Dakota County Properties

New Listing – 5648 Garfield Avenue S., Minneapolis, MN 55419

Bill Wallace — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:48:44 +0000

Today I listed this immaculate, brick 1 story home at 5648 Garfield Avenue,S., Minneapolis, MN 55419. This 4 bedroom, 3 bath home has 2 fireplaces and 2 garages. The starting list price is $269,900.

Other Features of This Home Include -

Attractive brick home in move-in ready condition with many updates
Living Room/Dining Room area features hardwood floors, large moldings, a fireplace and built in hutches
Kitchen has ceramic floors, stainless steel appliances, ceramic counters and space for a small table
3 Bedrooms on main level including good sized master with hardwood floors and 2 closets
Ceramic shower and tile counter in main bath
Lower level features large family room with 2nd fireplace, 4th bedroom, finished office/exercise room, wet bar, laundry and 3/4 ceramic bathroom
Outside back door is new paver patio with a fire pit and a private & fenced backyard
Home has both an attached 1 car garage and a detached 1 1/2 car garage with an additional concrete parking pad and basketball hoop
Easy access to public transportation just 1 block away

You can find additional details about the property including more pictures, virtual tour and a map here – 5648 Garfield Avenue S., Minneapolis, MN 55419

For more information about this property or to schedule a showing, please contact me

Bill Wallace is a Realtor at RE/MAX Results in Apple Valley, MN with a focus on Dakota County and the Southern Twin Cities including – Apple Valley, Bloomington, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Inver Grove Heights, Lakeville, Mendota Heights, Prior Lake, Richfield, Rosemount, Savage, Shakopee, South St. Paul and West St. Paul.

New Listing – 1212 Allen Avenue, West St Paul, MN 55118

Bill Wallace — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:40:49 +0000

Yesterday I listed this 4 bedroom, 2 bath home at 1212 Allen Avenue in West St. Paul, MN 55118. This property was built in 1965 and is in excellent condition with a number of recent updates. It is directly across from Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School. You can literally watch your kids walk directly across the street and into their school from your large, front picture window.

Other features of this home include -

In addition to it being directly across the street from Moreland Magnet Arts Elementary (which has ball fields and playground) Heritage Middle School is within walking distance.
Many new updates in this well cared for home including: New roof (2010), new deck (2009), new entry door, new dishwasher, new garage door/garage door opener, new lighting and fresh paint
Main floor has hardwood under carpeting in living room and bedrooms
Double vanity and ceramic in main bath
Very private & flat backyard with fencing on 3 sides and storage shed
Hard to find oversized 2 car garage which is fully sheet rocked, insulated and heated
Eat In Kitchen has lots of cabinets and new tile backsplash behind stove
3 good sized bedrooms on main level, each with a ceiling fan
Lower level features spacious family room, 4th bedroom/office, laundry and 3/4 bath
Less than 1/2 block to public transportation

Schools:

You can find additional details about the property including more pictures, virtual tour and a map here – 1212 Allen Avenue, West St Paul, MN 55118

For more information about this property please contact me

New Listing – 13381 Couchtown Ct., Rosemount MN 55068

Bill Wallace — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:19:55 +0000

Yesterday I listed this stunning newer home at 13381 Couchtown Ct., Rosemount, MN 55068. This 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom home was built in 2005 and sits on a cul-de-sac. It shows like a home right out of HGTV and has an amazing private backyard.

