On September 1, 2010, Northstar MLS started to offer rental properties into the Multiple Listing Service tool.  This means that Twin Cities Realtors now have the ability to assist both renters find properties and landlords looking to find tenants by using the power of MLS to deliver information.  Reasons why this change were made were outlined by Northstar MLS –

With the opportunity to offer consumers help finding rental properties, you can better establish relationships with people who will eventually be in the market to buy a home.  Or if you have a seller who cannot find a buyer, you can now help them better market their property for rent for a time until they are ready to look again for a buyer. 

Types of Rentals

Only residential rentals will be offered but they will span the complete spectrum of housing.  From single family to townhouses, condo’s and apartments.  Personally, I think the best opportunity is in the “non-apartment” sector. 

Why Use MLS To Find Rental Homes?

There are lots of people in this economy who still like the idea of “their own place”.  By using MLS as a tool you might be able to get more information than you get from Craigslist which seems to be the tool of choice for apartment rentals.  You might also find places which offer things like “rent to own” where tenants might want the services of a Realtor who can help evaluate a property for issues and current market value.  A Realtor who assists you find a property can scan for properties that meet your criteria or set up automated searches that get sent to you on a regular basis.

Why Use MLS To Find Tenants?

As a landlord, using a Realtor and MLS to find tenants can help tap into a new market for potential renters.  The 15,000+ Realtors in the Twin Cities have a vast array of people they work with that may need either short or longer term housing.  The landlord needs to offer some compensation to use MLS but the benefits of finding the right tenant are easy to quantify and compensation is typically similar to what a property management firm is paid.  Rental listings can enjoy the same broad exposure as “for sale” home listings currently have on numerous websites.  In addition, the same booking tools used to show houses are available to easily set up showings to prospective tenants.

How Fast Is It Taking Off?

We are only 7 days after launch and there are already 58 rental properties listed with MLS.  These include 33 single family homes, 12 townhouses, 9 condo’s and 4 other types. 

Conclusion

Whether you are looking to rent a property or are a landlord looking for renters, the MLS system offers a new solution to help you meet your needs.  For more information about what is available or the fee’s associated to get listed feel free to contact me.  As with traditional house sales, there’s no fee to a renter and the fee for a landlord is only paid upon successfully finding an acceptable tenant.

I work very closely with Alec Grebis at Bell Mortgage who shared with me the following information regarding a new loan product.

Minnesota Housing, who runs the State of Minnesota’s first time buyer programs, just announced a massive drop in their interest rates.  Buyers who qualify for the Minnesota Mortgage Program (see below) using a FHA mortgage today would be able to get 3.75% today on a 30 year fixed rate loan.

The interest rate on the widely popular, new Affordable Advantage program dropped to 4.50%.  This is the only zero down payment Conventional mortgage in Minnesota and it comes with no mortgage insurance requirement.  It is a great loan for those who are eligible for this as well.

To apply for either of these loans, start the process right here, through our Secure Application Portal.

Qualifications for MMP

• First time home buyer (which means you have not owned a home you lived in for the past 3 years)
• Income Limits: in the Twin Cities you typically need an annual household income under $84,000 (click here for current income limits)
• Purchase Price Limits: Income Limits: in the Twin Cities you need to be under about $300,000 ($298,125 to be specific) (click here for current home price limits)
• You must put $1,000 of your own money into the purchase (does not include gift money)
• Have acceptable credit and qualify for general mortgage guidelines
• Have three years tax returns

Qualifications for Affordable Advantage (Zero down Conventional mortgage with no Mortgage Insurance)

• First time home buyer (which means you have not owned a home you lived in for the past 3 years)
• Minimum credit score of 680
• Your total debt-to-income cannot exceed 45%
• Income Limits: in the Twin Cities you typically need an annual household income under $84,000 (click here for current income limits)
• Purchase Price Limits: Income Limits: in the Twin Cities you need to be under about $300,000 ($298,125 to be specific) (click here for current home price limits)
• You must put $1,000 of your own money into the purchase (does not include gift money)
• Have acceptable credit and qualify for general mortgage guidelines
• Have three years tax returns

Conclusion

Interest rates are at historic lows and we are starting to see a number of attractive and creative lending products for those that qualify.  Working with a seasoned loan office like Alec who understands the myriad of options out there really helps to get buyers the best possible solution to purchase a new home.

My newest listing is now on the market at 15206 Crystal Drive E. in Burnsville, MN.  It’s a charming 3 bedroom, 2 bath rambler located in desirable school district 196. Convenient location just one block from Crystal Lake. 

