Minnesota First Time Home Buyers » General Information http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com Everything you need to know, when buying your first home Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:43:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/wp-content/mbp-favicon/icon_key.gif Minnesota First Time Home Buyers January 2012 MN Housing Market Info http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/january-2012-mn-housing-market-info/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/january-2012-mn-housing-market-info/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:43:10 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=3144 This month’s video made by the MPLS Association of Realtors highlights a lot of good data on the MN Housing Market.

The biggest statistic to take note of is the fact that there are very few homes on the market right now, which is actually tipping the scales in favor of sellers in a lot of cases.

The average and median sales prices are still not increasing overall, but that might be the next step as buyer demand continues to climb, and active listings for sale fall.

Check out the video below for all the info!

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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/january-2012-mn-housing-market-info/feed/ 0 Home Showings During The Winter Months http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/home-showings-during-the-winter-months/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/home-showings-during-the-winter-months/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:47:13 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=3141 The nice thing about searching for homes in the wintertime is that you don’t have much competition from other buyers.  The bad thing is that it’s usually cold and dark when you’re out in showings, unless you happen to take off work or see homes on the weekend.


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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/home-showings-during-the-winter-months/feed/ 0 December 2011 Twin Cities Housing Market Update http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/december-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-update/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/december-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-update/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:38:21 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=3134 Another month’s information on the Housing Market in Minnesota, made by the MPLS Association of Realtors.  Lots of good data in this vide below, as usual.

Some highlights that both sellers and first time home buyers should note are:

Many more “Pending Sales” in November than the past few years.  This combined with a low number of homes for sale means the tables are turning towards the sellers a little bit.  However home prices are still declining somewhat consistently, so buyers are still getting a good deal on properties.

This combined, with some more positive national economic news on jobs, and we may be finally starting to see the turnaround in the MN Housing Market.

Check out the full video for all the info!



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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/december-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-update/feed/ 0 2012 New Year Housing Market Numbers http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/2012-new-year-housing-market-numbers/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/2012-new-year-housing-market-numbers/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:39:31 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=3128 The Twin Cities Housing Market has had a busy fall and winter so far.  Here is some information on where the market is right now, and what it means for you as a buyer or seller.

Enjoy!



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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/2012-new-year-housing-market-numbers/feed/ 0 November 2011 Twin Cities Housing Market Info http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/november-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-info/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/november-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-info/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:16:39 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=3120 For another month in 2011, we saw some positive signs that the MN Housing Market is beginning to “recover”.  This month’s video, produced by the MPLS Area Association of Realtors, tells us that demand is definitely picking up compared to the past couple years.  However prices are still dropping in the overall housing market.

The national economy is also seeing some positive signs of life, which will help fuel real estate sales and eventual price increases as people get more jobs and make more money.

What does this mean for you, as a buyer?

Well, you’re still getting great mortgage interest rates, low prices, and there’s still a good number of homes to pick from on the market.

Check out the video for all the details!



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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/november-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-info/feed/ 0 October 2011 Twin Cities Housing Market Update http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/october-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-update/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/october-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-update/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:16:33 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=2945 Want to know what’s going on in the Housing Market here in MN?  Check out this month’s video put together by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.

Some of the data for this month includes a lower numbers of homes on the MLS for sale, lower home prices than last year, and also a decrease in the monthly supply of housing inventory.  Kind of a mixed bag of news for buyers and sellers, but overall there seems to be some positive signs that we are leveling off from the “free-fall” of 2008, 2009, and 2010.

If you’re buying your first home, it’s a good nugget to know that Mortgage Interest Rates are at their lowest point in history.  So by locking in a super-duper low rate right now, you will literally be saving hundreds or thousands of dollars a year in interest. This coupled with the low home prices still makes the end of 2011 and beginning of 2010 a great time to be a first time home-buyer in MN.

Click “Play” below to watch the short video for yourself!

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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/october-2011-twin-cities-housing-market-update/feed/ 0 The True MLS Website http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/the-true-mls-website/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/the-true-mls-website/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:31:02 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=2922 Are you a first time homebuyer looking for properties online?  Be careful where you look–you may not be getting the whole story.

The only way to get all the updated information on each property is by using a Realtor, and setting up a search through the MLS system.  All the other websites have flaws to them when searching for homes online–even this one!  :)

Contact me to get a search setup today, and start seeing the big picture.

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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/the-true-mls-website/feed/ 0 More Multiple Offers? http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/more-multiple-offers/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/more-multiple-offers/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:47:44 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=2917 Here is a great article I wrote a while back, which could use a re-read if you’re thinking about buying your first home!

How to “Win” in Multiple Offers



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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/more-multiple-offers/feed/ 4 Twin Cities Housing Market Info – September 2011 http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/twin-cities-housing-market-info-september-2011/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/twin-cities-housing-market-info-september-2011/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:59:38 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=2909 We may be getting back to some regular housing market activity here in Minneapolis and St Paul–at least when it concerns the number of buyers and seller active in the market.

This month’s “Skinny” video, made by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors has lots of good info on where the market has been, where it’s at, and maybe where it’s headed.  Home prices are still falling around 10% per year, which isn’t good for regular sellers.  But there’s a couple of hidden numbers in this data that not a lot of people are talking about.

Click play below to watch the video.


The first thing is that retail (or regular) sellers are having better luck getting higher values for their properties.  In other words, the “retail market” isn’t falling in price as much as the “foreclosure market” is.

The second thing that NO ONE is talking about is fix-n-flips.

These are properties that investors are buying, fixing up, and re-selling a few months later to owner-occupied buyers.  In most cases these investors are buying a foreclosure or short sale at a discount, and investing thousands of dollars into the home’s renovation.  Then, they put the home back on the market and sell it at a higher price all fixed up.

When this happens, there are actually 2 sales that take place.  Let’s pretend the home was originally bought for $50,000 by the investor, and they invested several thousands in it’s repair.  Then, it sells 6 months later for $150,000 as a completely renovated home.  Both of these sales factor into market data for Average or Median Sale Price.  And in this case, they would make an average of $100,000 Sale Price–which on the surface looks bad.  But in reality what happened was a house was renovated and sold to a new home-owner for $150,000, which should be the only sale that counts towards market data.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to factor these types of situations into market data.  So the numbers may continue to look bad at face value for a while, but the silver lining is that neighborhoods and communities are getting improved and revitalized when this happens, and in the end, that’s the most important aspect of the Housing Market.

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]]> http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/twin-cities-housing-market-info-september-2011/feed/ 0 Renting vs. Buying – You Be The Judge! http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/renting-vs-buying-you-be-the-judge/ http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/general-information/renting-vs-buying-you-be-the-judge/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:19:14 +0000 Steve Howe http://www.minnesotafirsthome.com/?p=2891 I came across this pretty cool interactive map and chart from Trulia about Renting vs. Buying a home right now.

Very interesting statistics about rental prices, listing prices, and job/unemployment numbers.

If you’re thinking about making the decision to buy a home vs. renting for another year, this could be a great resource to help you make the right choice for yourself.

Take a look!

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