Minneapolis Real Estate Listings

HERS Score on Northstar MLS Listings

Dan — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:46:40 +0000

Below is a post from Northstar MLS, you may have also seen this in the news lately. While these changes will be helpful, don’t expect to see many previously-owned homes for sale with this information right away. It will take time for the real estate community and sellers to fully embrace these changes and spend the extra money involved to get the scoring done.

From Northstar MLS:

Effective June 6, NorthstarMLS adds two new data fields:

Green Certification and HERS Score. Green Certification: A simple “Yes/No” field to identify whether the property has been green/energy efficient certified by one of the following: MN Green Path, Energy Star, LEED-H, NAHB Green, MN GreenStar, Green Communities or WI Green Built Home. If selecting “Yes,” documentation of the certification must be attached to the listing as a supplement. Certification must apply to the entire home, not just a remodeled portion or appliances within the home.

HERS Score: Field for entering a HERS score of energy efficiency. Score must be established by a third party RESNET Rater and documentation attached to the listing as a supplement. HERS score must apply to the entire home, not just a remodeled portion.

NorthstarMLS is pleased to add these fields in order to better communicate the value of energy efficiency as a matter of consumer interest. We are also pleased to announce a closer working relationship with the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. Read our joint press release about the new fields. We look forward to continuing this relationship to make MLS improvements that benefit agents, appraisers, builders, and everyone’s clients.

via NorthstarMLS Matrix.

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No chill for Twin Cities home market update

Dan — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:27:21 +0000

Call it a late spring market for home sales. The median sales prices for a home in the Twin Cities hit its highest mark in 4½ years in April. The median sales price of $182,312 for April reflected a 12.2 percent increase compared to the same period a year ago.Home prices have now posted 14 consecutive months of year-over-year price gains. As prices are climbing, the inventory of homes for sale remains low.Andy Fazendin, president of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, said that he has started to see an uptick in new listings.“Maybe it has something to do with the weather, it’s hard to say. It’s almost like the spring market is really kicking in right now,” Fazendin said. “I think we’re going to continue to see a shortage of listings and I think we’re going to continue to see prices continue to appreciate.”For the month, pending sales were up 16 percent and closed sales were up 5.3 percent compared to April 2012. New listings were up 7.7 percent, but the inventory of homes for sale remains low at 29.3 percent below the levels seen a year ago.The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors released the latest market statistics, which cover the 13 county metro area, on Friday morning.For April, traditional homes comprised 68.4 percent of closed sales, an increase of 19.3 percent since a year ago. That’s the highest percentage for traditional sales seen since July 2008. At the same time, foreclosure sales comprised 24.2 percent of closed sales and short sales accounted for 7.4 percent of closed sales.“Every month we see less and less distressed property,” said Kate Beckman, president of the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors and branch vice president of the Crocus Hill office of Coldwell Banker Burnet. “It feels like a nice, steady, slow recovery.”Fazendin said that he’s hearing numerous stories about multiple offers for homes and properties selling within 24 to 48 hours of hitting the market.“It’s certainly a seller’s market right now,” Fazendin said. “The traditional sales are more prominent than the distressed properties. …It looks like things are headed in in the right direction.”Prices post 14 months of year-over-year gainsApril 2013 / % change from April 2012Median sales price: $182,312 / +12.2 percentClosed sales: 4,138 / +5.3 percentPending sales: 5,507 / +16 percentDays on market: 98 / -27.4 percent% of original price received: 95.9 percent / +2.7 percentInventory of homes for sale: 13,113 / -29.3 percentSource: Minneapolis Area Realtors Association

via No chill for Twin Cities home market update | Finance & Commerce.

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Is Buying a Home Together the ‘New Engagement’? | Realtor Magazine

Dan — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:39:28 +0000

Is Buying a Home Together the ‘New Engagement’?

Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, April 18, 2013

Young couples are more often choosing the mortgage before the marriage, according to a new survey from Coldwell Banker.

Twenty-four percent of married couples surveyed aged 18-to-34 said they had purchased a home before they were married. Of married couples aged 45 and up, only 14 percent said they had purchased a house before marriage.

Unmarried couples who live in the Northeast are the most likely to buy a home together prior to marriage, according to the survey.

In the Northeast, 60 percent of those surveyed said they waited until marriage to buy a home together, compared to 72 percent in the South.

For some young couples, buying a home together has become “the new engagement ring,” says Dr. Robi Ludwig, a psychotherapist and Coldwell Banker’s “lifestyle correspondent.” Millennials “know that they have an opportunity here, with low mortgage rates and low housing prices. And they think, ‘We’re moving toward marriage anyway, so let’s buy.’”

Some are even choosing to bypass the fancy wedding and honeymoon and save up for a downpayment instead, Ludwig says.

Couples are finding they can learn a lot about their future spouse when buying a home first, including about one another’s finances and even how many kids the other wants one day, since that often comes into play in finding a suitable size and style of home.

“It’s easy for couples to not think or talk about these things, but they’re forced to once mortgages and banks are involved,” Ludwig says.

Source: “More Young Couples Commit — To Homeownership Before Marriage,” TIME (April 17, 2013)

via Is Buying a Home Together the ‘New Engagement’? | Realtor Magazine.

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Investors scramble for the few foreclosures available

Dan — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:53:09 +0000

Fewer foreclosures and short-sales are coming to market. Those that are getting listed in desirable rental markets are going quickly and usually getting bid up as a result of multiple offers. As you can see from the following link, fewer investment properties are available in a market where traditional homes are making a strong comeback. Just a few years ago, of all the homes for sale in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, over 50 percent were distressed/investment properties. In February of this year, in a market starved for new listings, traditional listings were up only 8 percent over the previous year. Foreclosure listings were down 35 percent and short-sale listings were down 40 percent. If you are interested in any of the properties listed, please contact Dan to make sure they still available as most short-sale properties stay listed as active on MLS until closing with the bank.

West Metro Distressed

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Estimating your new Mortgage Payment

Dan — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:28:04 +0000

By using a mortgage factor chart, like the one below, you can estimate the monthly mortgage payment on your new home. The factors in the chart is per $1000 of mortgage. So a 250,000 mortgage at 4.25% for 30 years would be figured as follows: (250 x 4.91940) or a monthly payment of $1,229.85.

If you will be adding taxes and insurance to your mortgage payments you just take those annual numbers divided by 12 and add them to the mortgage payment you get from the chart. So if you had taxes of $2,400 (2400/12=200) and Insurance of $1,200 (1200/12=100), your total payment would be $1,529.85 (1229.85+200+100).

Rate	15 Year	30 Year
2.500%	6.66789	3.95121
2.625%	6.72689	4.01651
2.750%	6.78622	4.08241
2.875%	6.84586	4.14892
3.000%	6.90582	4.21604
3.125%	6.96609	4.28375
3.250%	7.02669	4.35206
3.375%	7.08760	4.42096
3.500%	7.14883	4.49045
3.625%	7.21037	4.56051
3.750%	7.27222	4.63116
3.875%	7.33440	4.70237
4.000%	7.39688	4.77415
4.125%	7.45968	4.84650
4.250%	7.52278	4.91940
4.375%	7.58620	4.99285
4.500%	7.64993	5.06685
4.625%	7.71397	5.14140
4.750%	7.77832	5.21647
4.875%	7.84297	5.29208
5.000%	7.90794	5.36822
5.125%	7.97320	5.44487
5.250%	8.03878	5.52204
5.375%	8.10465	5.59971
5.500%	8.17083	5.67789
5.625%	8.23732	5.75656
5.750%	8.30410	5.83573
5.875%	8.37118	5.91538
6.000%	8.43857	5.99551

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Seller Secrets

Dan — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:20:09 +0000

A series of fifteen videos that will auto-play through. The videos by topic are:

1-Seller Secrets, 2-How Buyers Search for Homes, 3-On the Market vs. In the Market, 4-Showings and Offers, 5-Proving House Value, 6-Market Value, 7-Repairs and Improvements, 8-Appraised Value, 9-The Cost of “Testing” a High Price, 10-Negotiating Room, 11-Reducing the Price, 12-Pricing Ahead of the Curve, 13-The Cost of Relying on Compassionate Buyers, 14-Staging, 15-Seller Secrets, Your Next Step

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5-Buyer Strategies for this tight Seller’s Market

Dan — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:38:26 +0000

In today’s market, it’s not unusual that a home will be listed on MLS and have multiple offers on it just days later. The more popular the area, the more competition for the home – especially if it is properly staged and priced. Here are some tips to help you get the home you want.

1-Work with a Realtor. Realtors can get you the most accurate up-to-date, MLS data. They can network your needs and find you homes before they hit the general market. And they will be there ready to put in your offer when you find the home you want.

2-Be Ready to Write. If you’re looking at a home in a general price range, then you have a pretty good idea what funds you will need to put down as earnest money when you write the offer. You should also have met with a mortgage broker and have a pre-approval letter ready to put in with the offer. If you’re going to a showing of a home you know will be in high-demand, do you have all the decision makers with you?

3-Cater to the seller. Have your Realtor find out as much as possible about the seller’s needs for their move so you can incorporate them into your offer and get a leg up on the competition. Do they need a specific closing date, or extra time after closing to move out? It’s not always price that wins offers. More often it is the buyer’s willingness to work with the sellers and letting the sellers know how much you love their home.

4-Minimize contingencies. Many homes are receiving over 30 showings in just the first few days because of the lack of inventory in this current market. Remember when you put in an offer with an inspection contingency, the sellers are in essence taking their home off the market while you get your inspector over to the home and then decide what to do based on the findings. In short, the sellers will be worried that if you decide not to move forward with the purchase that they will have lost valuable market time. Try to minimize this concern by shortening the timeframes involved and ensure the sellers that you are looking for major problems with the home and will not be looking for a price reduction based on minor issues.

