St. Cloud, MN - Real Estate Blog

Well it is soon to be official.  Next Monday from 11:00 AM -1:00 PM at the Waite Park American Legion we will be launching the Homes for Heroes program to the public in Central Minnesota with the official ribbon cutting ceremony.  Free Brats and Pop to as many people as we can afford to feed:)

For those of you who are unaware, Homes for Heroes is a program designed to say "Thank you" to local heroes for their service (either active military, veteran, local peace keeper, firefighter, etc.).  We do this by offering discounts and cash back on home sales and purchases.

We look forward to seeing everyone this upcoming Monday.  Look for Laura and representatives from our affiliate companies (Wells Fargo, Tri-County Abstract, GET Home Inspections, and more) right off Division St. in Waite Park this upcoming Monday.

See you there.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud, MN

http://StCloudEdina.com - Search homes for sale in St Cloud MN

http://StCloudEdina.com/blog - Real Answers for Real Estate in St Cloud MN

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Posted by Jason Tangen at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While it is hard to believe, there really was only two sales in Waite Park during the month of June.  This should reflect the last of the tax incentive sales and we will know a lot more about the condition of the market as July's statistics are pulled.

North St Cloud - 36

East St Cloud - 9

South St Cloud - 21

Waite Park - 2

Sauk Rapids - 16

Sartell - 29

St Joseph - 6

If you would like more data for real estate sales in central Minnesota, give me a call at (320) 492-2667 or post your requests here.  I can pull together just about any real estate related statistic that you would need for your community.

Laura & Jason Tangen - Edina Realty St Cloud MN - A refreshing change of place.

http://StCloudEdina.com - Search real estate for sale in St Cloud, MN

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Get city information and demographics for St Cloud, MN.

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Posted by Jason Tangen at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laura and I are proud to announce our affiliation with Home for Heroes.  Homes for Heroes is a way of saying "Thank you" to our local heroes that protect and serve us.  Homes for Heroes offers discounts on just about everything related to buying and selling a home; from mortgages to home inspections.

What are some of the discounts?  We are offering 25% of our gross commission back to any local hero that uses our services.  Bill Pennings and Kelly Jacobsson of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage are offering 1/2 off their origination fee.  We have Greg Theis of GET Home Inspections and Tri-County Abstract and Title Guaranty offering discounts on their services as well as many others.

This program is available to veterans, active military personnel, peace officers, firefighters amongst other local heroes.  Give us a call at (320) 492-2667 or e-mail us at HomesForHeroes@StCloudEdinacom to see if you qualify today.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud, MN

http://StCloudEdina.com - Home of the e-Market Analysis (free home value estimator)

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search homes for sale in St Cloud, MN

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Posted by Jason Tangen at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pending sales slid mightily in May but the closed units held pace.  We'll continue to watch over the next two months the effect of the expired first time home buyers' tax credit.

Posted by Jason Tangen at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Certain military personnel and federal employees might still be able to take advantage of the $8000 first time home buyers tax credit.  Here is a little quote talking about the extension from the IRS's website:

"Members of the military and certain other federal employees serving outside the U.S. have an extra year to buy a principal residence in the U.S. and qualify for the credit. Thus, an eligible taxpayer must buy, or enter into a binding contract to buy, a principal residence on or before April 30, 2011. If a binding contract is entered into by that date, the taxpayer has until June 30, 2011, to close on the purchase. Members of the uniformed services, members of the Foreign Service and employees of the intelligence community are eligible for this special rule. It applies to any individual (and, if married, the individual’s spouse) who serves on qualified official extended duty service outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning after Dec. 31, 2008, and ending before May 1, 2010."
READ FULL ARTICLE>>>

If you'd like you can also view the YouTube Video from the IRS at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoZ0CCGQ9U8.

Give me a call at (320) 492-2667 to see if you might qualify for this extension on the home buyer tax credit.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud.

http://StCloudEdina.com - Home of the e-Market Analysis (free home value estimator)

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Find Sauk Rapids City and School Information.

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Posted by Jason Tangen at 07:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sales continue to be strong and we will anticipate high numbers of closed units through June.  It's the period shortly after June 30th that we will be watching more closely as that might be an indicator to how strong the market is without incentives.

Posted by Jason Tangen at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While a lot of REO homes can pose big obstacles to buyers who are looking to come in with little or no money down, there are some other options that may be available to you.

First - The Wells Fargo 203K loan.  I have only had one client use this product and the house is still in the middle of repairs so I can't fully speak to how great it is yet.  Basically, how this one works is that you are able to finance the home and the cost of repairs to the house into one loan.  The closing takes place and the work begins on the home.  This is a streamlined version of an older product Wells Fargo used to carry.  It works similar to an FHA loan and has a lot of the same qualifying guidelines but the house doesn't really have to meet any standards.  If you want to check out this product, I highly recommend speaking with a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Consultant for more information.  Patricia Dahl is the St Cloud market's local expert and her website is https://www.wfhm.com/loans/patricia-dahl/index_reno.page.  If there are any other lenders out there who have a similar local product, please post them here as well.  I would love to have more of this type of product in my arsenal for potential buyers.

Second - Fannie Mae's HomePath Financing - While this product is still a little hard to come by (not many lenders are qualified to sell it locally) it is a great way to get someone into a Fannie Mae foreclosure.  For this loan, the property has to qualify (Fannie Mae REO) and buyer has to meet certain qualifying guidelines for down payment and credit score.  Some of the benefits of this loan are that there is no mortgage insurance, the property can be purchased with as little as 3% down, and there are no appraisal fees.  This loan can also be used by investors to make purchases.  If you'd like more information about this product, I would recommend going to Fannie Mae's website at http://HomePath.comand go to their HomePath Financing Tab.

There are also some local incentives that the St Cloud HRA puts on from time to time that will allow for some silent second mortgages.  Their most recent one was offering $15K for home repairs.  These silent second mortgages had no payments or interest.  The money did have to be repaid at a time of refinance, selling, or paying off the mortgage on the home.  The best way to learn about these and other programs that the St Cloud HRA offers is to visit their website at http://www.stcloudhra.com/.

This is just some of the programs that are put in place to try and help sell some of the foreclosures and keep our neighborhoods strong.  If you know of more, please post them here for others' benefit.  There are also lots of incentives that other banks and foreclosure companies are using to help buyers.  Everything from purchasing appliances, paying for buyer's closing costs, and even providing home warranties.

Call (320) 492-2667 with requests for more information.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud

http://StCloudEdina.com - Home of the e-Market Analysis (free home value estimator)

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Get Sauk Rapids City, School and Real Estate Information

Best on the Internet for Real Estate in St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In looking back over the 1st quarter statistics for real estate sales in the St Cloud area, it appears that bank owned homes are still playing a big factor in the market.  There were 72 foreclosures, or REO's, sold in the first three months of 2010.  That accounts for roughly 35% of all sales that were recorded.  Here is another interesting statistic revolving around the average prices for these sales:  REO's sold at an average price of $115,354 while the Non-REO's sold at an average price of $160,576.

Statistics were pulled from Regional Multiple Listing Service and cover the zip codes for St Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park, and St Joseph for residential sales between 1/1/2010 and 3/31/2010.  Bank owned properties are separated and marked as "Yes" to the lender owned category on the MLS while remainder of the market is market as "No" or "Not Disclosed" on the MLS.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud MN

http://StCloudEdina.com - Get list of bank owned properties in St Cloud, MN area.

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Get specific city information for St Cloud, MN

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN.

Posted by Jason Tangen at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)