AcreageActivitiesBuyersCoeur d'AleneCoeur d'Alene ListingsCurb AppealGated CommunitiesHome OwnershipIdahoKootenai CountyLuxuryOpen HousesOur ListingsPhotographsPremier PropertyPremier PropertyReal EstateSecondary Waterfront April 29, 2011

OPEN HOUSE THIS SUNDAY: 4545 Meadow Lane, Coeur d’Alene

Open House

Sunday, May 1

12 – 3 pm

Rustic Craftsman Elegance is articulated in an impressive list of posh amenities. This Single level residence on 2.4 Acres in Harbor View Estates incorporates nature’s finest materials: Granite Counters, Custom Knotty Alder woodwork & Cabinetry & stone rockwork throughout.

An exceptionally equipped Gourmet Kitchen is outfitted with an entire Suite of Upscale Appliances. 

Other finery includes Walk-in Master Suite Steam Shower & 4+ Car Garage.

Outdoor grounds boast the same attention to excellence and detail with landscape curbing, lush lawn, colorful flora and a lovely mountain view.

Directions:

15 SCENIC MINUTES FROM COEUR D’ALENE 
Highway 95 South, Left on KIDD ISLAND,
Right into HARBOR VIEW ESTATES, Left on MEADOW LANE

4545 Meadow Lane Drive, Coeur d'Alene

 

Call Christy Oetken of Windermere Coeur d’Alene Realty today:

208-660-0506

Check it out at
http://www.realestate-browser.com/viewdetails.php?nid=77204&mls=11-3060

 

BuyershomeHome OwnershipIdahoKootenai CountyMarket ValueMultiple Listing ServiceOur ListingsPhotographsPost FallsPost Falls ListingsPost Falls ListingsReal EstateSave Money April 14, 2011

US News: Post Falls Named one of 10 Best Affordable Mountain Towns for Retirement

There you have it!  USNews.com has discovered what the rest of us have known all along.  This time, Post Falls has been recognized in the Top 10 Most Affordable Mountain Towns for Retirement.  Below are excerpts from the full article:

10 Best Affordable Mountain Towns for Retirement

These places offer scenic views and groomed slopes at economical prices.

By Emily Brandon

Posted: July 12, 2010

…To find this and other low-cost mountain towns, U.S. News fired up our Best Places to Retire search tool. We looked for places that offer access to plenty of skiing, trails, and wildlife, while still providing affordable housing and a reasonable cost of living. We also used the Onboard Informatics data to screen for other retiree-friendly characteristics, such as access to healthcare and a low crime rate…

Few aspiring retirees have enough saved to buy a retirement home in Aspen or Lake Tahoe. But if you’re willing to look beyond the most well-known ski resorts there are mountain towns that offer scenic views and well-groomed slopes at far more affordable prices. In Salt Lake City, the host city for the 2002 winter Olympics, the average home sale price has dropped by 11.92 percent since last year. And in Bend, Ore., average housing prices decreased by a whopping 17.62 percent since 2009. Redding, Calif. and Post Falls, Idaho have also experienced recent drops in average housing prices, which could mean bargains for newcomers. …

Check out these 10 affordable places to retire in the mountains:

Blacksburg, Va.

Bend, Ore.

Boone, N.C.

Bozeman, Mont.

Burlington, Vt.

Colorado Springs, Colo.

Fayetteville, Ark.

Post Falls, Idaho

Redding, Ca.

Salt Lake City, Utah

 

We have POST FALLS Listings!

