What Real Estate Pictures Work Best To Attract Attention?
October 30, 2009
Zillow recently published an article that showed which real estate ads were driving the most traffic. One thing that caught my attention was the fact that of their Top 50 performing ads – all 50 of them were of homes taken on a sunny day. Top Performing Zillow Ads
The 2 pictures above are homes currently on the market in Lakeville, MN. The one on the left is taken on a cloudy day, the right side is bright and sunny. The left one is terribly framed and hardly shows the house while the other does a great job of catching the viewers attention.
What this really does is demonstrate the importance of working with a Realtor that uses a professional photographer and doesn’t just show up with their own digital camera to save money. This article on Active Rain (a website for real estate agents) really shows the difference in using a professional – Do You Hire Professionals?
The WE Team uses professional photographers with virtual tours and a specialized website that lets our clients know exactly which pictures are being viewed each day:
New Tax Credit Extension Coming for Dakota County Homebuyers
October 30, 2009
Real estate sales continue to do much better than last year driven by first time homebuyers getting deals done before the November 30th deadline. At the same time, as the chart above shows, the inventory of homes for sale in the Twin Cities has continued to drop month after month and 20%+ over last year. A balanced market is about 20,000 homes so we aren’t that far from getting into alignment. That said, the bulk of the current activity is in the less than $250k space. The full Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors weekly report is here – MAAR Weekly Report 10-19-09
Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension
Now that all of those first time buyers rushed into the market and helped stimulate sales there’s been an ongoing push in Congress to create an extension. It sounds like this is a done deal and that the Tax Credit will expand to others beyond first time buyers (with some exclusions).
- The Wall Street Journal had a piece on the impacts and who might qualify. Apparently the Obama Administration has signed off on this – Home Buyer Tax Credit Q&A
- Bloomberg quotes Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, to say that the bill may be approved as early as next week – Reid Says Credit May Be Approved Next Week
Impact of Extension
Many people were expecting that the end of the First Time Credit would mean a negative hit in both home sales and prices. With the expansion of this credit to help many more buyers it might actually prove more helpful at spurring sales in the $300-800k range which would be welcome.
13389 Danube Circle Rosemount – Open House Saturday 1-3
October 28, 2009
I’ll be conducting an open house at my listing on 13389 Danube Circle in Rosemount this Saturday October 31st from 1-3pm.
This property is located in the Westmeath portion of Rosemount’s premier development – Evermoor. This custom built property is currently listed at $585,000. Listing Details with Map
Some of the outstanding features include -
- Top of the line 20’x42’ swimming pool with unique waterfall diving board, full length entry steps and automatic pool cover
- Private backyard hideaway – lot is .9 acres and includes perennial garden, fire pit, 10’x10’ awning and 2 tier deck with hot tub
- Amazing kitchen with granite, maple cabinets, huge pantry and high-end appliances
- 5 bedrooms and almost 5,000 square feet
Dakota County – One of the World’s Smartest Communities
October 28, 2009
Last week Dakota County was recognized by the Intelligent Community Forum as one of the world’s 21 Smartest Communities of the Year. This annual recognition program is designed to honor communities “for their use of information and communications technology to build prosperous economies and meet social and economic challenges”. The Smart 21 Communities of 2010
Only 6 communities based in the United States were recognized. Here’s what the ICF had to say about Dakota County -
Stretching from the Minneapolis-St. Paul border on the north to rural areas in the south, Dakota County built a diversified economy in manufacturing, information technology and food/energy/chemical companies and a robust housing market. When the financial crisis slammed the economy, the county responded by accelerating collaboration among its community colleges, businesses and government to significantly boost its share of knowledge-based businesses – particularly the entrepreneurial companies that power sustainable job growth – and to expand the skilled labor pool through education and retraining.
Most of the county has been well served by commercial carriers and enjoys 74% residential broadband penetration and 95-100% penetration of business and education. The data centers of multinational companies also form the core of a growing ICT cluster, and medical devices and logistics are emerging areas. The public-private effort has already helped generate new ICT-dependent jobs equal to 8% of the total population, and a task force of citizens, businesses, institutions and government led by nonprofit Dakota Future is charting a path to faster, sustainable growth.
How it happened?
The bid was spearheaded by a group called Dakota Future (Dakota Future’s Website). Their goal is to lead initiatives in Dakota County that spur economic development in the county around the usage of broadband technology, knowledge workers, innovation, digital inclusion and marketing.
The group set a goal to be recognized in the Smart 21 Communities program by the year 2012 so it was a great surprise when they achieved the goal 2 years early.
More on the Story -
Since the announcement there has been a lot of positive news for the County -
- The Blandin on Broadband blog covers broadband issues, mostly in rural Minnesota and had a nice story about the Dakota County win – Dakota County at Smart21
- Government Technologies had a press release about this years announcement and the processes used in selecting the communities – Gov Tech’s – Digital Communities Blog
Twin Cities Foreclosures – Selling Fast (Shorts not so much)
October 28, 2009
The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors reported this week that bank-owned properties are selling 3 times as frequently as short sales. MAAR Foreclosure vs. Short Sale News Release
Lender-owned foreclosure inventory available for sale in the Twin Cities is down 60 percent from last year, falling from an estimated 4,886 at the end of last September to 1,960 this September. Short sales are a different story—basically holding steady over the last 12 months.
The simple reason for this growing chasm is that foreclosures are selling roughly three times as frequently as short sales. Many consumers have reported considerable delays and uncertainties associated with making an offer on a short sale home. These complications are likely the main cause of the relatively quiet sales activity.
