Twin Cities Real Estate

Sharing Sadness

Yesterday I went to the funeral of a 23 year old who was the son of a business associate of mine.  I had never met the man or was even familiar with his family, yet I cried so hard during that funeral. 

 

This man had been fighting drug addiction and was in and out of treatments centers with no success.  He died Sunday of an over-dose.  The service did a good job of recreating his life for me.  I saw pictures of him from his date of birth until the time of his death.  Some of his writings were read to us.  He played blue grass and all the music at the service was blue grass. 

 

I saw the pain his parents, sister, brother, other relatives and friends were in.  Shock, anger, and plain old pain was present in the room.  I have a brother, a son, I have friends who this might have happened to.  It all was so normal that how could this person have lost his life to drugs.  We like to keep drugs in the inner city or in a minority race group.  We hope the family was dysfunctional or battered.  None of this was the case.  This traditional family fell prey to drugs.

 

I grew up in the time of LSD and when the long hairs were called druggies.  We did not realize what was to follow.  Drugs are there in so many ugly forms.  They are even present in our houses.  People become addicted easily and the getting off them is so tough.  We need to openly agree that drugs are in our society and that all of us need to be responsible to help get this under control.

 

Perhaps the hundreds of people that attended the funeral yesterday are talking about it like me, and asking others to help stop deaths such as this.  That small boy in the pictures playing with his dog needed to grow up to be an old man. 

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

Here is the big questions for today, "How do you get rid of the leaves on your property?  When I was a kid the answer was simple, "You rake them in piles and then burn them."  What a wonderful memory of those leaves burning.  I remember one fall my dad put the leaves in a container and then lit the fire.  A blast of flames hit his face and his eye brows were singed.  He said, "Don't tell your mother."  I thought, don't you think Mom will notice your eye brows are gone?

 

For years many cities allowed you to rake the leaves to the curb and they had the street cleaner pick them up and off the  land fill they went.  That is not allowed any longer.  You can get a ticket for that as the leaves plug the drains.

 

There is the thought to mulch the leaves as you mow and just leave the mulch on the lawn.  My husband favors that way.  I say no.  You can certainly mulch, but the mulch is used to cover flower beds or is bagged. 

 

You can rake and bag.  This is excellent exercise.  You will use muscles you never knew you had.  It is a time you can think or just let your mind go t nothing.  Some people listen to music.  It is a great family activity with the kids and dog loving to run through or jump in the piles of leaves.

 

Leaf blowers have become very popular.  I find them noisy and they are heavy.  You then bag the leaves and off they go to the land fill.

 

Some people don't remove the leaves but have a company come do the work.  Lazy!

 

Most cities now require you to use paper bags and green bags when sending your leaves off to the land fill.  Times they are a changing.

Prices Heating Up

In the newspaper and on the TV and blasting from the radio were reports yesterday that the prices of houses in Minneapolis and St. Paul were up over 3%.  Tell that to my sellers who keep reducing the price of their home and still no offer.  Read on.

 

The average price they are talking about is $170,000.That is right in the heart of first time buyer inventory.  First time buyers who thought the $8,000 was going away in about a month, were hammering to get a house.  They were starting to fight one another for the same property.  It was almost like the Oklahoma land rush!

 

A buyer purchasing a $170,000 house in Minneapolis is buying something that would have been more like $192,000 a year ago.  They are not complainers.  They are thrilled to own a house and can work at putting improvements in it.  Another buyer who is looking at a house on the market for $270,000 would have paid $305 for it a year ago and he is fussy and trying to push that price down.  He won't buy until he gets it on his terms.  That market is not seeing the increase in price that the media is talking about. 

 

All real estate is neighborhood specific.  You need to understand the data that is being presented.  I wish I could tell all home owners that their property is growing in value.  It just is not true.

What is Clean

Yesterday afternoon I had a seller call and ask, "What does leaving a house clean mean?"   Good question.  It is interpreted by many in different ways.  The courts have pretty much said it cannot be defined.  A seller might take the toaster out of the cupboard and say they have left the cupboard clean.  The buyer comes in and says it is not clean as there are crumbs on the shelf.  In the world of real estate we use the term, swept clean and free of debris.  That does not insure to the buyer that the place has been scrubbed clean and ready for the white glove treatment.