Inverness Drive, Post Falls

HIGHLANDS GOLF COURSE AREA
Priced to SELL FAST!
Gas Fireplace & 3 Car Garage

Huge Home & Shop on Acreage

LARGE HOME & HUGE SHOP
on 4.5 Acres
4 Beds, 3 Baths
3240 Sq Ft


Leatherwood Estates

LEATHERWOOD LOT 1   &   LOT 2
Build your Custom Estate
Two 10 Acre Parcels available
Lake Newman, Mountain & Valley Views

Post Falls Duplex

GREAT INVESTMENT PROPERTY
1800 sq ft Duplex
2BR/1BA Units
Great Rental History

 

Visit Our website,

www.RealEstate-Browser.com

for

Our Listings

 

as well as

ALL of the listings on the Coeur d’Alene Multiple Listing Service

plus our

Hot Sheet 
(brand new listings on the market)

and

Market News

BuyersHome OwnershipIdahoInterestMarket AnalysisMarket NewsMarket ValueMortgageOur ListingsPricingReal EstateRentalSave Money April 14, 2011

Should I Buy or just Rent? A Cost/Benefit Analysis

You might be surprised to find that a careful Cost/Benefit Analysis still favors BUYING, despite increasing interest rates.  Here’s one scenario:

What Does Opportunity Cost Mean?
Here is a great explanation we found at www.investopedia.com:
1. The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action.2. The difference in return between a chosen investment and one that is necessarily passed up. Say you invest in a stock and it returns a paltry 2% over the year. In placing your money in the stock, you gave up the opportunity of another investment – say, a risk-free government bond yielding 6%. In this situation, your opportunity costs are 4% (6% – 2%).
 
 
Investopedia Says
Investopedia explains Opportunity Cost
1. The opportunity cost of going to college is the moneyyou would have earned if you worked instead. On the one hand, you lose four years of salary while getting your degree; on the other hand, you hope to earn more during your career, thanks to your education, to offset the lost wages.Here’s another example: if a gardener decides to grow carrots, his or her opportunity cost is the alternative crop that might have been grown instead (potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, etc.).In both cases, a choice between two options must be made. It would be an easy decision if you knew the end outcome; however, the risk that you could achieve greater “benefits” (be they monetary or otherwise) with another option is the opportunity cost.

Of course, we realize that every situation is unique. 
We’d love to help you decide if buying is right for you.  Let us help you calculate your own Cost/Benefit Analysis.
 
Contact Randy & Christy Oetken for more information!

208-660-0506

AcreageBenewah CountyBuild Your Custom HomeBuyersCoeur d'AleneCommercialCougar GulchDalton GardensHaydenhomeHome OwnershipIdahoInterestInvestment PropertiesKootenai CountyLake Coeur d'AleneLuxuryMarket NewsMortgageMountaintop ListingsNew ConstructionOur ListingsPost Falls ListingsPremier PropertyPricingRathdrumReal EstateRentalRiverfront PropertiesSandpointSave MoneyShoshone CountySilver Valley April 14, 2011

What is the True Cost of the Interest Rate Increase?

Dear Friends,

It’s probably no surprise that rising interest rates have a significant impact on your pocket book.

But how much of an impact?  The True Cost may shock you!

Consider this:

The average stay in a home is 5 to 7 years

according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Knowing you like to stay informed, we have provided three real-world home buying scenarios in the graphics below.  From these hypothetical comparisons, we hope you can get a better idea of the true cost of the interest rate hikes that are expected in the near future.

Assuming that you remain in your new home for 7 years, it is very clear the HUGE impact of rising interest rates. 

WAITING TO BUY could cost you THOUSANDS of dollars!

(Visit our website to view larger PDF graphics of these three scenarios.)

Home “A” Costs $150,000

At the current interest rate of 4.875%, the monthly payment will be $797.

If you wait until the interest rate rises to 6%,
your monthly payment will increase by $85,
for a total annual increase of $1020!

If you stay in that home for 7 years,
you will be spending $7140 MORE!

What could you do with an extra $7140?

Waiting to purchase this $250,000 home could cost you

$140 per month 
$1680 per year

If you stay in that home for 7 years,
you will be spending $11,760 MORE!

What could you do with an extra $11,760?

 

What could you do with an extra

$21,840?

Thinking of buying?  Now is a great time, if you want to save $$ in your monthly budget, as well as over the life of your potential mortgage.

Are you waiting for a lower purchase price?

