No one was really sure what was going to happen once the stimulus money expired on April 30, 2010. We have been pleasantly surprised to see that many calls are continuing to come in and people still want to buy and sell their homes! This activity is certainly a good indication that the housing market may [...]
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to serve on an Ethics Panel for the Hutchinson Leadership Institute. This is an excellent leadership program offered through the Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce. I was quite impressed with the group who were attending this leadership program. The questions they had were inciteful and the discussions were very good. [...]
For the third consecutive month, home prices in the Twin Cities 13-county metropolitan area showed a year-over-year increase. We haven’t seen three consecutive months of progressively increasing year-over-year growth since June 2004. The March median sales price of $165,000 was a healthy 7.1 percent increase from $154,125 last March. That’s the strongest year-over-year increase since [...]
According to the Minneapolis Association of Realtors, the local housing market continues to mimic spring growth, as Twin Citizens emerge from their wintry cocoons just in time for the final days of the home buyer tax credit. For the week ending March 20, there were 2,277 new listings, up 28.8 percent from a year ago [...]
Here are some interesting statistics recently published in "The Residential Specialist" magazine. (Their source for the information was Harris Interactive.) This magazine is available to all real estate agents who have earned their Certified Residential Specialist certification through the National Association of Realtors. Several of Hometown Realty agents in Hutchinson, MN have earned this CRS [...]
Minneapolis, Minnesota (March 10, 2010) – For the second consecutive month, home prices in the Twin Cities 13-county metropolitan area showed a year-over-year increase. We haven't seen back-to-back year-over-year increases since 2006. The February median sales price of $159,000 was a 6.0 percent increase from last February's mark of $150,000. That's the strongest year-over-year increase [...]
Many homeowners have been able to take advantage of the loan modifications that some of the lenders are doing on mortgages that either are in trouble or may soon be. We at Hometown Realty here in Hutchinson, MN have clients who have been able to work out modifications with their lenders to lower their monthly [...]
I just came from the Hutchinson Home Landscape and Garden show that is being held at the McLeod County Fairgrounds here in Hutchinson, MN. The show ends at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 21, 2010. It was encouraging to visit with all the people who came to the show this year. Almost everyone that I [...]
The new rules — which are temporary and take effect this summer — come after more than a year of stringent standards from lenders. Among them: •Better Credit Score — New borrowers will have to have a minimum credit score of 580 to qualify for a 3.5 percent down payment. Previously, there was no minimum [...]
According to the National Association of Realtors "Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2009", 90 percent of buyers used the Internet as an information source in their home search, up 30 percentage points during the past six years. First-time buyers were even more likely to use the internet. Also reported was that 47% of recent [...]
