Edina Realty to open downtown Minneapolis office

Edina Realty is planning to open an office in downtown Minneapolis to take advantage of the urban area's housing boom.

The office will open in February in the historic Pacific Hotel Building, 224 Washington Ave. N. More than 25 agents will work at the new office, according to a press release issued Monday.

Edina Realty represents a number of downtown housing projects, and the downtown office will allow the firm to better serve clients, said Barb Jandric, Edina Realty senior vice president and regional manager.

The downtown Minneapolis market has about 5,700 housing units in the development pipeline.

Edina Realty has more than 75 offices in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Its parent company is Edina-based HomeServices of America Inc

Minneapolis proposes rental regulations

October 7, 2004

By Emily Kaiser
The Minneapolis City Council is proposing an ordinance that would prevent Minneapolis landlords from charging exorbitant application fees.

The proposed ordinance will regulate various aspects of rental applications, including fees. The council will discuss the proposal in a public hearing Oct. 13.

City Council member Gary Schiff, Ward 8, wrote the proposal and said the application fees are an impediment on efforts to provide more low-income housing in the city. This includes property near the University.

“Students and other low-income people are finding that if they try to find an apartment, they are being charged just for the application process,” he said.

The fee covers background and credit checks on applicants, said Jenny Dahms, leasing specialist at The Melrose apartments near campus.

The proposed ordinance would cap the application fee at $25 and would require property owners to tell applicants why their applications could be rejected before they apply.

Deborah Moran, director of industry services for the Minnesota Multi Housing Association, said the $25 application fee cap is not reasonable.

“Because we want to be in compliance with other ordinances, our members should be allowed to screen and to charge what the out-of-pocket costs to process the rental application is,” she said.

Moran said the background and credit checks vary in price because of the increased costs of out-of-state checks. She said the checks usually cost $37 to $57 per applicant.

Schiff said the ordinance would force property owners to put the background and credit-check fees into their operations costs.

Schiff said the proposed ordinance is also an attempt to prevent people from abusing the application fees.

“We want to make sure any other abuses are eliminated, including anecdotal reports that we have gotten that some landlords keep one vacancy in their building at all times, in order to collect application fees,” Schiff said. “They will make more money on fees than renting the room out.”

Moran said several members of the housing association have suggested one fee that gives each applicant a certified version of his or her records.

She said this would not work, because information included in background checks can change over a short time.

“I would assume it could only be about 48 or 78 hours old, because I could check out just great and then rob a bank,” she said.

Many apartment buildings near campus offer students special deals to eliminate the application costs. The Melrose, for example, will waive the fee if students tour and sign a lease in the same day, Dahms said.

Some students said they were unaware of the fees, or the fee at their apartment buildings had been waived during a special deal.

Meredith Dickinson, an advertising junior, said she was unsure whether she had paid an application fee for her Melrose apartment, but the fees are acceptable for apartment applications.

“They have to pay to process each application, and if they didn’t charge, anyone could apply,” she said.

Matcom Property Management Inc., which rents out property around the University, never charges students an application fee, said Cindy Chandler, Property Manager for the company.

“We have always thought that students had trouble coming up with extra cash, and because we do have a lot of properties in the University vicinity, it has always been our policy,” Chandler said.

Matcom does not perform credit or background checks on students, because students generally don’t have credit to begin with, Chandler said.

“Students usually have very limited credit and are coming out of their parents’ homes, or their dorms,” she said. “We feel like they need to start somewhere.”

The City Council will continue to work on the issue at next week’s public hearing.

“It’s one of those things we are going to have to work out and hopefully we can find happy ground,” Moran said.

If the proposed ordinance passes through committee meetings, the council will vote Oct. 22.

Boom in home sales is summer surprise

Neal Gendler
Star Tribune
Published July 13, 2004

Home buyers fearing higher interest rates took advantage of the continuing flood of listings last month to create the strongest June on record and set a third consecutive monthly record for median price: $220,000.

The 7,047 sales closed last month were up 26 percent from May and a 19.3 percent increase from 5,905 in June 2003, according to Regional Multiple Listing Service data reported Monday by the metropolitan area associations of Realtors.

"The June statistics surprised everybody," said Ann Brockhouse, president of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. "Last June was just phenomenal, and we never thought we would surpass that, but we did in every category."

