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Agent Networking Outside the MLS

April 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Edina Realty Network One Logo

The local MLS is by far the most comprehensive networking tool for real estate agents to match buyers with sellers.  Last year more than 40,000 sales were recorded in the MLS for just the thirteen county Twin Cities Metro area.  While the MLS is a fantastic resource, it can't serve the needs of all buyers and sellers. For example, with today's rapidly declining supply of homes for sale and surging buyer demand, many buyers are being left on the sidelines because they cannot find a home to purchase.  This … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Blog Posts, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, MLS Compliment & Criticism, Opinion, Personal Experiences

Days on Market Does not Matter

April 8, 2012 by 1 Comment
Credit: cvedovini on Flickr

Buyers often ask me how long a particular house has been on the market.  I dutifully give them the information but at the same time I am always shaking my head.  In most cases I've encountered in the 9 years I've been selling, the time the home has been on the market has had no bearing on the value of the house. Ultimately, homes don't sell because of price, condition, features, location or market exposure.  If we just look at price as the only influencer, every property will sell at a price that takes into … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Blog Posts, Info for Buyers, Opinion, Personal Experiences

2200+ Short Sales Stuck Waiting for Bank Approval

April 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource

Short Sales By The Numbers: 3,900 We have about 3,900 short sales currently for sale in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area on the MLS. 2,200 In the Twin Cities, of those 3,900 short sales we now have more than 2,200 that have received offers and are waiting for the seller's lender(s) to provide a response, 900 more than we had nearly 20 months ago and 500 more than we had 7 months ago.  By the way, this means that 2200+ buyers are tied up waiting for properties they may or may not ever get to buy. 56% Percent of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreclosures and Short Sales, Housing Analysis, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Opinion, Short Sales

Multiple Offer Madness

March 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

What a difference 12 months makes.  A year ago buyers were firmly in the driver's seat.  With lots to choose from and very little selling quickly, buyers could take their time to look at houses and spend days considering if they wanted to make an offer.  Fast forward to today, where in many areas and multiple price points the buyer's market has quickly flipped to a seller's market. One agent in my office was working 7 offers for clients this week - all 7 had multiple offers on them and one of those had 30+ … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Opinion, Personal Experiences

Twin Cities Home Affordability Has Peaked

March 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
twin cities housing affordability index

As we see Twin Cities home prices bottom (and likely tick up) and interest rates begin to rise, home affordability in the Twin Cities is likely to fall in 2012 and beyond. For years we've seen home prices decline.  This decline wooed us into a sense that home affordability would keep getting better the longer we waited. Well in the last 6 months we've seen a dramatic decrease in the number of homes for sale while also seeing an equally large increase in the number of buyers in the market, which has caused overall … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crystal Ball Projections, Info for Buyers, Market Stats, Mortgage Rates, Opinion

Twin Cities Home Prices Have Bottomed

March 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
percent of original list price received at time of sale

Two months ago I first called the housing bottom in the Twin Cities and I'm back today to repeat that claim and bring new information that has come out in the last two months: Pre-foreclosure notices have dropped even further, meaning even fewer foreclosures on the market in 9-12 months Sheriff Sales in 2011 declined to the lowest level since 2007 The number of homes for sale are now at 7+ year lows The decline of median sales price from February 2011 to February 2012 was the smallest year over year decline … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crystal Ball Projections, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats

Contracts for Deed – The Good & The Bad

March 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Star Tribune put out an article that talks about the people and organizations offering contracts for deed and how they can be a great option for buyers but can also be risky for buyers, especially if they don't have help from someone experienced in those type of sales.  It's important that before buying a home on contract for deed that you speak with an attorney or real estate agent about the terms of the contract and have a title company provide title and closing services to ensure your contract is recorded … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Mortgage Guidelines, special financing

Negotiating Non-Typical Personal Property

March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Most Twin Cities real estate sales include the washer, dryer, refrigerator, range and dishwasher but more and more houses today have what I'd call non-typical personal property such as: Huge flat screen tv's mounted to the wall Built-in surround sound Projectors & screens Home theater furniture Pool tables etc. In most cases the cost to the seller for these items far outweighs their value today - used equipment on its own has diminished value and with electronics the value can decrease quickly as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Opinion, Personal Experiences

Minnesota Home Foreclosures Dropped 17% in 2011

February 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
2011 Minnesota Sheriff Sales Map

The Minnesota Home Ownership Center and others published a report created by HousingLink that details the sheriff sale activity in Minnesota for 2011.  We saw sheriff sales decline a substantial 17% to the lowest level since 2007: The far northern metro has continued to be the hardest hit area of Minnesota, though this was also one of the fastest growing areas of the state during the housing boom and it is clear these are related: While we are still at very high levels of foreclosure, this is yet … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community Issues, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats

Home Buying: When an Offer Negotiation Becomes an Auction

February 21, 2012 by 1 Comment

Since 2006 the real estate market has been such that it was uncommon for more than one buyer to fall in love with the same house at the same time.  But as I have been mentioning for several months, homes for sale inventory has dropped dramatically from a year ago while the number of buyers in the market has ballooned. The last 5-6 years has programmed most buyers to believe that they must negotiate the price of the home to ensure they get a "good deal" and that sellers have no other choice than to work with them. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Market Stats, Opinion, Personal Experiences

Disclaimer

TwinCitiesRealEstateBlog.com is not a Multiple Listing Service MLS, nor does it offer MLS access.
This website is a service of Aaron Dickinson of Edina Realty, a broker Participant of the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc.