Don’t miss this important info.
Time for you to get out while these great prices last? Contact me today!!!!
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.
The Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORs does it again!!! It’s called THE THING! This interactive tool allows inquiring minds to find out what they want to know about their individual markets. This THING allows you to slice and dice the numbers in whatever way works for you. You might want to know specifically about townhouses. Or, do you want to find out what homes in your area are selling for? Search under price range. Definitely take a look at 100+. That will give you an overview of over 100 municipalities and neighborhoods in Minneapolis cities or St. Paul cities.
Make sure you bookmark this link so you can go back to it over and over again!
For more follow up info on how this relates to your property, contact me today. It’s one thing to have the info, but to interpret and apply, make sure you have a qualified professional, like 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.
I heard from a past client the other day. They have fallen on some hard times. Their financial situation has become dire due to a variety of factors. They have experienced job loss and a significant health crisis in just over a year. They bought their current home with me back in 2004 when the real estate market was still quite robust. At the time, they asked me if their house would be a good investment. As always, my answer was, “Real estate has proven to be a good long term investment. We are experiencing crazy appreciation right now, but, the market will soon level off. So, don’t expect your house to appreciate every year as much as it is right now. If history is any indicator of future events, there will be a market adjustment coming at some point in the future. Historically, normal appreciation has been 2-3% per year.” I also used to talk about how, historically, real estate really didn’t depreciate. It has, according to the records throughout the better part of the 20th century, either been flat or appreciated slightly. From 2000 through 2005/2006, we saw the statistical graphs shoot up like a hockey stick! This was atypical, based on the history of the market. Then, all hell broke loose!
But, the contact from these past clients was not a positive one. They were very upset that I was not able to advise them better about the decrease of their property value from 2004 to now. Their words, “How could you NOT have known that this would happen! We cannot sell our house for anything close to what we paid for it. We really needed to rely on the appreciation of real estate and now we’re upside down in our value.” I know these folks are in a really bad way right now, so I tried to explain to them that, while I’m well versed in the historical market information, I cannot see in to the future. They are not alone in this boat. There was no way for me to know how significantly this real estate market would reverse itself. Nor, was there any way for anyone to know how long lasting it would/will be. While all of us in the industry knew there would be an adjustment, we just didn’t have the “crystal ball” to be able to predict this.
After chatting for a while, they did realize that this isn’t my fault (thank goodness) and that we, as agents, are only able to know what’s going on from day to day just like everyone else. They calmed down and apologized for blaming me. And, felt somewhat relieved to know they are not alone in their situation. We are an important cog in advising anyone about how to conduct a real estate transaction, but, I haven’t met an agent yet that can predict with 100% accuracy what’s going to happen in the future! Keep in mind, most real estate agents are not out to cause anyone harm. That would be completely counter productive to building a business, ESPECIALLY since we rely heavily on client referrals.
A HUGE thank you to all of my good clients who believe in me!!! You honor me with your confidence. Please tell those in need of real estate advice or services to contact me today. I can give them the benefit of my historical perspective as well as a financial overview of what’s happening now!!
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.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a measure that would extend the home buyer tax credit to September 30, 2010. This contradicts the vote down of this same idea in the Senate last week. Because it was rolled in to an initiative to create jobs, it was rejected because of concern over adding too much to the federal deficit. This sole measure passed the House overwhelmingly in a 409-5 vote! Even though the extension of the CLOSING deadline may go through, the purchase agreement must still have been fully executed by April 30, 2010.
This is good for the 180 thousand home buyers that would lose out on the tax credit because their transaction didn’t close on time. But, this REALTOR begs the question, who is going to hold the lenders’ feet to the fire that didn’t do their jobs to make sure this didn’t become an issue? We’ve been held hostage too long by the lending industry and those that “call” themselves a mortgage lender, but don’t perform they way they say they can. My take: Quit over-promising and under-delivering, and we won’t have to waste the time of the Houses of Congress on these issues!!!
Part of my job in helping buyers and sellers of homes for sale in Minneapolis cities is education. You need to know what you don’t know in order to make informed decisions. Contact me today to find out what you need to know!
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I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again!!! Shred your old documents.
It’s a fact that in today’s market place, one needs to have a good financial standing to qualify for a mortgage. Identity theft can really impact your ability to prove you have a stable financial picture. One way to protect your security is to shred all of your old documents.
