It’s that time again! The Minnesota Real Estate Team is very excited to share with any and all first time buyers information regarding our free upcoming seminar.

Each month, Waterstone Mortgage and Paul Docauer on our team will be going over anything and everything buyers need to know about buying their first home in MN.

We have this free class each and every month at 3800 American Blvd W, Suite #140, Bloomington, MN.

As a first time home buyer, it is important to get information about the buying process. And if you do have any plans whatsoever on purchasing your first home within the next few years, stop on out to our free monthly seminar.

We will be covering the various financing programs in regards to down payment assistance, all sorts of first time home buyer tips, as well as a question and answer session where you can ask and all questions that you may have.

Questions on your credit score, how that is determined and how that can influence your interest rate? We will cover this. Questions on how to write an offer, find a top real estate agent, what you need to do to qualify for a loan? We will cover all of these items as well!

For more info on this seminar or to sign up, email Request@MnRealEstateTeam.com or call 952-223-1150. We are here to help!

Now is certainly an outstanding buying opportunity for any and all first time home buyers here in Minnesota! The government is giving each buyer an $8000 tax credit that does not need to be repaid!

In addition, there are a number of great down payment assistance programs available to first time buyers.  Through many different state, local, county, and city programs buyers can receive down payment assistance. Our team works with Waterstone Mortgage who specialize in first time home buying financing options.

We also offer a free Minnesota First Time Home Buyer Class each month. At 3800 American Blvd W, Suite #140 in Bloomington, our team covers many of the various questions that first time buyers have:

1. What types of financing options and programs are availabe for first time buyers?

2. How does the $8000 tax credit really work?

3. When do I need to puchase a home in order to receive the $8000 tax credit?

We go over these questions and of course much, much more.

With interest rates historically low, and many foreclosure and short sale properties “on sale” here in Minneapolis and the Minnesota Real Estate Market as a whole, first time home buyers are seeing an outstanding buying opportunity.

If you have interest in learning more about this first time buyer seminar, please give us a call today at 952-223-1150 or send us an email at Request@MnRealEstateTeam.com

The Minnesota Real Estate Team has been the #1 REMAX team from 2006 through today. We take great pride in helping first time buyers at THEIR pace. We look forward to helping you.

The Wall Street Journal just released their 2008 sales numbers for the Top 400 real estate teams and individuals in the United States.

The Minnesota Real Estate Team finished as the top Minnesota team and the #21 real estate team in the United States in closed transactions for 2008, with 452 homes sold. http://online.wsj.com/ad/top100teamsides.html 

The team also finished as the only Minnesota team to make the Top 100 teams in “Sales volume.” Our team finished 80th.  http://online.wsj.com/ad/top100teamvolume.html

We continue to take great pride in our approach on helping buyers and sellers with their real estate transactions here in Minnesota and Wisconsin…most importantly…helping you at YOUR own pace. With our team, there is never any timeline or rush you will feel working with one of our top agents.

Please don’t hesitate to call us today at 952-223-1150, to learn more about our:

1. Free monthly seminars – first time buyer, investment property, moving up in a down market

2. Our Guaranteeed Sale program

Or if you simply would like to chat with an agent over a cup of coffee in regards to your real estate situation.  And as always…the Java is on us

Are you a prospective or current real estate investor?  Are you a home seller needing to do a short sale? Are you a bank looking for a top REO agent to market your properties? Perhaps you are a first time home buyer or move up buyer looking for someone to trust in this market?

Meet The Minnesota Real Estate Team of RE/MAX Advantage Plus. We are a team of 40 plus real estate agents here to help you with all of your real estate needs.

Tonight, our team learned that we are currently the #7 ranked REMAX real estate team in sales in the entire United States (for January through March 2009 closed sales.)

We take great pride in not only working at our client’s individual pace, but bringing results to our clients as well. Contact our team today at 952-223-1150. We are here to help you with any real estate and mortgage related questions that you may have.

I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate the members of The Minnesota Real Estate Team for finishing as the top ranked REMAX real estate team in commissions and transactions for 2008.  The final yearly numbers were just realized, and the team was very excited to hear the news. This is now the third year in a row the team has finished #1 for the entire state of Minnesota.

