Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

The always excellent Calculated Risk goes into the simple reasons why 2nd mortgage holders are unlikely to embrace HAFA.
When a 2nd mortgage holder can only recover 3% of the loan or $3000, whichever is LESS, and they have to release the seller from all future liability, I can see why they will not be quick to [...]

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 [...]

In the last 12 months I’ve had a few situations where my client’s offer on a foreclosure was rejected in favor of a cash offer.  In my office, I know of many others that have experienced the same thing.
With the data provided by RMLS that I used yesterday to comment about FHA transactions, I am also able [...]

Google just put up some new satellite imagery of Haiti that can be viewed as a layer in Google Earth.  I just spent the last 1/2 hour taking a look and here are some of my thoughts:

Most roads look passable
Many people are in the streets and lots of debris around
Some buildings total losses, another right [...]

The 3 local REALTOR associations released 2009 housing statistics and I started going through them and my eyes were drawn to the number of closed sales in 2009 -  45,200.
Since most sales have a Buyer’s Agent and a Seller’s Agent, we’re looking at a total of approximately 90,000 trasaction “sides.”
The Twin Cities associations have approximately [...]

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 [...]

Dear Owners & Listing Agents of vacant relocation properties, short sales and foreclosures:
Today I showed one house that was completely unshoveled and a 2nd that was partially shoveled but very icy.  In both cases I and my clients almost fell a couple times each.  This is not a good way to get people to buy your [...]