Twin Cities Real Estate

I’ve devoted all my time and efforts to my Twin Cities Real Estate Blog and no longer keep this blog updated, but there is some great historical content here for you!  I have also recently updated the pages below:

Albertville Homes for Sale
Andover Homes for Sale
Anoka Homes for Sale
Apple Valley Homes for Sale
Blaine Homes for Sale
Bloomington Homes for Sale
Brooklyn Park Homes for Sale
Buffalo Homes for Sale
Burnsville Homes for Sale
Chanhassen Homes for Sale
Champlin Homes for Sale
Chaska Homes for Sale
Coon Rapids Homes for Sale
Crystal Homes for Sale
Eagan Homes for Sale
Eden Prairie Homes for Sale
Edina Homes for Sale
Golden Valley Homes for Sale
Hopkins Homes for Sale
Lakeville Homes for Sale
Maple Grove Homes for Sale
Medina Homes for Sale
Minneapolis Homes for Sale
Minnetonka Homes for Sale
New Brighton Homes for Sale
New Hope Homes for Sale
Orono Homes for Sale
Plymouth Homes for Sale
Richfield Homes for Sale
Rogers Homes for Sale
Savage Homes for Sale
Shakopee Homes for Sale
Shoreview Homes for Sale
Wayzata Homes for Sale

Edina Realty
Edina Reality

We're sorry, but there’s nothing to display here; MLS data service is not activated for this account.


June 1 2009 Carnival of Real Estate is Here!

Welcome to the June 1, 2009 edition of carnival of real estate.

A lot of people like reading Top 10 lists and I was intending to do a Top 10 list, however this week I didn’t feel like there were 10 submissions worth sharing with you all so here is my:

Top 9 Post Submissions

#1 – Reminding us that real estate is always local and showing us why
Tallahassee Real Estate
presents Killearn Lakes Unit 1 Home Prices Holding posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, “A classic example of why most real estate reports are flawed. They lead you to believe that prices are going up or prices are going down, solely based upon the movement of the average sales price. This article shows why it is possible for the average home price to go up, while real home values are dropping.”

#2 – A variation on the same theme
Danilo Bogdnaovic
presents Best Condo Investment Opportunities in Loudoun, Fairfax County posted at Loudoun Foreclosures, saying, “Though this post is hyper-local, the reasoning/logic behind it holds true throughout the US and should be considered by all agents and real estate investors (imho).”

#3 – Multiple offers are everywhere today (at least in my market) and we all need to bone up on our sales skills
Dan Melson
presents I’m Competing Against Multiple Offers. How Do I Proceed? posted at Searchlight Crusade.

#4 – I too have many objections to Case-Shiller… check out my association’s data for some examples of better info: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Dan Green
presents Why The March 2009 Case-Shiller Home Price Index Is Good News For Housing posted at The Mortgage Reports, saying, “To economists, the Case-Shiller Index is helpful. To homeowners, it’s almost worthless.”

#5 – Foreclosures impact many families… each house foreclosed means a family affected
Donna Johnston
presents “Mommie are we going to have to move?” posted at Talk Charlotte Real Estate Blog, saying, “This hits me right in my heart.”

#6 – This is a little bit of a “duh” post but hey…
Jim Reppond
presents What social networks are agents marketing on? posted at The Seattle Specialist, saying, “Internal Top Producer poll that suggests most agents are now using social media to promote their listings – especially Facebook.”

#7 – MI is deductible but sometimes there are better options
NetBiz
presents How To Avoid Paying PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) posted at Your Finish Rich Plan, saying, “List of ways you can void paying for PMI, thus lowering your monthly mortgage payments”

#8 – Green building is increasing in my market, how about yours?
Mark Donovan
presents Definition Green Building Product posted at HomeAdditionPlus, saying, “Green home building is a phrase that is often overused and misunderstood. In this article Mark Donovan discusses the process of assessing whether or not a green home building product is truly green for your particular green custom home building project.”

