Weekend Mortgage Rates
Disclose, Disclose, Disclose
Honestly, this seems to be one of the hardest issues in the real estate business, yet it is also one of the easiest issues to understand: As a seller: disclose, disclose, disclose! I've interacted with several properties very recently where the seller did not know or decided it wasn't pertinent to share material facts about the condition of the property that affect the buyer's use and enjoyment of the property. In one situation, the seller had installed a new electrical panel and the Seller's Disclosure … [Read more...]
Talk About Too Much Credit!
Saw this on Startribune.com today and thought it was too funny not to pass along... Manhattan man deluged with 2,000 copies of his credit card Associated Press Last update: July 26, 2007 9:59 AM NEW YORK Frank Van Buren gets a lot more credit than he deserves. The Manhattan accountant found himself flooded with plastic in recent weeks, as ExxonMobil credit cards kept on coming. Van Buren, who said he has had an ExxonMobil account for his business for 17 years, had ordered two copies of his card because it was … [Read more...]
Convincing People Not to Sell
So I'm a Realtor, but I'm really a real estate salesperson. That means I sell real estate. Ok, so what's the big deal... everyone knows that! Well, twice in the last week I've encouraged prospective sellers not sell. Their situations dictated that there just were not enough compelling reasons to go through all the efforts of preparing a home for sale, dealing with showings, locating a new home, negotiating the price on the old and new homes, dealing with inspections on both homes, and moving. Much of this … [Read more...]
Some clients are tougher than others
Today I was fortunate enough to get a seller of mine closed that I had been working with for a year. Luckily I had teamed up with a favorite peer of mine on the listing so her and I tag-teamed on the different aspects of the pre-listing, listing, contract negotiations and closing. It was probably the most difficult client to get closed... not because the clients were bad... actually they are very good people. The reason it was so tough is the situation they were in and the difficulty of their daily … [Read more...]
2005 to 2007 – A Tale of Two Markets
MAAR has just released another awesome set of stats on the Twin Cities marketplace and I wanted to give you a quick overview of the key points: June 2005 to June 2007 year to date comparison: 2005 2007 % Change New Listings 52,414 59,717 + 13.9% Pending Sales 34,146 24,713 - 27.6% Closed Sales 26,399 20,044 - 24.1% Active Listings 21,613 34,630 + 60.2% Median Price 231,000 232,500 + .6% Sales to List Price 98.5% 95.7% - 2.8% Supply-Demand Ratio 3.67 9.36 + 155% Affordability Index 138 127 - … [Read more...]
Interest Rates Heading Lower?
In the last 60 days interest rates jumped approximately 1/2% from about 6.25% to 6.75%. This was quite a dramatic jump for such a small timeframe but has been seen before. We saw a nearly identical spike in rates in 2006 at almost the exact same time. People often ask me what brings about changes in the interest rates. While I'm not an economist, I can give you a pretty good overview of the factors that affect the mortgage market: Inflation fears If the market believes that inflation is moving higher, … [Read more...]
Better Photos Using High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photo Editing
With 90%+ of buyers starting their home searches online, it has become more important than ever to make sure the photos that buyers see are the very best they can be. While some Realtors pay a professional photographer to come in and take pictures of their listings, this can be extremely expensive and not cost-effective for the average home. Consequently many agents take their own photos with widely varying results. Im a bit of a perfectionist so when it comes to photographing my listings, Ive done some … [Read more...]
Our Market Hasn't Hit Bottom Yet
All of this data is based off of statistics provided by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors through April 2007. This is a year of wild extremes: Homes priced right and in good condition are often selling quickly, some with 2 or 3 offers. An overpriced home that's brought into the right price point can "pop" as well. Some houses get 3 or more showings a week, some get 1 or 2 per month. Foreclosures have doubled from last year to approximately 2% of the market but because banks are absolutely … [Read more...]
We All Share The Trail System
This is a little bit of a tangent from my normal commentary but I think it is important to say so I hope you will humor me... I'm an avid user of the trails in Plymouth between Medicine Lake and Parker's Lake, which then connects to the Luce Line that seems to go on forever. I'm on them frequently this time of year in preparation for the MS150, a two day, 150 mile bike ride to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis. Occassionally I see some things that people do that drive me nuts: Loose dogs. This is my #1 … [Read more...]
