25 Jul
2005 to 2007 Minnesota market is not showing signs of letting up
MAAR (Minneapolis Area Association of realtors) has just released another awesome set of stats on the Twin Cities marketplace.
23 Jul
Buying a Home in Today’s Market rather than rent?
How long do you intend to live there?
It rarely makes common sense to buy if you are expecting to move within the next two years. That’s because when you sell, there are costs involved with selling your home. We do not talk about sales commissions to the buying and selling real estate brokers.
18 Jul
Homes Sales Remain in Low Gear
Midyear statistics have been release and confirm the rising of home foreclosures. The Twin Cities housing market is in clear downturn. Homes sales stay put in low gear, but some think that the bottom has been reached and that an improvement will start in spring 2008.
During the first six month of the year, the number of closed sales was down 16 percent while inventory continued to increase. The median sale price of single-family houses, condominiums and town homes fell 2.17 percent, according to data released by several Realtor groups.
Many sellers are holding onto hope that they will sell their homes for what their neighbors obtain two years ago. Today’s market is not the same as two years ago - We are still in the middle of a housing recession and it won’t snap back for a while. Unless these properties are in a nice area, set with the right price, and well-kept it will be hard to find buyers. Meantime sellers will pull their properties off the market or hold out for their price if they cannot get what they want.
However, there are some pockets of strength, where buyers still are competing for houses and sales are being made in just few days. Places such as South Minneapolis where we have sold few properties like this one at 3653 25th Ave. that only were on the market for a week and they were sold for about 95 percent of the full price. This has become the exception rather than the rule and price reductions are going to be necessary to burn the excess inventory that has been piling up for more than a year.
Still as sellers reduce prices; it is likely that the median sale price could fall during the next 12 months by as much as 7 to 10 percent before returning to positive ground next year.
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13 Jul
Mortgage Fraud in Minnesota
Department of Justice Indicts
Three People on Fraud Charges
From the Minnesota Association of Realtor’s
Three people were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on mortgage related fraud charges. A Mortgage Broker and his assistant who worked with American Alliance Mortgage Company were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly bilking vulnerable homeowners. The charges include one count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud, and one count of engaging in a financial transaction with criminally derived property.
The indictment alleges that the duo schemed to defraud homeowners who were either in foreclosure or behind on their mortgage payments. They allegedly caused homeowners to refinance their homes and then stole some or all of the equity checks produced through the refinancing. In some cases they allegedly used physical intimidation to force homeowners to endorse equity checks over to them.
If convicted they face maximum penalties of 5 years for conspiracy, 20 years for postal fraud and 10 years for engaging in a financial transaction with criminally derived property.
In the second case, the former president of Profile Title and Escrow of Bloomington has been indicted for defrauding clients and lenders of approximately $2.5 million. In this case, the accused set-up escrow accounts as a depository for various lenders for use in closing real estate transactions. The indictment alleges that she then transferred money from the escrow account to her “integrity” account from which she paid approximately $2.5 million in personal expenses.
In a third case, a mortgage broker from Prior Lake pled guilty to federal mail fraud and money laundering stemming from a mortgage fraud scheme he devised and carried out to conceal $2.5 million in payments. His crimes involved 40 real estate transactions in which lenders were provided fraudulent loan applications and settlement statements. In the scheme, overstated purchase prices allowed the individual to pocket the difference. He faces 20 years in prison for mail fraud and 10 years for money laundering.
These cases are a result of investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. The Assistant U.S. Attorney will be prosecuting these cases. All three enforcement agencies had representatives present at the Minnesota Association of REALTORS special spring program discussing the problem.
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05 Jul
Short Sale was the Only Option
Well finally I have a moment to write about this particular case. About a month and a half ago the owner of the property 4006 27th Ave. in Minneapolis came to our Help-U-Sell office asking for help to sell his property. Right from the beginning we knew he was desperate; you could feel the tension in the air.