Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

4 Bdrm 4 bath 4,400 sq./ft. hillside home on 4 plus acres, 7 min. from Middleton. Master suite with whirlpool and deck. Fieldstone fireplace, wraparound porch, storm/wine cellar, spectacular room to grow marijuana, open floor plan, elevator and handicap accessible with in-law suite. 2 1/2 car garage with lower level shop. Separate 40′ x 60′ commercial grade shop with loft, office and 3/4 bath. Perfect for toys or animals. Middleton-Cross Plains schools. $675,000

So say the MLS remarks of this listing.  Don’t believe me?  Here it is on the MLS itself, along with the contact info for the listing agent and the seller, who appears to be representing himself.

How on earth is this possible?  Well, based on what I can see, this broker seems to allow sellers to enter their own listings into the MLS, a horrifying thought.  The other option is that this was input by the listing agent… which seems more horrifying than the seller doing it.  In case the property details have been changed by the time you read this, here is a PDF of the marijuana house (2).

I occasionally see comments from the public saying things like: REALTORS are worthless, the MLS is a monopoly that needs to be forced to allow anyone to publish to it, MLS data should be public, and that Google/Trulia/Zillow/Craigslist make the MLS a thing of the past.  My counter to those comments is now clearer than ever: just look at this listing.

However this listing was posted to the MLS, the content of it is not permitted.  Because the MLS is controlled by a professional organization (the REALTORS), there will most certainly be a correction made and it is highly likely (hopefully) that some kind of penalty will be issued to the agent.  When it comes to accurate information about homes for sale or those that have sold, the MLS is in a field of its own.  While there are problems that do arise occasionally (this is an extreme example) this data is far more consistent and accurate than public options because it is a controlled system.

REALTORS are no longer the gatekeepers to the listings of homes for sale, but when it comes to ensuring the data is reliable, we still play the key role.  Most of the sites consumers use online to find homes for sale use data that originally came from the REALTOR and/or MLS.  I spend a lot of time helping buyers find the right house and helping sellers find a buyer, but I’d spend a whole lot more time if I didn’t have a reliable resource to use.

Because I have reliable information, even though finding the right house may take a lot of time, it is by far the easiest part of my job – its everything that happens after the right house is found that takes all of my skill, experience and knowledge.  Every day this job takes more to do right, something that runs counter to what you’d expect in an industry in the midst of a technology shift.  The problem is that no matter what new gadgets, software and web sites may be made, real estate is very complex and variable.  Though there are certainly both good and bad agents, this job would be practically impossible without the systems we REALTORS have in place.

It’s that time again, the annual Residential Real Estate Activity Report for 2009 has just been released!  There’s good information in there but the key infoporn graphic for me is the share of sales in 2009 that were lender-mediated:

If you need to get an even more detailed image than what you can get by clicking on the image above, see page 16 of the report.

Why do I find this graphic so interesting?  First of all, the trend this year is very similar to last year’s, which shows that portions of the inner-city, suburbs and exurbs are all experiencing both some of the best and worst of our market.  The common thread with all of them is that communities that have high levels of foreclosure and short sale activity also saw high sales volume when the market was at its frothiest.  While the news portrayed by this graphic is not good, it makes it very clear that this is a regional issue that affects us all.

There have been many steps forward made in the last 12 months to help address the issues surrounding our current housing crisis but there is still much work to be done.  This graphic didn’t change much from 2008 to 2009 and I don’t expect much change from 2009 to 2010.  The difference will be that we are better equipped than ever before to deal with these issues since we’ve been there already.

One thing that gets missed in all the reporting on foreclosures and short sales is that the neighborhoods that have suffered from the highest rate of lender-mediated sales are also the areas that have quite suddenly become affordable-housing havens – there is a great opportunity here for buyers to purchase homes at rock-bottom prices, near record-low interest rates, and with mortgages and qualification requirements that make them far less likely to default in the future.  Many households have been destroyed in the last few years but we do have an opportunity to create many new ones too.

Friendly reminder to all, if you’re looking for statistics on the housing market in the Twin Cities, here is all you need:

Foreclosures and Short Sales in the Twin Cities (updated monthly – co-created by me!)
Twin Cities Housing Market Activity Report (updated weekly)
City-Level Housing Market Data (updated monthly)
Twin Cities Monthly Market Activity (updated monthly)
Twin Cities Housing Supply Outlook (updated monthly)
Residential Real Estate Activity Report (RREAR) (updated yearly)
‘The Skinny’ Blog (updated weekly or more)
‘The Skinny’ Stats Video (updated monthly)

All of these reports done by 10k Research and Marketing.

Mn/DOT is starting up discussion on a partial upgrade of the 169/494 Interchange – this plan includes upgrades to 6 of the 8 pathways of the interchange.  While the Federal Highway Administration wants all paths upgraded on any interstate upgrade nationwide, Mn/DOT claims they can save $30 – $40 million by doing only 6 of the 8 but still gaining 90% of the potential improvement to traffic/safety.  That money could do a lot of good in the rest of the metro…

There is an informational session coming up for those that are interested:
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/169/

In my job I often find that instead of trying to explain things myself it is better to simply cite the best resources out there already.  It’s not what you know, but who you know, right?

As is typical for them, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center has just put together a great post describing how sellers that lose their house through foreclosure (or even via short sale) can be sued by the lien holder (bank) after everything is done.

It comes down to this: if you are having troubles making your mortgage payments or are considering foreclosure or a short sale, you need to do some research and speak with an expert.  The sooner you reach out for assistance the more options you have available to you.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Office of Energy Security (what a mouthful) has just released more information on their energy star appliance rebate program.

On March 1 @ 8am the website and a phone number will launch with a rebate reservation system – residents will have to pre-register for the rebate and receive a specific reservation code.  There are only approximately 24,500 rebates for the entire state so they are likely to go VERY FAST.

More info: http://www.mnappliancerebate.com/

March 1 Update – as of 11am the site still seems to be down – likely due to high demand.  You may also try to call the program’s toll-free number to apply for the rebate: 1-877-230-9119.

Minnesota Home Ownership Center does a great job of helping struggling homeowners determine and exercise their options.  Their blog post yesterday introduced me to a short article from Public Citizen that explains a large part of our problems in negotiating loan mods and short sales.