There are a number of agents who had outstanding sales years for the team. Scott Ficek was voted “The 2008 Agent of the Year” by team members, Rob Reinke won the sales volume competition, Kim Dohm the “Rookie of the Year,” and Kevin Curtis sold the most number of homes in 2008.  Mary Alice Short, Jesse Grumdahl, John Stenroos, John Tschida, Jake Bents, Jim Lacher, Bernie Borschke, Ross Lumley and Adam Benedict all had outstanding sales years as well.

Our team has always taken great pride in helping buyers and sellers at their own pace. We believe in a low pressure but informative sales approach. And we too are able to help you whatever your real estate situation may be. Do you need to short sale a property? Are you a first time buyer? Are you an out of state buyer needing a real estate buyer’s agent to search properties and represent you?  Are you a high end seller looking for a marketing campaign second to none? Do you want to invest in real estate or purchase a commercial property?

Regardless of your situation, please let us know how we can help.

Northeast Minneapolis, MN Real Estate Market Update, January 2009

Northeast is a younger area of Minneapolis with Victorian architecture including historic churches, old mills and new and old retail areas. Let’s compare real estate numbers for the month of December 2007 to the month of December 2008. New listings were up 18.9% from 37 to 44 listings this past December. Closed sales were also on the upswing, increasing 18.5% from 27 to 32 closings! The average sales price in Northeast was $137,682, and in December of 2007 it was $175,791. The percent of original list price received continued to be just above 90% at 90.3%. The average days on the market until sale declined from 150 days to 119 days this past year, a decrease of 20.6%. The inventory for single family homes decreased 18.9% from 2007 to 172 homes on the market, and the townhouse-condo inventory also declined 38.3% from 2007. There are currently 29 townhomes-condos available.

Now let’s compare the entire year of 2007 to the entire year of 2008 for Northeast Minneapolis. New listings decreased 16.6%, going from 1,000 in 2007 to 834 new listings in 2008. Closed sales were also down, but only by 7% from 429 to 399. Average sales price in Northeast went from $199,509 to $165,175 in 2008, down 17.2%.  The percent of original list price received at the time of sale did drop 3.5% from 94.6% down to 91.2%.  Hey, it’s still above 90%!! The average days on the market until sale went from 101 days in 2007 to 145 days in 2008.

In conclusion, looking at the year to date numbers in the above paragraph, there were fewer new listings and fewer closings, but in 2008 a much higher percentage of the listings on the market actually closed! The average days on the market until sale in Northeast are among the longest for any of the Minneapolis neighborhoods.

Uptown-Lakes Minneapolis Real Estate Market Update – December, 2008

Uptown is a unique and wonderful section of Minneapolis full of things to do and places to go!  Let’s look at real estate numbers here and see if they are just as wonderful!  First we’ll compare November of 2007 to November of this year.  There were 34.3% fewer new listings put onto the MLS, with 65 new property listings this November.  Closed sales are also down by 57.1% with 42 properties closing November of 2007 compared to only 18 properties closing November of 2008.  The average sales price in the Uptown-Lakes area went from $421,875 to $285,561 and is down 32.3%.  The percent of original list price received at the time of sale is 87.6%, which is down from 95% in November of 2007.  Average days on the market until sale are up 59.7% from last November and are currently 123 days.  There were 134 single family detached homes on the market this year, and 238 townhomes, which are up 42.6% and down 27.2% respectively.

When comparing January through November of 2007 to January through November of 2008, new listings for this part of Minneapolis did drop 27.3%.  Closed sales are down 28.8%.  The average sales price in the Uptown-Lakes area actually stayed pretty level at $379,105, an increase of 1.3%!  Average days on the market are up 34.9%, going from 92 to 124 days.  The percent of original list price received at the time of sale decreased 4%, going from 96.4% in 2007 compared to 92.5% in 2008.

Uptown is a highly sought after place to live, or even to hang out!  Looking at these statistics, it seems more people are currently staying put which is odd considering the average sales price actually increased over last year!  However, the average days on market going up and closed sales going down could be discouraging.  If you’re looking to buy a home in the Uptown area, now is the time! We have a number of agents on our team who know this part of the Minneapolis real estate market well!

I hope everyone is having an outstanding Holiday Season!

Today let’s take a look at the most recent update for the Southwest portion of the Minneapolis real estate market.

When comparing November of 2007 to November of 2008, there was a drop of 5.6% in new MLS listings that were put onto the market. Closed home sales in this part of Minneapolis also did drop from 56 closings in November of 2007 to 26 closings here in November of 2008.  The average sales price for a home in Southwest Minneapolis dropped from $395,136 to $321,836. This is a 18.6% year over year decrease.  The percent of original list price received at the time of sale dropped from 92.7% to 90.8%.

