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Over the last 18 years, I’ve met and provided real estate services for hundreds of wonderful clients (and a few not so wonderful ) who are looking to buy a home for sale in any Minneapolis cities!!  I strive to always put my best foot forward with regard to professionalism, caring, protection, advice.  It’s also my goal to keep my clients comfortable in my car, so sometimes I pack lunch, snacks and beverages to make the travel easier.  This also helps people stay energized for the long haul!!

So, it is my great pleasure to present for your amusement, some testimonials provided by my good clients.  You have all meant so much to me and I continue to provide high quality service for those referrals you send that honor me immensely!!!

Here goes:

“Susan was recommended by many of my co-workers when my fiance and I were looking for our first home. We instantly felt comfortable with Susan and were extremely glad we went with her. She was very thorough, knowledgeable and honest with us, and though we must’ve looked at over 25 homes, there was never a sense of discouragement. I will be sure to recommend her to anyone I know who is on their first house hunt!” May 21, 2008  Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity – Jeff Wright

“Susan was our agent for our first (and so far only) house purchase. She was infinitely patient and understanding in helping us find and negotiate for what we really wanted, where we really wanted, within our budget. She went through a lot of extra trouble to make sure we were happy. I’ve recommended her to other buyers, and everyone has reported back a very positive experience.” May 21, 2008   Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity – Elinore Marks

“I have learned so much about buying a home from Susan. I am amazed at how knowledgeable she is and how she can save people time and money while buying their dream home. Plus, she’s a great singer!” May 22, 2008 – Ann Treacy

“Susan was a pleasure to work with during the purchase of my first home. We looked at several options, and her expertise and care made what could have been a “process” a real delight. The transaction went smoothly and seamlessly. I recommend Susan to other buyers looking for a trustworthy and knowledgeable agent.” May 23, 2008 Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity -           Jeff Cloninger

“During our first home buying experience, Susan had to do a great deal of educating my partner and I about how the process worked. Because of her deep commitment to personable client service, she quickly became our trusted advisor. We knew she was in our corner, advocating for our best interests and supporting us through the incredibly stressful event of deciding to buy a house. We wouldn’t hesitate to do business with her again!” June 2, 2008 – Jan Hepola

“Susan helped me and my wife find and purchase our first home in the wonderful Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. Susan is a very knowledgable and professional realtor, as well as a friendly and caring person. She is involved in her community and really cares about her clients. I’d highly recommend her as a realtor!” December 22, 2011  Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity – James Gebhard

“We worked with Susan to buy a house in 2000 and again in 2005. Both times, she worked with what other agents called “unrealistic” requirements. She led us through the home buying process methodically and enthusiastically, while pushing us to think critically about the houses we were seeing and make the best decision.

Here’s an example. The process of buying the house in 2005 started when we were out of town. When we arrived back, she picked us up as we were getting home from the airport in her car, with a packed lunch and drinks ready for us so we could go look at a list of houses quickly without worrying about getting dinner.

A genuinely caring person who looks out for your best interest in a field like real estate is a treasure that shouldn’t be under appreciated. If you want to buy a house in the Twin Cities, look no further.” June 27, 2008  Top qualities: Great Results, Personable High Integrity – J Wynia

“What can Remax Advantage Plus do to provide better service?  Hire more Susans!!” – May 10, 2010 – Sam Anderson

Susan Hofflander is a seasoned real estate professional, providing real estate consultations for home buyers and sellers in the Twin Cities since 1994. Susan specializes in homes for sale in Lake Calhoun/Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Plymouth, MN, Minneapolis Western Suburban Cities and Downtown Minneapolis Lofts.

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Almost April 15th, T-Day!!  Time to “render unto Caesar”.  But, let’s look at it as an opportunity!  It’s always a good idea to periodically go through all of the papers we’ve saved over the years.  Things need to be purged from time to time in order to remain organized.

The IRS recommends we keep all files going back 7 years.  If that’s the rule of thumb, then we can dispose of everything from 2004 and back.  That’s usually quite alot of paper!  And, it’s also alot of sensitive and private information.

