YEAR END REVIEW


Another year has flown by. For me it was a good year: I closed on 20 houses, 9 of which were first time buyers. I worked with a bunch of new people and helped several past clients sell something old and buy something new. As usual I was all over the Twin Cities, houses sold in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park, Columbia Heights, Inver Grove Heights, Minnetonka, North St. Paul, Plymouth, Rosemount, Shakopee, Stillwater, White Bear Lake and Woodbury.

Next year is already off to a good start with several homes waiting to close and a number of new buyers and sellers wanting to get started after the holiday havoc.

If I can help you out with and Real Estate needs, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

Time gets the best of us...

Sorry for the serious lack of updates: Holidays and a hard drive crash have kept me from posting. The plus side is that I have been very busy with new buyers and potential sellers. It's such a good time to buy right now - people are finding great deals.

So I've got to keep this short. Continuing on the selling your home theme, here are some helpful hits to get your house ready to sell.

HOME FIX-UPS CAN SPEED THE SALE!

The best way to sell a home is to sell it quickly. The first two weeks that a home is on the market are the most important. Here are a few tips that can help you sell your home faster. The money you spend to dress up your home for sale probably won’t hike up the price, but it will help you get a quicker sale.

OUTSIDE
Curb appeal sets the mood: shovel walkways, prune shrubbery, mow grass, re-paint or touch up peeling paint, clean the driveway, replace a rusted or dented mail box. Basically look at your house from the buyers prospective. A wreath of dried flowers or flowers in the yard add a nice touch as well. Buyers have usually formed an opinion of the home before they enter the front door.

INSIDE
Cleaning your house thoroughly is the cheapest and easiest way to make your home more appealing. Make walls and ceilings look clean and fresh by repainting. If you have wild or dated wallpaper, it’s best to remove it. Neutral colors (white or off-white) are best. If the basement walls and floor are cement, consider painting them.

Go through your house with an oil can and a screwdriver. Repair squeaky hinges, drawers, broken windows, re-caulk sinks and tubs, fix leaks, tighten door knobs, etc.

Some of the most important rooms are kitchens and bathrooms. Keep these rooms exceptionally clean and fresh. Scrub appliances in the kitchen. An inexpensive way to update cabinets is to invest in new cabinet knobs. Hide everyday items such as toothpaste, dish soap, etc. Counter tops should not be cluttered. Buyers tend to judge the cleanliness of the whole home on how the kitchen and bathrooms look. They should always sparkle.

Clear away all excess belongings. Pack them up and remove them to make the house look as big as possible. The idea is to create a feeling of spaciousness and an abundance of storage, more than they could ever need. Clean and organize closets.

If your carpeting is worn or dirty and you can afford to, replace it or have it professionally cleaned. Again, a neutral color such as light beige or off-white is best.

Get rid of all odors in the house, especially those form pets. Clean pet areas thoroughly.

During showings, open drapes and blinds. Fresh flowers set on a table are a nice touch. Keep pets in the yard, if possible. Leave on as many lights as possible, even during the day.

IN GENERAL
When selling a home, it can’t always be the way we live in it. Every home is competing with other pre-owned homes and new construction. It is important to make your home more appealing than the competition.





HOMEOWNERS CHECKLIST

Drive Up
* Doors, windows and screens secure, tidy and in good repair.
* Large obvious concrete gaps/cracks patched.
* Mailbox, fences and gates should be clean, neat and operate properly.
* Lawns, shrubs, snow removal all say to prospective buyers, “We’ve enjoyed living here. You
will too!”
* Gutters and downspouts secure and complete.

All Rooms
* Ceilings stain free, minor cracks patched and painted
* Doors, windows and hardware must operate properly
* Electric outlets and heat registers need to be cleaned or replaced.
* Walls: clean, patch (paint if necessary) – no loose wallpaper.
* Floor coverings in good condition or allowance made for buyer to choose new or replace.
* Closets and shelves uncluttered and orderly.
* All lights operate perfectly.

Kitchen
* Caulking clean and smooth
* Appliances spotless
* All items operate properly
* Unclutter counters, drawers, cabinets and the refrigerator door

Bath
* Caulking clean and smooth
* Tiles and grout tight and clean
* Shower doors and tracks spotless
* Towel bars secure
* Toilet lid secure
* Fixtures operate properly
* Ceiling fan: quiet and properly vented to the outside of the house.