5-Go in Full. Or go in slightly over the list price. Have your Realtor run a Comparative Market Analysis on the property so you know that an appraisal will support a full price offer. If you have to ask for money back for closing costs, you are best to add that to the price (again, make sure an appraisal can support the price). Moreover, keep the offer as simple as possible and don’t ask for things that will hurt your chances in winning the home.

Remember, your goal here is to find a home and get your offer in and approved before there are competing bids for the home. If there are competing offers, then using these tips becomes even more important. Sometimes you need to take a step back if there are competing offers and just make sure you like the home based on your criteria and not because others want it. Homes seem to be more appealing to buyers once everyone else wants the home.

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Home Prices Could Skyrocket 35 Percent

Dan — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:53:54 +0000

LPS: Home prices could skyrocket 35% without affecting affordability

By Megan Hopkins

• February 28, 2013 • 4:20pm

Home prices could rise 35% without stretching affordability, said Raj Dosaj, vice president of the behavioral library and home price index at LPS Applied Analytics.

Dosaj made that bold assertion while speaking at “Outlook: Is the Housing Recovery for Real?”, a webinar hosted and moderated by HousingWire’s executive editor, Jacob Gaffney.

Dosaj was joined by Christopher Whalen, executive president and managing director for Carrington Investment Co. Whalen was quick to say the housing recovery is real.

“I think given the magnitude of the drop that we saw, you almost had to have a rebound and that’s indeed what is happening,” Whalen said.

Dosaj followed up on his bold statement by saying this increase could be less if rates increase as they are expected to do.

During the HousingWire webinar, Dosaj displayed a graph revealing the average mortgage payment to median-income ratio.

The annual graph, which goes back to 1995, has never been lower than January 2013, which dipped to just below 18%.

“During the peak of the housing run-up, affordability was stretched as the market sold of,” noted Dosaj. “As home prices dropped, affordability dropped.”

According to the most recent Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price report, home prices rose 7.3% in 2012.

The latest Federal Housing Finance Agency report revealed a 5.5% growth from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the same quarter in 2012.

Both reports indicate a strong start to 2013. So could Dosaj be right?

“There are definite signs that there’s room for growth,” concluded Dosaj. “Things are generally looking good for the housing market.”

- See more at: http://www.housingwire.com/news/2013/02/28/lps-home-prices-could-skyrocket-35-without-affecting-affordability

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Keller Williams Real Estate Continues Growth

Dan — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:38:05 +0000

Keller Williams Realty announced that it is now the largest real estate franchise company by agent count in the United States. In recent years, the company has surpassed RE/MAX, Century 21, and then finally Coldwell Banker to secure the industry’s top position. The news, based on publically available information as of Feb. 6, 2013, was announced in front of more than 10,000 Keller Williams associates during the company’s Family Reunion.

CEO Mark Willis declared: “We are one family, we have one destiny, we share one thing. We are America’s #1 real estate company by agent count!”

Willis also reported on the strong productivity gains by Keller Williams associates in 2012. Year over year, per-agent units increased 23 percent, closed volume was up 31 percent, and gross commission income rose 28 percent. Moreover, a record 91 percent of the company’s offices were profitable for the year. The company also announced total profit share of $55 million – an increase of 44 percent over the previous year.

During her State of the Culture report, Keller Williams Realty President Mary Tennant updated attendees on KW Cares, which in 2012 awarded $2.7 million in grants to associates and their families in need.

“One of the keys to Keller Williams Realty’s phenomenal success has been our ability to grow organically – from agent to agent, from market center to market center, from country to country – earning our reputation one person at a time,” Heller said.

Willis’ presentation was followed by a 30th anniversary party featuring the Doobie Brothers.

The No. 1 announcement and celebration capped a remarkable year for the company: J.D. Power and Associates ranked Keller Williams “Highest in Customer Satisfaction” among both home buyers and home sellers; Keller Williams was ranked No. 9 on America’s Top 150 Workplaces – the only real estate company on the list; and in April, Keller Williams Realty co-founder and bestselling author Gary Keller will publish his latest book, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.

Willis thanked associates and implored them to “never back down” from their #1 position in the industry: “Let’s celebrate tonight, but watch out, competition. Tomorrow we’re going to be working harder than we’ve ever worked before. Our ONE Thing is to be #1 in agent count and transactions and volume all across the world!”

Source: http://blog.kw.com/2013/02/17/we-are-1-congratulations-kw/

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Minneapolis Housing Market Statistics

Dan — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:33:43 +0000

The Minneapolis Association of Realtors has one of the best data analysis departments in the country. They have a variety of reports available to help you pull out any information you are looking for-by month, neighborhood, type of home, or type of sale you will be amazed at how far down you can drill into the data. Also see the videos for a more general monthly update on the Twin CIties housing market.

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