Randy Smith leaves Bennington

On December 31st, 2008 Randy Smith ended his employment with Bennington Properties after 2.5 years. Randy received an opportunity to work in Texas and Mexico building homes that he couldn't refuse. When we hired Randy, he told us that he often got restless at a job after about 2 years, and he definitely kept his promise. Many of you have come to love Randy's great attitude and wonderful smile and sense of humor. We will definitely miss him and will have to work hard to pick up where Randy left off. Thank you Randy for 2.5 years of great service.

As many of you know (or maybe don't know), in the Spring of 2008 we hired Jeff Smith (Randy's son) as our maintenance manager. So I am sure we will have a lot of Randy updates to share with all of those who are interested.

Want to try and increase your bookings?

To All Bennington Property Owners:

Are you looking for a way to attract more guests to your home and increase your number of booked nights? In the current economy, everyone is looking for ways to increase profits and decrease expenses. Additionally, our team at Bennington Properties is working hard to keep a “step ahead” of the competition. So, we have added a new feature to our webpage. It’s called “Hot Deal”. If you have a special deal that you would like to offer to your guests, such as an additional free night, discounted rates, free ski passes, gift baskets, or other ideas, please contact me and we can initiate the special deal for your home by advertising it on the web and notifying our reservations team.

Deb Nikita
Owner Relations Manager

deb@benningtonproperties.com

www.benningtonproperties.com/vacationrentals.htm

Year end 2008 Real Estate update

Sunriver Real Estate Update for Q4 2008

Because the media has been talking so much about falling home values, a quick caveat regarding statistical medians is in order because they can often lead to very misleading data. The median reflects not only rises and falls in actual property values of homes sold. It also comprises the mix of sales. If more inexpensive homes sell than pricier ones, the median will decline much faster. That clouds the issue, masking the true appreciation or depreciation of all homes. So, beware of taking overall figures strictly at face value, because in reality the national or even regional median declines do not give you a good indication of the value of your home. In a national market where many of the sales are foreclosures and short sales, you need to understand how much that is affecting the statistical data to the downside. Also remember that Sunriver is a fairly small community and statistics can vary greatly from quarter to quarter, especially during these periods of low volume of sales.

To determine the true market price of a given home, it’s necessary to conduct a far more narrow Comparative Market Analysis of similar homes in the area to determine the value of any given home. That’s one of the reasons why you need an experienced and knowledgeable real estate professional.

In any case, there is little doubt that actual home prices declined in 2008. Those declining prices have contributed to a bit of upswing in buyers that are now returning to market to pick up the bargains. When the economy does start to improve, Sunriver will be out in front of national trends and recover quickly.

Based on the sales figures for the Sunriver real estate market in 2008, it appears we have bottomed in the second half of this year. Prices will likely flounder further over the winter, but as the unprecedented massive Fed economic rescue program gains traction, I predict that we’ll see improvement in sales volume as we move into the spring and summer months. Let's be clear about this, I am an optimist, a "glass half full kind" of guy and I think something good is about to happen all the time. I do believe that all this cheap money will bring back the buyers.

Fourth Quarter Sales Data

Q4 2008 Sales Data
Total transactions: 21
Total $ volume of transactions: $ 8,765,000
Bare Land: 0
Shared ownership: 3
Condos: 2
Homes: 16 Over $1 million: 3
Average percentage of list price: 90.49%

Q4 2007 Sales Data
Total transactions: 42
Total $ volume of transactions: $ 23,320,164
Bare Land: 3
Shared ownership: 4
Condos: 4
Homes: 31 Over $ 1 million: 5
Average percentage of list price: 96.3%

Q3 2008 Sales Data
Total transactions: 25
Total $ volume of transactions: $ 12,818,500
Bare Land: 1
Shared ownership: 3
Condos: 4
Homes: 17 Over $1 million: 2
Average percentage of list price: 94.3%

It is quite clear that Q4 2008 was a very slow quarter. When compared to the previous year the total volume was down by 2/3’s and the % of listing price was off an additional 5%.

