Boise Idaho Real Estate Blog - Lisa Kohl

The Top 11 Locally-Owned Furniture and Decor Shops in the Boise Area

While there are dozens of chain furniture stores in the Treasure Valley filled with hundreds of couches and tables and lamps, transforming a house into a home takes a personal touch. A new house is just good bones; you have to fill it in with heart and soul to make your home, well, home.

And by “heart and soul,” we mean mid-century couches that beckon you to relax after a long day of work; antique bookcases to hold a lifetime’s worth of tchotchkes and novels; a stately dining table designed to hold decades’ worth of family dinners; the perfect lamp to tie your living room together; and whatever else catches your eye and suits your personal style.

To help you find everything from big-ticket items to unique finishing touches, we’ve compiled a list…

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Downtown Boise Construction Projects: Top Developments to Watch in 2021

As tumultuous as 2020 has been, construction is still a booming industry in the Treasure Valley. In the next year, Boise will continue to raise its downtown skyline and begin construction on nearly 850 apartment units, including much-needed low income, elderly, and workforce housing.

This year has also brought movement on several much-anticipated projects, including a court ruling on contested luxury condos along the Boise River, restoration of the beloved Blues Bouquet building, and a groundbreaking for a new public park downtown.

Below you’ll find a detailed list of all the downtown Boise building projects to watch in 2021.

Idaho Central Credit Union Building

Status: Announced | 4th St and Idaho St | Downtown

This project will be…

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Bogus Basin Recreation & Ski Resort: The Complete Guide

Make Memories All Year Round at the Bogus Basin Recreation Area

There are not many places in the nation where the commute to your local ski resort can rival many people’s commute home from work. Then again, not many cities have a ski resort less than 45 minutes away – one of the many unique perks of living in Boise.

The Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area and Ski Resort, located just 16.5 miles north of Boise, is beloved in the Treasure Valley. The drive alone – along a switchback road that transitions from high desert sagebrush to coniferous evergreens, all the while offering breathtaking views of the valley across to the Owyhee Mountains – is worth the trip, regardless of the season.

One of the best things about Bogus Basin is that you…

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Up Again; How Boise-Area Home Prices Jumped 17% in a Year

We’ve seen many new records set – and subsequently broken – in the Treasure Valley real estate market in 2020, and the last month is no exception

In October, we saw housing prices surge to new records once again as feverish buyers competed for a dwindling supply of homes. This caused the length of time houses spent on the market to drop to a median of 5 days, a new record in both Ada and Canyon counties.

Even in the hottest spring markets the Treasure Valley has experienced, homes have not sold this fast.

Let’s look at October’s numbers before taking a step back to reflect on how the month caps off what has been an extraordinary year in Treasure Valley real estate:

• In the past year, the number of homes for sale in Ada County dropped…

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Boise Like a Local: Boise’s Hidden (and Not So Hidden) Gems

A guide to the places and activities that make Boise one-of-a-kind

When you think about what makes Boise unique, what springs to mind? Every Boisean has a beloved checklist of unique, only-found-in-Boise things that they treasure. Call them the greats or call them the classics, we’re talking about the places and activities that you’re eager to introduce out-of-town visitors to, or that convinced newcomers to make Boise their new home – the things that speak to the heart of Boise and give our city its soul.

In the interest of celebrating these classics – and maybe reminding you of a few you haven’t hit in awhile – we’ve compiled a list of our favorites. In order to narrow down our list (it turns out we have a lot of favorites!), we set a few…

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Where to Stay in Boise, Idaho

Traveling to Boise for work or pleasure? You’re in for a treat. It’s not only the stunning vistas, whitewater rafting, incomparable hiking, vibrant cultural scene, and novel cuisine that will delight you. You’ll also get a chance to experience the best that Boise’s hospitality industry has to offer.

Whether you’re visiting Boise for a weekend getaway, exploring neighborhoods looking for a new home, or just eager for a staycation, our local hotels deliver.

Some of our favorite local hotels offer comfort in style, with incredible locations that will show you the heart of Boise and leave you feeling pampered. We’ve rounded up a shortlist of the cream of the crop; the hotels offering experiences you won’t get elsewhere. Get ready to grab your…

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Bidding Wars Surge As Treasure Valley Buyers Chase Shrinking Supply

Amid critical housing shortages and record demand, bidding wars continue to drive up Boise area home prices.

Treasure Valley homebuyers in the 1980s had more housing stock to choose from than buyers today, thanks to the unprecedented shortage of listed homes we are currently experiencing. As a result, homebuyers can end up facing a gauntlet: bidding wars, forfeiting basic protections to make their offer more attractive, and paying record-high prices in order to land a home.

How did we get here? A few primary factors spring to mind: the Treasure Valley’s decades-long population boom, coupled with the fact that new construction has lagged behind demand for at least the past seven years in the valley.

Those factors are predictable (and were…

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Best Neighborhoods in Boise: Finding Your Place to Call Home

Your guide to exploring Boise's best neighborhoods – and what makes them top notch

When hunting for a new home, people often forget to look beyond the four walls in front of them to think about how the neighborhood would support their lifestyle. But your neighborhood can be more than just a place to commute to and from – it can be the place you take long runs to unwind after work, or the home of your favorite brunch spot. It can be where you find community.

Neighborhoods are like people, full of quirks and strengths and weaknesses that are wholly unique. Picking the best one for your lifestyle and needs is important. That’s why we’re here to help.

Below, you’ll find the best neighborhoods in Boise hand-picked by us for their strengths,…

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Boise-Area Home Prices Hit $400,000 for the First Time, Doubling in 7 Years

Home prices in the Treasure Valley continue to break new records. No better example of that is Ada County, where home prices have hit a median of $400,000 for the first time in August. This represents a 12.7% increase in price over the previous year. It also means home prices have officially doubled in Ada County since late 2013.

Ada County is not an outlier – Canyon County and the cities of Boise, Meridian and Nampa all set new record sales prices last month. For instance, Boise’s price hit $379,900, beating last year’s median sales price of $337,767. In Canyon County, the median sales price hit $309,900 in August, whereas last year it was $250,000 – that’s a nearly $60,000 increase in one year.

To further put record prices in perspective,…

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Choosing the Ideal Boise School: 4 Tips for Parents

If you’re shopping for a home in the Boise area, you already know your decision hinges on a lot more than updated appliances or square footage; you’re vetting more than just four walls to sleep in.

You’re also examining how the particular neighborhood, community, and school district fits your family’s needs, and that’s a bigger task than taking a quick home tour. When you choose a new home, you’re also selecting a broader community to be a part of, including your child’s future school. If you plan to stay in an area for several years, you could be determining their access to every school they’ll attend throughout their K-12 education.

This means home shopping is also school shopping, and it’s time to do some homework. As with looking for a new…

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