The “savings” of a few thousand dollars off the purchase price will actually COST you THOUSANDS when the interest rates rise.

Don’t wait to make your next Real Estate move.

Call Now
to take advantage of
High Inventory and Low Interest Rates!

As experienced REALTORS®, and long-time North Idaho residents, we can provide an impressive list of professionals whom we’ve come to trust over the years.  With our expertise in guiding our clients through all kinds of Real Estate transactions, we are uniquely qualified to help you achieve your real estate goals in 2011!  

We’ll help you navigate through every phase of the process.

Put us to work for you!

Randy Oetken  208-660-0518

Christy Oetken  208-660-0506

Oetken@RealEstate-Browser.com

AcreageBank-OwnedCoeur d'AleneCommercialFreehomeIdahoInvestment PropertiesKootenai CountyLake Coeur d'AleneMarket AnalysisMarket NewsMarket ValueOur ListingsPhotographsPress Releases about the OetkensPricingReal EstateRentalSellSellers April 14, 2011

Oetkens Named 2011 Windermere Coeur d’Alene Realty Top Listers

Here’s a “sneak peek” at our Front Page Ad that will be published in tomorrow’s Coeur d’Alene Press.

 Thinking of selling?  We’re hard workers.  Put us to work for you!

Call us for your FREE Comparative Market Analysis. 

To see what your home, land, investment or commercial property is worth in today’s market, call

Randy Oetken
208-660-0518

or

Christy Oetken
208-660-0506

of
Windermere Coeur d’Alene Realty

Oetken@RealEstate-Browser.com

We will work hard for YOU!

Visit our websites:

www.RealEstate-Browser.com

www.OwnTheLifestyle.com

 

AcreageBuild Your Custom HomeCurb AppealhomeHome OwnershipKootenai CountyNew ConstructionOur ListingsRathdrumRathdrum ListingsReal EstateVideo March 31, 2011

VIRTUAL TOUR: Selkirk Meadows Homes by Rosenberger Construction

NOW is a great time to build! 


Rosenberger Construction will build your Custom Estate in 2011.

Call Randy Oetken of Windermere Coeur d’Alene Realty to review floorplans for The Bridger, The Sequoia and The Madison.

208-660-0518

Randy@RealEstate-Browser.com

Take a Virtual Tour of Rathdrum’s Premier Neighborhood, Selkirk Meadows

AcreageBuild Your Custom HomeCurb AppealhomeHome OwnershipIdahoKootenai CountyNew ConstructionOur ListingsPhotographsRathdrumRathdrum ListingsReal EstateWindermere March 31, 2011

Presenting ‘The Madison’ by Rosenberger Construction

If you decide to build, you want a home that reflects who you really are and the life that you really want to live.

THE MADISON, by Rosenberger Construction  accommodates your lifestyle.

The social ‘you’ needs a home that helps you welcome your friends and family. With a spacious Kitchen, open-concept Great Room, Covered Front Porch and Covered Back Patio, this home is an hospitable space to receive your guests.

Also on the main level, the Office and Laundry room help minimize the hassles of the daily grind, like tele-commuting, bill-paying and doing laundry.

 

THE MADISON honors your need for solitude in the 2nd floor Master Suite. Additional 2 bedrooms & bath let you remain close to the ones who need you.

Low-maintenance Hardiplank Siding, finished 2 Car Garage & handsome Masonry Accents satisfy your needs for convenience and pride of ownership.

After all, your home is a reflection of you.
This 2155 sq ft classic will serve you in classic style for years to come.

Call Randy Oetken of Windermere Coeur d’Alene Realty
to inquire about this

3BR/2.5BA home
to be built on 4.8 acres
in incomparable Selkirk Meadows

208-660-0518

Randy@RealEstate-Browser.com

Check it out at www.RealEstate-Browser.com

AcreageBuild Your Custom HomeBuyersCoeur d'AleneHayden ListingsMarket NewsMarket ValueNew ConstructionOur ListingsPricingRathdrumRathdrum ListingsReal EstateSell March 29, 2011

Real estate: It’s time to buy again

Forget stocks. Don’t bet on gold. After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing.