Luckily, Shred It hosts free shredding events at different locations around the Twin Cities. The next one is July 17th at the K-Mart on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Usually, there is a 2 box maximum. You may stand and watch your items being shredded if you wish!
Here’s a list of more shredding events not to be missed.
When it’s time for you to buy a house and you want to know more, 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.
Much is being said about the home buyer tax credit extension. This proposal is part of a larger bill aimed at closing a variety of tax loopholes and to create extensions for other tax policy issues and federal program renewals. As of Friday, June 18th, the Senate could not get required votes to pass this as is.
Here’s how it works: Home buyers were to have been under contract to purchase a property by April 30, 2010. Most home buyers, who met the qualifying income and other criteria, were eligible for the credit, even those that sold a property and purchased another one (as long as the property was/is their personal residence). First time home buyers would be receiving up to $8000 and repeat home buyers would be receiving up to $6500.
Originally, the deadline to close the deal was June 30, 2o10. The US Senate included a proposal to extend that closing date to September 30, 2010. This discussion came about because so many lenders and title companies became overwhelmed by the amount of files that needed to be consummated by June 30. So, because of public outcry and congressional lobbying by big lending, the idea to extend the CLOSING DATE ONLY on these deals was introduced.
Wall Street Journal article from June 11 expresses the idea that this extension could help those trying to defraud the system by back dating their purchase agreements to April 30. That would mean anybody could, ostensibly, write a purchase agreement anytime and, if all parties agreed to the fraud, put a date of April 30th on the paper work. Let’s hope everyone has learned their lesson about bilking the government and taxpayers out of these funds, ESPECIALLY lenders! The last decade was rife for fraud in the mortgage and real estate industry. If someone introduces this idea to YOU, blow the whistle!!!!
Time for you to sell or buy a house for sale in Minneapolis or any Minneapolis cities? Contact me today so I can give you the details you need to be an informed consumer.
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.
For many Minneapolis home owners, this is a tough time. We are experiencing significant volatility in the mortgage arena. The guidelines by which a mortgage may be obtained are much tighter. Actually, the guidelines are back to where they were 15-20 years ago. You actually have to prove you can be a responsible home owner. The paradigm shift that occurred in the early part of the decade, to render anyone who can fog a mirror qualified to be mortgagor (meaning the person who obtains a mortgage and makes the payments toward total ownership) is now shifting back to those who have a proven track record of on time payments and make enough money to pay their bills.
There were people who met such guidelines when they obtained their mortgages, even in the free-for-all days. But, many have now fallen on a hardship of some kind. For example job loss, health crises, divorce, death of a spouse, business failure can all be life changing events that render the Minneapolis home owner unable to honor their commitment to make their housing payments as originally agreed upon. If that happens, the homeowner needs to find alternatives.
There is help available. The new programs that will go in to effect on April 5 have provisions to assist homeowners who are experiencing a genuine hardship. There are many provisions for assistance to forestall the sheriff’s sale until a short sale can be achieved and stricter guidelines that will bring pressure to bear on the banks to provide answers quicker in order to facilitate the short sales to go through. The new program, HAFA, stands for Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, was developed last November and the new guidelines will go in to effect April 5, 2010. Check out the information to see what might help you or someone you love.
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.
For buyers and sellers of homes for sale in Minneapolis and Minneapolis cities, here is a video that tells you what’s going on as of March 2010. Take a look and pass it on.
Watch this video about the Minneapolis and Minneapolis cities housing market.
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.
Sometimes it’s so hard to find information when you need it. 
How do you maintain the different components of a house? What’s going on in the real estate market? How can I make the most energy efficient improvements to my home? What’s the latest in mortgage and tax information? Do I need to buy different insurances for my home? These are all great questions to be answered. Check out House Logic.
HouseLogic is a free source of information and tools—from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®—that can help you make smart and timely decisions about your home. With content covering home improvement, maintenance, taxes, finance, insurance, and even ways you can get involved in and enrich your community, HouseLogic can help you increase and protect the value of your home by helping you make confident decisions.
For more localized information about your real estate market, contact me today. I have access to information about your area, even your block! Relying on zillow.com and other real estate based websites is a mistake. Their information is only as good as the agents who participate in such websites. So, the information is very limited. Contact me, a local professional for information on Minneapolis homes for sale, or homes for sale in Minneapolis areas like Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. I also have lots of information on downtown Minneapolis lofts for sale and homes for sale in the Western suburbs of Minneapolis.
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.