Other features of this home include -

Glendalough neighborhood of Evermoor – Rosemount’s Premier Development. Glendalough features 2 swimming pools, parks & miles of paved walking trails
Very private yard that’s easy to maintain. Yard can be extended another 20+ feet by removing trees to create a larger backyard
Kitchen features dark wood cabinetry, stainless steel appliances & Cambria counters
Main floor office that’s unique to this model
Open concept main living space with kitchen, informal dining and living room
Home features today’s colors on all walls and is in excellent condition with many updates
Huge vaulted master bedroom with room for lots of furniture. Large w-in closet w/ built ins
Newly finished, walk out basement level features large, cherry bar, granite, gaming area, television area, 5th bedroom and ceramic 3/4 bath
Oversize 3 car garage with lots of storage
4 outdoor spaces—covered front porch, large deck, stamped patio and fire pit
Very friendly neighborhood with lots of kids

Schools:

You can find additional details about the property including more pictures, virtual tour and a map here – 13381 Couchtown Ct., Rosemount, MN 55068

For more information about this property please contact me

What The Twin Cities Housing Supply Report Is Telling Us

Bill Wallace — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:30:37 +0000

Each month the Minneapolis Association of Realtors publishes their Twin Cities Housing Supply Report to analyze the characteristics of homes for sale in the Twin Cities market and compare it to historical statistics. A lot has been made recently about how sales are up and inventory for homes is down but a lot of interesting information can be gained by looking at the details. So lets do just that…

This graph from the Housing Supply Report shows the number of pending sales on a rolling 12 month basis in the Twin Cities. Some good information from this -

There are lots of real estate investors in the market right now and they are especially interested in lower priced properties that can be turned into rental units. In the past 12 months they snapped up those properties priced less than $120k at a very fast rate.
As you move into properties priced between $150k-$1,000,000 we actually saw sales continue to decline. This explains why all the Twin Cities news media reports show that sales are up and yet prices are down. The houses that are selling are low end units and traditional sellers really still had sales declines throughout 2011

This report from the Housing Supply Report shows the number of active real estate listings in the Twin Cities by price range. Overall, the number of listings is down 27.9% but as you can see, that range is much more extreme as you move toward lower price points. A couple observations include -

It’s definitely getting harder to find good homes in the lower price points. A lot of this is being driven by real estate investors who are snapping up low priced listings right now as the rental market is so strong. They are having increasingly more difficult times finding properties right now.
As you get toward higher price points the inventory is much more balanced but there are fewer listings across the board which is positive for all sellers

The final graph I’ve chosen from the Twin Cities Housing Supply Report is this one which shows the Months Supply of Inventory by price point. The Months Supply of Inventory shows how many months it would take to sell all the current listings on the market based on the number of listings divided by the current sales rate. In other words, if no new $190-250k listings came on the market then it would take 4.8 months to sell all the current listings in that price point based on current sales levels.

A balanced real estate market in the Twin Cities is 5-6 Months Supply of Inventory so by this measure we can see that the supply of lower priced homes is way down and is causing some shortages.

Although most pronounced at low prices, Supply is actually down across all price points
While 9.8 months Supply for $500-1,000 and 17.7 months Supply for $1 Million + homes seems daunting, those numbers are actually about half of what they were just 2 years ago. At one point the Supply for $1M+ homes was over 36 months

Wrapping up Housing Supply Report

One of the most common questions a Realtor gets is “what’s happening with the current real estate market”? It has been very confusing in the local media when every other report seems to show positive and then negative news. Hopefully, by digging more deeply into the Housing Supply Report for the Twin Cities it’s easy to see that sales have been especially strong at lower price points (driven by investors). We can also see that most measures of inventory are still quite positive for even traditional sellers as the supply is down across the board which will certainly help everyone for now.

You can always get the latest Twin Cities market statistics and reports here.

For more information please contact me

RE/MAX Results Radar – Home Search Application for Mobile Devices

Bill Wallace — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:51:25 +0000

Today I am happy to introduce the RE/MAX Results Radar – a free Home Search Application for your mobile phone. The Results Radar is a Home Search application that you download to your Apple iPhone or iPad, Android Phone or Tablet or coming soon, Blackberry device.

You can download this free Home Search tool here – Home Search Tool

What Does RE/MAX Results Radar Do For Buyers?