 

I was doing a walkthrough before closing with a buyer several weeks ago, and she was disgusted by the condition of the property.  The back of the refrigerator had not been vacuumed, the lint tray of the dryer had not been vacuumed, the walls had not been washed down, and each surface of the place needed cleaning.  To many buyers the place would have been fine.  It had been cleaned out and carpets shampooed.  Most buyers will accept hangers left in closets or a few things forgotten in the attic.  Tolerance is the guide word on moving day.  It would be a perfect world if each house were left spotless and germ free, but those are few and far between.  So many sellers are tired and all they want to do is close  the door and move on.

 

A great gift you can give someone is a cleaning service for either moving out or moving in.  If you can't afford the service, offer your own services to help with the move.  Coming over with a mop in hand can be a welcomed sight. 

 

I have a rule of thumb not to visit with my clients for several weeks after the move has been made.  They need that time to fall back in love with their new property.  In the beginning the closets are too small, they never knew how stained the carpets were, the house lacks storage, and the yard is a mess.  With time they make the place their own and all those issues go away.  They are back in love with their house.  That is when I want to see them.  It happens to all of us.

 

So---try not to be a clean nut.  Let go of those concerns.  Put on your Playtex gloves and have at it!

Watch the Bond

No, not James Bond but the bond market.  If you watch the bond market you will notice that interest rates for mortgages do the opposite of the bond market.  When the market is up, interest rates on mortgages go down and vice versa.  It is a good thing to know if you want to know when to buy and get a better rate on your mortgage.

 

Mortgage rates go up and down during the day, so a buyer wants to stay in close contact with their lender until they have locked in their interest rates.  Rates cannot be locked until a purchase agreement has been accepted.  Typically, the rates will hold for up to 60 days. 

 

Here is my tip for buying right now in the Twin Cities.  Consider the FHA ARM..  This is not the scary ARM of several years ago, but this is a sensible ARM for buyers today. The rate today is 3.6% and that rate holds for the first 5 years of the loan.  It can go up or down 1% yearly after that for the 30 years of the loan.  It caps at 5% over the start rate or 8.6% in this case.  Many first time buyers will not be in their house over 5 years and this low starting rate allows them to buy so much more house.

 

I guess we can bring James Bond back into the discussion.  The ARM is like  one of the specialty items James had up his sleeve.

 

No, not James Bond but the bond market.  If you watch the bond market you will notice that interest rates for mortgages do the opposite of the bond market.  When the market is up, interest rates on mortgages go down and vice versa.  It is a good thing to know if you want to know when to buy and get a better rate on your mortgage.

 

Mortgage rates go up and down during the day, so a buyer wants to stay in close contact with their lender until they have locked in their interest rates.  Rates cannot be locked until a purchase agreement has been accepted.  Typically, the rates will hold for up to 60 days. 

 

Here is my tip for buying right now in the Twin Cities.  Consider the FHA ARM..  This is not the scary ARM of several years ago, but this is a sensible ARM for buyers today. The rate today is 3.6% and that rate holds for the first 5 years of the loan.  It can go up or down 1% yearly after that for the 30 years of the loan.  It caps at 5% over the start rate or 8.6% in this case.  Many first time buyers will not be in their house over 5 years and this low starting rate allows them to buy so much more house.

 

I guess we can bring James Bond back into the discussion.  The ARM is like  one of the specialty items James had up his sleeve.

Facebook

A buzz word of today is Face book.  In one year the number of people who have joined has amazed me.  I was listening on the radio to how people react to Face book, and here is what I learned.

 

*Some people found it too time consuming and would never bother logging in.

* Some callers found it too impersonal and felt the present generation was losing  the art of conversation.

* There were callers who said it was the only way they could keep track of family members.  Relatives had moved all over the United States and this is the only way they could know what people were doing.

* This is no longer a device for teenagers so if you want to not be left out, you need to join Face book.

* A woman said she did nothing interesting so therefore could not join Face book. 

* One guy said it is how he relaxes at night reading Face book.

 

Here is my take on it.  It is just one more means to communicate.  I write letters.  I call sometimes.  I send emails to people.  Yes, I do have a Face book account.  I figure I need to be a chameleon and be what is best to those around me. 

Reading numbers

It is how we read numbers that effect our attitude.  Here are some examples:

 

The temperature outside is 49.  That is cold.  If the temperature was 50, the temp would be okay.  Notice how that one degree has changed our attitude completely.

 

It is our birthday.  We are turning 59.  That is not bad.  The next year when we turn 60 it will be terrible.  That one year means the difference between being young and old.

 

A sweater costs $54.  The sweater at the next store is $55.  That savings of $1 is so attractive that I go back to the first store to purchase that sweater. 

