Archive for November, 2008
Bullet Holes and Duct Tape in North Minneapolis
November 30th, 2008 Categories: Cool Guys, Minneapolis Home Buyers and Sellers, North Minneapolis, Real Estate News, Silly Property Repairs, That Flippin' House
In the past week I’ve had the pleasure of showing off my client’s new TJ Waconia flip at 3306 James Avenue North to one of North Minneapolis’ most insightful residents, Johnny Northside.
We spent an entire day together scoping out different aspects of his neighborhood, Hawthorne, to be exact. We made a few sudden stops to check out the homes that had unknown visitors lurking about. Johnny wants to make sure that the people there are supposed to be there and not making off with copper and other belongings of the residents.
We also saw some beautiful homes that have been well-kept, the eco-village and the tree nursery in the neighborhood.
We saw shoes Read the rest of this entry »
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My #1 Reason to be Thankful ~ Secret Weapon Revealed!
November 26th, 2008 Categories: Cool Guys, Keller Williams, Outside of the Box, Real Estate News, The Good Life
There’s plenty to be thankful for at Thanksgiving. I have Keller Williams Realty to thank for helping me power through the rough spots. A Realtor can’t get a better education or a more solid foundation. So, thank you, Keller Williams…especially, my market center at Keller Williams Classic Realty Northwest in Maple Grove! We are having a record month and have been continually adding agents to our wonderful market center. Yes, even through all of the doom and gloom…we’re growing!
But here’s my secret weapon that I rarely talk about. It’s probably not a secret to some. I don’t speak about my husband, Tony Hoholik, very often. He most likely wouldn’t want me to. I’m actually not real big on talking about myself and my personal life. But after reflecting on this past year and all of its events, one thing stands out for me.
My husband.
He is not a warm, fuzzy kind of guy. He doesn’t Read the rest of this entry »
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The ULTIMATE Silly North Minneapolis Home Repair (Guest Blog Post By Johnny Northside)
November 24th, 2008 Categories: North Minneapolis, Real Estate News, Silly Property Repairs
Normally, this is Jeanie Hoholik’s blog, and it still is…but today Jeanie is letting me, Johnny Northside, take a spin on her blog so together we can explore and learn about some of its technical features.
So, just as a sample post, Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
“TJ Waconia House” Rehab - Big Love!
November 23rd, 2008 Categories: North Minneapolis, Real Estate News, That Flippin' House, Twin Cities Home Buyers, Twin City Sellers
Looking for the best rehab is very, very difficult in North Minneapolis. My client and I spend quite a bit of time scouring the neighborhoods. Let’s not make any mistakes. There are plenty of homes on the market that will not meet our needs.
We are not interested in homes that have neighbors who appear to be crack dealers. We basically stand in front of the home before we put a bid on it and just take good hard look. Right flank, left flank. Okie dokie. When we see a good block, we go for it.
Further, my client drives up and down the hoods to make sure that drug deals and other issues are not happening. Yes, she even drives by at night. She’s a gutsy chicky and that’s why we get along. I love it!
When we go in to a house and we hear noises, she goes first. One time, recently, we walked in to a boarded up house and we heard a noise that sounded like a rat or maybe a big, bad scary squatter or maybe a crack dealer….I screamed and ran out the door and she called me a “scared, LITTLE girl”. Hee hee!
When you buy one of her homes, you can be pretty sure that things are “good to go”. That’s more than just a hunch.
Here’s a snapshot of what will be the latest TJ Waconia-scary house-turned-beautiful, fabulous-not a house, but a home-rehab!
| Discussion: 3 Comments »
Plymouth, MN Real Estate - Current Housing Statistics - October, 2008
November 19th, 2008 Categories: Plymouth Current Housing Statistics, Real Estate News, Twin Cities Home Buyers, Twin Cities Real Estate Economy, Twin City Sellers
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 8.4% less single family homes on the market by the end of October 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. Plymouth’s average sales price for October alone was 9.5% below last year’s average sale price.
Ready, buyers?