The RE/MAX Results Radar Home Search Application makes searching for homes while on a mobile device easy and enjoyable. One of the unique and ground-breaking parts of this new Application is something called Results Radar. When a user stops in front of a home currently listed for sale on MLS and they want all the photos and information, they simply have to click on the Results Radar button and hold the phone up so that the home can be seen in the viewer. All of the MLS information will immediately populate on the mobile device screen, including the enhanced information from www.Results.net. How cool is that?

The tool also allows real time integration back to their Realtor (hopefully me). With the touch of a button on your phone you can request a showing or request more information and I will be immediately notified via e-mail or text message that you have found a house you like! There’s even a “Call Me” button to immediately connect to me to discuss what you are seeing or reading about that home.

What Does RE/MAX Results Radar Do For Sellers?

While the primary benefit of the RE/MAX Results Radar Home Search Application is for buyers, there are also some nice features that will help my sellers. I can set up unique marketing data for each home I have listed so that people who want more information can very easily download data about the home to their smartphone or tablet. For example, instead of just relying on paper brochures in a brochure box someone can now pull up rich data on the home and all of the pictures in full color to their mobile device.

Technology Tools For The Future

One of the reasons I like RE/MAX Results is that they are definitely on the cutting edge of providing technology tools that help provide value to our clients. Being able to point your camera at a home and immediately pulling all the relevant data about it is something that is very unique right now.

Go download the Free RE/MAX Results Radar Home Search Application yourself and let me know what you think.

For more information please contact me

New Listing – 15564 Columbia Court, Rosemount, MN 55068

Bill Wallace — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:54:18 +0000

Today I listed this 1 owner, former model at 15564 Columbia Court, Rosemount, MN 55068. This house is a 3 level split that is located on a quiet cul-de-sac and has had tons of updates done to it in the past few years. It is a very short walk over to Jaycee Park with its skating rinks, athletic fields and playground.

Other features of this home include –

New high efficiency furnace and water heater installed in 2009
New kitchen range & newer dishwasher/refrigerator means less chance of costly repairs soon
New real oak hardwood floors stretch from front entry through dining room and kitchen
Vaulted main level to bring light throughout
Breakfast bar, Eat in kitchen area and dining room give you flexible eating options for the family that eats in different ways
New carpet in living room this past year
All 3 bathrooms have been updated in past couple years with new ceramic floors and fixtures
Unfinished lowest level features laundry & lots of storage space. Painted floor gives it a nice clean look & feel
Good sized deck off main level and large paver patio off walkout gives you plenty of spaces to enjoy the backyard
Yard is open for family games and has fencing on 2 sides already so it’s inexpensively enclosed if you have a pet
Vinyl siding and new roof in 2007 for low maintenance costs outside

Schools:

You can find additional details about the property including more pictures, virtual tour and a map here – 15564 Columbia Court, Rosemount, MN 55068

For more information about this property please contact me

Get Free Twin Cities First Time Homebuyer Guide

Bill Wallace — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:30:18 +0000

This past weekend I participated as a vendor at the Twin Cities – South of the River Wedding Expo in Burnsville at the Best Western Nicollet Inn. In preparation for this event I published a First Time Homebuyers Guide to assist new couples through the process involved with buying their first home. This 15 page guide goes through all of the essentials needed to help first time buyers (or any buyer for that matter) in understanding how to go about making such a significant purchase. With over 200 attendees at this Expo it was a great opportunity to meet many new couples from throughout the Twin Cities who were not only about to start a new life together but were contemplating the purchase of their first home as well.

First Time Homebuyer Guide Contents

The First Time Homebuyers Guide is packed full of information that will assist Twin Cities couples understand the entire process. It starts by talking about the advantages of buying instead of renting and then goes on to talk about getting approved for a loan and what that loan will cost you. It then discusses things that are easier to understand like making a wish list of features and how location, floor plan and condition play into choosing a home.

Finally, the Guide discusses more difficult topics like how to come up with an offer price, what goes into making an offer and the entire process of what happens from the time an offer is made until you close on the home and move in.

