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.
Every month, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors compiles these video presentations of the Minneapolis real estate market statistics. They are just a thumbnail sketch of the market info. GREAT NEWS for the month of June is that housing prices are up!!! Definitely getting us back on a more even keel. Bad news is that sales are down for May and June. No big surprise there. Ever since the tax credit expired, it’s understandable that we wouldn’t have as many buyers out there. And, summer is usually another lull time in the market, even in robust times.
Now this video has just the bare essentials. For more detailed information about YOUR specific area, don’t hesitate to contact me. Better to have too much information than not enough!!!
There’s nothing worse than traveling to a foreign country and discovering that your temporary home away from home is a dump! It’s not easy to find good places to stay. Luckily, these days there are many reliable websites on which you can find more than suitable accommodations for a trip.
Frankly, I don’t like the idea of staying in the tourist-ey areas of places. It’s like riding the tour bus to the sights and not getting off the bus. You’re not REALLY seeing what there is to see, you’re seeing a reasonable facsimile of the city. Heck, if I wanted that, I’d just go to EPCOT or Las Vegas! (not that there’s anything wrong with that)
So, I’d much rather stay in a place that’s off the beaten path to soak up more of the local culture. And, true to form, the internet is providing more and more websites for travelers to find such quarters. AirBnB.com is the largest of this new generation of social B&B’s and has garnered the most reviews for their offerings. Istopover.com started in 2009 in Toronto. They specialize in big event accommodations. Crashpadder.com originated in London and can find you everything from a room in a house to a WHOLE house! Roomorama.com is more geared toward high end properties, especially in New York city.
I imagine, if you had a place for people traveling to Minneapolis or St. Paul, you could probably list it on these sites, too.
For assistance with more permanent houses for sale in Minneapolis cities, 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.
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.
CNN-Money Magazine only reiterates what we in the Twin Cities have known for a long time-that Eden Prairie is awesome! Eden Prairie has low unemployment, the schools seems to rank well in comparison when it comes to test scores and such. Much as we cannot discuss what areas are better than others with regard to crime rates, their crime rate statistics rank low. Eden Prairie boasts 17 lakes and over 100 miles of biking-hiking-walking trails! Of course it’s got some pretty good shopping and restaurants, too. For those who bought a house for sale in Eden Prairie in the last couple of years, it’s ESPECIALLY good for you. The sold prices of homes are going up in Eden Prairie year over year from 2009 to 2010. And, not just incrementally, but between 7-10% over all. That’s good news, folks!
With Plymouth, MN ranked number 1 a few years back by the same publication, I’d say Minnesotans have alot to be proud of. And, much to be thankful for as it will stand us in good stead as the economy continues to improve.
Are you looking for a house for sale in Eden Prairie MN or Plymouth MN? Make sure you contact me first before you do anything else. You need to make sure you have an agent who knows how to help you navigate these tricky waters!!!
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.
Many home owners in Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs think their home is the best. Rightfully so. They should be proud of their domicile. It’s important to take pride in ownership. That’s what keeps the Minneapolis housing inventory safe, comfortable and up to code.
But, as we all know, there are those homes out there that we drive by and scratch our heads. Asking ourselves, “What were they thinking?!” Sometimes I have an answer for that, but most times, I don’t. These home owners exercise their individuality when designing and purchasing these places.
This home owner decided using natural materials was the way to go, with sand, clay and straw. If he sees 3 pigs and a big bad wolf come along, he’s in trouble!
These people have been to every restaurant called “The Pinnacle” in the United States. With a rotating upper level, not an original idea, but certainly original for a single family home.
Talk about your pyramid power!!! Giza’s got nothing on this place~
Here’s a home owner who knows how to make the best use of his space. The whole house is only 8 x 12. And you think YOUR house is small!!!!
This article gives more in depth information about the thought and concept behind each of these properties. It’s very interesting to learn about what people actually ARE thinking when they do something outside the box.
Are you looking for something unique and different for your purchase of a house for sale in Minneapolis? Maybe you’re more the suburban type and would prefer to exercise your unique-ness by finding the right home for sale in the Western suburbs of Minneapolis cities. Whatever home purchase works for you, contact me today to get started. I specialize in unique!!!
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.
| 04/10/2010 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 12:00 pm |
It’s important to protect yourself. As you probably already know, there are those who will steal your private information for their own gain with no consideration of the impact it has on your life. 
That kind of identity theft can prevent you from obtaining new credit, buying a car or even a house. In some cases, the perpetrator has committed illegal activities with the “new identity” and the victim of this identity theft has been arrested!!! You can do things to make it more difficult for these thieves to obtain your sensitive information.
Make sure you always log off of your online accounts for anything, especially if you’re using an unsecured internet connection or if you’re logging on from a public computer. And, when it’s time to dispose of old paper work, don’t just throw it all in the recycling! That’s like posting it on a bill board! Take it to a professional shredder. There are many free shredding events around the Twin Cities for potentially buyers and sellers of Minneapolis homes for sale can take advantage of to destroy their sensitive information.
M & I Bank hosts such events regularly. Click here for a location and date near you. And, here’s a list of all of the Cub Foods locations that are hosting paper shredding provided by Shred It on Saturday, April 10, 2010, from 9:00 am – 12:00 noon. Don’t miss it!!
Need more info about the real estate market in the Twin Cities? Contact me to make me your real estate consultant for life. I’m up on all the latest info on homes for sale in Minneapolis cities, including Lake Harriet/Lake Calhoun.
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.