The good news is that the number of homes on the market has dropped significantly and is now down to 135 homes and as of today (1/6/08) there are 8 pending sales in the pipeline. That is promising when you see we only closed 21 Sunriver deals in Q4.

John Watkins
Bennington Properties
541-390-3600

Join a SROA owner forum near you!!

Please join SROA for a learn & share owner forum near you! SROA representatives will present information about the current status of our pools and share some concepts suggested for Sunriver by national aquatics experts Counsilman-Hunsaker. They will also be discussing the possible purchase of Mavericks. By attending these owner forums you will have the opportunity to further shape these concepts by sharing your thoughts and ideas about what best meets Sunriver's needs.

Presenters will also share the latest information about the state of the SROA Replacement Reserve Account and its impact on the condition of our roads and pathways.

Finally, we know that many of you are interested in the future of the Village at Sunriver. SROA will share what information they have about the new owners and their plans.

"It's your community. It's your decision."

Just in case you'll be in Sunriver, SROA will have another forum here on Saturday, January 17, 6-8pm in the SROA board room, 57455 Abbot Drive, next to the Sunriver Fire Station.

Eugene: Friday, Jan. 23, 6-8 pm
Eugene Phoenix Inn
850 Franklin
Just north of U of O main campus

Salem: Saturday, Jan. 24, 10 am-noon
North Salem Phoenix Inn
1590 Weston Ct., NE
Off Hawthorne, just west of I-5 at exit 256

Portland: Saturday., Jan. 24, 4-6 pm
Lake Oswego Phoenix Inn
14905 Bangy Road
Just east of I-5/217 interchange

Vancouver: Sunday, Jan. 25, 10 am-noon
Vancouver Phoenix Inn
12712 SE 2nd Circle
One mile east of I-205 SE Mill Plain Rd & 126th

SROA is working on Seattle and SF Bay Area forums for February.

Visit www.sunriverowners.org for links to maps and directions

Dinner Train goes out of business

Prineville’s Crooked River Dinner Train has treated thousand of riders to a dinner-theater experience complete with a taste of the Wild West.

But now, according to city officials, the Western-themed dinner train is another victim of the slumping economy.

Since 2004, the city has owned and operated the dinner train. It was purchased to provide revenue to the city’s railway. In its heyday, the train ran year-round, five days a week, and was profitable.

“The experience on that dinner train is one of the best you’ve ever had. Our comment cards raved about how good it was,” Railway Manager Dan Lovelady said.

But it wasn’t enough.

Wayne Van Matre, Prineville’s interim city manager, said the decision was a tough one. “Everyone realized that in these economic times, and that’s really what it is, people don’t have the disposable income,” Van Matre said.

Two popular restaurants in Bend have also closed their doors (the Japanese food restaurant, Deep as well as Merenda's Wine Bar and Restaurant).

The Benningtons enjoyed an evening out on the Dinner Train in 2007. Here is Gene Bennington "crowing like a rooster" to get his Rooster Tail beer (the waitress made him do it). Photo courtesy of Gusto Magazine.

SROA considering purchase of Mavericks

The Sunriver Owners Association announced this week that it is considering the purchase of Mavericks Recreation and Aquatic Center in its bid for new pools for Sunriver. Mavericks is an exclusive atheltic club and pool owned by a group of 4 vacation rental companies here in Sunriver (Discover Sunriver, Village Properties, Mountain Resort, and Sunray Vacation Rentals). If SROA purchases Mavericks, then it will likely replace the South pool as one of Sunriver's two public pools.

The Benningtons are multiplying . . by 3

Gene and Penny's son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Holly, received a big surprise from Santa this year when their OB-GYN informed them that they were pregnant with triplets. The shock has worn off and the Benningtons are starting to gear up for the big addition to the family (Grandma and Grandpa started a diet so that they can be in shape for the arrival of their first grandchildren). The 3 little Benningtons will likely be born in June (even though their official due date isn't until August 14th).