St. Cloud, MN - Real Estate Blog

And then there were two....

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:56:58 -0600

In the midst of this great recession, I have found myself too busy to handle my own work load. Crazy I know. I therefore have scoured the area for the most talented individual to help me with my real estate business. It turns out, the former Operations Manager at Executive Express in St Cloud, MN was the perfect fit.

Now that she is all done with her schooling and ready to go, it is time to unveil my new secret weapon to the real estate world in St Cloud and anyone who is looking to buy or sell a home in the Central Minnesota area...

Everyone, say "hi" to my wife, Laura as she starts her new career as my partner in real estate sales.

This addition will allow me to field my calls immediately, respond to Internet inquiries at speeds that the public was accustomed to, and allow me to take more than one day off per month:) I am definitely looking forward to this new set-up.

Now, we just have to teach her the ropes. My request - if you have a real estate related question that you need answers, try giving Laura a call at (320) 492-8706. Heck, just call her with silly real estate questions so that we can keep her on her toes:)

Lastly, the team name. How does everyone feel about t²

Laura's new contact information:

e-Mail: Laura@StCloudEdina.com

Phone: (320) 492-8706

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

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

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

Best on the Internet for Real Estate in St Cloud MN

Who is that Handsome Mug on the Cover of the St Cloud Times??

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:00:14 -0600

Good article on foreclosures in the local area and some input by a great looking real estate professional

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20100210/NEWS01/102100011/Stearns-Benton-foreclosures-decline-in-2009

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

http://StCloudEdina.com - Get a list of all the bank owned properties listed within 30 miles of St Cloud MN.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud, MN

The Tangen Report - Real Estate Sales Statistics in St Cloud, MN - 4th Quarter 2009

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:35:31 -0600

If you want to see the year over year stats from the 4th quarter in the St Cloud area, I am finally done running all my numbers. Click on the file below to read the most recent edition of the Tangen Report:

Download file

Click on the file above to see the overall real estate sales statistics for St Cloud, Waite Park, Sartell, and Sauk Rapids Minnesota. Please note that this file is intended for personal knowledge. If you are planning on using any of the information contained herein, please acknowledge its author (Jason Tangen - e-PRO, GRI - Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud) properly.

If you would like to view previous Tangen reports, visit http://stcloudedina.com/blog/the_tangen_report/.

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 real estate in StCloud Minnesota.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN (Google #1, Bing #1, Yahoo #2)

Some General Foreclosure Stats in Central Minnesota

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 10:30:38 -0600

I pulled some numbers recently and was pleasantly surprised with the amount of foreclosures that were sold in the 4th quarter in St Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Sartell, and Waite Park Minnesota. Here are some rough looks at the numbers.

Units Sold

60 Bank Owned vs. 209 Non Bank-Owned or Not Disclosed.

Average Price Roughly $105K for Bank Owned and Over $150 for Non-Bank Owned or Not Disclosed.

Those are pretty good stats for those of you who are thinking about selling your home in the near future. While the number of foreclosed units continues to rise, traditional sales are by far out doing the banks sales.

Want the specific stats? Give me a call or e-mail and I would be glad to provide them for you.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Broker Associate from Jason Tangen at Edina Realty.

http://StCloudEdina.com - Get a free e-Market Analysis (online home valuation).

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

Best on The Internet for Realt Estate in St Cloud, MN

St Cloud, MN Real Estate Sales Statistics - Units Sold in December 2009

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:39:36 -0600

Sales took a sharp nose dive when the tax credit was extended from November 30th to April 30th. While December is traditionally slower than November, it was exaggerated this year in the number of closings in every area covered. I would anticipate that January will be slow as well with the number of closings rising drastically in every month from February to April. Below are the number of units that sold in each zip code covered.

North St Cloud - 14

South St Cloud - 16

East St Cloud - 4

Sauk Rapids - 19

Sartell - 12

Waite Park - 4

St Joseph - 5

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 - 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 real estate in St Cloud MN.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN (Google #1, Yahoo #2, MSN #1)

Real Estate Sales Statistics - St Cloud, MN and Surrounding Areas - Units Sold November 2009

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:14:28 -0600

Below are the number of residential homes that were sold in each area during last month. These are much bigger than the average numbers that I have pulled in the past for November sales. We might want to give some of the credit for these numbers to the fear that the $8K first time home buyer credit might not be extended. With the extension of the credit, I expect the numbers for December to be down drastically.

North St Cloud - 31

South St Cloud - 24

East St Cloud - 15

Sauk Rapids - 22

Sartell - 21

Waite Park - 6

St Joseph - 5

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 real estate in St Cloud MN.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN (Google #1, Yahoo #2, MSN #1)

Real Estate Sales by Area - Central Minnesota - October 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:27:08 -0600

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

North St Cloud - 47

South St Cloud - 16

East St Cloud - 11

Sauk Rapids - 15

Sartell - 20

Waite Park - 6

St Joseph - 8

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 real estate in St Cloud MN.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN (Google #1, Yahoo #2, MSN #1)

The Tangen Report - Real Estate Sales Statistics for St Cloud, MN - 3rd Quarter 2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:16:02 -0600

What a great time I had pulling these numbers together. It is so refreshing to see some hints of a seller's market around the corner. Have we hit the bottom with these real estate prices?? Look at the report to see what I think. Nice thing is that prices are definitely rebounding from where we were at last spring.

Download file

If you would like to view previous Tangen reports, visit http://stcloudedina.com/blog/the_tangen_report/.

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 real estate in StCloud Minnesota.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN (Google #1, MSN #1, Yahoo #2)

Thank you to Robert Mahowald Jr. of Mahowald Insurance Agency

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:02:17 -0600

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

Be Careful What you Say to Real Estate Agents

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:31:07 -0600

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

Commissions Rates To Sell a Home are Negotiatble

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:17:13 -0600

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.

Do open houses work?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:09:17 -0600

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

St Cloud MN Residential Real Estate Sales - Units Sold September 2009

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:37:51 -0600

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

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

Blogging and Federal Trade Commission Disclosure

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:51:00 -0600

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

Thank you to Jim Alvord and the Staff at Restoration Professionals

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:12:38 -0600

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