In addition to the usual seasonal preference for moving in the summer, sales appear to have been spurred by "lots of hype about interest rates going up," said Brockhouse, who is sales manager of Roger Fazendin Realtors. "That put a little urgency into buyers in April and May."

All that buying not only led to a record median -- the price with half selling for more and half for less -- but it sent the value of closed sales past $1.8 billion, 35 percent ahead of May and up 27.73 percent from June 2003.

"Buyers' perception that the Fed adjusting the rate up a quarter percent has something to do with mortgage interest rates pushes them off the fence," said John Lockner of Re/Max Results and president of the St. Paul association. "Mortgage rates are tied to Treasury bills, but buyers don't realize that. Actually, mortgage interest rates went down."

National data from mortgage funder Freddie Mac show average 30-year rates fell to 5.38 percent the week of March 18 before peaking at 6.34 percent the week of May 13.

Rates fell again to 6.25 percent the week of June 24, just before the Federal Reserve raised short-term rates a quarter point on June 30 and have continued to fall since to 6.01 percent last week.

Sales closed represent purchase agreements signed weeks earlier, so most closings in June would have been for transactions begun in April and May. At June's end, 6,510 transactions remained to be closed, 1.07 percent more than the number a year earlier. Inventory remained strong, with 31,156 properties listed, nearly 26 percent ahead of June 2003.

For the first six months, 26,362 sales closed, up 7.19 percent from the first half of 2003. The value of those sales was $6.5 billion, up 14.98 percent from $5.7 billion a year earlier.

Strong sales have led the National Association of Realtors to revise its forecast for 2004 from the second-best ever to the best, with 6.31 million existing-home sales, up 3.4 percent from 2003. Brockhouse said local Realtors now expect a fifth consecutive annual sales record.

Rising prices don't seem to be curbing demand, and the bottom end of the market has been surprisingly slower, said Gregg Roeglin of Edina Realty, president-elect of the Minneapolis association. By contrast, the $250,000-to-$300,000 range is very active, despite fewer listings than homes at the lowest prices, he said.

For example, he listed a two-bedroom, two-bath Burnsville condo for $112,500 last October, expecting it to be snapped up in a couple of weeks.

But it sat, and the price was dropped to $109,900 in early January. The home had new carpeting, appliances, cabinets and paint, but it didn't sell until the seller paid a buyer's closing costs, reducing the net to about $103,000, said Roeglin.

Roeglin said he was surprised by the paucity of interested buyers. Of those who did look, many ended up buying elsewhere in the $150,000 range. "Buyers have been gravitating upward in price, and the low-end properties have been taking longer and longer to sell," he said.

"Even a year before, you'd hold an open house and take the bids. My feeling is that with interest rates where they've been, it's very easy for most buyers to afford $150,000 to $200,000, so human nature being what it is, buyers decided to buy more."

Lockner said prices should remain strong the rest of the year because of rising land prices and population growth from relocation and immigration. He said new immigrants rent from people who may move out and buy, creating "a leapfrog situation" in which people sell and move up across several price ranges.

Home sales brisk but slowing

Jim Buchta, Star Tribune
June 11, 2004

Housing sales this spring unexpectedly whopped last year's record in the Twin Cities area, and last month was no exception.

There were more than 5,500 closed sales in May, an increase of 11.8 percent over 2003, and the median sale price rose more than 8 percent, according to data issued Thursday by the Realtor Public Policy Partnership.

Nevertheless, the market is showing the first inkling of a slowdown. The number of pending home sales last month (a signal of future activity) and the number of new listings dipped. That's a sign, Realtors say, that we could see a slight drop in the number of closed sales in June.

"I think we were unprepared for the activity we've seen in 2004," said Decklynn Theisen, sales agent with Prudential Metrowide and president of the Southern Twin Cities Association of Realtors. "But I think it's a natural evolution that things will slow down somewhat."

According to data compiled by the partnership, which includes members of the North Metro Realtors Association, the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors and the Southern Twin Cities Association of Realtors, sales during March, April and May set records this year.

"I was a little surprised that the market is continuing at the pace that we've seen," said John Lockner, president of the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors and sales agent with Re/Max Results.

