It's been a while since I have sat down to write in ourblog.  It could have something to do with the fact that we have been spending a lot of time outside shoveling the snow from our driveway.  It seems that as soon as we finish the driveway, it slides off our roof and onto the deck - and back out we go.  But there is good news in that last sentence.  It slides off our roof, as we have a metal roof.  Meaning that we have less weight bearing down on our roof system and little chance of ice dam damage.  What is this, you say?  Check out these photos:  Sunriver has seen over 5 feet of snow fall so far this winter.  With the recent series of storms not allowing any time for melting, we see many roofs with three plus feet of snow on them.  Most Sunriver homes have roofs that were constructed... 02/02/2008

Sunriver owners are getting ready to vote on the land purchase for the Village at Sunriver.  In the past I have tried to stay somewhat natural and see both sides of this controversial subject.  The mall certainly needs help, retail space stands vacant, and businesses come and go. Tonight I read the Land Sale Issues from the savesunriver.org blog and they bring to the surface some very enlightening issues.  The new plan does require additional land and to achieve SilverStar's plan they need this land.  However, this land belongs to all the owners of Sunriver.  What is a fair price?  And where will any of the funds once paid go?  Do they benefit the entire community? Ballots will be arriving and are due in February - before voting I hope that owners will research exactly what they are agr... 01/26/2008

                       Big Plans for Sunriver in 2008             Sunriver Resort Never ending improvements for you!  The resort has now focused itself on the improvements of The Marina and Stable facilities.  Come visit the new welcome center at the Stables and in addition The Marina will almost double in size.  Both buildings will match the Resort architectural lodge style and will be constructed to LEED standards.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a nationally accepted benchmark for the design.  http://www.sunriver-resort.com/  Caldera SpringsHas been selected as the location for the 2009 Central Oregon Builders Association's "Showcase of Dreams."  Proceeds from ticket sales and other sponsorship funds will be used by COBA to benefit affordable housing i... 11/19/2007

Sunriver at Thanksgiving---A great place to be!For those of you who haven't spent a Thanksgiving in Sunriver, you might want to seriously consider it this year.  The spirit of the season flourishes, usually enveloped in a coating of fresh snow.  Gather the whole family around the fireplace after a day on the slopes, but save lots of time and energy to enjoy the festivities in Sunriver.  Thanksgiving weekend kicks off Sunriver Resort's Traditions, a holiday celebration.  The Grand Illumination on November 23rd features the lighting of the trees and decorations around the Lodge, along with free sleigh rides, live music, and of course, a visit from Mr and Mrs Claus. Don't forget to stroll through Gingerbread Junction, a collection of over 100 extravagantly decorated gingerbread houses.  On... 11/02/2007

It is not often we have the opportunity to see a comet, over the next couple weeks you will be able to see The Holmes comet. Earlier in the week you would have needed a telescope to see it. Now you can view it without a telescope.According to Lynn Carroll of the Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory it is not often that a comet will glow 1 million times brighter, but The Holmes Comet has done just that.The brightness of this comet is about the same as the stars in The Big Dipper. Because of the brightness, it can be seen even with the full moon we are currently experiencing. The Holmes Comet is orbiting between the path of Mars and Jupiter in the northeastern sky. Currently the comet looks like a big fuzzball according to Bob Grossfeld who is the director of Sunriver Observatory. This co... 10/27/2007

One of the biggest topics of discussion in Sunriver is the new plans and development for the old Village Mall. Home owners have worries, business owners are concerned and yet there seems to be an underlying excitement.Meetings are being scheduled, zoning is changing, retail space is being condensed and condos are slated for the new project. The number of condos although some say will be 500 is always subject to change, and certainly will not be completed in one full swoop.Change is one of the most difficult things we as humans go through in life. It is what we resist the most, we fear and often times look back and say... change is good.Today a blog that I often read had a comment which appears to be from one of the developers of the new mall called, Village at Sunriver. Although this pl... 10/25/2007

Caldera Springs is one of Central Oregon's newest resorts. There are still a few lots under $300,000 with great incentives for the buyer. Including a few lots that have an owner carry for 3 years.Crosswater is located across the street and one of the wonderful incentives is a discounted Crosswater Golf Membership.One particular lot is currently on resale, (Lot 106 on Dancing Rock Loop) is curently listed lower than the phase I pricing it was purchased for. Currently offered at $365,000 originally purchased for $425,000. This lot has a great Mt. Bachelor and golf course view is close to the Lakehouse and Obsidian Lake. Click Here For a Detailed Report of the Property 106-dancing-rock-lp-mls-printout.pdf For a complete list of lots currently for sale please click here caldera-lots.pdfFor ... 10/24/2007

