Oh my, we can afford to fill the tank again! Woo-hoo! Gas is back in the affordable-range – we filled up today for $2.11 a gallon.
And gas prices aren’t the only deals that we have been seeing lately. We’re seeing nice, solid homes on the market for drop-dead prices. Seriously. They are being given away. Some of these homes are in foreclosure, but many are not. Some need a lot of work, and some need very little.
Now that you can afford gas again, why not consider buying a home?!
Be safe, and have fun!
Come check us out this weekend at 8921 Ladino Circle in the beautiful Staring Lake community! Open Sunday (11/2) from 1-3. Just reduced price to $187,900.
STUNNING TWO BEDROOM, TWO BATH, END-UNIT TOWNHOME IN THE BEAUTIFUL STARING LAKE COURTHOMES NEIGHBORHOOD. YOU’LL LOVE THE LARGE MASTER BEDROOM WITH ADJACENT BATH, AND HUGE WALK-IN CLOSET. BEAUTIFUL EAT-IN KITCHEN OPENS ONTO PRIVATE PATIO. DEN PROVIDES PERFECT SPACE FOR HOME OFFICE OR ENTERTAINMENT ROOM.
See the full listing here.
Before the snow begins to fall (this Sunday?!), it’s time to get out to your garden for a little late Fall clean-up. So free up a couple of hours on Saturday, and get on with it. You’ll be so very glad you did!
Here is a list to help you:
Happy Fall Gardening!
The Contest Where A House With A Past Could Change Your Future
We’ve seen some great deals out there, but this one takes the cake! Write an essay as to why you deserve this house, and you could be the owner of this completely renovated, mortgage-free home with a rich history in Edmonton, Alberta. And then you could be Canadian. And the rest of the world wouldn’t hate you. It’s a win-win. Check out the website for more information: www.the11dollarhouse.com.
One-half of the Minne-apple Real Estate team celebrated her first year in real estate recently! Kelly is officially a veteran in the real estate world – having not only survived, but thrived. With seventeen transactions under her belt, she’s a real pro. Despite the tumultuous market, it was a great first year. It wasn’t always easy, but she learned a lot and helped many people through the process of buying and selling homes. And she brought her sidekick (yours truly!) along for the ride.
Congrats, Kel! The first (of many)!
Sales activity in the Twin Cities housing market in August showed a 15% increase in pended sales year-over-year for the second consecutive month. And the good news is that the number of homes for sale in the 13 county metro area is down 9.2% from August of last year. This trend is what we need to help stabilize home prices.
In September, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®, we saw large increases in activity in the lower price ranges. This is most likely the result of foreclosure and short sale activity as well as widespread discounting. In September, the absorption rate was 9.9 months. This is even with last year and the first time in 4 years that there hasn’t been a year-over-year increase. Affordability also bodes well for the housing market. With decline in interest rates and price pressures, affordability is 19% ahead of last year at this time.
These past few weeks we have experienced economic unrest and the total effect on the housing market is still unknown. Financial institution bankruptcy, money market concerns, government bail outs — we expect all of this to affect our industry. Some anticipate mortgage rates to go down even further and in the short term we see credit standards holding steady and very likely to continue to tighten.
Good luck to all of the runners of the Twin Cities Marathon! We’ll see you out on the course!
Thanks to Matt Havel for passing this news along:
The Federal Housing Authority is taking the fight against foreclosures personally, insuring up to $300 billion in 30-year fixed mortgages for those at risk of foreclosure. The program is available starting today, October 1st. The non-profit Minnesota Home Ownership Center is helping the FHA facilitate the program. “What they (homeowners) can actually do is write off a certain percentage of the principle amount of the loan; they may be able to reduce the interest rate. Basically, it’s a refinance product out of one mortgage and into another mortgage backed by the FHA,” Ed Nelson of the MN Home Ownership Center said. There are several qualifications a homeowner must meet, for example, they must have a loan that was issued between January 2005 and June of 2007. Perhaps the biggest variable is the existing lender must be willing to write down the existing loan so that the loan is no more than 90% of the home’s current appraised value. The FHA hopes to help 400,000 American homeowners fight foreclosure with this new program. Good news for Minnesotans. Nelson says an estimated 80,000 homeowners statewide will miss a mortgage payment this year, and 28,000 families will have their homes foreclosed. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department sold almost 300 foreclosed homes in the month of September. Nelson says many homeowners wait for an “end all” solution, or wait for things to turn around. He’s urging people to make an honest assessment of their current and future finances. The Hope Act offers a helping hand. “The sooner homeowners call, the more options they’ll have available to them,” Nelson explained. For more information, you can contact the Minnesota Home Ownership Center at (651) 659-9336 or (866) 462-6466 or www.hocmn.org.
