Minnetonka Real Estate - Housing Statistics - May, 2008
June 24th, 2008 Categories: Minnetonka Real Estate Statistics, Real Estate News
Closed sales are down 42% in May from last year and nearly 39% overall in Minnetonka.
Home prices are down 15% from last May to May, 2008. Year to date, the home prices are dead even. The average days on market is up to almost 23%. The silver lining is that with less houses on the market the there is a greater demand for them. Remember to stage your home to look better than your competition and price it just below the average home you’re competing with. You can sell your home…just be smart about it!
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Plymouth, MN Real Estate - Current Housing Statistics - May, 2008
June 24th, 2008 Categories: Plymouth Current Housing Statistics, Real Estate News
Here are the latest statistics from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors for Plymouth. The chart explains itself, but in a nutshell, there were a whopping 7% less single family homes on the market in May this year than last year.
The housing affordability has not been this good since 2004, according to the association. I believe that we’re near the end of the price cuts, too.
Ready, buyers?
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Price It Right and It Will Sell In Maple Grove and Plymouth, MN
June 18th, 2008 Categories: Maple Grove Stuff, Plymouth Current Housing Statistics, Real Estate News
You know it… I know it.
The real estate market has been horrible. Except…for my listings.
“Oh really”, you say. Yes, oh really.
I priced them right.
If you have a home listed that’s not selling or if you let it expire because it didn’t sell, chances are that you had your price too high. You either didn’t care if you sold or didn’t feel that you could walk away with little or no profit. Deep down, you knew you had it priced too high, but you stood firm and figured someone would come along and pay it.
Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way for most of us. The numbers speak for themselves. If your Realtor did a market analysis for you, you pretty much knew what price your home should have been listed at. If the price was right and you still didn’t get any offers, you probably needed to have it staged. If you didn’t have it staged, your Realtor should have given you feedback from your showings letting you know what others thought of the home.
It’s very important to price it right in the first place. The first two weeks of the listing is when you will get the most showings. If the price is too high, you just closed a big window of opportunity!
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Thank you, Bob and Dagmar! Living the Good Life in Plymouth, Minnesota!
June 8th, 2008 Categories: Plymouth "News", Real Estate News, The Good Life, Twin Cities Real Estate Economy
Bob and Dagmar. What a pair. They bought my home from an unknown (to me) builder way back in 1971.
I can’t even imagine what Plymouth looked liked back then. They decided that my future home would be their retirement home. They lived there for 30 years. Good for them!
I think my husband and I will, 
too. It is a beautiful little chunk of Plymouth. It is worth a fair amount, but not a phenomenal stash, by any means.
What’s the cool part about this home? I can’t even begin to tell you but here are a few tidbits…
Wildlife abundant
Cul de sac location
Wayzata schools
Awesome neighbors (they don’t bug you and their kids are top notch high school/college grads)
Backs up to a beautiful woods with interesting critters…a pic of a snapping turtle is here on this post.
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GE Electronic Lock “I” Box…How to Ruin a Beautiful Sunday Open House In Maple Grove
June 7th, 2008 Categories: Maple Grove Stuff, My Listings, Real Estate News
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I was just about to go show houses in Savage when one of my co-agents called to say he couldn’t get into the lock box at the open house he was doing for me in Maple Grove. I told him I’d be right there and when I arrived with my “key”, which is my Treo phone, it wouldn’t open it either.
Turns out, we had a total of three showings that day and two had already come and gone without getting in to see the property. We had another showing scheduled for that evening, too!
My co-worker was kind enough to wait for the homeowner (who we called) to get another key and stay later than the scheduled open to show the other Realtor who was coming. He’s a sweetie!
The $80 GE Supra “I” Box was as dead as a doornail. I checked on my computer at home and it claimed on the website that it had an 88% battery life. OK. So what, then, was the problem? Read the rest of this entry »
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How to Build a Fire Pit In Your Own Backyard. It’s So Minnesotan!
