More Accurate Appraisals of a Trend

Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 10:40pm. 146 Views, 0 Comments.

When it comes to setting a price for your home that’s correct for the current market, many aspects are taken into account. One that is seeing a great amount of emphasis right now are “comps”: the comparable sales of other properties in your areas.  Used as standards in home real estate appraisals, buyers and sellers haven’t needed to be concerned about “comps” as long as real estate values were on the upswing.

In this slumping market, mortgage lenders have recently been placing a great deal of importance on these benchmarks. Because of the swift decline in home prices, instead of accepting comparable property sales statistics from homes that closed six to 12 months ago, lenders and mortgage investors now insist that appraisers include the most recent…

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Tips for First Time Home Sellers

Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 8:12pm. 112 Views, 0 Comments.

Last week, I wrote some do’s and don’ts to help first time home buyers prepare to buy their first home.  Last week, there were tips specifically for selling a home during the fall.  Yesterday, I started providing information for sellers, specifically about tips for selling a vacant home.  Today, I’d like to address first time home sellers.  Newness to the home selling process and a lethargic real estate market could make anyone balk at the prospect of selling a home for the first time. Here are some tips particularly for people who may be selling a home for the very first time. 

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Tips to Sell a Vacant House

Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 10:19pm. 116 Views, 0 Comments.

Last week, I wrote some tips for first time home buyers.  Specifically, things they should do and shouldn't do when preparing to buy a home.  But buyers are only part of the equation, sellers are another big part.  This week, I’ll talk about some tips for people who are trying to sell homes. I’ll start with the subject of vacant homes, since there are so many homes which have been foreclosed on or whose owners got too impatient to wait for it to sell.

After years and the real estate business, I can say that the idea a home is sitting vacant while it is on the market is almost an immediate turn-off for potential buyers.  Often their imagination runs rampant with ideas of an unkempt yard, scarred walled, filthy floors, possibly even stolen wiring and copper…

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Home Selling Tips for the Fall

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 11:33am. 120 Views, 0 Comments.

Yesterday was the autumn equinox and the first official day of fall.  Summer, which is traditionally the best season for selling homes, has ended by calendar standards.  This tends to be the time of year when the housing market starts to slow down, with fewer homes selling.  There are some steps which can be taken in order to increase the appeal of your home to potential buyers.  If your goal is to sell your home this fall, take these tips into consideration:

1.  First Impressions.  Selling a home in autumn has its own particular complications.  Green lawns, colorful flowers, and bright sunny days:  In the summertime, it’s easy to make a house look good.  Though the fall red, orange, rust, and yellow colors are beautiful, it’s when the leaves fall that…

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New Law: Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 11:20pm. 116 Views, 0 Comments.

I'm a little late on this, but late is always better than never.  It's September, it’s getting colder outside.  I even heard that we’re supposed to have frost this week.  That means soon we’ll be sealing the houses up and firing up the furnace.  It’s the time of year when carbon monoxide leaks are found after heating units sat over the summer.

As of August 1st, a new CO detector law went into effect which requires that every new and existing single family home have a carbon monoxide detector installed within 10 feet of every room used for sleeping.  Multi-family homes and apartment buildings must comply by August 1, 2009.

According to the State Fire Marshall website:

• Every single family dwelling and every multifamily dwelling unit shall be…

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Short Sales Explained

Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 3:03pm. 156 Views, 0 Comments.

There has been a lot of talk these days about “short sales.”  As these types of sales used to be more uncommon, they are a growing trend.  Not everyone knows what a short sale is, though!

A “short sale” is what happens when a seller negotiates with their lender to sell a home for less than the debt owed on the mortgage.  Short sales are an alternative to foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings for owners who can no longer keep their mortgage payments current.  Because it means the lender is accepting less than what is due, not all of them will be so keen to allow short sales or discounted payoffs.  Furthermore, not all sellers or properties qualify for short sales. 

If you’re a seller that can’t make your next payment or you’re a buyer thinking of…

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Saint Paul to Help Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 8:11am. 128 Views, 0 Comments.

St. Paul officials have put some money down on two new loan programs to help homeowners facing foreclosure and buyers unable to secure financing.  The city's Housing and Redevelopment Authority board has approved putting $625,000 into funds for two mortgage incentive programs that will leverage dollars from private organizations. The money will help current homeowners refinance out of bad mortgages and provide an incentive for people to purchase vacant or foreclosed properties in Saint Paul.

The $625,000 comes from the Invest St. Paul program, a $17 million initiative to improve four struggling neighborhoods.  Because of lowering property values, home vacancies, and mortgage foreclosures, the neighborhoods of Frogtown, North End, Lower East Side and…

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