St. Cloud, MN - Real Estate Blog

I wish I could remember which conservative radio personality said this, but I cannot.  The phrase was basically:

"This new economic stimulus plan is being given to the people who don't make a lot of money because they will not save it or put it toward their existing debts.  They will instead buy new TVs or other items that will push the economy forward."

I hate to hear that philosophy.  It's tough enough to get a "freebie" from the government when there is so much more that they could do with that money.  Social security, affordable health care, and paying down the national debt are just a few possibilities.

But no, this "stimulus plan" is being set forth because we, as lower and middle class Americans, are viewed as frivolous spenders that cannot manage our finances properly.  We will wastefully spend any money we receive from the government according to this radio personality's philosophy.

I suppose with that philosophy, you can't honestly believe that we should push forward any form of privatized health care because the majority of us are too busy watching "Hee-Haw" to properly manage our own money.  Wouldn't that go against some of the prominent conservatives' philosophies and platforms?

Now before you go attacking me because I am taking the liberal side of this issue, remember that this was endorsed in landslide fashion in the House and Senate.  Both sides of the isle believe that this will help our economy.  I say that again in different terms -  Both the Democrats and Republicans believe that lower and middle class Americans are stupid and will spend any extra money they receive and not sensibly manage their household finances.

Let us take this chance to prove our government wrong.  Take the money use it for your kid's schooling, bills, credit card debt, retirement or whatever (but spend it wisely).  We seem to manage our specific household budgets and we would like our government to adhere to the same principles.

By the way, where are they coming up with this money that will afford most lower and middle class tax payers $600-$1200 dollars?  I'll give you a hint if you need one.

I'd love to hear some other takes on this issue.

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN

     (and I guess some political commentary as well:)

Posted by Jason Tangen at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Here are the first few steps to listing your home for sale.  Do not discount the importance of Step #1.  Ultimately, many of you who read this post shouldn't go beyond step #1 at this time.

1) Do a very honest assessment of why you are moving.  If you don't have a lot of tangible reasons, you probably shouldn't be moving right now.

2) Get different CMAs (Competitive Market Analysis') from at least two local real estate professionals.  Even if you know a friend of the family (or whatever) is going to list the home, hear someone else's pitch.  They might give you some advice that you, and your agent, wouldn't have thought of on your own.  Also, if you have a friend or family member that is a real estate professional but they don't live in the area, get them a referral for the business and work with someone locally.  Your friend/family member will probably thank you.

3) Price your home realistically in order to sell.  That appraisal that you had done just a year ago is not accurate anymore.  Also, note that your biggest competition isn't your neighbors, it's the lending institutions trying to unload their foreclosures.

4) Hire a stager and get your home looking its best.  If you can't find a real estate professional that is willing to do it for you, pay for it yourself.  The money you spend will be saved in the time it takes to sell your home.  I put hiring a stager here, but honestly, you should think about having this done even before you get a real estate agent's opinion on the value of your home.

5) Negotiate with your head, not your heart.  While you might not make as much as you aniticipated in selling your home, you will probably more than make up for it in the purchase of your new home.

Do you have some other pieces of input that you think would be valuable to potential sellers of homes in St Cloud MN?  Post your advice, lessons learned, or whatever here for everyone to review.

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - Search Homes for Sale on the St Cloud MLS

JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search for Open Houses in Central MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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With interest rates doing what they are, if you are planning on staying in your home for more than a couple of years it might be time to reconsider refinancing.

I placed the call to my loan officer today about refinancing one of my properties.  The interest rate that I will be getting is looking like it will be around 5.0% on a 30 year fixed. 

Will they go down further?  It's possible.  But I can't really pass up money at that rate.  I know that I plan on holding on to this home for at least 5-10 more years.  With that in mind, I will save lots of money by moving my interest rate from 6.25% to closer to 5%.

Also, for those of you who are in an ARM loan or other hybrid mortgage, give a call to your professional lender and get the ball rolling for yourself.  If your loan officer is no longer in the industry, send me an e-mail and I will get you a list of qualified lenders that will be more than willing to help you with a refinance.

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

jason@stcloudedina.com

Posted by Jason Tangen at 08:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I have been asked to give a presentation at a career day tomorrow and it has got me pondering the top moments and reasons to be in real estate sales.  Below is my list thus far.  Feel free to add some of your thoughts if you'd like.

1) Helping people with the single greatest building block of financial success.