Buyers in a resort area often times are curious about timeshares or shared ownership. Many times they do not understand the difference. Marcus and Connie Schwing of Sunriver Realty recently wrote an article about shared ownership in Sunriver. Shared ownership is a common sale in Sunriver, but there are timeshare units available too. There are two complexes, Stoneridge and The Ridge that are timeshare style ownership. Both of these offer RCI benefits but not all units participate. When purchasing a timeshare it is vitally important that you understand the schedule in which you are entitled to stays, if the unit can be rented, what the reserve accounts are and how upgrades and new furnishings are taken care of. Obviously there is a lot more to be informed about but these are the top my cl... 10/13/2007

With the Baby Boomers looking to buy second homes at an amazing rate (inspite of the real estate slowdown) fractional share ownershipis gaining in popularity.  Fractional ownership is going strong in many resort towns, such as Sunriver and Caldera Springs.  What is fractional share ownership, you ask?  It is not a timeshare!  You actually are a deeded owner of the property.  You own an undivided share of the entire property, right down to the silverware and bath towels.  The most common fractional program nationwide calls for eight owners per home with a usage of five weeks.  In Sunriver, we most often see four owners or 25% shares with 13 weeks of usage.Think about this - the average amount of time that an owner uses their vacation home is approximately six weeks per year.  The average... 10/12/2007

Sunriver Real Estate is sometimes on the outdated side. The resort was founded in 1968 and homes were built sold, resold and enjoyed by all. Now some of them are aging and who wants to say a home needs updating? Well now it's not outdated it is vintage, that is the newest saying with real estate Central Oregon.When you walk into a home for a listing appointment it is often difficult to tell someone their home is outdated. Outdated sounds bad, vintage, well that tells the seller that it is old, outdated and only loved by those that love old things.Vintage homes are where you find the bargains in Sunriver. Typically the furnishings of a vintage home are just as old as the home, and so are the appliances. Sometimes it is a challenge to find a home for the furnishings after you have inherit... 10/10/2007

When you purchase a Sunriver vacation property often times it will come furnished. Generally this is the norm and it is just assumed to be acceptable. However this can cause issues with your loan or appraisal. All furnishings are considered personal property, a mortgage is on real property not personal property. Many of these furnishings truly have no value and stating so will often times put the lender at ease. There are times though when you have a newer home with a $50,000 furniture package that is included in the purchase price can cause problems.Appraisers are well aware of the way these properties are priced, and will not increase the value of the home to fit the contract. Their job is to appraise the REAL PROPERTY not the PERSONAL PROPERTY. So, how do we solve this problem if it ... 10/09/2007

Now that we have completed the third quarter of 2007, we thought that it would be a good time to provide some statistics pertaining to the "state of Sunriver's real estate market".  Many are worried that with the downturn in the real estate market, that now is not a good time to invest in property.  We think  the information that we will  provide will be cause for encouragement for anyone looking to buy or sell in Sunriver.In 2004 the average home in Sunriver was 3 bedrooms, 2.75 baths, 2171 square feet and sold for $439,819 in 126 days.  That year saw a whopping 244 homes change hands.  In 2005 214 more homes sold in an average of just 90 days, but the cost of owning a Sunriver home increased by 14% to just over $502,000.  Not a bad investment, unless you waited another year.  In 2006,... 10/01/2007

Several months ago I wrote a post called Don't Ask Me To Help YOU Put Your License On The Line in that post I talked about agents from other areas of Oregon attempting to represent their clients in an area they have no clue about. These agents often times are being greedy and think that real estate is the same everywhere and it is all about the commission.Today, I had another closing (note the word another) and it was the perfect example of what I was talking about. An agent from out of the area came to Sunriver - found a way into a couple Sunriver listings (one of which was mine) and wrote her own offer.She wrote a great offer - it was clean and the transaction flew through the contingencies and the closed 2 days EARLY. Some of the reasons for this is we were able to skip some INSPECTI... 10/01/2007