This home offers one level living with a spacious, open floor plan. Home features include:

• updated kitchen featuring 48” maple cabinets, stainless appliances and cork floor
• spacious family room with bamboo floor and travertine gas fireplace surround
• large formal living offering additional space for entertaining
• master bath with ceramic tile
• unfinished basement for tons of storage or additional living space
• attached two car garage
• nice private yard with covered patio, garden and two sheds and more!

This is a short sale so while the price is starting at $295,000 we will be reducing the price on a regular basis to find a buyer. 

You can find more details and additional pictures here – 15206 Crystal Drive Details & Photos

As a Realtor I frequently use the Dakota County Real Estate Inquiry website to look up information about properties in the County.  It can give me information about tax values, home & lot size, current ownership and previous sales.  While logging into the system today I found a new link to the Dakota County Property Information tool and found a really useful tool that many consumers might be able to benefit from as it is more visually interactive than the Inquiry tool.

What is it?

Dakota County Property Information is an interactive web map intended to provide the public with access to information regarding real property in Dakota County.

Using The Tool

When you first log into the tool you are given a large map of Dakota County with a drill down function to zoom into any city or even down to the street/parcel level.  For example, below I have zoomed into Eagan’s Autumn Woods and Hawthorne Woods developments which surround Pinewood Elementary.  The area has Diffley Road to the north, Dodd Road to the west and Highway 3 to the east.  You can easily pick out the individual streets and properties in that area.

That isn’t all that different that features you could find within the Real Estate Inquiry tool.  To really get some cool features you can go from the Street View (in the upper left corner) to the Aerial View.  That gives you more of a satellite image of the geography below superimposed with the property lines.  If you then click on the option called “Themes” along the top you get a color coded overlay showing you which addresses have had sales associated in the last 5 years.  You can see an example of the same area near Pinewood Elementary below.

Now we are getting some valuable information!

By using this tool you get to see information about whole neighborhoods and how much turnover they are having.  As you can see in the developments above, they have had very little sales activity (only 5 sales in 2009 and 3 in 2008) which can lead to more stable prices when every house close by isn’t trying to be sold.  You can also use this to research sales trends in different neighborhoods whether you have a house to sell there or are looking to buy.

You can go even 1 more step to click on an individual parcel to get key information.  For example, I clicked on the 1 property that showed up in blue above as a sold home in 2010.

You then get a picture of the property, details about the owner, tax value and building details.  While much of this data is in the Real Estate Inquiry tool, I really like the picture of the house front and center (which is different) and the visual quality of being able to click from house to house and see each one.

Conclusion

The new Dakota County Property Information tool is a valuable resource that many Realtors will use on a daily basis and consumers can benefit from as well.  Best of all it’s free to use.  Go try it out yourself and let me know what you think about it.

The Minneapolis Association of Realtors released their Weekly Market Activity Report today and for the 15th straight week the Twin Cities real estate market has seen significantly less transactions than a year ago.  We continue on a pace of an approximately 40% sales decline from last summer, even while interest rates continue at record low levels.

For 12 consecutive weeks now, the number of homes for sale in the Twin Cities housing market has been higher than it was a year ago, and the gap between this year’s inventory and last year’s inventory at the same time has been steadily growing. There are currently 27,784 homes for sale, up 8.1 percent from this time in 2009. Inventory is not growing due to an influx of new sellers putting their homes on the market. Rather, its growing due to a drop in buyers who once were absorbing supply.

For the week ending August 21, there were 601 signed purchase agreements, down 40.6 percent from a year ago. That’s the 15th consecutive week of significant declines compared to a year ago.

With supply growing and fewer buyers to purchase it, home sellers can expect a challenging fall and downward pressure on home values. Motivated sellers who want to move quickly may have to pursue aggressive pricing to attract buyers.

With the end of the summer home buying season just about over one has to wonder what this fall is going to bring.  One thing is for certain, there aren’t many buyers out there and those sellers are facing even further drops in house values and longer time on market.

This week the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) put out an interesting press release discussing how market conditions are rapidly leading to a large decline in the number of Realtors in the Twin Cities.  I had previously written about this here and most recently, in a blog entry yesterday.

You can see from their chart that membership at MAAR (blue line) has dropped from a high of near 11,000 to its current total of below 8,000.  There are also 2 other local Associations (North Metro Association and St. Paul Association) which make up the combined number for the metro area.  MAAR noted the direct correlation between sales prices and membership –

Although we always knew that membership was a trailing indicator of market activity, this chart illustrates that there is a far greater correlation than we first suspected. The seasonality effect in home prices is also mirrored in the membership numbers with surges in the warmer months and decreases in the colder months. Buyer activity—as measured by the closed sales trendline—seems to have peaked about two years before prices did. The first tax credit could have slowed the decline in member numbers as prices received a boost in Summer of 2009, although that could be purely coincidental.