In order to protect yourself from identity theft, I suggest taking all of your old files to be shredded.  If you want to spend the time to shred in your home office one page at a time, knock yourself out!  I know I don’t have that kind of time.  So, I always look for free shredding events that occur around the Twin Cities.  A company called Shred It partners with different businesses in the community to provide this as a free service for anyone who wants to bring their papers.  Generally, they will accept up to 2 boxes for free.  Any more than that, they would probably want you to bring your files to a Shred It facility to be shredded.

Here’s a calendar of shredding events so you can find out when to make sure you have everything ready to bring to be shredded.  This is especially important if you work in an industry where you have client files that contain sensitive information!  In order to protect yourself from any private information about you or your clients, stay safe and take it to be shredded.

Susan Hofflander is a seasoned real estate professional, providing real estate consultations for home buyers and sellers in the Twin Cities since 1994. Susan specializes in homes for sale in Lake Calhoun/Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Plymouth, MN, Minneapolis Western Suburban Cities and Downtown Minneapolis Lofts.

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I’m so glad to hear the news regarding the City of Minneapolis receiving a grant for clean up of the old Jaguar dealership location at Hennepin and Washington.  That building, even when the dealer was still there, is out of date at best; an eyesore at worst.  There were talks years ago of Whole Foods becoming the main tenant of the location, with other mixed use in the rest of the land.  That project went the way of The Nicollet, a proposed skyscraper project that fell apart in May 2010 because of the poor economy.

It appears that Whole Foods is still in to the project.  I find it fishy that Whole Foods won’t comment on veracity of that statement.  I believe part of why the project didn’t happen before is, not only because of the hazardous waste on the land, but also because the plan approval could  not be obtained from the city.  Apparently, there was inadequate parking and not enough side walk room.

MPR and KSTP have done a great job illuminating the public about the next step on the re-purposing of this land.  Kudos to the Met Council and Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.  It appears this will not only remove that broken down dinosaur from that corner, but will help stimulate the economy by creating over 100 new jobs!!

Susan Hofflander is a seasoned real estate professional, providing real estate consultations for home buyers and sellers in the Twin Cities since 1994. Susan specializes in homes for sale in Lake Calhoun/Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Plymouth, MN, Minneapolis Western Suburban Cities and Downtown Minneapolis Lofts.

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Wow!  All of the wonderful light displays we have available to see!  It seems that there are many more of these displays than there used to be.  As a child, we’d see one or two strings of lights around people’s windows.  Now, there are displays the folks have synced up with a computer so that they coincide with musical cues and beats!

One such property is this display in Shoreview, MN.  This is a work of art.  Lots of work and expense went in to this.  Or take a peek at this one in Wadena.  How exciting!  And, one of my favorites is this one in Plymouth, MN.  They always do a spectacular job!  Not to be forgotten is this memorable display also in Plymouth, MN!  This family takes this on every year as a way to contribute to a cure for Parkinson’s.

And, here’s a place to find the displays closest to your home.

So many wonderful ways of expressing the joy of the season!  They are unique works of art.  Makes me proud to represent the city of Plymouth MN when folks are looking for homes for sale in Plymouth, MN or any houses for sale in the Western suburbs of Minneapolis.  Get out to see them if you can!

Happy Holidays~

Susan Hofflander is a seasoned real estate professional, providing real estate consultations for home buyers and sellers in the Twin Cities since 1994. Susan specializes in homes for sale in Lake Calhoun/Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Plymouth, MN, Minneapolis Western Suburban Cities and Downtown Minneapolis Lofts.

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So much that’s happened in the real estate/mortgage industry in the last few years has been downright dehumanizing.  The very idea of being displaced from one’s home is upsetting at best.  And, it’s bad enough when these circumstances occur because of legitimate reasons.  When a home owner defaults their payments and proper protocol is followed by the lender, it’s understandable.  That home owner has agreed to pay money in a certain way, because the lender has allowed them to purchase this home, if the home owner adheres to the terms set out in the mortgage agreement.  So, when the homeowner does not abide by these terms, they can expect to be held to the letter of the contract and, being in default, have their home foreclosed upon by the lender.  This means the homeowner relinquishes their rights to the property and must move out.

