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Twin Cities Builders Stymied by Lack of Financing

February 15, 2013 by 1 Comment
dollars

As the Builders Association of the Twin Cities continues to report strong increases in the number of building permits and units issued, I've heard from several small builders that the difficulty in finding construction financing is impacting their ability to take advantage of the dramatic increase in buyer demand. With the quickly approaching and ever-important spring market, builders are looking to build up their inventory of available homes but finding that few lenders are willing to step up to the plate with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Blog Posts, New Construction, Opinion Tagged With:

Changes in Maple Grove New Home Construction

September 20, 2010 by 1 Comment

Maple Grove is a great example of the dramatically changed new single family home construction market.  Just two years ago the typical new Maple Grove home was about $625,000 - today it is about $500,000 and still falling.  Maple Grove's largesse peaked in 2007 when the 12-month rolling average median sales price hit $690,000! While the cost for land and the material/labor cost of building homes have dropped, the house itself is also changing.  Consumers are building smaller and more economical homes than they … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community Issues, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Neighborhood Info, New Construction, Personal Experiences

How Much Commission is Too Much?

February 23, 2010 by 2 Comments
DR Horton 5% Commission

Today I received an email from DR Horton offering 5% commission on select homes closing in the next 40 days: What I'm wondering is at what point do commissions get so lucrative that it can severely influence an agent's actions in representing their buyer?  Since discussing "usual" or "typical" commissions in a public forum can lead to antitrust issues, I won't discuss numbers but I will say that 5% is above any buyer cooperative commission (buy-side only) that I've ever received. For as long as I've been in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, MLS Compliment & Criticism, New Construction, Opinion, Personal Experiences Tagged With:

Financing For Some Condos Becoming Very, Very, Very Difficult

January 11, 2010 by 1 Comment

The housing boom brought us a slew of new community developments including condos, townhomes and retail/condo buildings.  While financing on townhomes is still doable, financing options for condo & mixed-use buildings is becoming very difficult.  The developments with the hardest time getting financing are the ones that have had the highest rates of foreclosure. So many condos built from 2005-2008 in the last boom were purchased either at the top of the price curve and/or were bought with challenged … [Read more...]

Filed Under: city grants, Community Issues, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, New Construction, Opinion, Personal Experiences

A Great Perspective on New Home Construction

August 26, 2009 by 1 Comment

CNBC has a great article on some new housing numbers that I think sums up what we've been seeing in the Twin Cities lately.  I believe the views by J.P. Morgan and Raymond James are both spot-on! http://www.cnbc.com/id/32569620 It is nice to see a little renewed interest in new construction lately... I have seen several developments with 10+ houses under construction at once... something that isn't very notable compared to 2002-2006 but quite interesting compared last year.  This surge in activity is very … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community Issues, Info for Buyers, Market Stats, New Construction, Opinion, Personal Experiences

Radon Kills More People than Drunk Driving Every Year

April 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Radon Death Chart

Image courtesy EPA Most people have heard the word radon before, but many probably do not understand what it is.  As found in the EPA's A Citizen's Guide to Radon (pdf version here): Radon is a cancer-causing, radioactive gas. You can't see radon. And you can't smell it or taste it. But it may be a problem in your home. Radon is estimated to cause many thousands of deaths each year. That's because when you breathe air containing radon, you can get lung cancer. In fact, the Surgeon General has warned that radon … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community Issues, Info for Buyers, New Construction, Opinion, Personal Experiences Tagged With: , ,

Great Experience with Centex Homes

October 24, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Saying thank you for a job well done is a good thing to do, especially in times when things are not as easy as they used to be. Recently I introduced a buyer to the Crescent Ponds development in Blaine, Minnesota.  Murphy McKee, Centex's representative, was great to talk with from Day 1. At first we found the prices just a little too high, but when a sales event hit, my buyers were comfortable enough to step up to the plate.  My buyers are buying their first home, so going "all in" on new construction as your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ethics, Info for Buyers, New Construction, Opinion, Personal Experiences Tagged With: , ,

Builders Clearing Out Inventory

August 25, 2008 by Leave a Comment

I received an email this weekend from a builder advertising models that were marked down 20% + ($100k+) from their original prices (but marked down incrementally). I also saw another builder marking their inventory down in the MLS a similar amount too. This suggests to me that builders understand that we're nearing the end of the strong sales season and that they need to price reduce now to sell these homes soon or they will be left holding them all winter! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, New Construction, Personal Experiences Tagged With: , , ,

Microsoft Photosynth – Killer App for Real Estate?

March 19, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Microsoft is working on a fantastic program called Photosynth that you can currently download in a very basic preview.  This program could take virtual tours to levels never seen before... maybe too far! It's a great application and shows great potential... I hope to have a chance to try it on a house sometime... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, New Construction, Opinion Tagged With:

Buying New Construction

November 25, 2007 by 1 Comment

I've recently had interactions with several buyers that have bought or are in the process of buying new construction homes.  In these situations, the buyer did not bring their own agent into the purchase process and are now realizing these issues: Builders are giving good discounts off of the "base model" of their homes, but buyers will upgrade many of the items, so the price climbs. On a $400,000 house, it is not unusual to end up with $40,000 - $60,000 in upgrades.  This is often well above the buyer's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, New Construction, Opinion

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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.