Garage
* Steps and railings secure
* Doors and windows secure and operate properly
* Organize and uncluttered

Laundry
* Fixtures operate properly
* Tub clean and tidy
* Organize and unclutter

Basement
* Repair any problem with moisture
* Consider painting block walls and cement floors

CLEANING UP ALSO MEANS THROWING OUT! ALL REPAIR WORK SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE CONTEXT OF ADDING TO A “WELL MAINTAINED” LOOK AND NOT WITH AN EYE TO MAKING THINGS LOOK “NEW”

On the Market



You're ready to put your house up for sale. We've done the market analysis (which I forgot to mention - is a free service) and we've decided on a market price. So what am I going to do to get it sold?

First off, it's good to know that I'm a full time professional Real Estate Agent, not a part timer. I'm a member of the Minnesota Board of Realtors and I'm licensed in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I work for Edina Realty (who sell the most in the Twin Cities) and that means networking with 75 offices and 3,100 agents. We have one stop capabilities with in-house title and mortgage. A relocation department (big deal you're thinking, you're staying in Minnesota. But there are also buyers relocating to the Twin Cities, who could be interest in your home). And most people know that we are major internet presence – http://www.edinarealty.com/. Even people not using an Edina Realty Agent often search using our site.

MARKETING
Obviously we will market through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Making sure all information is complete and correct and adding any supplemental information. Also important (and often overlooked) are the photos being added in a timely manor. If you've been searching for houses and you see a property without a photo, a lot of times you'll just skip over it. I make sure that I add the photos the instant the listing goes active - more people will see the listing within the first 24 hours of going active than any other time.

We will want to place a sign on the property - great 24 hour advertising. This will also include a hotline number potential buyers can call to hear a recorded message about the house. And a brochure box with printed information. The annoying problem with brochure boxes is that they are often empty. I'll print 100 copies at a time, you can keep it full with 20-30 at a time and as you run low, I'll bring more over.

It is key to market through real estate agents, the MLS does not expose property to other Realtors – it only makes it available to be found. I will contact and provide information to area agents that consistently work the area and provide a fair share of commission to Buyer’s agent.

I will create a brochure full of photos and information about your home that will be delivered to all local real estate offices and associates. It will be faxed, e-mailed or sent to anyone who inquires about the property, made available to buyers at private showings and provided to buyers at Open Houses.

Speaking of Open houses, I am happy to host a few open houses – especially when the home is first listed. But it’s important to know that open houses do not statistically sell homes, the reason most agents want to hold open houses is to meet potential buyers - not to sell the home. A great use of time is the Realtors’ Open House. This is where we invite all associates from area firms to view the home. Agents will provide useful feedback and any one of these agents could have potential buyers.

I will write and pay for advertising with priority placement in either the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press, The Real Estate Book and local neighborhood newspapers as appropriate. Most of this printed advertising is a dying breed; the way buyers find out about houses is either through their agent or through the internet. Internet exposure with virtual tour and color photos will be provided through edinarealty.com, stevesmillie.edinarealty.com, craigslist.com, realtor.com, startribune.com, a virtual tour website and this website.

Continually marketing the home is facilitated through; following up with all sign calls, obtaining feedback from all visiting agents within 24 hours and helping overcome agent and buyer objections. I will provide progress reports as often as requested, update market activity since last report and report agent and prospective buyer comments.

I feel it’s important to review the marketing plan after 15 days or 15 showings. Something should happen within that time frame, if it hasn’t we should consider adjusting the plan and/or price as necessary. If price is adgusted, I will inform all agents of the new price.

OVERALL OBJECTIVES
My overall objective is to market your property in order to get you the highest value, in the least amount of time and at the greatest convenience to you.

House of the week Just in time for Thanksgiving

Sell your home!

This blog has mainly focused on buying a house - but some of you already own houses and maybe haven't gone through the sale process yet. The next few entries will review the process of selling a home.

Starting out, we need to determine the value of your home. Realtors will provide you with a market analysis (not an appraisal). The market analysis is the realtor’s opinion of what your home should be able to sell for given the market conditions. In order to do a market analysis I will need to set up two meetings.

