June 1 2009 Carnival of Real Estate is Here!

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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.

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Foreclosure Prevention Telephone Seminar

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KARE-11 News provide two chances for worried homeowners to seek help this week.


This week, homeowners will have two opportunities to have their questions answered from the comfort and convenience of their home. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center is offering the first of its 2009 series of telephone seminars. The following evening, KARE-11 will feature a phone bank of housing counselors during its 10pm newscast.

Telephone seminar offers homeowners chance to ask questions, find out what to do if worried about mortgage
Telephone seminars provide convenient, private access point to information for homeowners who are worried about their mortgage and are just beginning to ask questions about their situation as well as those facing foreclosure. The telephone seminar allows people to participate anonymously from the privacy of their home, work or car. The seminar format is similar to a radio call-in show, including informational segments and questions from callers.

The telephone seminar will take place on:
Tuesday, February 10 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.
Call in number: (888) 886-6603

Those interested in participating can call in anytime between 7:00 and 8:00 pm.

Housing counselors available during KARE-11 news
On Wednesday, February 11, housing counselors will be taking calls during the 10 pm newscast of KARE-11. Phone lines will be open during the entire broadcast. The phone number will be announced throughout the newscast, which will also feature a segment about a homeowner who successfully averted foreclosure by working with one of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center’s counseling agencies.

For more information about the telephone seminar or KARE-11 segment, call (651) 659-9336 or visit www.hocmn.org.

Looking for Guest Bloggers

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I’m looking for guest bloggers for this site and www.TwinCitiesRealEstateBlog.com.  I’m looking for original topical posts regarding the real estate market here (or comparisons to other cities).  Beyond that, there will be almost nothing off-limits.  If you disagree with my opinions and want to blog about it, that’s ok… though I will post a rebuttal!

If you have interest, give me a call: 612-251-5599

Minneapolis/St. Paul Foreclosures and Short Sales

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The time seems to be flying as it seem like the last 3 months have gone by so quickly. For the last few weeks, Jeff Allen & I have been putting the final touches on the 3rd Quarter update to our report on Foreclosure and Short Sale activity in the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul Region. We’ve revised the methodology to account for a new field our MLS recently added that discloses SOME of the properties that are either a foreclosure and short sale. We also found some additional terms that agents have been using to describe their listings as being Lender Mediated.

A phenomenon that has also been picking up in the last few months is the usage of “not a foreclosure,” “not a short sale” and others. It seems that many agents and/or their sellers have come to feel that it is important to note that their properties that are not in a distressed sales situation. In a market where many foreclosures are in horrible condition and a short sale can take 2 weeks to 4 months to negotiate (and only maybe successfully) I would agree that in many cases it is good to distance your property from that market if there’s any chance of misperception. In this quarter’s report we’ve made sure to exclude properties that are listed with those terms.

Take a look at the report!