There has actually been an uptick in the number of members since the low in early 2009.  Reasons for that include an uptick in sales activity due to the tax credits, the ease of entry for unemployed workers into the field and the merger of the South Metro Association with St. Paul’s Association which may have led some Realtors to join with Minneapolis instead.

The Twin Cities real estate market has been difficult the past 5 years and statistics show that there are now approximately 20% fewer Realtors than there were during the up market.  That still leaves 15,000+ agents out there to choose from so a question that comes up often is “What should someone ask when interviewing a Realtor?”  Home sellers are entrusting a large financial transaction to whomever they choose so this choice shouldn’t be taken lightly.  The following 2 big questions should help you differentiate a large number of Realtors from each other.

Question 1 – Are You A Full-Time Realtor?

The National Association of Realtors estimates that more than 60% of Realtors are either part-time or hold a 2nd job and that number has been increasing with the slow down in the economy.  While there may be some legitimate reasons to hire a part-time agent the majority of those that aren’t full-time go out of their way to keep their status hidden from potential clients.  Reasons for hiring a full-time Realtor include:

• Availability – Marketing a home doesn’t fit neatly into a certain set number of hours.  Potential buyers and their agents can call any time of day for information about a property that might turn into an offer.  Being available and proactive to market a home is extremely hard to do if a person has priorities other than their clients.  In addition, an agent often needs to be available on short notice to address issues or negotiate on deals and that’s hard to do if they are busy running a cash register at Walmart or taking care of their young children.
• Education – When a Realtor isn’t working with clients they spend a lot of time improving both their skills and knowledge of the market.  In Minnesota, a Realtor needs to obtain just 15 hours/year of training to maintain their license.  An active, full-time Realtor spends countless hours each week getting smarter about using technology, honing their skills and most importantly, staying up to date with the current state of the housing market.  Knowing the market is critical when it comes time to set expectations with clients or negotiate on offers.
• Success & Track Record – Most sellers want to hire someone who gives them the highest chance of a successful transaction and one of the best ways to ensure that is to find a Realtor with a track record of success and a good list of recent clients to use as testimonials.  A full-time Realtor is much more likely to be able to provide that.  In fact, many agents are not full-time because they don’t have a track record of success to offer.

Question 2 – Do You Have A Full-Time Staff With Specialized Skills?

More and more agents seem to be cutting corners and trying to take on all aspects of selling a house instead of using specialists and administrative help.  While there may be some Realtors with all of these skill sets, each of these tasks require someone with very specific knowledge in order for a home to be marketed most effectively:

• Staging – HGTV has a very loyal viewer base with many TV shows dedicated to the importance of staging a property for sale.  A home that shows well gets a higher price and sells faster.  While it’s quite possible that some Realtors may possess staging skills at a certain level (they know what generally looks nice or can hand you a list of ideas) it takes a specialist who knows design, color and consumer psychology to really make a home show its best.  The condition of a home and its emotional connection with a buyer is critical to getting an offer.  Finding a Realtor who has these skills or brings them in by using a specialist means more money to a seller.
• Photographer – The current statistic is that 93% of all buyers use the internet to find a home.  You get 10 pictures on MLS to tell the story of your home and attract enough interest to get them to come see it in person.  Just go out to any home search site and you can see listings littered with bad pictures.  While everyone can take a picture with their spiffy, small digital camera it is imperative that someone have specialized equipment (like wide angle lenses & tripods) and a photographers eye to get the most out of your 10 pictures.  That’s why hiring a professional photographer will often mean better pictures and more showings.
• Marketing – Some may think that sales and marketing are the same thing but they are actually quite different.  Getting your property marketed in its best light on numerous websites, brochures, mailings and other new social media outlets takes both time and an eye for what looks good.  While many agents may be able to do this using some of the tools and templates that exist it is often best left to a specialist.  Many of the larger real estate teams will have a person to do this with a marketing background.
• Technology – The use of technology in real estate is becoming more and more important and knowing how to use it in order to better communicate with clients and market a property is a big differentiator.  There are still a lot of Realtors who don’t know how to use social media, promotional websites and the latest hardware gadgets (like a Smartphone).  Again, these are skills that can be hired as either a full-time assistant or outside resource to better serve clients.  Lack of communication is one of the biggest complaints that sellers have about their Realtors.