A couple things I can point out that weren’t mentioned in this article -
- While lender-owned properties were moving much faster, part of the recent reason for that is the First Time Homebuyers Credit. A short sale doesn’t give a buyer a definitive answer and closing date which means many buyers steered away from short sales fearing that they wouldn’t get a deal done by the November 30th deadline.
- Another factor in the lack of sort sales is the lack of education among Realtor’s in getting to a successful short sale outcome. The traditional Realtor has about a 30% success rate with a short sale. One of the reasons I became a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) was that by using their processes and tools we average a 90% success rate.
- If you know of someone who is struggling with a hardship and making their house payments I can help.
Real-Time Real Estate Data on Dakota County Cities
October 27, 2009
Today I implemented a new technology solution on my website that allows people who are interested in Dakota County (MN) homes to pull up real-time real estate data on each of the main 10 cities in the county. You can get access to this information from my main Dakota County Communities page here – Dakota County Communities
Here are the main features of this new tool -
Real-Time Market Statistics by City
Integrates with Zillow for updated overall real estate market data along with averages for different sizes of properties. The link to Zillow goes into much more comparison detail.
Real-Time Market Activity
Pulls Zillow.com data to show recent home sales in each city. You can click on the listed properties or click the link for much more detailed data on sold properties. The tool will also let you search for properties that are currently active on the market on my personal Zillow site.
School Data
Provides data on each of the public and private schools located within each city along with the ability to link to more detail on the Education.com website.
Walk Score
The Walk Score site is really a tool that helps people who want to live a lifestyle with as little driving as possible know what neighborhoods will allow that. While life in the suburbs usually demand a car a lot of the time there are certainly some homes closer to shopping, schools & transit than others.
Local Business Reviews
Yelp provides local business reviews that allow you to search for other businesses and retail establishments that come highly recommended by other consumers.
Sold in Burnsville! Lesson Learned: Closings Can Move
October 9, 2009
Back in August I posted about this home in Burnsville that a client was purchasing using the First Time Homebuyers credit as a driving force in buying their first home – First Time Buyer Credit
The property did close this week after a number of fits and starts with the seller (the bank owner) and the 2 title companies. This home had a closing scheduled for 3 different days that didn’t happen -
- The original closing was scheduled for September 30th at 4pm but the seller (bank) demanded that they have funds in hand by the end of business day since it was the end of the month. Since that wasn’t realistic with a 4pm closing we had to move it
- It wasn’t going to happen then anyway because when we tried to move it to October 2nd the sellers title company couldn’t get the deed package done in time
- Finally, we had everything from the sellers side and picked a closing of Wednesday October 7th at 8am. Then the buyers title company had their computer systems crash late on the 6th and couldn’t print all of the closing documents. We signed what we could at 8am but the buyer had to come back later in the day to finalize the signing and claim the keys
Lesson Learned – be patient when setting your closing and realize that there are things that happen out of the control of your Realtor that can cause the best laid dates to change.
That said, even with all of these changes my buyer was extremely happy to take possession of their first home and has already gotten started on making it their own.
Foreclosure Relief? I’m a CDPE – Short Sale Specialist
October 8, 2009
I spent the last 2 days becoming a Certified Distressed Property Expert at an excellent training class put on the the Distressed Property Institute. What is a CDPE?
A Certified Distressed Property Expert® is a real estate professional with specific understanding of the complex issues confronting the real estate industry, and the foreclosure avoidance options available to homeowners. Through comprehensive training and experience, CDPEs are able to provide solutions for homeowners facing hardships in today’s market, specifically short sales.
The prospect of foreclosure can be financially and emotionally devastating, and often homeowners proceed without guidance of any kind. The developers of the CDPE Designation believe that the best course of action for a homeowner in distress is to speak with a well-informed, licensed real estate professional. They have the tools needed to help homeowners find the best solution for their situation. Often, when other options have been exhausted, CDPEs can help homeowners avoid foreclosure through the efficient execution of a short sale.
Nationally there are now 1 in 8 homeowners that are either in foreclosure or in default (missed at least 1 payment). On top of that there is a coming storm of financing that is going to drive even more homeowners into default when their higher payments hit (see chart) -
As a CDPE my goal is to save Minnesota homeowners from going through a foreclosure which can have a devastating effect on their credit and impact their ability to buy a home or even their employment for many years. By implementing CDPE processes we average an 80-90% success rate with short sales vs. the industry average of 30%.
New Real Estate Search Tool Allows Agent Collaboration
October 2, 2009
One of the biggest things I’m trying to do in order to differentiate myself is to take full advantage of my 21 years at Microsoft to bring technology solutions to my clients. Last week I attended the Minnesota Realtors Expo and found a software company named Listingbook at the vendor expo.
What is Listingbook?
It’s an MLS online search tool that connects agents and their clients to an integrated platform for real time collaboration and communication. For buyers it conducts instant property searches connected directly into the MLS but it also allows instant communication and personalized service from the agent who can see what the client likes and doesn’t like about properties. For sellers it compares area sales by neighborhood and allows agent feedback reporting.
What Makes It Different?
While many agents & real estate companies have MLS search tools, this is the first product I’ve seen that really allows people to work more closely with their Realtor to communicate what they like (and don’t like) to find the best property. It also provides a platform that allows clients to know what they’ve already looked at and total freedom to customize the searches. Finally, it instantly provides information on new listings and price changes to identify new buying opportunities.
How Do You Try It?
It’s free to use (but it is advertiser supported). I’ve set up my own landing page so you can sign up and start taking advantage of this great resource. Let me know what you think!
Bill Wallace’s Listingbook Landing Page
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