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No Idle Threat Here in North Minneapolis
November 19th, 2008 Categories: Minneapolis Home Buyers and Sellers, North Minneapolis, Real Estate News, That Flippin' House, Twin Cities Real Estate Economy
Something’s fishy in North Minneapolis.
My client who does the beautiful rehabs in North and I made an appointment to see a new listing on the 3600 block of Logan last Thursday. I got the “OK” and was told the lock box code and other general instructions to show the property. We showed up on time and opened the lock box only to find the key was missing. This house had been on the market for a total of two days when we went to see it. I called the listing agent and she apologized and said that she would call the last Realtor who visited to see if she could get the key back in the box. She said there had already been a showing that day. She also said that the key would be in the box on Friday and go ahead and schedule another showing.
OK. I did that. Saturday we trucked over to the property again. We had a couple of other homes to look at in addition to the one on Logan. We walked up to the door, opened the lock box and there the key was…GONE! Doggone it! I called the listing agent again and told her that we would be in the area for another 45 minutes or so and we would like to have the key to see the inside of the house. I told her that if she didn’t call me back, I was going to call her broker on Monday.
She didn’t call me back. I called her broker on Monday.
Her broker said that it wasn’t the first complaint that she had about this Realtor today and that she’d call me back with a solution. Later that day she called back to say that the agent was working on getting her management company out there to get a key in the box but there were two offers already on the property. Apparently, they made offers “sight unseen”.
Oh really? Huh. I don’t buy it. Why wasn’t I told about that in the first place? The Realtor must have known.
Something’s fishy, I tell ‘ya!
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And Now, A Brief Intermission From All This Stuff…Thomas Shakin’ It Before School!
November 12th, 2008 Categories: Cool Guys, Outside of the Box, Real Estate News, The Good Life
Here’s Thomas Shakin’ It Before School…
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Crime in Minneapolis Down from 2007!
November 9th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
Here are the current crime statistics in Minneapolis year to date:
The MPLS total violent crime rate continues to be lower than last year by 13%.
MPLS has had 32 homicides this year to date. This is a 20% decrease from 40 homicides at this time in 2007. This is a 35% decrease from 49 homicides at this time in 2006.
Robberies decreased by 27% this week. The year-to-date decrease is 27% compared to 2007.
Aggravated assaults were 8% lower in this year-to-date period.
Rape has decreased by 16% this year.
Total property crimes decreased by 8% in this year period.
711 weapons have been placed into evidence this year, 21 this week.
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Take out the Papers and the Trash! A (Not So) Welcoming Sight in North Minneapolis
November 2nd, 2008 Categories: Cool Girls, North Minneapolis, Real Estate News, That Flippin' House
We were off on another fun house tour of North Minneapolis to find the next perfect flip for Jennifer, House Flipper Extraordinaire on Saturday. We saw a total of ten homes and there were several that were good candidates for a rehab. They have the right criteria for my client’s needs. Just like the one at 3346 Girard Avenue North.
Most of the time the homes are cleaned up pretty good before the real estate agent lists the home for people like us to view. They, many times, have the unpleasant task of playing property managers for these bruised homes.
But once in a while, we run in to some messy situations.
It’s kind of sad to see a little kid’s book bag laying on the floor next to a dirty stuffed animal. You just know the caregivers had to run because they either didn’t pay their rent or didn’t pay their mortgage and were evicted.
Here’s a home that was being rehabbed, but the would-be rehabbers apparently ran out of cash to finish the job. It’s back on the market as a bank-owned, or “REO”. They were too busy to get a waste basket for their junk mail. We literally had to push the door open to sweep aside the mail. Welcome!
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Plymouth, MN Real Estate - Current Housing Statistics - September, 2008
November 2nd, 2008 Categories: Plymouth Current Housing Statistics, Real Estate News, Twin Cities Home Buyers, Twin Cities Real Estate Economy, Twin City Sellers
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 8.4% less single family homes on the market by the end of September 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. Plymouth’s average sales price for September alone was 3.6% about last year’s average sale price.
Ready, buyers?
| Discussion: No Comments »