#9 – There’s a sucker refinanced every minute…
nickel
presents Beware the “No-Cost” Mortgage Refinance posted at fivecentnickel.com.

 

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of real estate using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , .

Edina Realty Mortgage Speaks About Mortgage Market

An Important Message from Todd Johnson,
President and CEO of Edina Realty Mortgage

To Our Customers,

The dramatic events taking place in the financial services industry and economy are historic in scope and proportion. You may be asking yourself, “What does this mean for me as a home buyer or home seller? When I want to obtain a mortgage, will there be funds available?” The answer is simple: at Edina Realty Mortgage, it’s business as usual. Yes, we continue to originate mortgages for home purchases and refinances. Our wide product range features FHA, VA, MHFA, Conventional, Jumbo, Relocation, Renovation, and Reverse Mortgages. We are committed to helping as many customers as possible enjoy the personal and financial benefits of homeownership. We provide competitive, fully disclosed, and responsible and fair pricing for all borrowers.

A Solid, Stable and Secure Lender

We want to assure you that we remain a solid, stable, and secure mortgage lender. We are a well-capitalized company, and we hold fast to our long-standing responsible lending principles. Edina Realty was one of the first real estate companies to offer integrated mortgage services more than twenty-five years ago. For over ten years, Edina Realty Mortgage has been a joint venture between Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) and HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., is the only bank in the United States, and one of only two banks worldwide, to have the highest credit rating from both Moody’s Investors Services “AAA,” and Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, “AAA.”

We Are Committed to Your Successful Closing

We stand by our word. Our exclusive On-time Closing Guarantee (1) ensures that you will close on time AND for the amount quoted on the Good Faith Estimate, or you will get money back. Are you already working with another lender? We will be happy to review your Good Faith Estimate and Truth-in-Lending Disclosure Statement. This no-obligation second opinion from us takes just few minutes, and we may be able to provide reductions in interest and/or closing costs. (2)

As a responsible lending leader, we work closely with our customers to help you reach your personal and financial goals through homeownership. Our team works hard to know you, understand your needs, and listen to you. We put you at the center of everything we do.

Thank you for trusting us with your business.

Todd Johnson
President and CEO
October 2008

1. Available on all qualified purchase transactions. Other terms and conditions apply. See a Home Mortgage Consultant for details.
2. If you have a current lock-in agreement with another lender, this is not an inducement to transfer your loan.

All first mortgage products are provided by Homeservices Lending, LLC Series A dba Edina Realty Mortgage. Edina Realty Mortgage may not be available in your area. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ©2008 Edina Realty Mortgage. All Rights Reserved.

Money Saving Tips for a Monday

As I recently purchased a new home, I’ve been making a lot of trips to Home Depot as of late.  Here are a couple tips I’ve learned:

  • Home Depot will take Lowe’s coupons.  I’ve used a couple “$10 off a purchase of $50+” in the last couple weeks with no problems.  I like some of what HD has better than Lowe’s so this is great.
  • Behr paint is drastically cheaper in the 5 gallon pail.  If you are using more than about 3 gallons of paint you might as well buy the 5 gallon and have extra for touch-ups, more rooms, 2nd coats, etc.
  • In partnership with Xcel Energy, Home Depot has reduced the price on a lot of their fluorescent bulbs by $1-$4 per package.  This means 60 watt bulbs are now under $1 each… a bargain considering that each bulb can save $30 or more over its lifetime.  If you use a bulb 2 hours a day and your electricity is $.08/kw, then you save $.22/bulb/month in electricity costs.  This means in a little under 5 months the bulb is paid for and you’re saving real money.  Multiply $.22/bulb by replacing your 20 most commonly used bulbs and suddenly you are saving $50/yr!

Carnival of Real Estate Makes Another Visit

Welcome to the 91st edition of The Carnival of Real Estate. This is my 2nd time hosting the carnival and I think there’s some good articles in this week’s carnival but I couldn’t pick one that stood out from the others… I suggest you browse them all.