The first should be fairly short, we'll walk through the house and I'll take notes and measurements. If you have info from when you bought the house, that could be helpful - but not necessary (room dimensions, blue prints, previous marketing pieces). From there I will take the information I've gathered and plug it into the computer to try and find good comparables. Good comparables would be similar sized homes that have recently sold nearby. The last sentence is important so let's break it down: square feet is what it always comes down to - we want homes that have roughly the same amount of finished square feet. We only want to look at sold home prices because a house on the market might not sell at its current price (or ever sell for that matter). A neighbor’s current list price can be a factor, but it is largely irrelevant. Since the market is always changing we want homes that have solid in the last 6 months - a shorter time frame is even better. And obviously we want homes that are near your own. There are other factors specific to each home as well, like condition, number of garage stalls, bedrooms and baths, etc.

Once I've compiled the information we will get together again to review my findings and well go through what I will do to market your home and get it sold. I'll make suggestions about what you should do to get your house ready to go on the market and notify you of things you must do (i.e. truth in housing inspection) . I will also create a net sheet for you that will estimate all your selling expenses and give you a good idea of what you will be walking away with - which will likely be a key factor in determining what you can spend on your next home.

House of the week If you want value in Minneapolis – there is no place better than Camden. Yes, it’s close to North Mpls, but there are incredibly nice area in Camden. This house, on a parkway anywhere else in the Twin Cities would cost A LOT more.

A Haunted House Story...


Ask any Realtor who's been in the business a few years and you'll hear a ghost story or two. Here's mine... About five years I was working with some clients buying their first home. We had looked at a number of houses around Como in St. Paul so most of the homes were at least 50 years old. We found a house they loved and wrote an offer. The 1 1/2 story home was an estate left to the son who had grown up in the house. Apparently the elderly home owners had died of old age, within a month or so of one another and the house had been sitting vacant for a few months. The offer was accepted, we did the home inspection and were just waiting for there closing date to come around. The morning of the closing we went to do the final walk through (where you go through the home and make sure everything that's supposed to be there is there, any work that was supposed to be done is done, etc). We did our walk through without any issues and as we walked out the door the buyers said they wanted to tell me about something that had happened.

The buyers told me one of their aunt's stopped by to take some exterior pictures a few weeks prior. No big deal, she just walked around and took some pictures and dropped them off to be developed. When she picked them up she noticed that in one of the pictures there was a couple with a small child in the half story window looking down at her. She knew the home was vacant and that the parents had died so she told the buyers the story. Curious about the child the buyers did a little searching and found that the seller had a brother who died as a toddler. Apparently these were the ghosts of the mother, father and the son who had all died while living in the house.

Freaked out by the story - I asked the buyers, "Do you still want to buy the house?" They said, "Oh yeah, we're good people. We're not worried about some ghosts." I was thinking, "These two are far braver than I am."

Two months later the wife "jumped" out that same half story to her death on the driveway below. A few weeks later the husband was found hanging from the ceiling in the half story. Ok... this last paragraph is fake, but the rest is true. They are still happily living in the house. Not too scary, but pretty creepy.

House of the Week - not haunted (as far as I know). A little spendy, but super nice home near Lake Nokomis

Mixing Punk Rock and Real Estate the youtube way

the Clash, "safe european home"

Converge "homewrecker"

Bad Brains "house of suffering"

Coheed and Cambria "welcome home"

Gorilla Biscuits "sitting round at home"

.

DJ Shadow "you can't go home"

the Dead Kennedy's "let's lynch the landlord"

house show busted by dad

House of the week is back - great home in the heart of Longfellow

What happens next?



So you’ve got your financing squared away – even a pre-approval letter in hand. First thing we do is set up a search for you. As a first time buyer – it’s probably better to keep your search fairly vague. Price range, locations, minimum number of bedrooms/sq. feet/bathrooms/garage spaces, etc. The system will generate an e-mail with results that meet your criteria and as new listings pop up, so will a new e-mail. The search is incredibly easy to change, so if you what to narrow or broaden the scope – it’s a breeze to tweak.

Now you’re ready to get out there and look at some houses. This is the fun part – believe me, you’ll see some crazy stuff. We’ll set up time to go out and tour houses, it helps to give me 24 hour notice so I can map out the homes, figure a route and make sure the home owner won’t be there. We can always do short notice showings, but typically a seller would expect a 2 hour notice. I’ll provide you with printouts of each home and a map to help you take notes (when you look at 5 or more, they start to blur together). And I’ll drive us, so you can just focus on the houses. One quick tip: wear comfortable shoes that slip off easily. It’s hard to say how many houses you need to look at before you find the one. I’ve had clients look at less than 5 and others look at over 100. It’s easy to set up showings and look at houses AND it’s the best way for you feel sure about your decision. I have no doubt that the client that looked at 100 houses knew with absolute certainty that the house they bought was the best fit for them.