 

The nurse weighs me and I come in at 129#'s.  The next time I weigh 130#'s.  That is not good.  Am I wearing a heavier sweater?

 

Realtors play on this psychological factor.  We list houses at $149,900 rather than $150,000.  Sounds silly?  Oh no it is not!  Buyers put their feet down at certain prices and will not cross that line.  As listing agents we need to stay below that line, so we do not lose the buyer.  It is all how numbers are read.

Brokers Open

In the Twin Cities it has been a standard to have on Tuesdays Broker's Opens for new listings.  In fact we used to have caravans of cars following one another from listing to listing.  In 1986 when I started selling houses, my broker has a bus that drove us around to the new properties. 

 

Today these opens are poorly attended, yet many Realtors still have them.  The thing I find interesting about real estate is that it is hard for us to change our ways.  Here are the reasons why I find many Realtors do not attend Broker's Opens:

1) With the use of the internet over 80% of buyers find the properties and not their Realtor.  So, Realtors wait to hear from their buyers.

2) The agents that are real producers prefer to look on line rather than drive from place to place.

3) Agents no longer list properties just in their geographic area.  It is impossible to get to listings over 1/2 hr from the office.

4) Listing agents find it a waste of their time to sit for 2 hrs. in a property with few or no one attending.

 

Technology has changed real estate just like it has changed many businesses.  It is not what is changing but how you are using those changes.

IN 1492 Columbus SAILD THE OCEAN BLUE

In  fourteen hundred ninety-two

Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

 

He had three ships and left from Spain;

He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

 

He sailed by night, he sailed by day;

He used the stars to find his way.

 

There are many more stanzas to this poem, but that is all I really remember from my elementary school days of memorizing things.  Columbus was a big day in the 50's.  We got school off, there were parades, and a large fuss was made over Columbus finding America.  I can remember as a child Columbus Day sales where stores took advantage of the day off for some.

 

I think today Columbus Day has gone pretty much not noticed.  You might remember it when you find no mail in your mail box. You might realize it if you go to a state or federal office and it is closed. Perhaps your bank is not open today and that just frustrates your rather than have you celebrate the day of Columbus. 

 

517 years later we strain our brains to remember this dude.  We are here and most people could care less as to how we all came to have this land.  It is a political hot button as there are cultures that believe Columbus was not the man who found this land.  To quote the generation of today, "whatever."  Still, I do miss the bulletin boards in the my old classrooms and the fuss over this day.  Don't go messing with Thanksgiving.  I have my green bean casserole already planned.

Going Green

Everyone is saying, "Live Green."  I think so many of us say, "not me."  I can't grow a garden on the roof of my house.  I don't have the money to revamp my house with natural products.  I am not tech enough to redesign the power in my house so I can get on the grid. I don't have a battery run car.  Our excuses go on and on. 

 

All of us can be green by just reusing.  Yesterday in the mail I got a coupon book from Hennepin County suggesting many ways I can save cash plus save the planet and get great stuff.  As I looked through the book, I thought reuse is logical and simple. 

 

When remodeling a house don't go out and buy something new. Explore Architectural Antiques where there are thousands of parts from buildings that have been torn down or remodeled.  In need of a second refrig for the basement or need an appliance to make your house look better when you list it?  Try Appliance Depot where the right appliance might be waiting for you at much less the price than a new appliance. 

 

Many complain about the cost of weddings.  Brides of France have dresses for the bride, her attendants, and the mothers for a fraction of the cost of buying new.  Think about this. The dresses have been worn once for a matter of hours.  You will be wearing them for just a few more hours.  All consignment boutiques offer the same savings.  I have found some great purses that sold for hundreds of dollars in the stores for under $100 when I am in the consignment boutique.  To me they look new.  Some people often sell their items hardly used to these boutiques. 

 

The business climate can think green by taking their ink Cartridges to a place like Cartridge World for refills or recycling their ink and toner cartridges. 

 

Think entertainments and there are warehouses of CDs and DVDs to be explored.  Used book stores are wonderful.  I am an avid reader and get all my books at Half Priced Books.  Need to exercise. Think of Second Wind.  After all, most of that equipment was hardly used by the originally owner.

 

It is not so difficult to live green when you think in terms of reusing.  It is saving the landfills from getting filled up with our stuff.  It is reusing materials that would be costly to produce.  It is saving the consumer money and it is putting people to work refurbishing goods for another person.  It is very "in" to shop these places.