From 20+ posts I’ve whittled it down to 9 that I think are worth your time.  To be honest, the spam posts were much higher this year over last… it is a shame that such a great tool is taken advantage of by so many. Maybe we should figure out a way to block repeat junk posters?  There was also some submissions that were so location-specific or minuscule in subject that they just did not make good candidates for a national blog carnival.

Trevor Mauch presents Marketing To Pre-Foreclosures – Why Most People See ZERO Results? posted at Real Estate Investing Brain. This article explains how mailing to pre-foreclosures is a numbers game… you have to be in front of them not once, but many times to get the point across… not unlike farming a neighborhood.

TerryT2 presents Negotiation Tactics and Tricks posted at Actual Real Estate Profits. A good list of tricks to employ or defend yourself against.

Sagar Satapathy presents The Foreclosure Investor’s Cheat Sheet: 100 Useful Web Resources posted at International Listings Blog. A good list of web sites for reference… several of which I bookmarked.

Ken Haedrich presents The Whole World is Waiting for Ourselves posted at Annapolis Home Digest. I have to agree Ken… I feel you on this 100%.

MoneyNing presents Right Time to Buy a House? posted at Money Ning. I get this question a lot too and if you look at the comments, they run the gamut of responses.

Debt Freedom Fighter presents Home Equity Loans: Why They Don’t Make Sense as Part of Debt Reduction Plans posted at Discover Debt Freedom!. Seems obvious to me, but I know a lot of people who get trapped by this.

Dan Melson presents A Good Listing Agent’s Most Important Responsibility posted at Searchlight Crusade. Yep, Dan’s right on the money with this.

Tim Soper presents “Walk Away” Foreclosures Sign Of Times? posted at Will & Grundy County IL Real Estate Report. I see this trend too… it’s disgusting. Maybe we need teacher unions that invested heavily in CDO’s to do a course on “responsible borrowing” and teach little Johnny & Jill to go home and tell their parents to own up to their responsibilities….

Joe Manausa presents Short Sale Advice posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog. Some good tips from Joe on how to be prepared for a short sale and what to expect.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of real estate using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.  Thanks for stopping by!

Technorati tags: , .

I Love Fan Mail

Today I received a call from a reader that wanted to first and foremost commend me for my blog, but also had a couple questions to ask.  It’s great to get calls or emails from readers (there’s a lot of you out there!) and I’m always happy to answer questions as well.

If you need something, do not hesitate to call or email me.

Edina Realty's Funny New TV Commercials

Edina Realty has just kicked off their 2008 advertising campaign and has some very funny commercials they are running in Minnesota but also posted to YouTube… take a look:

Nerd & Model:

Biker & Mom:

Grandma & HipHop:

Hunter & Yoga Gal:

Nerd & Model Outtake 1:

Nerd & Model Outtake 2:

NAR Needs to Shut Up

If the incessant radio ads from the National Association of REALTORS were not enough, now I see they are also on television with the same garbage: “real estate is a good investment and historically doubles every 10 years.”  Give me a break.

There are many, many things that my association does well but this is a prime example of a ridiculous message at a horrible time.  I don’t know if there is a single consumer out there today that expects that a house they buy today will double in the next 10 years… and I think most understand that the housing market is not going to move higher for several years.

This ad simply promotes the misconception that REALTORS do not understand what is actually happening in the real estate market today, or that we simply will not accept it.  When sales are down 30%+ from two years ago (and consequently commissions) and we’re seeing more empty desks and less people in the office, I can assure you that we as agents understand that this is a different market with different needs.

Instead of trying to sell promises of sunshine in the middle of a hurricane, the National Association of REALTORS would be much better off to admit that this market isn’t perfect for everyone, but that there are good opportunities out there for certain people in certain situations.

NAR: Please either promote a more realistic message or shut up entirely… I don’t need the kind of help you’re giving me right now.