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| On a $300,000 home, you can save at least $15,000 by selling it yourself |
At least not in Bend, where housing prices are reaching pre-recession levels again.
The median price for a home here is $347,800, according to Zillow.
Local appraisers say it's $364,000.
Prices soared 10.2 percent in the past year.
On the annual tour of homes this summer, there were at least a dozen homes priced above $1 million.
Vacant lots on the east side of Bend that were snatched up by hedge funds when the market collapsed in 2008 are now full of homes in the $300,000 range.
The rental vacancy rate is near 1 percent, which helps explain the busy buying season. If you can find a house to rent, it can easily cost $1,700 a month.
But, the prices of homes are so high in Bend that fewer people, from OSU students to medical professionals, can afford to move here. The police department can't fill its open slots because of the high cost of housing.
I sold a home this summer for someone else in a FSBO, for sale by owner, transaction.
It wasn't always smooth sailing, but it closed and the owners got their money.
With Zillow, Trulia and Craigslist, there is no need to pay for expensive advertising.
Zillow and Trulia let you post for free. This includes pictures and videos. These sites provide market analysis and it's easy to figure out the price to sell your house for.
The only thing to buy is a yard sign with a box for flyers. In fact, yard signs are the most effective way to sell a house. If people are interested in living in your neighborhood, they'll drive by and find it.
If you're selling a home in a hot market, in a desirable neighborhood and below the median price in the city, you should have no trouble selling your home on your own.
There were many lookers at the property, including a handful from the west side of Bend who were looking to get away from the congestion over there.
One guy from the central coast of California was moving to Bend because there is abundant water here.
Realtors hounded me, but they didn't have to anything substantive to offer.
There were a few flippers who looked and offered.
But, it seems the time to flip houses has slipped away again.
It's hard to imagine how the housing market will continue to boom, particularly with millenials opting out.
Over the past 30 years, the economic growth rate coming out of a recession continues to decline.
Wages have risen slightly, but there is no way to keep up with the escalating housing prices.
The median income in Bend is $52,000 and it's hard to buy much with that income, especially a $350,000 home.
Plus, banksters and Wall Streeters are gambling again on the housing market.
The Great Recession was caused, in part, by collateralized debt obligations or CDOs.
Lenders, brokers and the ratings agencies conspired to deceive investors.
We no longer have CDOs, but we now have BTOs or bespoke tranche opportunities. Doesn't that sound encouraging.
New regulations were put in place to help prevent another economic collapse, but, rest assured, Wall Street and banksters will find a way to wreck the economy and have the taxpayers pick up the tab.
In the past 200 years, this country has suffered through 16 major bank crises. During that span in Canada, there were no bank failures.
We're headed towards another recession. High wage jobs disappear daily which means many can't afford to buy or rent in the places where there are jobs.
So, sit out the current housing frenzy and wait until prices crater yet again.