 From his wide-rimmed cowboy hat to his roper boots, Mike Castleman fits moviedom’s image of the lanky Texas rancher. On a recent March evening, Castleman is feeding cattle biscuits to his two pet longhorn steers, Big Buddy and Little Buddy, on his 460-acre Bar Ten Creek Ranch in Dripping Springs, a hamlet outside Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The spread is a medley of meandering streams, craggy cliffs, and centuries-old oaks. But even in this pastoral setting, his mind keeps returning to a subject he knows as well as any expert around: the housing market. “I’m a dirt-road economist who sees what’s happening on the ground, and in 35 years I’ve never seen a shortage of new construction like the one I’m seeing today,” declares Castleman, 70, now offering a biscuit to his miniature donkey Thumper. “The talking heads who are down on real estate will hate to hear this, but America needs to build a lot more houses. And in most markets the price of new homes is fixin’ to rise, not fall.”

Castleman is in a unique position to know. As the founder and CEO of a company called Metrostudy, he’s spent more than three decades tracking real-time data on the country’s inventory of new homes….

…Today Castleman is witnessing an extraordinary reversal of the new-home glut that helped sink prices just a few years ago. In the 41 cities Metrostudy covers, a total of 78,000 houses are now either vacant and for sale, or under construction. That’s less than one-fourth of the 343,000 units in those two categories at the peak of the frenzy in mid-2006, and well below the level of a decade ago. “If we had anything like normal levels of buying, those houses would sell in 2½ months,” says Castleman. “We’d see an incredible shortage. And that’s where we’re heading.”

To see where real estate is truly headed, it’s critical to keep your eye firmly on the fundamentals that, over time, always determine the course of prices and construction. During the last decade’s historic run-up in prices, Fortune repeatedly warned that things were moving too fast. In a cover story titled “Is the Housing Boom Over?,” this writer’s analysis found that the basic forces that govern the market — the cost of owning vs. renting and the level of new construction — were in bubble territory. Eventually reality set in, and prices plummeted. Our current view focuses on those same fundamentals — only now they’re pointing in the opposite direction.

So let’s state it simply and forcibly: Housing is back.

Excerpted from

Real estate: It’s time to buy again

March 28, 2011 5:00 am

Read the full article:

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/28/real-estate-its-time-to-buy-again/

For more information on New Construction in North Idaho, visit Our Listings page.

Investment PropertiesKootenai CountyOur ListingsPost FallsPost Falls ListingsPost Falls ListingsReal EstateRentalVideo March 17, 2011

Ross Point Estates Duplex: Great Rental History

Coeur d'AleneHaydenHome OwnershipIdahoKootenai CountyMarket AnalysisMarket NewsMarket ValueNew ConstructionPost FallsPricingRathdrumReal EstateSellSellersWindermere March 11, 2011

2011 Windermere Market Review

Hello, Friends!

 Our Annual Windermere Report (see link below) is an overview of last year’s real estate market and a forecast of the trends, opportunities, and challenges we can expect in the coming months.

Forecasting the future is always a risky business.  However, we continue to remain optimistic about the future of our local real estate market.  Why? Because families and retiring baby boomers will continue to seek out healthy communities that offer recreational opportunities, excellent schools and quality health care.  And here in Kootenai County, we have these in abundance!

Are you interested in learning how all of this relates to the value of your property in today’s market?  Whether you are evaluating investment strategies, tax or estate planning, or perhaps considering a change of address, we are here to help you! We would be happy to prepare a market value report for you, compiled on activity in your local neighborhood and specific to your property.

If you would like a custom market value report, or if you know of someone who needs professional advice regarding real estate, please don’t hesitate to call us.

In the meantime, we hope you find the “Windermere Report” informative.  We look forward to talking to you soon.

Sincerely,

Randy & Christy Oetken

2011 Windermere Market Review