I received a great call from a concerned citizen regarding the mall update at Sunriver - what many of us have known as the Village Mall will most likely undergo some major changes. The Mall sold last year to a group of home owners and Sunriver visitors which formed an LLC called SilverStar, LLC this group of investors either own Sunriver property or are frequent visitors of Sunriver.So, some of you may ask why the concern over the changes - we all know that the mall has seen better days and could use a face lift. The concerns of many seem to be the addition of 100's (yes 100's) of residential properties. The plans include townhouses, flats and a 75 foot tall lodge. The mall will almost become a resort within a resort. Parking - are you thinking what about parking - I know I did - accord... 09/27/2007

Now that school is in session and Sunriver is in what we call the "off season" (after school starts and before the snow flys) it is the prefect time to buy your vacation home. Most of the rental companies are running specials that allow for 3 nights for the price of 2.The greatest thing about viewing property at this time of year is that with the lower number of guests more homes are available to see. Many times during the summer months guests come to Sunriver and decide that after being here for the third or fourth time maybe they should buy a home. The problem is, most of the rental homes are rented during this time and when they are rented we can not show them. Fall buyers benefit from having the opportunity to view more choices and the fact that the time where most buyers have gone ... 09/23/2007

Sunriver is a great place for your second home or vacation home and many people do choose to make Sunriver their full time residence. Although there are several upper end homes for sale in Sunriver, we do have almost 40 properties under $400,000 - now is the time to buy in Sunriver.Prices have come down and stablized more than most would think to see a list of these homes visit Sunriver Homes More Affordable Than You ThinkHere is one such Sunriver home for sale, a side note is that one of the best rentals in Sunriver is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath home. This home is located on 5 Puma, which is close to the Village at Sunriver, the bike path runs right behind the property making this a great location to enjoy all Sunriver has to offer. ____________________________________________________________... 08/31/2007

Success can be defined in many ways but I certainly think that for the golfers, spectators and people that worked at the Jeld-Wen Traditions golf tournament in Crosswater this last week success is simply defined as job well done.Sunriver and Crosswater are no strangers to big golf tournaments but this was one of the biggest taken on by our small community. To the spectator it seemed like this was just another day in Crosswater that hosting an event like this happened all the time. In reality it was a first for this tournament. The weather was great expect for the last day, which started with rain and wind but ended with an over cast sky and sun breaks.I know nothing of golf, and have never attempted to understand the game. After being involved with this tournament I can see why people l... 08/20/2007

In my last post I told you about the new Village at Sunriver. As is typical when you have public opinion and changes there are always people that are in agreement and those that do not agree with a change. The memories that have been created at the old Village Mall are shared by many; I remember ice skating, miniature golf, the Annual Chili Cook-off, the wine tasting and so much more. The Village Mall has been a part of my memories since I was a child.As an adult, a REALTOR® that works in Sunriver and a local that cares about the area and the people of the area I think this project is long over due. I have watched business struggle to keep their doors open, businesses make due with substandard amenities and with technology moving so quickly, the wiring and phone lines are hard pressed t... 08/16/2007

Changes are coming to the Sunriver Mall; it is already being referred to as the new name, The Village at Sunriver. SilverStar Destinations, LLC has purchased the Village Mall and has started to make plans for a full renovation and upgrade of this well known landmark.The new plan has between 90,000 and 120,000 square feet of commercial space and 500 to 600 condos and town homes, creating a place for people to gather, play, shop and make Sunriver memories.The cost of this project is projected to be $100,000,000 (100 million) construction is scheduled to start in the summer of 2008 with the first phase taking 18 months. The hope is to be open for Christmas 2009.Click on this photo to read more about the upcoming changes. _____________________________________________________________________... 08/15/2007

It is important to understand the Sunriver Design Rules whether you are buying a home in Sunriver, own a home or are thinking about buying in Sunriver. Sunriver is a place of natural beauty and one of the reasons it has remained so is because of the design rules. According to the Design Review Committee the most significant element that has kept Sunriver a place of even with over 4000 homes in it is the ability to insist they blend with nature. Paint colors are a big part of this, and SROA (Sunriver Owners Association) has compiled a list of approved paint colors, these colors are available at Sherman Williams. If you choose one of these colors a sample is not required, but approval is still required.However, if you plan to add rock, change the roof or any thing else that contributes to... 08/07/2007