is everyone’s goal. Sometimes the solution is simply staging your home and completing some minor repairs. There are some improvements that increase the value of a home and some just increase its salability. Most sellers are prepared to get their home staged to […]
Forecasting the future can be hard…so starting with a good knowledge base of the past can give a clearer vision of the future. The real estate market in Jackson County has been very stable for years, so it’s logical to assume the trend will continue in 2020. Based on […]
I recently took a Continuing Education class on “Going Green,” something I didn’t know much about. I was surprised by what I learned and how much each of us can impact our environment. It was a great class and information worth sharing.
It’s surprising that the focus on our environment […]
In the last few months, we have seen an explosion of hemp fields being planted along every road you drive as hemp quickly becomes the largest agricultural crop, surpassing pears and vineyards, in Southern Oregon. Based upon statistics from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Jackson County has 8,578 acres […]
Southern Oregon has had a great summer with beautiful weather, lots of sunshine, and only two days of thunder storms that produced lots of rain but no significant forest fires. This beautiful weather usually brings lots of “out-of-state” home buyers, but this summer, home sales are […]
For years, we have helped retirees find their perfect retirement home in Jacksonville. It’s very enjoyable seeing their excitement as we tell them all about Jacksonville and Southern Oregon. Most of them have come from out of state so there is lots of education that goes […]
Every month, I read the real estate sales statistics in the Mail Tribune provided to them by the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors. All the numbers are averages, or medians, calculated for the last 90 days. Overall, they are reporting a seller’s market which means limited […]
If you just finalized your 2018 tax return and you’re now focused on how to “legally” lower your tax rate for 2019, you should read on. There are lots of tax benefits of being a landlord, most expenses are tax deductible, from finding tenants to […]
The Southern Oregon real estate market has seen some bumps and bruises since the west coast erupted in fires last summer. We began this year with a very slow and weak market and then it exploded. Here is a quick review of the Good, Bad […]
Oregon enacted the nation’s first statewide rent control measure on February 28th, 2019, handing a victory to those who say low-income people are squeezed by the housing crunch in many major US cities and believe rent control is the answer.
On the other hand, landlords and developers argued that rent […]
A lot of outdoor enjoyment was lost last summer due to the smoke-filled skies in our valley, but what is noteworthy is how few homes have been destroyed by forest fires in Southern Oregon compared to the homes lost by fires in California. Every summer, we have many lightning-caused […]
As we look at the year-end housing numbers in Jackson County, they look very strong but they don’t necessarily tell the whole story. We ended 2018 by increasing the median price on existing home sales by approximately 6%, new home prices approximately 11%, rural home prices rose about 5% […]
Many were surprised to see the median price of a home in Jacksonville hit an all-time high of $578,500 for the last 90 days, ending October 31. Not only is this a record, it exceeds the median home price of Ashland which has held the record for highest […]
In an article two months ago, we talked about how the real estate market was being negatively affected by the smoke and repeated closures of interstate 5. Now that summer has ended, we can look back and survey the actual effect the fires had on our summer home sales.
Since […]
Most people don’t know what a Reverse Mortgage is; and, because they are relatively new, there is a lack of understanding. The reality is that Reverse Mortgages (RM) may be an answer to one of the biggest economic problems facing us in the United States, which is that many […]
2018 started out with a bang and we saw the median price of a home in Jackson County increase to $285,000—up from $194,500 in 2013. This means the average home has seen its value increase $18,000 a year. The number of homes sold has also increased this year by […]
Southern Oregon has attracted retirees for years with its four seasons, culture, wine industry and outdoor activities, all combined with great healthcare and affordable housing. For the last sixteen years, we have been helping hundreds of people find their perfect retirement home and along the way we have learned […]
Last weekend, we had a great time in Ashland. It was a date night and we had dinner at MAS, a new restaurant serving a pre-fixed, eleven-course dinner with a pairing of Sake or Wine. After that, we stayed the night at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel. When we […]
Often, we get asked how to increase the value of a home before selling it. Sometimes the answer is simple, and sometimes the answer is more complicated, especially if the seller is interested in investing a little time or money. There are some improvements that increase the value of […]
My background in investments had been my 401K and my personal stock portfolio. Thirty five years of my life was spent in the High Tech industry so that became the majority of my stock portfolio. I have seen my high tech stocks double, triple and then crash! It wasn’t […]
Happy New Year! 2017 was a great year for Jackson County real estate. The median sales price for existing single-family residences climbed 10.3 percent last year to $264,700 following a 6.6 percent increase to $239,900 in 2016. The median also surpassed the previous high of $259,000 from before the […]
#1. My House is Worth!—There are only two people that ultimately determine what a house is worth—the buyer and the appraiser. To determine a home’s value, many owners add up what they have spent on their house, add what they owe on their house, look on Zillow, or […]
Now that the leaves are falling, you know snow and freezing temperatures are soon to follow. Here are 9 good ideas to implement before winter to prevent costly home repairs.
