Perhaps you are behind on mortgage payments on your home feeling like there is no answer? Maybe you feel your home value is so “upside down” that there is no way out.

Rest easier knowing that there is help for you. With The Minnesota Real Estate Team, we take great pride in helping sellers who are facing a “short sale” situation. Foreclosure is certainly not the only option for you.

On our team, we have a number of top, top short sale listing agents: Rob Reinke, Jesse Grumdahl, Mary Alice Short, Bernie Borschke all have successfull closed numerous short sales. If your home, condo, townhome, or multifamily property is in Minneapolis, St Paul, or throughout the state of Minnesota and Wisconsin, we can certainly help out.

Please don’t hesitate to email us today if you are facing a short sale situation and you are not sure which direction to turn. Please know we respect each and every client’s privacy greatly.

We are certainly here to help out. Please call 952-223-1150 or email Request@MnRealEstateTeam.com today to inquire how The Minnesota Real Estate Team, the #1 Real Estate Team in Minnesota, can help out with your short sale situation.

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 here in August.

On August 13th, 6:30-8 PM, The Minnesota Home Loan Partners and Steve Howe 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 436 Gateway Blvd, Burnsville, MN.

As a first time home buyer, it is of course crucial to realize that the $8000 tax credit will expire as of November 30th. This does not need you need to rush to make a decision of course. But if you do have any plans whatsoever on purchasing your first home this year, 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 The Minnesota Home Loan Parters who specialize in first time home buying financing options.

We also offer a free Minnesota First Time Home Buyer Class each month. At 436 Gateway Blvd in Burnsville, 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.

This is a totally remodeled four bedroom, one bathroom home! Located in Minneapolis, this home does offer a 2nd floor laundry room, and a fireplace on the main floor. Over 2000 square feet and this property also has new mechanicals!

This property is priced at $119,900, and is listed by Ross Lumley on The Minnesota Real Estate Team of REMAX Advantage Plus.

Call today for a showing or for more information!

RE/MAX Advantage Plus, 17850 Kenwood Trail, Lakeville, MN 55044

It’s time for us to revisit the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis, comparing November of 2007 to November of this year. There have been 5.6% more listings this November, going from 36 to 38 new listings. Closed sales stayed exactly the same at 21 closings. The average sales price is down 13.7% from $226,002 to $195,102. Percent of original list price received at the time of sale is up 2.6% to 92.3%. The average days on market in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis is currently at 87 days, up 33.5% from last November. There were 107 active single family homes for sale, compared to 111 actives in November of 2008. The townhome and condo inventory levels also decreased significantly, going from 22 to only eight active townhomes or condos for sale this past November.

Now, let’s take a look at January through November of 2007 and compare that to January through November of 2008.  There were 639 new listings put onto the MLS in 2007, and 587 in 2008. This is a decrease of 8.1%. Closed sales are down 2.7% from 336 to 327 this year. The average sales price for a property went down 12.9% from $223,542 in 2007 to $194,599 this year. Average days on the market are up 26.3%, from 73 days last year to 93 days this year. The percent of original list price received at the time of sale went from 94.8% last year to 93% this year, a decrease of 1.9%.

We were hoping for a higher number of closed sales in the Longfellow neighborhood stats for this year, and unfortunately that did not take place.  However, the percent of original list price increased this November over last (as well as the number of new listings put up for sale on the RMLS.)

Look for our next update which will include December’s statistics for Longfellow as well as the entire year in review for this part of Minneapolis!

What a great condo for sale here in southwest Minneapolis! This two bedroom, one bathroom unit has an updated kitchen with stainless steel appliances.

Priced at $169,900, this property is co-listed by Jesse Grumdahl on The Minnesota Real Estate Team. The condo does include one garage space as well.

Contact us today for a private showing or for more information!

REMAX Advantage Plus, 17850 Kenwood Trail, Lakeville, MN 55044