St. Cloud, MN - Real Estate Blog: St Cloud MN Issues Archives

Homes for Heroes Ribbon Cutting Ceremony!

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

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN

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

Rambler Style Home Selling for Less in North St Cloud

I ran across an interesting stat the other day while pulling some numbers for real estate sales in North St Cloud. Thanks in part to a huge amount of foreclosed property sales, the cheapest style home (on average) purchased from Jan. 1st of 2009 was the rambler. One level homes averaged a whopping $96,450 sales price as compared to $104,263 for 1 1/2 - 2 story homes and $131,640 for split level properties.

Please note that this statistic is highly skewed due to the amount of bank owned properties that have sold this year. In North St Cloud, as it pertains to rambler style homes, 9 of the 12 cheapest homes sold were foreclosures and the cheapest seven (all bank owned) were under $84,000.

On a bright note, this set of numbers that I pulled together showed that negotiations were pretty tight. On average (for all styles of properties), homes were being sold at roughly 96% of their current listing prices. That is good for everyone to know that generally speaking homes aren't being listed at $100,000 and sold at $50,000.

Want some detailed statistics for real estate in your community? Shoot me an e-mail at jason@stcloudedina.com or post your questions here for everyone to learn from.

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

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search for real estate in Sartell, MN.

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

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

My home is flooded, now what do I do?

With the recent high water marks being set by the Red River by Fargo, Little Rock Lake, the Mississippi and Sauk Rivers near St Cloud, and in many other areas a lot of people are asking me the question, "What do people do if their home is in the path of these Rivers?

Good question. One of the greatest things about local government is their ability to help in times of disaster. That is why we pay them taxes, isn't it? To serve and protect?

Stearns County has stepped up to the plate by adding a ton of valuable information on their website for residents to view. The specific page is http://www.co.stearns.mn.us/7064.htm. They have everything from river crest information, where sandbag help is needed, and how to protect your health in cases of flooding. If you have other questions or concerns, check out the Stearns County Website or post your questions here and I will track down any answers.

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 - Search homes for sale in St Cloud MN.

Best on the Internet for Real Estate St Cloud MN

Posted by Jason Tangen at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

St. Cloud Regional Library

While it wouldn't have been my first choice of things to do with a whole lot of money, I have to admit that the new St Cloud Regional Library is a very impressive structure that accents the landscape of downtown St Cloud quite nicely.

I had the chance to do a tour and utilize one of their meeting spaces (free for non-profit organizations) with a group from the Chamber of Commerce the other day. While I started out very skeptical of this expensive structure, once I got inside I was really quite impressed. Hopefully it gets used like the citizens of St Cloud think it will be for many years to come.

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

Planning on selling your home? Over 80% of buyers are finding their homes on-line. Use the real estate agent that is the best in Central MN for real estate advertising on the web.

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Try the e-Market Analysis (free home value estimator).

Posted by Jason Tangen at 06:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Where do you go to vote in Minnesota?

I want to commend the Secretary of State's office here in MN as they have created a great website where people can find their specific polling locations. It doesn't matter where you live in Minnesota, all you have to do is add your address to their database and they will tell you where to go and vote.

Polling Place Finder

Jason Tangen - "I have never voted for the wrong person"

Posted by Jason Tangen at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spencer Buerkle for Benton County Commissioner District 4

I would like to congratulate Spencer Buerkle on his primary victory this past week in his bid to become the County Commissioner for Benton County in District 4. I know Spencer as he works at Edina Realty with me and wish him nothing but the best in his efforts.

If you would like to know more about Spencer Buerkle or have questions regarding Benton County, you can visit Spencer's blog at www.SpencerBuerkle.Blogspot.com.

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - Search real estate in St Cloud MN and surrounding areas.

Posted by Jason Tangen at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

St Cloud Chamber of Commerce's Chamber Connection Gavel Change

I made it to the St Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce's annual Gavel Changing Ceremony for the Friday morning Chamber Connection meeting this morning and boy did I giggle. If you have never made it to a Friday morning Chamber Connection meeting, not only do I recommend them, but you just cannot miss the yearly events like the Gavel Change and the Chamber Connection Birthday.

This year as we said goodbye to the outgoing Chair of the St Cloud Chamber Connection Kris Nelson of Custom Accents, we were asked to ponder what a fitting replacement might look like... Low and behold we got a great idea as Krystal Nielson (a.k.a. John Malikowski of Blooming Creations) showed up to strut her/his stuff. It was all orchestrated with Todd Fritz of Sprint (previous Chair of St Cloud Chamber Connection) and Roger Schleper of Premier Real Estate (New Chair of St Cloud Chamber Connection) asking all the wrong questions to make us giggle even harder. What a great way to finish up a week!