2) Negotiating your client a great deal.

3) Watching a kids face when they get to pick their own room.

4) Making money.  It's a great profession, but without the money it would just be a very expensive hobby.

5) Meeting all sorts of people and dealing with their greatest joys (and sometimes biggest stresses).

6) Never having the same day twice.

7) Working in a just industry.  What I mean by this is that the people who work hard make money; the people who don't work hard don't make money.

8) Having the hot topic that everyone wants to talk about.  Right now it could be a close second to politics.

9) Seeing the best real estate bargains first.

10) Being your own boss.

I could go on and on, but I need to focus more on my presentation for tomorrow.

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - Search the St Cloud MN MLS

www.StCloudEdina.com/blog - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The real estate market around the St Cloud area seems to be hot.  The temperature on the other hand leaves a little to be desired.  I went to my first showing this morning (of 6 sets of showings to different buyers this weekend) and the temperature gauge said -15 degrees.  Bundle up out there!

Yes indeed, it does seem as though the real estate market is definitely picking up around St Cloud MN.  Lately, I have been fielding a lot of calls from buyers who are anxious to see what is available to purchase.  They have heard "theres gold in dem der houses" and they are starting to believe.

It could be the 300+ foreclosed properties on the St Cloud MLS and the lure of a phenomenal deal that has given them the home-buying bug.  I know the last few of my buyers have been bitten by the foreclosure bug.  They have also averaged about $25,000 between their homes purchase price and the appraised value at time of purchase.  That is with work to be done!

It could also be that people are getting interest rates on their mortgages at around 5.5%.  We know that the rates have been slipping in anticipation of Mr. Bernanke's potential 50 basis point drop in the fed rate coming soon.  Is it possible, like some bloggers are hinting, rates will go even lower and break that 5.0% barrier?

There are many different reasons to believe that this years spring market will be a good one (especially for home buyers).  This is also a good sign that we might be able to turn the corner and get the real estate market back on track in Central MN.

Let me get off my soapbox for a little while.  I guess I'm just a little excited because I am busy and the people I am talking to seem to be picking up additional business as well.  I hope that this is a sign that St Cloud and the surrounding areas have started to turn around.  I know of a lot of good people in this area that would be more than willing to buy or sell a home if they could just get a ray of hope that the bottom isn't going to fall out.

Posted by Jason Tangen at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Another year has come and gone and I have to say, for my own personal business, it hasn't been a bad one.

Attached is a copy of the year end review edition of the Tangen Report.  This is a good way to get a basis of what is really going on in the St Cloud real estate market.

Download file - Tangen Report.

This report also includes several graphs that will show the market activity in the greater St Cloud area (North, East, South, and West St Cloud as well as Waite Park, Sauk Rapids and Sartell).  It is interesting to see how the home prices, days on market, and list to sell ratios have been affected since 2004.

If you need more detailed information about a certain area in Central Minnesota, please post your questions or comments here for answers and review.

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

Posted by Jason Tangen at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The year is at an end and I am finally finishing up some of my sales statistics for the St Cloud real estate market.  Below is a list of how the top companies stacked up in listings sold per office.  The data is obtained from the St Cloud MLS and represents the number of residential seller side transactions for the most active companies from 10/01/07-12/31/07.

Edina Realty of St Cloud - 62 Homes Sold

Coldwell Banker Burnet - 61 Homes Sold

Prudential Pladson Realty - 55 Homes Sold

Re/Max Realty Source of St Cloud - 33 Homes Sold

Premier Real Estate Services - 25 Homes Sold

Showcase Properties - 23 Homes Sold

Home 2 Home Properties - 23 Homes Sold

Centrury 21 First Realty - 20 Homes Sold

Castle Realty - 20 Homes Sold

Re/Max Today's Properties - 18 Homes Sold

Riverside Realty of Little Falls - 15 Homes Sold

Edina Realty of Monticello - 14 Homes Sold

Executive Realty St Cloud - 14 Homes Sold

Lind Realty - Showcase Properties - 13 Homes Sold

USA 4% Realty - 13 Homes Sold

Century 21 New Horizons - 12 Homes Sold

If you have any real estate related topics that you would like me address, please post them here.

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - Search Homes for Sale on the St Cloud MLS

www.StCloudEdina.com/blog - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I recently had a request for the average interest rates on mortgages dating back to 1995.  I did not have anything like this in my database of information, so I had to track down someone who did.  The information used to create the graph in this post was obtained from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBC).  The graph below is for the average interest rates for previously occupied homes by the FHLBC's combined lender information.  For more mortgage rate information, you can go to their website http://www.fhlbc.com/index.shtml.