June 6th, 2008 Categories: Local Ordinances, Outside of the Box, Real Estate News
Living in the Twin Cities can be a wonderful thing. We Minnesotans like to be outdoors all of the seasons of the year. Having a fire pit in your yard is just like being up north all of the time.
A couple of must do’s and you’re on your way. You must adhere to the city’s code that you live in. Here’s all you have to do to build a fire pit in Plymouth: Read the rest of this entry »
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Here’s My Friday Insight From My Awesome Personal Trainer in Plymouth, Minnesota
May 30th, 2008 Categories: BNI Full Circle Chapter, Cool Guys, Plymouth "News", Real Estate News, The Good Life
Luke Carlson, my personal trainer and owner of Discover Strength in Plymouth, knows that I work hard physically to maintain some sense of a decent body at the ripe old age of 54. It helps me in my personal life, but it totally helps me keep my stamina and good nature in my real estate life here in the Twin Cities. Here’s my (and could be yours) personal trainer’s latest for everyone to learn from…
Insight from Dr. Stephen Covey on Exercise
Mounting evidence suggests that proper exercise is as important for our mental acuity as
it is for our “bodies.” Dr. Stephen Covey, internationally respected leadership
authority, organizational expert and best selling author of “The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People” contributes to this idea and comments on the importanceof exercise in
his latest book “The 8th Habit.” Covey writes, “I am convinced that exercise increases
our own sense of self-control and self-mastery, which enhances the totality of our lives
and truly enlarges the space between stimulus and response (Note: Covey describes the
space between stimulus and response as our freedom and power to choose our response - and
in these choices lie our growth and happiness).” Interestingly, Dr. Covey also comments
on the importance of strength training to the point of muscle failure stating “This is a
great metaphor for the other three dimensions of life as well. As we go to the end of our
tether, our capacity to do increases. Emerson put it this way: ‘That which we persist in
doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our ability to do
has increased.”
Every Friday, Discover Strength will email a “Fit Tip” to all clients. Tips will be brief and science based, covering health & fitness topics in strength training, cardio-respiratory training, flexibility, nutrition and athletic performance.
Don’t hesitate to check Luke and his awesome team out for a free trial. You’ll be amazed at the results! I never thought I would do anything like this and I’m so glad that I did!
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Trust. It’s a Big Deal for This Realtor in Minneapolis, That’s For Sure. Let’s Talk Dual Agency.
May 22nd, 2008 Categories: Minneapolis Home Buyers and Sellers, Real Estate News, Twin Cities Home Buyers
Who do you trust, buyers? How about you, sellers? I just did a dual agency transaction. My seller wasn’t thrilled. My buyer wasn’t too concerned. Do I care? ABSOLUTELY!
Well, I think everybody’s happy. I’m not sure. Paranoia runs deep. When we do a dual agency transaction, we Realtors have a duty to the sellers and buyers to make sure everybody’s on the same page.
Best wishes to my buyers and seller!
3323 Morgan Avenue North…the gem of North
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Uh Oh! Here We Go Again! Good Times in the Keller Williams Parking Lot
May 14th, 2008 Categories: Keller Williams, Maple Grove Police Department, Maple Grove Stuff, Real Estate News
Here we go again. This is the fourth accident this sweet little car of mine has been in since I bought it 3 years ago. All of the accidents were during real estate related activities. Of course, that’s about all I do, so it stands to reason!
Anyway, some lady backed into my car while I was sitting in it this evening in the Keller Williams Realty Northwest parking lot. I got out and tried to flag her down. She just sort of looked at me funny and took off. I got her license plate, though. I called the very polite and pleasant Maple Grove Police Department. The policeman was a sweetie and we’ll do our best to track her down.
Here’s the car… 
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Moss on Your Roof in Minneapolis? Here’s A Quick Way To Get Rid Of It
May 12th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
Take a box of powdered Tide, sprinkle it on the roof, wait until it rains and…voila!
Bye bye!
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