If you are curious, the new vice-chair of the St Cloud Area Chamber Connection meetings is Pam McIntosh of Rasmussen College. She will take over the duties as the Chair of the Chamber Connection in one year from now.

If you would like to know more about the Friday morning Chamber Connection Meetings or any other of the St Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce's events, I recommend visiting their website at http://StCloudAreaChamber.com.

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

www.StCloudEdina.com - Search real estate in St Cloud, MN

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

Posted by Jason Tangen at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spring Projects in St Cloud MN

I am looking for some ideas and projects that people have done recently. With spring upon us, it would be great for us to share some of our knowlede with other people in the community.

i.e. Does anyone know of a quick way to get rid of those darn doggy dead spots (10 pts for execellent use of alliteration)? Besides getting rid of the dog?

Anyone have a sure fire (and cheap) way to kill multiple dandylions?

Where's the cheapest place to buy patio pavers in St Cloud?

Anyone have an effective way to patch cracked vinyl siding?

I'm sure if you think about it for a little while, you will have lots of cool tricks that you can share with the local community.

Jason Tangen, GRI - Real estate broker associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud MN

www.StCloudEdina.com - Get a free list of the foreclosed properties on the St Cloud MLS

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

Posted by Jason Tangen at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sauk Rapids Building/Housing Appeals Board

I am happy to say that on Monday, the mayor of Sauk Rapids (Mark Campbell) appointed me (Jason Tangen) to the Sauk Rapids Building/Housing Appeals Board. I look forward to serving with Art Buhs, Spencer Buerkle, Randy Klug, and Kurt Schimnich on this board in the near future.

Visit the following link if have questions about the Sauk Rapids Building/Housing Appeals Board.

I encourage everyone to help/volunteer with their local government and/or civic organizations. It is only what we do as individuals that make up our communities as a whole.

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

Posted by Jason Tangen at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Poor Choice of Wording for News Report on Mortgage Modifications

I was listening to the local nightly news the other night and they said something that I thought was quite alarming and somewhat careless. They were reporting on the credit crunch and the plans for Countrywide Home Loans to modify some of their existing customers mortgage terms. This is all true, but the method they were giving for Countrywide Home Loans to contact people who are potentially able to receive these modifications was a little bit scary. The news report stated that Countrywide Home Loans would be contacting people via the phone to inform them of potential changes that could be made in their mortgage terms. If this is true, please do not give your personal information over the phone to anyone calling you directly. If a representative from Countrywide Home Loans contacts you, personally call their office back and reach them with a phone number that you can verify in the phone book before giving them any personal information (i.e. social security number). I would hate for anyone to get scammed by someone claiming to be from Countrywide Home Loans trying to modify your home mortgage terms for a fee. Countrywide Home Loans is a very reputable lending institution that will be more than understanding if you have to call them back on a phone number that you can verify before giving them any of your personal information. It is very easy for someone to look up which lender is servicing a loan and only call people who have a mortgage with Countrywide Home Loans. Protect yourself and your identity.

If you haven't done so, take the time to pull your credit report and make sure that nobody has already taken your identity. You are allowed to pull your own credit reports once a year to make sure that nothing is out of the ordinary. There are several great websites available that can give you a free look at your credit report once per year. I have used http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ to check my Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit file disclosures (credit reports) once every year since 2004. It's a great way to double check that no one is using your name and good credit without your knowledge.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about any of the issues I have raised in this post, feel free to add them below for answers or review.

Jason Tangen, GRI

www.jasontangen.edinarealty.com

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

Posted by Jason Tangen at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What's going on in St Cloud, MN?

There is always something going on in St Cloud, MN and the surrounding areas. I am going to use this post to give people some of the county and city websites that I use on a daily basis. If you know of another site that will be beneficial to home owners in Central Minnesota please post it here for review.

Stearns County, Minnesota - http://www.co.stearns.mn.us/

Sherbeurne County, Minnesota - http://www.co.sherburne.mn.us/

Benton County, Minnesota - http://www.co.benton.mn.us/

Morrison County, Minnesota - http://www.co.morrison.mn.us/

Mille Lacs County, Minnesota - http://www.co.mille-lacs.mn.us/

City of St. Cloud, MN - http://ci.stcloud.mn.us/

City of Sartell, MN - http://www.sartellmn.com/

City of Sauk Rapids, MN - http://ci.sauk-rapids.mn.us/

City of Waite Park, MN - http://www.waitepark.org/

City of Cold Spring, MN - http://www.coldspring.govoffice.com/

City of St. Joseph, MN - http://www.cityofstjoseph.com/

City of Avon, MN - http://www.cityofavonmn.com/