St. Cloud, MN - Real Estate Blog

I can't say thank you enough to Bob Mahowald of Mahowald Insurance for fixing all of my insurance problems. 

My wife and I had originally signed up for home owners insurance with a company that was an affiliate of the bank we used for our home loan back in 1999.  Unfortunately, over the years they kept messing up.  They would mis-charge us, forget to bill our escrow account, and fail to make critical changes to the policy as we had requested.  The final straw was on one of our rental properties.  We were trying to change the policy to a fire/dwelling policy and after 2 years (that's right two whole years) of battling and still not getting it right, we decided to fire them and find someone else to provide us with insurance.

That's the back story.

I had met Bob (Robert Mahowald Jr.) through the St Cloud Chamber of Commerce's Young Professionals Dialog Group and thought he might be able to help.  Within a couple of days Bob and Karen Fouquette (specific insurance agent handling my file) got me a quote from MetLife.  Their quote was below what we had been paying with a cut rate company and the customer service was phenomenally better.  I can't stress how great it was to be able to ask a question to a real life representative and not have a number for an insurance agent.  I felt like Bob and Karen were always looking out for my best interests.

I could go on for quite some time because of how stressed I was with my previous insurance carrier.  Instead, let me just get you Mahowald's information and tell you to get a quote for yourself.  You will probably save a little bit of money and the customer service is second to none.

Mahowald Insurance Agency - http://www.Mahowald.net/

Mahowald Insurance Agency
916 St. Germain, P.O. Box 129
St. Cloud MN 56302-0129
(320)251-3751 tel
(320)251-2373 fax

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

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search real estate in St Cloud MN

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

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud, MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Here is a friendly reminder to people as they go out and tour homes at open houses - The agent working at an open house is in contract to look out for the best interests of the seller.  If you tell them information and it is pertinent to their sellers, do you think they are going to withhold it on your behalf? 

Things to consider when going through open houses:

1) When an agent asks you if you are working with another agent, you should say "Yes."  It'll keep them off your back.  If they ask who, just give them my name.

2) Any time that substantive contact is made, price and terms are starting to be discussed, an agent is required by law to go over Agency Relationships in Real Estate Transactions with you.  It is a breakdown of the roles that real estate agents/brokers perform as it pertains to residential real estate transactions.

More questions?  You should hire your own buyer's broker to work on your behalf.  Its generally paid for out of the sellers gains at closing.

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

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search open houses in St Cloud, Sartell, and Sauk Rapids, MN

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

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Here's something I bet you thought you'd never hear, real estate commission rates are negotiable. 

What a great way to find out how good of a negotiator your potential real estate salesperson is going to be for you.  When you ask them to lower their commission, you are in sense taking money directly out of their back pocket.  If an agent is willing to drop their commission from 7% to 5% just to get a listing, that means that they are willing to work for nearly 30% less than they were orignally planning.  Can you imagine trying to run your household budget if you were willing to take 30% off of your paycheck every now and then?

How do you think that agent will help you negotiate more money for your home when an offer shows up?  By folding and giving in just to make some money??

Something to think about.  Sometimes what an agent does can tell you more about them and what they'll do for you than their big drawn out presentations.

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

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

www.JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search homes for sale in Sartell, MN

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud, MN.

Posted by Jason Tangen at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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What a great question.  I love it because quite frankly, I don't believe that open houses work.  Statistics say that only 2-4% of all homes sell as a result of an open house (according to National Association of REALTORS). 

So why do real estate agents want to do them?

1) To please the seller.  If the seller thinks they work, then why not just do some open houses to make them happy.

2) To advertise the agent.  Nothing states that you are actively working better than putting out an ad stating that you are indeed working - and here are the times.

3) To capture new leads.  Don't sell this one short.  I did most of my business in my first year of real estate by sitting in open houses that weren't even my listings.

4) To get some work done.  I generally don't want to go to the office on a Saturday or Sunday and there is no way that I am going to get any work done around my family (my daughters command too much of my attention).  If I want to get some phone calls made and get some minor paperwork completed, what better place then in your home.  This is my personal #1 reason for doing open houses.

5) To sell the house.  Oh yeah, it does happen every once in a great while.  Who knows when you might get lucky.

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

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search open houses in Central Minnesota.

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

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud, MN

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

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Below are the numbers of total residential homes that were sold in each area during last month.

North St Cloud - 31

South St Cloud - 21

East St Cloud - 8

Sauk Rapids - 14

Sartell - 30

Waite Park - 4

St Joseph - 8

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 data that you would like from specific office sales to average sales prices and more.

Jason Tangen- e-PRO, GRI - 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 real estate in St Cloud MN.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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There has been a new regulation passed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that revolves around bloggers and them giving testimonials or reviews to businesses.

I have blogged for several years now and have a section on this blog devoted strictly to business testimonials.  I have been giving these testimonials for to people I work with (or who have worked for my clients) that do (or have done) outstanding work.  I want to be clear that I am not personally affiliated with any of these businesses nor do I receive any monies for providing my testimonials.  Most of the time, the person receiving the testimonial doesn't even know it's there until they do a Google search for their name.

If you want to learn more about the new Federal Trade Commission Guidelines, visit their website at http://www.ftc.gov/, or you can read an article about this subject from the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/05/technology/AP-US-TEC-Bloggers-FTC.html?_r=1.

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

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Find opens houses in St Cloud MN

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I would like to take this chance to thank Jim Alvord and Restoration Professionals in St Cloud.  I recently had a vacant listing in Sartell that unfortunately had a sump pump that failed.  Because of this failure, the basement quickly flooded.  Jim and the other staff at Restoration Professionals quickly dried out the property and made sure that no moisture remained to cause future problems.  It is because of their speed and professional manner that we were still able to allow the new buyers to move in on time.  Thank you.

If you have any questions about Restoration Professionals you can visit their website at http://www.restpro.com or give them a call at (320) 229-1990.

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

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

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

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Below are some of the real estate sales numbers per company in the St Cloud Market.  This data is for residential properties sold within a 30 mile radius of St Cloud from 1/1/2009-9/28/2009.  Listed are the top three companies in each area covered.

Sold Volume (Listing Company)

    1) Edina Realty - $27,146,404

    2) Prudential Pladson Realty - $24,665,168

    3) Coldwell Banker Burnet Realty - $12,567,550

Sold Volume (Buyers Side of Transaction)

    1) Edina Realty - $28,346,662

    2) Prudential Pladson Realty - $19,155,798

    3) Coldwell Banker Burnet - $15,663,790

Days on Market(DOM) and Cumulative Days on Market(CDOM) - Who Sells Homes Fastest.

    1) Home 2 Home Properties - DOM (45.64) CDOM (54.00)

    2) Showcase Properties - DOM (74.76) CDOM (135.44)

    3) USA 4% Realty - DOM (78.26) CDOM (159.13)

Sold Price to List Price Average (Listing Side)

    1) Paramount Real Estate Services - 99.08%

    2) Haller Realty - 98.81%

    3) Hirschfeld Real Estate & Investment - 98.59%

Sold Price to List Price Average (Buyer Side)

    1) Century 21 New Horizons Realty - 93.26%

    2) Haller Realty - 93.85%

    3) Lind Realty Showcase Properties - 94.12%

Need more data?  Feel free to e-mail or post your querries here for me to crunch.

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

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

JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search open houses in Sartell MN.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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