Rice Park Holiday Tree Lighting
The public is invited to join Mayor Chris Coleman for the ceremonial lighting of the holiday tree at
“
The Mayor will make the initial flip to the switch on a 90-foot tall, 27,000 pound tree. The
The public is invited to join Mayor Chris Coleman for the ceremonial lighting of the holiday tree at
“
The Mayor will make the initial flip to the switch on a 90-foot tall, 27,000 pound tree. The
When it comes to setting a price for selling a 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 comparable home sales. They now prefer that the stats from closings occurring during the last 90 days to support their evaluations.
Lenders and investors are also pressing for more all-inclusive data on local listings, pending sales and listing-price to selling-price ratios before agreeing to fund a mortgage for any amount. As a result, more and more home sales are being complex or delayed as buyers demand that sellers reduce their prices to mirror the lower loan amounts their lenders are willing to give. Prices are even being renegotiated after names have already been signed to contracts. In some ways it can help the buyer because they get to pay a lower price, but if the sellers don’t like the new terms talks of a sale can end abruptly. When lenders and sellers won’t compromise, sure sales have fallen through.
Some supporters say the standards are producing appraisals that are much more sensitive to short-term changes in local price shifts. Challengers of the new...
The Hamline-Midway neighborhood of
Hamline-Midway is a bustling urban neighborhood with a mix of both residential and commercial properties. It includes
The...
The citizens of
Across the river, more than 60,000 residents gathered at 1,111 events held in
...
Though for the past several months, the number of pending home sales has gone up and the excessive inventory of unsold homes has been slowly going down, the Twin Cities real estate market still faces some challenges. Rising unemployment, sagging wage growth, higher down-payment requirements, and stricter mortgage qualifications are all weighing progress down. Moreover, the rising number of Twin Cities foreclosures sales and short-sales taking place are particularly hitting home sellers hard.
A sharp rise in foreclosures across the country is being blamed for declines in home prices that have shaken the economy. The foreclosure crisis has directed lenders and the government to launch extensive efforts to keep people in their homes, even if it means renegotiating the terms for hundreds of thousands of loans and in some cases, banks taking a loss. Most worrisome, the high foreclosure rate means home sellers must cut their prices to compete with short sales and foreclosure sales.
While about one-third of all home sales in the metro area during the July-September quarter were "lender-mediated" transactions, in some communities they represent more than 60% of sales so far this year, according to data compiled by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. In
Six groups will receive grants of $750,000 over four years. They are
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, also known as the SPCO, is now in its 50th season. With its share of the grant money, it will move from a traditional model to grass-roots marketing, including face-to-face and word-of-mouth contacts. The emphasis would be on the 20- to 30-year-old...
The 2008
There is some
The Christensens' application to donate the tree was one of 150. Another 90-foot tree was in the running, but that owner decided to keep it. The Christensens' tree fit the bill — it was the right height and right type and the owners were ready part with it.
A 6 foot tall star stands atop the tree, which sits in a 4-foot hole reinforced by a 78,000-pound concrete anchor....
Opus Northwest in
Opus Northwest had proposed a 22-story office tower with up to 500,000 square feet of space and a 30-story tower with room for a 250-room hotel and 100 condos. The developer could not find a company to anchor a planned office tower, which is something they required of themselves to start the project. Although it no longer has exclusive rights, Opus intends to continue to market the property.
Part of Opus' challenge in landing an office tenant is because
Downtown
New listings for homes in
Now for a really good number: The amount of homes sold within
The other day, one of my friends had a birthday. As is customary, the birthday boy got to choose the activities. What did my eccentric friend want to do? Have dinner at
We had dinner early, with everyone arriving at the restaurant by about 5:30. The servers were very attentive with keeping drinks flowing and water glasses filled. The atmosphere was laid back, with dimly-lit rooms, traditional artwork, and Russian and other European styles of music playing softly. Later in the night, there was live music, as a musician with an accordion played music for the people dining.
Everyone ordered something different. I ordered the Chicken Kiev with potatoes and sautéed vegetables. The chicken was fantastic; the frozen stuff at the store doesn’t even give it justice. The outside was extra-crispy, the chicken was juicy and tender, and the inside was filled with herbs, butter, and bacon. My arteries may be a little worse for the wear, but it was delicious. The potatoes were mashed and pretty normal, the vegetables were nothing special, but there was a sauce on them that was fantastic I couldn’t...
As real estate prices tumble and the amount of programs to help out homeowners, many Minnesotans are considering buying their first home soon. However, there are a lot of low-quality websites out there that don’t provide a lot of useful information for the potential first time home buyer. It can make researching the process of buying your first home a longer process than it has to be.
Because of the lack of real, comprehensive information for first time home buyers considering buying a home in the Twin Cities area, we have launched the Minnesota First Time Home Buyer Website. At this site, readers will find information about federal first time home buyer programs, Minnesota state first time home buyer programs, and Minnesota county first time home buyer programs. In addition, there is information regarding first time home buyer programs for Minneapolis and Saint Paul and neighborhood programs.
At this first time home buyer website, you can learn about mortgage terms and use a mortgage calculator to roughly estimate how much you could hypothetically spend on a home. You can register for a home buying seminar to learn an abundance of information about the home buying process. Though not every...
Mississippi Market announced that the ground breaking on their new store will take place on November 7th. Mississippi Market is a Saint Paul-based natural and organic food cooperative that has more than 8,000 member-owners. The new store will be located at
The public is invited to help celebrate this momentous event in Mississippi Market’s nearly 30-year history. The West 7th and Perlman store will replace Mississippi Market’s aging location at
Store manager Gail Graham will turn over the ceremonial first mound of soil, accompanied by co-op employees and the new store’s architectural and construction teams. The new Mississippi Market iis scheduled for completion in Summer 2009.
Consumer owned and operated since 1979, Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op isAs I mentioned in a previous post, first time home buyers could receive a tax credit up to $7,500 on first homes purchased between April 9 of this year and June 30 of 2009. There could be more good news in the works! Potential home buyers could receive additional tax and financing incentives within the next few months. It could come from either a post-election lame-duck congressional session or from the newly elected Congress arriving in January.
To encourage activity in the housing market, national housing industry trade groups are pushing federal officials for a new round of emergency economic stimulus legislation to jolt the housing market into action. Though House and Senate leaders have not officially agreed on whether or not to hold a session immediately after the election, advocates would like to see actions to be pursued by the end of December.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is creating on a plan for a more substantial tax credit for home buyers that could range as high as $12,000. The reason behind the push is fairly clear-cut: The housing and mortgage crisis helped to set off the current financial meltdown, but until the course the real estate market is on is corrected, with the glut of unsold new and existing homes sold, a deeper recession could be in the cards.
The NAHB also wants to make the new tax credit immediately available and able to be spent like cash for a down payment. This could be accomplished through credit-anticipation loans from private lenders that would be repaid by buyers after they get the credit on their next federal income tax return.
The National Association of Realtors has a different proposed package to shake up some...
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is inviting people from around the world to celebrate its 50th anniversary season - literally. This January, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) will host an International Chamber Orchestra Festival in the Twin Cities, featuring three European orchestras and one from the
Hailing from
The International Chamber Orchestra Festival will run for 17 concerts over a four week period. The dates are January 8th through the 30th. The concerts will be performed at the
This is a moment like no other in the SPCO’s 50-year history: a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of five leaders of the chamber orchestra world. For information, see the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra website.