Average days on market for a property in this part of Minneapolis rose from 96 days to 131 days. This is a 36.6% increase. In November of 2008, there were 245 active single family homes for sale on the MLS in Southwest Minneapolis.  Lastly, there were 42 condos and townhomes for sale. This was a 44% increase from the active condo and townhome listings for sale in November of 2007.

Now let’s take a quick look at January through November of 2007 compared to January through November of 2008.  New listings of homes, condos, and townhomes for sale on the MLS in this part of Minneapolis have been down 15.3% here this year.  Closed sales are down 20.5% this year, with 633 properties closing thus far. The average sales price is down 7.6% this year at $337,774. Average days on market is up from 101 to 118 days this year. This is a 16.5% year over year increase.

In conclusion, southwest Minneapolis certainly has not been immune to the overall real estate conditions here in the Twin Cities. Thankfully, new listings have been down this year, and the average sales price, though it has dropped, is not down nearly as much as other sections of Minneapolis.

Southwest continues to offer a number of awesome homes for sale.  And of course some great condos, lofts, and townhomes as well. If you are a buyer, there certainly has not been a better time to be looking in recent history.

Our team, The Minnesota Real Estate Team, has a couple agents on the team that do alot of work in this area of Minneapolis.  Let us know how we can help you with your real estate needs!

We are extremely excited to have put together a top, top collection of all of the various minneapolis lofts for sale here in our market. With the vast number of properties that are still available for sale, buyers are being afforded some just all around outstanding choices.

And of course with sellers being so motivated in this “buyer’s market,” buyers are finding prices at almost historical lows.

With any type of condo or loft purchase however, it is crucial to have your real estate agent take a close look with you at the association documents. With each purchase, you as the buyer are given time to review all of these documents as well as the financials of the association. Please be sure to take time to look closely through the numbers to ensure that you are not buying a condo or loft in an association with financial problems.

With that being said, our minneapolis real estate market is one that is creating so many outstanding buying opportunities. Of course sellers are still able to sell, however, many sellers are forced to compete with the vast number of bank owned and short sale listings that are on the MLS as well. And many of these properties are at very, very low price points.

With each week that passes, we are seeing more and more homes go pending, that is, accept an offer. And there have been fewer properties coming onto the market. This certainly bodes well for our market indeed. By no means are we back to balanced market, however, we are definitely heading in the right direction.

If you have interest in learning more about our real estate market here in Minnesota, check out our weekly radio show, The Minnesota Real Estate Show, Saturdays, 3-5 PM on 100.3 KTLK, FM.

We enjoy bringing any and all types of real estate and mortgage information to all of the listeners here in our real estate market!

North Minneapolis has become a hot investor market with all of the foreclosures in this area. Let’s look at real estate numbers for that neighborhood of Minneapolis. Comparing November of 2008 to November of 2007, there have been 26.7% less homes put onto the market. Closed sales this November are up 229.4% with 56 properties closing. The average sales price is down 37.8%, going from $83,993 to $52,265. The average days on market in North Minneapolis are down 25.6%, from 186 days last November to 138 days this November. There were 284 active single family homes for sale in November of 2008, compared to 434 actives in November of 2007.

When comparing January through November 2007 to January through November 2009, closed sales are up by 100.9%, from 343 sales in 2007 to 689 closings in 2008. The average sales price declined by 40.2%, going from $102,885 in 2007 all the way down to $61,541 in 2008. Average days on the market are down 13.%, from 171  days to 148 days this year. The percent of original list price received at the time of sale remains constant at 85.4% this year (was 84.8% last year so certainly getting a bit better!).

North Minneapolis in the past has not had the best reputation. However, investors are buying a ton of foreclosures in the area, rehabbing them, and renting or reselling them. As a result, the closed sales numbers are so much higher this year. Also, the fact that sales prices are way down means that the investor buyer is really having a “hey day” right now.  Many of the homes require so much work that the average buyer is moving on to other neighborhoods and other homes in Minneapolis. One last thought: with fewer homes coming onto the market, that could mean that there are fewer foreclosures as time goes on. This all certainly bodes well for North Minneapolis

As investors, be sure to check out our monthly investment property seminars offered. All of our seminars are free of charge, and we explore really any and all sorts of investment property topics.