Realtors thought 2003 couldn't be bested, but many are now saying that 2004 will give those records a run for their money. Early this year, the National Association of Realtors predicted that the market had peaked during 2003, but the group's chief economist, David Lereah, recently revised his expectations.

He's now saying that unexpectedly strong job growth will offset the effect of rising interest rates, which are now hovering between 6.2 and 6.3 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. That will help push existing-home sales to a record this year.

Decreases in pending sales aren't unusual during the late spring and summer as prospective buyers take a summer break, but given the near-record number of homes now for sale, agents say the market is beginning to show some signs of moderation. That's likely to translate into longer market times and more modest appreciation. During each of the past two months, annual sale price increases have stabilized at about 8.25 percent, while the total dollar volume of closed sales has been increasing close to 20 percent in large part due to higher prices and strong demand for more-expensive new housing.

"Anecdotally, I would expect a slowdown," Theisen said. "We need to educate sellers as to the pricing and condition of homes. That's going to be really important this summer."

Home sales, prices increased in March

Spring is shaping up as a very healthy season for Twin Cities home sales, local Realtors report.

Home sales rose 10.9 percent, to 4,028 and the median price rose 7.1 percent to $203,000 in March. That compares to home sales of 3,633 and a median price of $189,500 in March of 2003.

Those increases made this the best March on record for closed sales in the 13-county metropolitan area, the Realtor Public Policy Partnership said in a news release.

New listings were up 22.4 percent to 8,981 and pending sales rose 21.6 percent to 6,542. Pending sales are sales for which purchase agreements have been signed, but sales have not yet closed.

"Strengthened by early warm temperatures and the Parade of Homes, March was a great month for home sales," said Jerry Koch, President of the North Metro Realtors Association. "All indicators are that the robust market we saw in March will continue throughout the spring."

Counties with the greatest increases in closed sales this March include: Sherburne (47.7 percent), Ramsey (23.4 percent), and Anoka (22.3 percent).

Washington County logged the greatest increase in median price with an increase of 16.9 percent to $229,850 this March compared to March 2003.

Housing statistics include existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes. The statistics are based on closed existing home sales as reported by the Regional Multiple Listing Service.

Home prices rise in Twin Cities

The median sale price for homes in the 13-county metropolitan area rose 6.8 percent to $201,824 in February, compared to $189,000 in February 2003.

The number of homes sold declined 1.6 percent in the year-over-year period to 2,731 homes, compared to a record-breaking 2,776 sales in February last year.

"February sales indicate that the Twin Cities housing market remains very healthy," said Decklynn Theisen, president of the Southern Twin Cities Association of Realtors in a statement.

Theisen expects increased activity on the housing market. "March typically kicks off the spring home selling season and with continued low-interest rates, lots of new listings on the market, and strong pending sales numbers, we expect it to be a very productive month for home buyers and sellers."

New listings in February were up 12.7 percent to 6,700, while pending sales rose 2.2 percent to 4,277. Pending sales are transactions for which purchase agreements have been signed, but sales have not closed.

Anoka, Sherburne, and Scott Counties logged the greatest increases in median sale price this February compared to February 2003. Anoka County median sale price rose 12.9 percent to $201,000. Sherburne County median price rose 10.7 percent to $191,500, and Scott County median price increased 9.7 percent to $233,500.

Chisago and Sherburne counties saw the greatest increases in closed sales; Chisago County sales increased 58.5 percent to 65 and Sherburne County sales increased 32.9 percent to 101.

Housing statistics include existing single-family homes, condominiums, and townhomes. The numbers were provided by the Realtor Public Policy Partnership in St. Paul and are based on closed existing home sales as reported by the Regional Multiple Listing Service.

2003 Minneapolis St. Paul Home Sales

Beating earlier predictions the Twin Cities housing market set an alltime
record with 56,528 home sales in2003. That statistic represents an increase
of over 10 percent compared to 2002’s record-breaking 51,212 home
sales in the 13-county metropolitan area. Median sale price increased 8
percent to $199,900 in 2003. On Jan. 15, St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly and Metropolitan Council Chairman Peter Bell joined presidents from four local realtor associations in celebrating the strength of the housing market and highlighting new housing opportunities in the Twin Cities area. They announced the statistics at a model unit in Emerald Gardens, a new townhome and condominium development in St. Paul.