I should have mentioned last week; if you’re thinking about buying, I’d be happy to mail you out a packet filled with info for first time home buyers – get in touch.

No house of the week this week – let me know what you want to see: biggest? most bathrooms?

So you want to buy a house: Start Today

This is obviously a big decision, buying a house is fairly complex, but it doesn't have to be for you. I'll do everything I can to make the experience enjoyable - it should be fun and exciting.

So where do you start? The true starting point should be talking to a lender to find out what you are "pre-approved" to buy. This is simply a lenders opinion on what you should qualify to buy. Many people end up being pre-approved for more than they would want to spend, so the first question after they tell you what you are pre-approved for should be, "what would my monthly payments be?" This is a fairly simple process and won't be too intrusive. Don't know a mortgage broker? Try your bank or credit union, ask a friend who they used or ask me - I'd be happy to refer you to several.

Keep in mind - there are all kinds of mortgage programs out there with different rates and features. A good lender will work with you to figure out what works best for you, instead of jamming you into their "one size fits all" loan program. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Claims about ridiculously low interest rates or zero closing costs will get you in some other way. It generally makes since to get a second opinion on your loan.

From there - we set up a search and start the fun part:looking at houses.

House of the Week getting you set for Halloween, the agent's descriptionion of this house includes the following, "Seller believes this house is haunted." Boo.

Enough Doom and Gloom about the Real Estate Market!


We keep hearing again and again how the market has tanked this year. The truth is - this is the third biggest year in the history of real estate. Have things slowed down? Absolutely. It has definitely shifted to a buyers market, but that can mean a great opportunity for a buyer looking for a first home. Even a seller could come out well ahead if they are looking to upgrade. The money saved on a discounted new house could make up for any reduced profit earned on the sale of a current home.

"The National Association of Realtors is forecasting 6.5 million existing-home sales this year. Even if existing home sales were in the 6.3 to 6.4 million range, 2006 would still be considered a good year by most standards. It is only by comparison to the overheated, blistering pace of 2005 that those numbers seem low."*

House of the week This was the smallest Minneapolis house I could find online

*Ron Peltier, President and CEO of Minneapolis-based HomeServices of America, Inc.

Bands I’ve Worked With...

The Action Slacks
Amp 176
Anchor
Article 184
Attention
Betty Gone Bad
Bloodline

Bodies Lay Broken
Bombsite
Dink
Code 13
Damage Deposit
Destroy
Dink

Dog Day
Flounder
Killsadie
The Hang Ups
Hello Lonely
The Hoolies

Hope You Choke
Icepick
Matt Marka
Menstrual Tramps
Model Children
Motion City Soundtrack
Naked Bob
Oswald Armageddon
Pilot
The Real Enemy

Saddest Girls Story
Season of Fire
The Stereo
Unavowed

photo credits anjehla (AMP176, BGB & TRE)

House of the Week

Feel free to ask Real Estate questions via the comments page

About me...


Growing up I moved a lot with my family until 1986 when we ended up in Afton, MN. I went to Stillwater High School where I played drums for a couple punk and HC bands (don’t ask).

In college I started playing in bands again and started a record label – One Percent Records. I play drums for the grindcore band Bodies Lay Broken we're on a bit of a hiatus because our Guitarist moved to Japan a few years back (though we played there in May of 2006 and did a small US tour in 2005 so we will likely play again, somewhere). Then I was in a HC band called Hope You Choke with Pete from Holidng On, Jason from The Real Enemy and Killsadie. The band has since gone on a bit of a hiatus as well so now Alison from BLB and I have starting up a new fast hardcore band...

I’ve been a realtor since 2002. I have both my Minnesota and Wisconsin Licenses. I live in St. Paul and I like working all over St. Paul, Minneapolis and the many surrounding neighborhoods. got into Real Estate because I wanted to work for myself. I enjoy working with people and helping them find a home of their own that fits their needs. Being able to work with friends who have similar interests and ethics has been the most rewarding aspect.

And really, what’s more punk than owning your own home? Through off the shackles of rent – you might be surprised how easy it can be to own. Month after month, where does that rent go? It pays someone else’s mortgage. Why not have that be your mortgage? For the same amount each month you could be earning equity where you live – and when you move that money is yours!

Check out the House of the Week (ok, this first week it's my listing).