Get Your Free Copy

It turns out that I printed more copies of my First Time Homebuyers Guide than I needed for the Twin Cities Wedding Expo so I thought I’d make them available to others as well. I’d be happy to mail you a copy today if you contact me.

The First Time Homebuyers Guide includes a number of customer testimonials from other couples I’ve helped. It’s always one of my favorite experiences as a Realtor in seeing the excitement of a first time buyer close on their new home.

Dakota County Housing Affordability At All Time High

Bill Wallace — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:14:16 +0000

The Housing Affordability Index in Dakota County (and the rest of the Twin Cities) is at an All-Time High this month. At the end of December 2011, the index hit a mark of 264 which is 8.6% above this time a year ago.

What Is The Housing Affordability Index

The Index was developed in 1971 to measure whether the typical family can afford to qualify for a mortgage on a typical home. It’s really a measure of 3 primary factors -

Average Home Prices
Median Incomes
Interest Rates

This definition is available from the National Association of Realtors -

a value of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough income to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home. An index above 100 signifies that family earning the median income has more than enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan on a median-priced home, assuming a 20 percent down payment. For example, a composite HAI of 120.0 means a family earning the median family income has 120% of the income necessary to qualify for a conventional loan covering 80 percent of a median-priced existing single-family home. An increase in the HAI, then, shows that this family is more able to afford the median priced home.

In other words, the Index assumes a 20% downpayment which isn’t always typical these days but an FHA loan allows for a 3.5% downpayment and is very popular right now.

Impact On Dakota County Residents

Dakota County has continued to see home prices drop while interest rates have continued at near record low levels. This combination has driven the Housing Affordability Index ever higher.

The index of 264 means that the typical family has 264% of the income they need in order to qualify for a loan to purchase the median priced home in Dakota County. Basically, they would have no problem qualifying as they would have plenty of income to meet standard mortgage acceptance measures and could likely qualify for a house much more expensive than the median price. The median priced home in the Twin Cities declined to $145,000 in December.

Median Mortgage Payment

Another way to look at the Housing Affordability for Dakota County residents is to look at how much of a households income would be eaten up by the median mortgage payment. As you can see below (in this national number) the average household’s mortgage payment fell to around 15% of their income which means that people can spend a lot less of their income on housing and hopefully allow them to save more money.

This graph is from ADS Analytics

Buy vs. Rent

This all ties in quite a bit with feedback I’m getting from many potential first time homebuyers in the past couple months who are considering buying their first home. They are seeing that it’s cheaper to buy vs. rent (as I wrote about last May), especially as rental rates go up in the face of low rental availability.

Housing Affordability Conclusion

With this combination of low prices, low interest rates and higher rents it may be the right time for Dakota County residents to explore their options. Many people start by finding a Realtor and then getting qualified by a lender. You can contact me and we can get started.

Evermoor Development Rosemount – 2011 Home Sales Update

Bill Wallace — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:43:10 +0000

Evermoor continues to be one of Rosemount’s premier development’s so it’s time to do a 2011 home sales update in the place I call home. This former 500+ acre sheep farm is finally about to be completely filled with homes as Lennar is expected to finish the final open lots in the Glendalough neighborhood by the summer of 2012. You can read my 2010 home sales recap here.

Evermoor Development

Using my “fancy map” above you can see that Evermoor stretches from Diamond Path along the Apple Valley border on the west side almost to Highway 3 on the east end. The development is broken up into 13 sub developments which I outlined in my initial Evermoor blog story.

You can also find a drive through video I did showcasing the different neighborhoods on YouTube.

