Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

Can Kevin Costner’s Centrifuges Save Minnesota Lakes?

Aaron Dickinson — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:50:42 +0000

While cleanup in the Gulf is still ongoing, it seems like Kevin Costner & his company have left the public limelight just as quickly as they had come in to it. In the last month I’ve been showing a client Minnesota lakeshore homes and it occurred to me that maybe this technology can save more [...]

8 Predictions for 2010 Twin Cities Housing Market – August Update

Aaron Dickinson — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:51:38 +0000

Below you will find my predictions from a January 7, 2010 blog post and my comments on each of those predictions as of August 24, 2010: Foreclosures will continue to come on the market and many will be scooped up quickly with multiple offers. Correct! This has been the case so far this year, though [...]

Foreclosures: Doing the Right Thing – Part II

Aaron Dickinson — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:46:10 +0000

A few days ago I wrote about one couple’s decision to skip out on their obligations out of convenience, and today I found one that makes the last couple look like saints: Ohio Man Bulldozes Home to Avoid Foreclosure From what I hear, this isn’t illegal in many areas. Since the guy owned the home [...]

Foreclosures: Doing the Right Thing

Aaron Dickinson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:18:05 +0000

Today there is an article in the Star Tribune discussing options for homeowners that are underwater. Today this is a commonly discussed topic and one that shouldn’t be ignored. The first couple in the article talk about their decision to walk away from their home. The article discusses their reasoning for walking away and they [...]

Fantastically Priced One Level Home for Sale in Stonemill Farms

Aaron Dickinson — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 03:25:36 +0000

I rarely post my new listings to my blog because I don’t think of this blog as the place to so blatantly advertise myself. Today I am making an exception because of the nature of my new listing at 2293 Vermillion Curve in Woodbury: This home is a bank owned (foreclosure) property but is truly in turn-key [...]

Twin Cities Sudden Buyer’s Market

Aaron Dickinson — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:07:55 +0000

In just a few short months we’ve seen the number of houses available for sale per buyer (8.64) climb to levels we have not seen since late 2008 and up a whopping 63% from August last year! With buyer demand having slackened so substantially after the tax credit expiration even a relatively normal amount of [...]

The Post Tax Credit Property Purchasing Plummet

Aaron Dickinson — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:11:34 +0000

Have we found the “New Normal” in Twin Cities real estate activity? I have to image we have. For more than 3 months we’ve seen showing activity down 35% – 40% from the year prior: Twin Cities Pending Sales, which are signed contracts between a buyer and a seller, are experiencing a similar magnitude of [...]

2010 Twin Cities Pre-Foreclosure Notices up 20% vs 2009

Aaron Dickinson — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:25:32 +0000

The Minnesota Home Ownership Center has been tracking pre-foreclosure notices received by foreclosure counseling agencies throughout Minnesota and just posted some updated charts that show 2010 pre-foreclosure notices are consistently higher than the same time frame in 2009. Through June 2010, notices are up a considerable 20%: I don’t find these numbers very surprising: the [...]

House/Condo/Townhome Rentals Coming Soon to Twin Cities MLS

Aaron Dickinson — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:15:50 +0000

The Minnesota Association of REALTORS is preparing to release standardized forms to allow REALTORS in all of Minnesota to more easily represent both landlords and prospective tenants in leasing situations and simplify transactions across different brokerages. Further, for those REALTORS serving the St. Cloud, Twin Cities and Western Wisconsin areas, NorthstarMLS is putting the final touches [...]

USDA Rural Development Program Receives Cash Infusion

Aaron Dickinson — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:42:32 +0000

According to the National Association of REALTORS, the USDA will once again have funding for their guaranteed loan program: ————————————————————- Thousands of Rural Home Buyers Aided by Passage of Housing Funding Measure Washington, July 28, 2010 The restoration of the single-family rural housing program that would guarantee home loans for rural buyers was passed by [...]

Condo Associations Need FHA Approval To Remain Competitive

Aaron Dickinson — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:03:35 +0000

This recent story below points out how important FHA financing is in today’s market and that the efforts of associations can improve or damage the saleability of their homes depending on how they are run. FHA blanket association approval is only needed for condominium projects – townhome developments can be financed with FHA without the [...]

1300 Sellers in Twin Cities Waiting for Lender Short Sale Approvals

Aaron Dickinson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:51:54 +0000

Based on my personal analysis of our local MLS database, approximately 1300 Twin Cities sellers and at least as many buyers may be waiting for their offer on a short sale property to be reviewed and accepted/rejected/countered by the seller’s lender(s). The number of buyers waiting for answers may be substantially higher than the number [...]

Edina Realty Twin Cities June 2010 Market Update

Aaron Dickinson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:17:48 +0000

TWIN CITIES AREA June’s activity continued to lag as buyers appear to be taking a break after the tax credit hubbub. Those with closing delays will benefit from an extension of the tax credit closing deadline, allowing eligible taxpayers who contracted to buy a home before April 30 until Sept. 30, 2010 to close. Overall, [...]

Interactive Market Analytics Unveiled in Twin Cities Housing Market

Aaron Dickinson — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:31:45 +0000

THE THING Interactive Market Analytics Unveiled in Twin Cities Housing Market MAAR is making housing market data easier than ever to explore and dissect. Welcome to “The Thing,” a new interactive market analytics tool for local real estate. The new tool, available at thething.mplsrealtor.com, was developed to simplify the sometimes-arduous task of interpreting housing market [...]

See Twin Cities Power Outages Online

Aaron Dickinson — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:42:43 +0000

Don’t know how long this has been available but I came across Xcel Enery’s online power outage map – you can zoom in and scroll around to see where the damage from this latest storm was. Related Posts:Twin Cities Home Buyer Financing Over The YearsThe Post Tax Credit Property Purchasing PlummetTwin Cities Home Sales PlummetMortgage [...]