Below is the line graph of average mortgage interest rates on previously occupied homes since 1980.

Download file

Do you need additional information about a real estate topic?  Post your questions, comments, and concerns here for answers and review.

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

jasontangen.edinarealty.com - Search for Open Houses in St Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and other Central MN areas.

www.StCloudEdina.com/blog - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I have done a little research into the "foreclosure websites" that are offering foreclosed properties for sale around the St Cloud MN area.  I have discovered that most of the national websites are willing to let people receive the address and pictures of a home for a "nominal" fee.  The prices ranged from $9.95/week, $38.90/month, and $99/year for the top 10 foreclosure websites.

If you would like to pay one of these companies for the information they provide, that is up to you.  But I can say that I offer the exact same listings + automated e-mails of new foreclosed property listings and price changes to existing foreclosure listings free of charge.  Visit my sign up page for foreclosed properties on the St Cloud MLS for more information.

If you have discovered some other websites that are willing to give free information about foreclosed properties in Central Minnesota, please post them here for everyone to utilize.

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - Search Homes For Sale on the St Cloud MLS

www.StCloudEdina.com/blog - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I am a little bit in awe (not in a good way) that some of the larger real estate companies do not utilize any sort of broker reciprocity on their national websites.  It would seem that with all of the real estate technology that is available, they could easily include more than just their offices property listings.  Maybe there is something that I am missing.

For the time being, if you are looking for real estate listings somewhere in the US (not just St Cloud MN), I recommend using either a local real estate website or REALTOR.com.  If you plan on using a local real estate website, make sure that is has some form of broker reciprocity and gives you all available real estate listings.

As a last note - if you are searching for homes for sale in St Cloud MN or the surrounding Central MN area, make sure that you find a website that includes both St Cloud and Minneapolis Multiple Listing Service (MLS) systems.  With the influx of foreclosed properties in Central MN that are being listed by real estate agents in the Twin Cities, it behooves any potential buyers to see all available properties.  There are lots of real estate agents that belong to either the St Cloud MLS or the Minneapolis MLS but not both.  Without belonging to both MLS systems (or subscribing to both in their broker reciprocity agreements), specific websites might make it impossible for buyers to view all of the deals that are currently available in the real estate market.

Jason Tangen, GRI - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty of St Cloud MN

jasontangen.edinarealty.com - Search Homes for Sale Everywhere in Minnesota

www.StCloudEdina.com - Home of the e-Market Analysis (Free Home Value Estimator)

If you have questions as to whether or not the website you are currently using is giving you every property available, post the website here and I will compare it against both St Cloud and Minneapolis MLS systems.

Posted by Jason Tangen at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I'm hearing the rumors that Countrywide Home Loans is planning on laying off some 1200 workers here in the midst of bankruptcy rumors that are floating around.  Countrywide Home Loans has stated resoundingly that they will not be going into bankruptcy today after huge losses on Wall Street.  My biggest concern is that people who are looking to get a home loan don't have their lender disappear on them overnight.  Does anyone out there know if these potential layoffs will be affecting the St Cloud MN real estate community?

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - Search Homes for Sale on the St Cloud MLS

Posted by Jason Tangen at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Another one of the great implications that Bush has signed into law involves short sales and how they will affect property owners come tax time.  It looks like the amount of money lost in a short sale transaction will no longer be taxed as "phantom income" like before.  This means that there are very few reasons not to attempt a short sale (if the bank will approve the sale).  Before anyone goes through the foreclosure process, talk with a local real estate professional about how this new law can help.

Read more at : http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3648&tab=summary

Jason Tangen, GRI - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty of St Cloud

www.StCloudEdina.com - Get a Free List of Foreclosed Properties on the St Cloud MLS

Posted by Jason Tangen at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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For those of you who haven't seen the new tax changes regarding capital gains on homesteaded properties, here's a quick highlight of one of the good changes.  On of the biggest changes to note is the ability for widows/widowers to sell their property, within two years of spouses death, and still be able to claim the $500,000 capital gains exemption that all married people enjoy.  After that year, it reverts to the $250,000 that single people are allotted. 

Read more about this story at: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20071228_washingtonreport.htm

Posted by Jason Tangen at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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