2011 Home Sales Recap

This year I decided to include both the 2010 and 2011 sales figures so it’s easier to spot trends. I have columns for total sales, traditional sellers, new homes, bank owned and short sales. Some of the major themes that emerge include -

There were a total of 64 homes sold in Evermoor in 2011 which was an increase from the 58 sold in 2010.
Lennar continues to sell new homes like crazy as they sold 28 new homes in the Glendalough development. This number was better than the total number of previously owned homes in the entire Evermoor Development for 2011
There was a marked increase in the number of bank owned properties, although the bulk of them are in the lower end townhouse sub-development at Roundstone
When you take out the new homes and lender mediated homes there were actually fewer homes sold by traditional sellers in 2011 than in the previous year

Prices Continued Downward

Overall, the Minneapolis Association of Realtors says that the Average Sales Price of homes sold in Rosemount have declined by 9.7% in the past 12 months. We can see that show up by looking at homes in the Cross Croft neighborhood. These are detached townhomes that are very similar to each other in style and size so it makes it easy to watch pricing trends.

Example 1:

13621 Crosscroft and 13570 Crossmoor are almost identical homes. The home on Crosscroft sold on 11/29/2010 for $260,000. The home on Crossmoor sold on 12/14/2011 for $229,000 which is actually almost a 12% decline.

Example 2:

3694 Crosscliffe & 13603 Crossglen are larger homes but very similar 2 level models with 3 bedrooms & 3 baths. The home on Crosscliffe sold on 2/19/2010 for $335,000 while the Crossglen home sold about 18 months later on 9/21/2011 for $295,000. That’s another 12% decline.

Active Listings

There are currently only 13 active listings available in the Evermoor development of Rosemount. 5 of those listings are new homes by Lennar and 4 of them are condo’s in the Bard’s Crossing sub-development. You can see them by using my Home Finder tool.

The number of listings in the Twin Cities is down all over and while it is expected this will increase rapidly once we approach spring the lack of listings is actually stabilizing prices right now.

Summary of Evermoor Development

Rosemount’s Evermoor Development continues to be one of the premier places to live in the south metro. One has to only look at how many new houses are still selling here to see it’s a place that people want to call home.

If you are looking to buy or sell in Evermoor choose a Realtor who lives here and knows it extremely well. Just contact me and we can get started.

Expired Listing Success Story – Steve & Susan in South St. Paul

Bill Wallace — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:01:00 +0000

It’s been a while since I wrote an expired listing success story so as we enter the new year it’s a good chance to go back and get caught up on some of the 8 listings that I helped sell in 2011 that had failed with a previous Realtor. I have written up a number of other expired listing success stories which can be found here.

Steve & Susan’s Story

I got a call from Steve February 2011 to come and meet to discuss their home in South St. Paul. Steve and Susan had recently gotten married and she moved into his townhouse in Woodbury so they were selling her South St. Paul home. They had the home listed with another Realtor for over a year with little interest. The home was now sitting empty, except for Steve’s vintage car in the garage. They wanted the house sold quickly.

The Interview Process

I met Steve at the home and after my normal walkthrough I scheduled to come back and meet to go through my pricing analysis. I was a little nervous as my comparable pricing analysis said the fair market value was $106k and they had previously been on the market at $137k.

What was interesting is that Steve & Susan knew that the price was too high as they could see a lot of the same sold data on the internet themselves. Their previous Realtor just hadn’t had the boldness to tell them what they needed to price the home at to get it sold. This lead to a wasted year on the market and an expired listing.

Steve & Susan’s Results

We listed the home at $109,900 and the home sold in 11 days at $106,532 – pretty much right on what I had told them. They were extremely happy as they met their goal of getting the home sold quickly and at full price!

Steve’s testimonial was short and sweet – “Hire Bill Wallace. He will get your house sold!”

Avoiding Your Own Expired Listing Story

Each of these clients could have saved themselves a lot of headaches by hiring the right Realtor in the first place. Things like asking the right questions and getting references can go a long way in helping make sure you don’t have your own expired listing or cancelled listing story when trying to sell.

To find out more about these stories or begin your own interview process with a specialist in Dakota County and the rest of the Twin Cities please fill out my Contact Me form so we can get started.