The development is part of Kelly’s Housing 5,000 Initiative, which recently reached the halfway point toward the goal of building 5,000 new housing units by the end of 2005. “We have been extremely fortunate in St. Paul to have a mayor and city council that are focused on creating housing opportunities for residents at all income levels and stages of life,” said John Lockner, President of the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors.

Lockner noted a 143 percent increase in downtown St. Paul home sales, the highest sales increase of any other area of the Twin Cities. Other neighborhoods topping the home sales charts in 2003 include St. Louis Park (75 percent increase in home sales), Belle Plaine (46 percent), Hopkins (41 percent), and the University (37 percent) and Phillips (37 percent) neighborhoods in Minneapolis. Citing three years of record sales volumes, Realtor predicted that
low interest rates and gradual decline in price increases would make 2004
the second-best year for housing sales on record.

Herb Brooks - My Thoughts

Inspired by the new movie "Miracle", which I have not yet seen, I thought I would dig a little deeper into the 1980 US Hockey Team. In 1980 I was only 8, and have no recollection of the game. This weekend, I bought an HBO sports documentary on DVD entitled, "Do You Believe in Miracles?", it's quite an interesting and moving piece.

Living in Minneapolis I saw the headlines in August of 2003 proclaiming that Herb Brooks had died in a minivan crash not far from my home. At the time, I felt a sadness, but had no direction to take it...it was just as though there was a "shift in the force", the man had gone above and beyond his calling and had impacted so many lives.

Watching this documentary and reacquainting myself with the dire geopolitical and economic realities of the late 70s, drove home how special the 1980s team really was, and how that event so affected the loves on everyday Americans.

Maybe it was more that as a child I played competitive sports and in those teams I developed such strong bonds with coaches and players. At the end of the season there was always such sadness as the team members went their separate ways, and what was special for a moment, faded and became something for memories only.

Friends are important, comraderie is important. Having a belief that the whole can be greater than the parts at times is important as well. My fear is that my generation and those after me are growing up as singular entities, our umblical cords attached to the ether of the Internet, robbing us of our desire to effectively communicate, share and build with others. We have difficulty not only undestanding the self, but also the collective, choosing instead to overwhelm ourselves with useless information and data which fills the void formerly filled with friendship and love.

There are no substitutes for experience and interaction. It's scary to reflect on my own communicatory inadequacies, the relative degeneration of my own self in recent months. It took the efforts and talents of a beautiful individual, my girlfriend, to help me realize that love does matter, that happiness is more virtue than vice, and that teamwork can yield wonderful new insights into the self. Ironic, but true.

So it was with great emotion that I reread an article about Hank's funeral, attended by so many, but yet unknown to so many more. I didn't weep his passing, but more his spirit, his passion, his drive to truly build a great team and a belief that all things were possible. These individuals are few and far between. They are the world changers.

Minneapolis Housing Market Remains Strong

Housing market still brisk
Twin Cities home sales continued to boom in September on the heels of a record 24.5 percent increase in closed sales in August. In September, closed sales in the 13-county metropolitan area were up 22.1 percent to 5,901, compared to 4,833 in the same month last year.

The median sale price in the 13-county metropolitan area was $200,500, a 6.1 percent rise compared to $188,900 in September of last year. That was down from the record $207,500 posted in August of this year.

New listings were at 8,077, an 11.5 percent increase over September 2002.

"Many sellers are motivated to close before the onset of winter weather and the holiday season, giving buyers more room to negotiate on the sale price," said Mike Heinzerling, president of the Southern Twin Cities Association of Realtors.

Counties on the outskirts of the metropolitan area reported the biggest increases in both closed sales and increases in median prices.

Closed sale rose 66.7 percent in Carver County. In St. Croix County, Wis., closed sales were up 52.6 percent and Scott County reported an increase of 35.3 percent.

Some of the biggest median sale price increases were logged in St. Croix County, Wis., up 17.3 percent, to $181,750; Sherburne County, an increase of 10.4 percent, to $196,350; and Chisago County up 9.5 percent to $196,932.

The statistics were provided by the Realtor Public Policy Partnership in St. Paul and were based on existing home sales as reported by the Regional Multiple Listing Service. The numbers included existing single-family homes, condominiums, and townhomes.