Conclusion

After you’ve made the big decision to sell your house there are 2 other primary decisions that must be made that can make all the difference.  One of those is hiring the right Realtor (and the other is setting your price).  By asking these “2 Big Questions” when interviewing Realtors you will go a long way toward helping yourself find an agent that gets you to a successful transaction.

While I sell all over the Twin Cities and focus on Dakota County, I have a special affinity for Rosemount since I live there.  Recent sales data keeps coming in to discuss the rotten state of the housing market but it might be more instructive to give specific data for a city like Rosemount.  Therefore, I decided to look at home sales statistics year to date through August.

Rosemount, MN Data

The Minneapolis Association of Realtors puts out monthly data on each city showing the overall sales transactions by month and year (seen above) but it doesn’t go very deep to show what might really be happening for real sellers who are interested in trying to market their homes in today’s tough real estate market.

So far in 2010 there have been 130 completed sales transactions for single family homes in Rosemount through August 24, 2010.  You can see from the chart above that there were 174 through July but that includes townhouses and condos.  While 130 transactions might not sound bad they break down as follows –

In other words, only about 1 in 3 sales are a traditional seller and we are averaging a paltry 8 sales/month for those sellers in 2010.  There are more homes being sold that are bank owned and short sales (bank mediated) than traditional sales.

Median Sales Price Decline

The table below gives a very good idea of what’s happened to average sales prices through the decline in home prices over the past 5 years -

Rosemount has seen a drop in median sales price from almost $250,000 to approximately $200,000 today – almost a 20% decline.

Other Statistics

Other data you can gather from looking at the 47 sales that have taken place includes:

• The average Cumulative Days on Market for the homes that sold was 159 days.  In other words, those houses that did finally sell had a long wait to find a buyer
• The average home had a final sale price of $104/finished square feet but this varied by $20+ each way (ranges from $80-$130)
• Of the 47 transactions, 31 of them had seller concessions needed to finalize a deal.  The average seller concession for those 31 deals was $7,567
• The average discount was 5.2%.  This is the amount of the final sale price from the list price at time of sale and includes seller concessions as a discount
• Only 12 of the 47 homes were sold without ever having a price reduction.  In other words, almost 3 of 4 had a price that was too high to start with.  The market is still saturated with both sellers who start out too high and Realtors who set too high an expectation to get a listing and then push price reductions later.

Conclusion

For those people that want to sell their homes, one of the most important decisions in selecting a Realtor is finding someone who can best set expectations about the current market.  To do that you need to have data that gives the most accurate measure of the current state of the market.  This view into the Rosemount, MN home sales statistics through August, 2010 is an example of what you should be asking for as it is readily available from the MLS.

The media has been full of stories recently about both the Twin Cities and national housing markets.  Almost all of them have painted a bleak picture of what’s happening in real estate as sales are down significantly and the inventory of homes available continues higher.

For example, the Minneapolis Association of Realtors published their weekly Market Activity Report yesterday which shows sales in the Twin Cities are down 42% for the past 3 months as compared to last year.  Active listings are now up to 27,784 – an 8% increase over last year.

Today the Star Tribune posted a story about how the incredibly low interest rates haven’t stopped national home sales from falling to their lowest levels in 15 years.  Sales in the US were down 27% in July.

While it’s always a good idea to know what the current state of the market is like the question I hear most often is “what is going to happen to home prices in the future?”  The graph at the top of this article is from a blog called Keeping Current Matters and uses data from MacroMarkets which surveys 100 economists and housing experts for 5 year projections in real estate.  Based on this data they conclude that –

If you are selling, the price you can expect to receive for your house will be lower over the next two years than it is today.

If you buy today, you could see a cumulative appreciation of almost 10% in five years.

Are they right?  I don’t know but hopefully by combining the data from 100 experts we get a better picture of what to expect.  The one thing I do know is that there will be a bottom to the market and trying to predict the exact best time to buy or sell is an inexact science. 

After taking a bit of a break from blogging for the summer I am back at it and was struck again today by how often I get asked about my name.  Mel Gibson’s version of the life of William Wallace in Braveheart gets me many questions, especially when I hand over my credit card or drivers license with my full birth name. 

I then am given the opportunity to explain that I am in fact named after the “Hero of Scotland” as my mother was into Scottish history at the time of my birth.  She continued her historic ways by naming my brother Robert Bruce Wallace, who some may recall from the movie as taking on Wallace’s cause and ultimately was crowned Robert I King of Scotland.

In retrospect, my namesake was also involved in real estate.  He became the hero of a country for helping lead them to independence while giving up his life in the process.  My aim is a little less ambitious but I do also aim to be a hero to my real estate clients.  That said, I’ve never painted my face in order to intimidate an opposing agent (as of yet anyway).