How Can You Make Your House Shine for the Spring Market?

If you’re planning a home sale this upcoming spring, have a real estate professional walk through your home now so you can make the right improvements.

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If you plan on putting your home on the market this coming spring, what can you do to make it look as presentable as possible?

One important tip is to have a real estate professional do a quick walkthrough of your house. This will give you an idea of what your competition is doing and what buyers like to see in today’s market. Additionally, this will ensure that if you are making improvements specifically to sell the house, you’re spending your money in areas that will both benefit you and showcase what buyers really care about. 

For all your home improvement and repair needs, we have an excellent list of vendors we could provide you. They do a great job, their workmanship is outstanding, and the end result will be exactly what you’re looking for at a reasonable price.  

Starting January 2nd, inventory will start picking up right away, so if there’s anything we can do to help you with your home improvements or you’re thinking about making a move next spring, please feel free to give us a call. We’d be happy to help! 

Wishing You a Joyous Holiday Season

We want to thank all of you for your support. You have made this a great year, and we are looking forward to 2017.

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We just wanted to stop by today to give you a quick recap on the year and extend to you our warmest holiday greetings. First, some great news about the market.

In the upper price ranges especially, our market is greatly improving. Right now, we have 279 pending transactions. For this time of year, that’s an outstanding number.

It looks like we will have an early and strong start in January. For those of you itching to get going on a new home, our spring market starts January 2nd. If you have any questions or if there is anything we can help you with over the holidays, let us know. 

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We expect 2017 to be even better.

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2016 was great, but we expect 2017 to be even better. Thanks to all of you who helped out our business this year. We are always here for you, just give us a call or send us an email. 

How Good Are Interest Rates Right Now?

Interest rates can have an enormous impact on your purchasing power as a home buyer. When we say they’re good, you need to strike while the iron is hot.

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We’ve had a lot of people calling us lately and asking what it means when we say that interest rates are so good right now. Here’s an example of how interest rates can impact your purchasing ability as a home buyer: 

In 1982, the real estate market was quite slow because the interest rates were at 15% to 16%. That meant that if you bought a $300,000 home in that market at a 15% interest rate, your payment would have been a whopping $3,793 a month. Needless to say, we weren’t selling a lot of homes at that price at that time.

Today, our interest rates are hovering somewhere in the range of 3.25%. This means that same $300,000 mortgage would now only cost $1,309 a month—only slightly more expensive than renting a nice two-bedroom apartment. 

To give you an idea of how this can change, let’s say these same rates climbed up to 5%. That would mean that your $1,309 monthly payment would increase to $1,610. Or, if you wanted to keep the payment exactly the same, that would mean you could only afford a house that costs $56,000 less than the one that cost $300,000. 

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Today’s interest rates are fantastic.

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If you’re thinking about buying and would like to take advantage of these incredibly low interest rates and resulting payments, give us a call or shoot us an email. We look forward to working with you. 

Why You Should Consider Listing This Fall

A lot of people are asking us why they would list their home during the fall when nothing happens. As it turns out, there are two very good reasons to consider doing just that.

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A question we’re hearing from a lot of people is, “Why should I list my house in the fall when nothing happens?”

For one thing, our market is seasonal but not nearly as much as everyone thinks it is. At this point in time, for example, we have over 350 pending sales. We will see the market slow down a little bit from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but we’ll see it pick back up immediately after this period. In fact, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is one of the busiest weeks on the Internet for the entire year for the real estate business.  

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Our market isn’t as seasonal as everyone thinks it is.

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Combine this with the fact that we’re still showing record-low interest rates, and you have plenty of incentive to list during the fall market. Also, if you’re thinking about buying right now, it’s not too late to start that process and enjoy your new home for the holiday season.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to talking with you.

An Update on the St. Cloud Real Estate Market

The St. Cloud market is strong with good inventory, record-low interest rates, and homes moving at a steady, predictable pace. Tune in for more details.

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Today we wanted to give you a quick recap of the spring and summer markets, as well as what we’re expecting to happen this fall in St. Cloud real estate.

It’s been a good year. In the last six months within 20 miles of St. Cloud, we’ve closed 1,623 homes. It’s not a record high or low, but it’s a steady, consistent market. Looking at inventory, we have 1,023 homes on the market, which is about 200 fewer than last year at this time.

If you’re a buyer, it’s a good year because we’ve got a good selection of properties and we’ve got record-low interest rates. That means record-low monthly mortgage payments.

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Inventory is good and interest rates are lower than ever.

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If you look at pending sales — a sign of where the market is right now — we have 345 pending sales, which is a very strong number, and a little bit up from last year. What we’re seeing is good inventory, homes selling in a predictable fashion (many times in two to eight weeks), and we’ve got those record-low interest rates. You can buy more house for less money than ever.

If you have any questions or would like specifics about your personal situation, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to help you!

Why Is Professional Photography So Important?

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Lately, we have been getting a lot of questions about professional photography. Should you use it? How much should you use? Is it really important?