Rental prices have been increasing since the real estate crash in 2007, but home prices didn’t begin to rebound until 2013. Rental prices are now running at an average of $1 a square foot for a suburban home in Medford and higher in Ashland and Jacksonville and for rural […]
Home prices soared over the last 5 years with the median price of a single family home in Jackson County increasing from $176,000 at the end of 2012 to $282,500 as of August 2017, yielding an increase of over 60%. The increase in the median price is only part […]
Southern Oregon, as well as most of the nation, is experiencing a record-low inventory of homes for sale. Matched with strong demand, prices are being driven up. One would think that all properties on the market are faring well, but it always goes back to supply and demand—and not […]
I just left the title company where our clients picked up a $61,000 check—the proceeds from selling their house. What makes this such a great story is how young and financially smart this couple has been. I first met this twenty-something couple, two and a half years ago when […]
We just got back from a week-long real estate conference in Las Vegas. We hadn’t been there in a while and I was quickly reminded of what man has built in the Nevada desert. It’s a strange combination of fantasy hotels, 5-Star restaurants or buffets, carnival rides, gambling, world-class […]
We just posted four articles to our blog, (expertprops.com/blog) from major publications—all focused on Southern Oregon. One article has Ashland listed, and another has Jacksonville listed, as the top towns in the US to visit. The other two both talk about our wine industry—one noting the awards we received […]
According to a 2014 survey by the National Association of Realtors, 83% of people view their home as a good financial investment. Not only is their home the biggest single asset they own, it’s also filled with family memories—the average seller has lived in his house for a decade, […]
When you look at home values, you get a better picture if you look at long-term trends and not short-term trends. Quarterly home prices go up and down, but yearly growth and long-term growth give you a much better picture of where the market is headed.
Home values in Jackson […]
There’s nothing easy about moving but there are some tips that can make moving easier. I have been a Realtor for 15 years and have watched 1,000+ clients move. I’ve also helped friends and family, and have acquired a lot of ideas that make the process smoother.
Here’s 6 tips […]
Do you have enough for retirement? Financial planners usually use the “25 Times Rule” to determine how much a portfolio should be worth for someone to safely retire. If you need $50,000 a year to live on when you retire, then, using the “25 Times Rule” you should have […]
Being so involved in real estate, we look at sales numbers and home values every month, quarter and year. Sometimes the numbers go up and sometimes the numbers go down, but if you look at the numbers over a longer period of time, they tell a clear story. In […]
Rental Market—The rental market has gone crazy in the past few years with three inter-related trends that have impacted the rental market and caused rents to skyrocket in Southern Oregon and throughout the United States.
The first is the rapidly-growing population. There has been very little building during the recession […]
We recently had an unexpected opportunity to visit Panama, a country we only knew for the canal, Panama hats, the Van Halen song and recent tax invaders. What we found were ships of all types lining up to sail through the canal, a rain forest, and the perfect place […]
I just left a private tour of the historic 1100-seat Holly Theatre in Medford and I couldn’t help to think how this area has grown and what an amazing combination of live theater, wineries and outdoor activities we offer. No wonder we were just voted one of the “10 […]
Over the last 5 years, the median price of real estate in Jackson County has increased 55.6%! What makes these numbers even better is that most of the price increases have come in the last three years. Homes are selling quickly, pending sales are up and the number of […]
My background in investments in the past has mainly been my 401(k) and my personal stock portfolio. Thirty five years of my life was spent in the high-tech industry, so that became the majority of my stock portfolio. I have seen my high-tech stocks double, triple and then crash! […]