The Partnership consists of the North Metro Realtor Association, the Saint Paul Area Association of Realtors and the Southern Twin Cities Association of Realtors.

Minnesota Renaissance Festival

So, I've been working on formatting the blog today. Seems to be coming along nicely. Hope to add a couple new sections in the next hour or two.

The Renaissance Festival is coming up, starting on the 16th. I think Jen and I will be heading out one of those weekends to check that out..should be interesting.

Additionally, there is an interesting Holocaust Exhibit at
The downtown YWCA on Nicollet and 12th Street. They are hosting a traveling exhibit on Nazi persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust ("Nazi Persecutions of Homosexuals 1933-1945"). It will be on display on the lower level of the Y until September 26.

I think I am going to check that out this afternoon, I'll let you know what I think!

Star Tribune cancels subscription to NorthstarMLS data

Check this out..and read my comments below.

Star Tribune cancels subscription to NorthstarMLS data, changes HomeZone service
Effective immediately.

Star Tribune has chosen to cancel their subscription to NorthstarMLS data for their website. Their decision is in response to their consumers’ needs. Star Tribune is changing their HomeZone website to be more like classifieds advertising. If you want your listings to appear on this service, you need to set up an account and pay advertising fees to Star Tribune (anyone may do this--agent, homeowner, etc.). Because the data no longer comes from NorthstarMLS, the listing has to be re-entered into the Star Tribune system. However, they offer options for expanded data fields and other services, such as neighborhood tours. For more information, go to northstarmls.com.

My comments:

I'm not sure what to make of this. In my humble opinion, they are not changing in response to consumer needs, they are changing in response to declining margins. Consumers want choice. Consumers want to search ALL homes for sale in a given region. In my mind, the resulting increase in revenues from Realtors, for sale by owners, etc.. will be more than offset by the decreased website viewership once consumers realize that they are searching an extremely limited database of homes. I will have to check out the site..but this development excites me, essentially one of my competitors has voluntarily left the marketplace. :-)

Brent

Minneapolis Mob #2

You are invited to take part in a MOB, the project that creates an inexplicable mob of people in Twin Cities Area for 10 minutes or less. Please forward this to other people you know who might like to join. If you don’t participate, please forward it to a friend anyways!

MOB #2 - “Going uptown, going downtown”

Locations: TBA (To be announced)
Start time: Wednesday, July 30th, 7:18 pm
Duration: 10 minutes

(1) At some point during the day on July 30th, synchronize your watch at http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Central/d/-6/java

(2) The day of the event, you can get a detailed script for the event by meeting at the following locations at 7:00 PM based on the month of your birthday.

NOTE: if you are attending the MOB with friends, you may all meet in the same bar, so long as at least one of you has the correct birth month for that location.

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.: Uptown Bar & Cafe, 3018 Hennepin Ave (Bar)

May Jun. Jul. Aug.: William’s Pub, 2911 Hennepin Ave (Lower level)

Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.: Famous Dave’s – Calhoun Square (Bar)

(3) Then or soon thereafter, a MOB representative will appear and provide event details. Look for an individual in a “PRADA” shirt or a “MOB” button. He or she will provide you a slip of paper, on which two important pieces of information will be printed: (a) the MOB site, and (b) secret event details.

Commit these details to memory and put the slip in your pocket. ONCE YOU ARE AT THE MOB SITE, NONE OF THESE SLIPS OF PAPER SHOULD BE VISIBLE.

(4) Leave the bar and walk to the MOB site. If you arrive near the final MOB destination before 7:18, stall nearby. NO ONE SHOULD ARRIVE AT THE FINAL MOB DESTINATION UNTIL 7:16

(5) Find the site and begin the objective. Be animated and follow the intended script.

(6) At 7:28 you should disperse. NO ONE SHOULD REMAIN AT THE MOB SITE AFTER 7:30.

(7) Return to what you would otherwise have been doing.

To the press: Please do not report on the event to the public prior to the actual event time of 7:18pm CST on the day of the event. If you wish to report on the event please save your interviews until after the event activities are completed and the mob has begins to leave. If you would like to verify this script, email the auto-responder at minneapolismob@hushmail.com. This is an unmanaged account and only responses after validating an account. No email will be read at this account.

Ribfest started on Wednesday!!!

Rainbow Foods Rockin' Ribfest 2003