I’m not saying this is easy.  It’s still traumatic on the homeowner and their family.  Frequently, they are in this position because of some downturn in their financial situation, like a long term illness or loss of a job.  So, having to leave their home makes that already difficult situation all the more devastating.  It’s a major change, and not for the better.

However, more and more frequently we’re seeing situations where the lender is in error!  They’re sending out foreclosure notices to people who are clearly the owner of the property, forcing these unwitting homeowners to have to spend time, energy and money to dispute these erroneous charges!!  Other situations involve homeowners whose title paper work was not properly filed, initiating the foreclosure process.  Again, NOT the fault of the homeowner, but they’re the ones that suffer the consequences.

And, still more frightening is the scenario that happened to this Wisconsin family, the Kings.  They had fallen on hard times with a salary downturn at the same time their mortgage interest rate adjusted up to 10%!!  They appealed to Bank of America (their lender) and were approved for one of the new, government programs to assist home owners called HAMP, Home Affordable Modification Program.  They were true to their word and held to the terms of this new program, making all of their payments.  BUT, Bank of America didn’t keep to THEIR word, and, because of a mistake on their part, began the foreclosure process on this family.  Long story short, they left their home to rent another and by the time it got straightened out so they could move back in, their house had been destroyed by a flood, causing mold to grow throughout the entire structure.  So sad!!!

All this to say that what the banks need to remember is that these are REAL people!  People with lives, who have to buy groceries and clothes and put gas in their cars and detergent in their washers.  It’s deplorable that this human factor is getting lost in the morass of paper work and computerization.  If we are not all responsible for each other, then we can expect nothing less when it’s our turn in the barrel.  I’ve always been an agent who cares about the human connection of a real estate transaction as much as the “business”.  In reality, that’s what keeps me going in this industry.  The business itself has become abysmal, but the people are still there!!!  That’s what we have to remember, these are REAL people in real estate!

Please come to me with your questions, concerns, ideas, thoughts.  It’s the real connection that keeps me going!! 

Susan Hofflander is a seasoned real estate professional, providing real estate consultations for home buyers and sellers in the Twin Cities since 1994. Susan specializes in homes for sale in Lake Calhoun/Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Plymouth, MN, Minneapolis Western Suburban Cities and Downtown Minneapolis Lofts.

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Don’t miss your opportunity to live here.  Close to both downtowns – 2 BR – 2 BA – 1080 Finished Square Feet.  Heather Rectenwal, agent extraordinaire will greet you!  The deals don’t get any better than this!

Heather Rectenwal - Remax Advantage Plus

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Open House this Sunday, June 26th, 12-2 pm.  Don’t miss it!!!

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Many of us look for opportunities for giving.  This is one such event.  Some don’t have time or are not physically capable to contribute the way we might prefer.  But, here’s a simple way to give back.  WCR (Women’s Council of REALTORS®) is hosting a clothing drive!  An organization called Dress for Success has been helping women transition from dire circumstances to self-sufficiency for years!  They provide women in transition with professional attire for job interviews.  Then, they supply these women with more clothing so they can maintain their jobs.  Not only that, they provide ongoing support in the way of networking and career development.

WCR is holding a clothing drive tomorrow, Thursday, June 16th from 4-7 pm to support Dress for Success.  Please bring new or gently used pants, suits, shirts, jewelry, shoes, belts, coats, bags, dresses to Psycho Suzi’s, 2519 Marshall St. NE, Minneapolis on Thursday and stay for happy hour!!!  These women will welcome your support and you’ll be doing a good thing to give back to your community.

Questions?  Contact me.

Susan Hofflander is a seasoned real estate professional, providing real estate consultations for home buyers and sellers in the Twin Cities since 1994. Susan specializes in homes for sale in Lake Calhoun/Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Plymouth, MN, Minneapolis Western Suburban Cities and Downtown Minneapolis Lofts.

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