Photography is important because it is the first introduction to your house. In today’s market, most buyers will see your property on the Internet before they see it in person. When they see the photos online, they will either eliminate it from their home search or put it on the list of homes they want to see. Then, you aren’t wasting your time showing the property to buyers that aren’t interested in your home.

The photos should be of good quality: crisp, clear, and not too dark or too light. Photographers make minor adjustments to the photos to make sure the lighting is appropriate and the home is shown in the best light.

We do put out a number of photos online in order to create interest. However, we do want to leave some new, exciting things for buyers to see when viewing the home in person. That way, potential buyers have more to discover when viewing your property.

We download these professional photographs to high-quality websites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and our own corporate site. If a customer determines that your property is a good fit, we get an instant email from them. That way, we can get in touch with them immediately, make sure they are qualified to buy the home, and set an appointment to show them your property right away. We can also answer any questions they may have about the property.

If you have any other questions about professional photography or about real estate in general, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

The St. Cloud Real Estate Market Is Better Than Ever

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This spring has been great for the real estate market. In fact, the market is the best it has been since 2005, before the recession. I’m here with a quick update on some exciting numbers from St. Cloud real estate.

As of right now, we have seen 1,054 closed sales over the last six months, which is a very nice increase. We also have 495 pending sales, which is the highest number of pending sales in 10 years. That’s great news for sellers!

Not only that, if you are thinking of selling your home, you can expect to sell in two to eight weeks. Selling a home is a far more predictable, much easier process today than it was just a few years ago.

I also have good news for buyers. Currently, there are 1,034 homes on the market within a 20-mile radius of St. Cloud. That’s a very nice selection. The market is moving a little quicker, so you do have to make decisions faster. However, we can help you through that process.

Even better than that, buyers today are able to take advantage of historically low interest rates. You can get a 30-year fixed mortgage with an interest rate between 3.5% and 4%. If you get a 15-year mortgage, the rates are even better.

Overall,  now is a great time buy or sell real estate. If you have any questions about the market or need help with your specific property, please don’t hesitate to give me a call. I would be happy to help you.

The St. Cloud Market Is Shifting

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Today, we’ve got some exciting news for you: the market is shifting in St. Cloud. Every two weeks, we run a quick set of numbers to see how many listings and pending sales we have in order to get a pulse of the market. 

Last week, inventory was the lowest we’ve seen in 15 years. There are only 833 listings on the market. The only time we’ve ever been close to inventory levels this low was back in January 2015, with 989 listings on the market. Normally, we have about 1,200 to 1,300 homes on the market. With our inventory so low, a few things could happen. 

First of all, right now we’re seeing homes sell in 2 to 8 weeks. If inventory stays this low, we may start to see multiple offers, which is great news for sellers. 

We may also see home appreciation if inventory remains this low. We will keep a close eye on inventory levels as the year progresses. 

Right now is a great time to sell. In fact, this might be your chance to get the best price for your home in 2016. 

Ultimately, 2016 is shaping up to be a great year for sellers in real estate. There may not be as much selection for buyers, so we recommend buying early. You will have less competition as a buyer now than you will in May, June, or July. 

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

St. Cloud February Market Update

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We’re experiencing a shift in the St. Cloud market. We had 833 listed homes on the market last week. That’s the lowest we’ve seen since in about fifteen years! In January 2015, we had inventory this low with 989 listings, but it only lasted for a week.

Instead of the normal 1,200 to 1,300 homes on the market, our inventory is quite low. This leads homes to sell in two to eight weeks on average. Likewise, we might begin to see more multiple offer situations in a competitive market climate. This benefits sellers, but makes it more difficult for buyers.

Secondly, we might see home appreciation increase in 2016 with tight inventory. Sellers have the potential to earn top dollar for their properties now compared to the rest of the year. Buyers have the best opportunities to purchase a home right before the start of the spring market, such as in April.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home this year, reach out to us by phone or email today! We’d love to hear from you.

Why Are Interest Rates So Low Right Now?

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We've got a short message for you today, but it's an important one. In the last few weeks, the stock market has been going wild. This instability has pushed mortgage rates down below 4%! We aren't sure how long this is going to last so if you've been thinking about making a move, now is a great time to take advantage of these rates.

How Do Real Estate Commissions Work in St. Cloud?

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A lot of people are unfamiliar with how the real estate industry works. Since I'm often asked how I make my living in the real estate industry, I want to briefly walk you through commission splits.

Think about a real estate transaction commission like a pie. If you were to divide it up into four pieces, one piece would go to the listing agent, one would go to the broker that we work for, one would go to the agent working with the buyer, and then the last quarter goes to the brokerage of the buyer's agent. If we had a $4,000 dollar commission, each party in the transaction would get $1,000.

Each party that earns a commission is an independent contractor that is 100% performance based. If we don't get the job done, we don't get paid! Additionally, if we don't sell anything, we have to eat the costs of our expenses, which include marketing, health insurances, and other business expenses. So, in this business, it's crucial to be consistently productive, week in and week out, in order to stay afloat. We have managed to do this for years!

If you have any questions about the benefits of working with an experienced team, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!