For years, the trend has been to design homes to the back of the house as we have become an auto-dominated society with front-loaded garages. Prior to the 1970s, a high percentage of homes constructed throughout Minnesota had front porches. However, that design trend faded as garages became larger and more emphasis was placed on…read more
Over the past few weeks, mortgage rates jumped at the higest levels in the past 30 years as a percentage increase. This jump was in response to the Fed pulling back on the Qualitative Easing program as the economy improves. This announcement resulted in a rise in the 10-year treasuries which mortgage rates follow. After…read more
As any buyer, Realtor, lender, or anybody else in the real estate industry will tell you…appraisals have been a hurdle through the economic downturn and housing correction. Lenders tightened underwriting criteria, while appraisers had few competitive properties to compare and have been extremely conservative. As a result, many offers with agreed upon terms between a…read more
Technology has changed the home buying and selling process signficantly over the past few years. With the addition of Apps, today’s buyers and sellers have access to real estate data that previously was tougher to obtain. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of real estate apps available. From home searches to mortgage applications to…read more
Today’s article from Time Magazine highlights an ongoing issue regarding housing and the economy. Undoubtable the housing market crash was one of the primary catalysts for the economic downturn. But housing also creates jobs and can fuel economic recoveries. New construction has a trickle down effect..from construction workers, realtors/brokers, morgtgage lenders, title companies, engineering firms,…read more
No Question about, lenders over corrected after the housing bust. Most everybody agrees lenders needed to tighten underwriting standards, however most industry experts agree they went to far as many households with steady jobs and good credit still are having difficulty in obtaining a mortgage. This has affected the housing recovery as many would be…read more
No doubt about it; the Twin Cities real estate market is in recovery mode. There is no shortage of buyers who are competing for a small inventory of homes available. Inventory continues to be down by about 30%, resulting in a competitive market for homes priced right and appealing to first-time home buyers. The first-time…read more
Mortgage rates fell again this week..sending to a new record low. According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fell to 3.34% and the 15-year to 2.65%. Rates continue to drop due to the concern over the fiscal cliff and demand for government bonds. Since the presidential election, investors have pulled from the stock market and…read more
Good article about cutting costs on new construction. As builders have come out of the recesson, labor costs other effieciences have been implemented to bring home costs down. In particular, depressed land costs have been a substantial cost savings to new home buyers as the savings has brought the total package price down. In many…read more
Today’s Star Tribune article explains the recent changes to Minnesota State law that will effect nearly all property owners in the State. Unfortunatley when our governor and legislature compromised on a budget deal, the property tax issue was a piece of the deal that was not readily understood until just recently. The bottom line.. property…read more
