This stunning former model executive 2 story home in Champlin will be listed in the MLS for $415,000 on 5/30/13.  At 3200 square feet above ground and an unfinished basement, the generous room sizes and luxurious finishes make this home one that you have to see.  Anoka-Hennepin schools.

Listed by Julie Plumedahl with Edina Realty, 763-569-5682.  The virtual tour has a total of 59 photos, below are just a few:

AGENTS: This home has a signed listing contract and a Withhold from MLS has been submitted to NorthstarMLS.

Why are home showings down even though sales are up?  Simple.  Far fewer homes for sale this year means buyers simply have far less to look at.

A couple years ago buyers could look at dozens of homes for sale that met their criteria and spend weeks deciding.  Today we often find that there are less than a dozen homes that really match a buyer’s wants and they have only days to see them as the best homes are scooped up almost as fast as they come for sale.

Looking for a home to buy in Maple Grove or Plymouth?

Newest Homes for Sale in Maple Grove:

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 296. See more City of Maple Grove Homes for Sale.
(all data current as of 5/23/2013)

1. $142,000 : 7568 E Fish Lake Road, Maple Grove
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,364 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,484 sqft

   Listed with Executive Realty
   
2. $249,900 : 15276 74th Avenue N, Maple Grove
   
   4 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 2,009 sq ft

   Lot size: 10,018 sqft

   Listed with Rich's Realty, Inc.
   
3. $125,000 : 9219 Upland Lane N, Maple Grove
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,761 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,920 sqft

   Listed with Edina Realty, Inc.
   
4. $118,000 : 405 W Eagle Lake Drive, Maple Grove
   
   3 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 1,365 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,132 sqft

   Listed with Coldwell Banker Burnet
   
5. $484,900 : 7436 Narcissus Lane N, Maple Grove
   
   4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 3,665 sq ft

   Lot size: 15,246 sqft

   Listed with Keller Williams Classic Realty NW
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Once a sheriff sale has occurred, most properties will be listed by the bank that took it back 7-9 months later.  Consequently, the continued decline of bank owned listings for sale on the MLS is all but certain at this point.  When fewer properties go through foreclosure, neighborhood values are higher and we’ve seen this trend for over a year now.  This is great news for sellers but bad news for bargain hunting buyers.

In many markets, from 2008 through much of 2012 we saw that nearly half of home sales were of foreclosed or short sale properties.  What we’re seeing now is a return back to the Traditional Seller as foreclosure and short sale inventory declines sharply.

What’s crucial about this return to a more normal market is that in a Traditional Sale, you free up a home owner to buy another property.  While not every home seller will buy another property, a good guesstimate would indicate four in five (80%) will buy again.  When they purchase, that frees up another seller and the cycle continues:

When a home buyer instead buys a foreclosed or short sale home, the seller of that property is not buying another house and thus the virtuous cycle is broken.  I call this the Broken Cycle.  When more than half of home sales were these broken cycles, it put a sharp chill on the entire housing market.

While rising home prices and eventual rising interest rates and decreasing investor demand will be a drag on the housing market in the future, the continued decrease in foreclosure and short sale sales will drive more traditional sales and thus free up more buyers to keep the market going.

Home sales will not go up forever and may in fact peak in the next 12-18 months, but as the market gets back to normal we’re unlikely to find a sharp drop off in buyer demand.

Preforeclosure notices did tick up in the Twin Cities in Q1 2013 however the level remains less than half of what it was in the peak of the housing crisis.  Q4 2012 might have been a blip due to the holiday season.  We’ll have to see what happens in the current quarter but my belief is that the preforeclosure levels will continue to trend lower as we see the economy improve and fewer loans becoming delinquent.

The statewide numbers trend similarly to the Twin Cities.  I feel these numbers will continue to trend lower over time as well.

In one week, 1,337 homes went under contract, which was the highest level since August 2005 except for a single week in 2010 when the first time home buyer tax credit was expiring.

Pending sales were nearly 10% higher than the same week a year ago and continues the trend of increasing sales, declining inventory and rising prices. While sales are up, new listings are effectively flat from the year-ago period.

The Months Supply of Homes for Sale is likely to decline further through the rest of the year, dropping to new decade lows.

With the strong activity and low supply we’re seeing in the Twin Cities, it is important for sellers to discuss how multiple offers will be handled BEFORE they come in.

When discussing this with your agent, here are a few important questions to consider:

Will we disclose the multiple offer situation to all parties?
This is a decision for the Seller but most of the time it is in the Seller’s best interest to inform all parties of the multiple offer situation.  Many brokerages make this their standard practice in listing agreements.

Will we set an offer deadline or review offers as they come in?
For a hot property, three or more offers may come in and if they do, are they going to be reviewed separately as they are received or all at once at a pre-determined time?  Typically it makes more sense to review them all at once as it makes it easier to compare the offers.  It also makes it clear to all parties what is happening and when.  The downside is that if the offer deadline is too far from the first offer submitted, that buyer may become frustrated or feel taken advantage of.

Will the listing agent keep track of interested parties?
Agents who have shown the property may have provided feedback via phone or email that indicates their buyer is interested but not ready to make an offer.  Some agents will keep good records on these conversations while other agents may not.

Will the listing agent contact previously interested parties to inform them of offer(s) submitted?
A quick call or email by the listing agent to these buyer agents may procure one or more additional offers for your home.  Additional offers provide a better opportunity to select the best overall offer but it is important not to create a long delay in replying to the offers already submitted.

Will the Seller permit the Buyer Agent(s) to present their offers?
In a multiple offer situation you may have one or more of the agents want to present their offer in person to ensure their client’s bid is put in the best light possible.  Typically an offer presentation is allowed when requested however the Seller does have a right to refuse the offer presentation if the refusal is provided to the Listing Agent in writing.

What terms are most important?
Is the purchase price the most important item?  What about closing date, inspection contingencies and the buyer’s financing details?  Not every home that receives an acceptable offer will see that sale close, so sometimes the offer with the highest price loses to another offer that has better terms overall.

Regularly I am hearing stories of situations that went bad mostly due to poor agent to agent communication.

In some of these situations, listing agents are not informing buyer agents of competing offers, buyers agents are not contacting the listing agent before an offer is submitted, or neither party is talking to one another at all.

In such a strong seller’s market, it is important that the buyer’s agent establishes a quick and strong rapport with the seller’s agent.  I find that when the lines of communication are open and frequent, far fewer issues arise in the first place and those that do are easier to resolve.

Over the years I’ve collected hundreds of domain names and have decided to sell off some of my portfolio.  Below is a list of domains I am currently offering for sale.  For real estate agents out there, a great domain name is invaluable in today’s Internet-centric business.   Contact me if you are interested in purchasing one or more domains.

With flood season just around the corner, now is the time to make sure you and your home are prepared.  Here is some information from the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH).