Owner: St. Paul Real Estate Blog URL:http://www.stpaulrealestateblog.com Join Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:16:36 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: All about St. Paul Minnesota and real estate. With a home search, monthly market condition reports, advice for buyers and sellers and 100's of photos. Site statistics:Click here
Flip this house 2007-06-01 17:23:56
This just in from Yahoo news and the Associated Press:
Flip this house star accused of fraud. They made house flipping look so easy and lucrative. Hard to imagine that something on A&E could be fraudulent. "His friends and family were presented as potential home buyers and "sold" signs were slapped in front of unsold houses."
"Leccima says he never claimed to own the homes. While not acknowledging
his televised renovations were staged, he didn't deny it and suggested
that A&E and Departure Films, the production company that makes the
show, knew exactly what he was doing."
Tomato Man knows his roots 2007-06-01 05:47:08 By Jim Cronin
So I volunteered to play along with this thing that Teresa does with her blog called Friday Fun. It’s just now 1AM Friday, and the pressure is on to deliver something amusing. The good news, I write all my blog posts at 1AM.
For those SPREB listeners that don’t know me, my name is Jim Cronin, and I run a little blog called the Real Estate Tomato
. The fun(ny) thing about it, is that it is no more about real estate than it is about tomatoes.
Given that Teresa’s blog is actually about real estate (sometimes), I felt I should bring some knowledge about the tomato.
The tomato is in the Nightshade Plant family. It’s cousin, Deadly Nightshade, also know as Belladonna, is highly toxic and hallucinogenic. Now we’re having fun, right?
The tomato’s other closely relatives include potatoes, chili peppers, tobacco, eggplant, and the curiously named Jimsonweed (also a hallucinogenic, and also known as Loco Weed, Thorn Apple, Angel's Tr Read more:roots
Web sites confuse home buyers 2007-05-31 06:05:23
Have you noticed all of the new web sites with homes for sale? It has to be confusing for buyers. Last night I hopped from web site to web site and found that each had a different number of homes for sale for the twin cities area.
Real estate web sites are popping up all over as internet companies and media companies enter the arena. Real estate is still a local business and it is the local web sites that have all the listings on them. Web sites like my home search and the web sites of local real estate companies have data fed to them from the Regional MLS.
Our MLS has all types of homes listed on it including foreclosures, fixer uppers, investment properties, lots and land and some commercial properties and is still a home buyers best bet for getting the greatest amount of information about homes for sale. Maps, pictures, virtual tours and other information are provided with each listing. There is also an open house directory and
Lender Larry teaches us the down, down up game 2007-05-30 10:26:13
Should You Lock Today? Usually Yes. Maybe No? It’s A Crapshoot.
By Larry
Cragun of the Undressed network
I can't believe I am allowing the word "crap" on my blog but I really like this post. An honest insightful look at when to lock on an interest rate for home loan.
Read more:Lender
Don't let the big one get away 2007-05-30 02:08:17 Home buyers are being cautious this year. They are looking at more homes and making fewer offers. When they do find the home they want they offer less, sometimes much less than what the seller is asking.
Here are a few things to consider: 1. Not all homes are overpriced by 10 or 20% percent. Last time I checked sellers were getting within 96% of the asking price.
2. Most sellers will say no when the offer is for less than the value of the home. They will wait for a better offer.
3. When a home goes on the market we don't know if someone will make an offer on it the first day or in a few months. Waiting for the price to go down doesn't work.
There are homes that get offers the first week they are on the market. There are homes that are priced right and buyers pay close to the asking price. We are seeing multiple offers on some homes, with buyers paying more than
Life is always interesting 2007-05-29 12:04:26
When I travel for business or pleasure I always
bring a
camera. I met the bull a couple of days ago as I drove near Cameron
MO, located about 40 miles from Kansas City MO. Some Realtor/bloggers and a competitor suggested that the next time I encounter a bull behind a fence I climb the fence and get as close as I can so that I get a better picture without the fence in it. I like the picture just fine the way it is.
I was gone for a few days. I want to thank Larry Cragun for the excellent blog posts while I was away. Larry does not live in Minnesota and I don't think he has ever visited, yet he was able to write yesterdays excellent post filled with information about Minnesota home owners and potential buyers. He also did Friday's post. I have to say that I admire his courage. I still find the idea of writing the Friday fun post a bit intimidating. I understand that this Friday's post will also be written by a guest. Read more:interesting
What Turns A Buyers Market Into A Sellers Market? (With A Minnesota Twist) 2007-05-28 10:19:21 The answer is buyers. Hello again, this is Larry Cragun substituting for Teresa on her blog. I know this has been difficult for the Goddess, trusting her blog to a bloak from Washington State. Your blog is personal property and Teresa has become a national example.
My little claim to fame includes mortgage expertise. I have been writing Mortages Undressed for over a year and have recently begun to write new mortgage articles on Monday on my Real Estate Undressed blog. Since I am helping Teresa I hold mortgage Monday on her blog today, with a Minnesota
twist.
As you read this I wonder, is this your dime?
Minnesota is a national leader in home ownership. According to Economic Development of Alliance Energy 75.6 per cent of Minnesota households is occupied by owners. What a great compliment to your state.
With these comments as a platform I address the title to this article: What Turns A BuyersMarket
Into A Sellers
Market? Of course buyers is the answer to the question. The more b
More than Memories 2007-05-28 00:31:10 By Erik Hare
This Memorial Day, many people will find themselves
nervously standing around a boneyard, uncomfortable being on a piece of land
that seems to be reserved for the departed. This is a shame, because one of my favorite places in Saint Paul is
Oakland Cemetery.
It was founded in 1853, when the expanding city needed a
place to handle the growing number of deceased. The city fathers picked 40 acres of wooded hill just outside the
limits which all the churches agreed to use communally. It has been carefully preserved ever since,
a small nature preserve now well within the city.
It is much more than just a respite from the city,
however. The people who are spending
eternity on this land make up a tapestry of stories you can read by going from
stone to stone in an afternoon of exploring. There is the section of Civil War veterans (pictured), row upon row of
those who gave everything to end slavery and keep the Union whole. There are six former governors, including
Alexan
Saturday's church 2007-05-26 06:32:26
Dayton Presbyterian Chruch 217 Mackubin Street, St. Paul, MN 55102, Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church is the largest of the churches designed
by Cass Gilbert in the Summit Avenue neighborhoods of St. Paul. Built in 1886 - 1888, read more about this remarkable church.
Read more:Saturday
Friday Is For Fun - Uh Oh 2007-05-25 03:03:32 Uh Oh, Yep my granddaughters two favorite words. Uh oh, because you have a guest writer today. One full of vim and vinegar. My grandmothers two favorite words.
Teresa has important family business to attend to and I persuaded her to let me write her blog today and Monday. She really resisted. She says she trusts me. She still resisted. What am I to wonder when someone says they trust you but are hesitant?
Let me introduce myself. My name is Larry Cragun. I write a few blogs. My favorites are RealEstateUndressed.com, MortgagesUndressed.com, and IssaquahUndressed.com. I live in Issaquah, Washington. You probably haven't been there, or you would live there.
I am Teresa's friend in the computer. We bug each other a lot. Teresa and I first communicated over these cute little St Paul Citizens she posted on her blog.
I travel the web each day looking for fun and great consumer content. Maybe that explains how I found Teresa. This site has great content. Most very local, all v Read more:Friday
Broker Reciprocity 2007-05-24 07:08:59
The picture above has nothing to do with the post. I like brownstones. I have been hesitant to write about broker reciprocity because reciprocity is so hard to spell.
Broker
Reciprocity allows me as a Realtor® to show and sell any home listed by any real estate company. When I am working with buyers to find that perfect home I don't look to see who's listing it is. It doesn't matter. Finding the perfect home is all that really matters. I am often asked if I can show homes listed through other real estate companies and have talked to buyers who believe that if a home is listed through Keller Williams they have to work with one of our agents to see it. Not true, any agent from any real estate company can show our listings.
Find the agent you like best. There are excellent agents affiliated with each real estate company. I have written about this before. Real estate companies don't sell real estate, li
Home Values 2007-05-23 10:51:24
A big part of my job is helping buyers and sellers determine the value of a home. Buyers need to know how much they should pay and Sellers need to know how much they should ask, and want to know how much they will get. It all boils down to a business transaction.
There is more to owning a home. There are neighbors and communities. In some neighborhoods there is a sense of community and our homes become much more than what we paid for them. I am fortunate in the I live in the Uppertown neighborhood in St. Paul. People who live here tend to stick around. Sometimes homes stay in families through a couple of generations. As a result we have roots. We know each other, and we attend community events and meetings together.
We don't always agree with each other but we have a lot more in common than not. We care about our neighborhood. I could put a value on my home but my commu Read more:Values
It takes a global village 2007-05-22 22:37:24
I have wanted to write this post for some months but to be honest there is no easy way to do it without missing someone important. I want my readers to know that writing 6 to 10 blog posts a week for more than 18 months is not easy, but I enjoy doing it. Writing blog posts takes time, energy and commitment, not to mention imagination.
My readers don't see the tremendous amount of support that I get from blog writers nation wide. People who write blogs are special. I have met some amazing people and can not believe how kind they have been even when I am being bad. They encourage me to try new ideas and help me improve what I am doing already. They send emails and leave kind comments that make my day. They teach me either by example or through comments, questions and suggestions.
They work with many different real estate companies, and related services, and are located all over the country and in Canada too. Even
Do you know where your Realtor is? 2007-05-22 08:59:31
This weekend some home buyers came to the twin cities from New York. This is their second trip to Minnesota to look at homes. We found a home that they are interested in. They may make an offer on it.
The MLS sheet on the home says that it has a three car attached garage. We could not find the garage. We all looked but it doesn't seem to be there. The home has been on the market for a year.
I called the agent who has the home listed. I can not find her. Now I am asking her office to help me find her. We are going back to the home for a second look before the buyers leave to go back home.
Which will we find first the agent or the three car garage?
Read more:Realtor
Should we rent it out? 2007-05-21 05:35:06 By Erik Hare
My partner and I have found ourselves in a situation familiar
to many people: What do you do with a
townhome that is slow to sell?
The options we had boiled down to three possibilities:
Rent it out: The
market for short term or less than six months rental is largely untapped. Landlords like leases to be at least a year,
because anything else is a lot of work. In our case, it’s a lot of hassle no matter what you do.
Rent it out on a weekly basis: This is an even more difficult market, as it requires you to
constantly find new people in town for business and other very short term
problems. That means that they will
want it furnished, which is another consideration. But there are many people looking for this kind of rental, since
it is more pleasant than a hotel.
Not rent it out: The
easiest way to keep it sparkling and clean for the showings is to just eat the
carrying costs and leave the property vacant. But in a market where it can take many months to sell
Native Plants 2007-06-04 12:35:06
Bracted spiderwort (Tradescantia bracteata)
Plants
up to 3 feet tall. Small clusters of inch-wide, medium purple flowers
at top of stem, subtended by two leaf-like bracts. Long, narrow,
alternate, somewhat keeled leaves. Found in sandy or gravelly prairies.
Blooms in May-June. Once considered a cure for spider bites.
To learn more about native Minnesota plants, visit the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Read more:Native
100 Years, Saturday's Church 2007-06-04 05:54:25
I featured this church before. The St. Paul Cathedral. They are celebrating 100 years this weekend. There are guided tours. The Cathedral houses an impressive amount of art work, and is as gorgeous on the inside as it is on the outside. Here is your chance for a tour.For more information about events
For more pictures, my previous post
Read more:Years
, Saturday
, Church
After it Rains 2007-06-04 00:10:14
After it rains there is a rainbow . . . . .
sometimes
Saintly City 2007-06-03 06:05:21 By Erik Hare
St. Paul is a wonderful town. It is put together in solid
blocks of honest brick and stone, and has the air of intending to stay.
Mark Twain, “Life on the Mississippi”, Chapter LX
That is the Saint Paul we all know and love, and some parts
of it haven’t changed too much since Mark Twain visited in 1882. But no matter how many bricks were mortared
together on top of it, our slightly more dubious history is still deep in the
Mississippi muck. I’ll let Twain
explain it again:
How solemn and beautiful is the thought, that the earliest
pioneer of civilization, the van-leader of civilization, is never the
steamboat, never the railroad, never the newspaper, never the Sabbath-school,
never the missionary--but always whiskey! … This great van-leader arrived upon the ground which St. Paul now occupies, in June
1837. Yes, at that date, Pierre Parrant, a Canadian, built the first
cabin, uncorked his jug, and began to sell whiskey to the Indians. The resu
Home sale numbers for St. Paul, MN 2007-06-07 19:17:32
Weekly sales and listing activity for single family residential homes in St. Paul, Minnesota. The red line is new listings and the blue line represents the number of offers made, there are a total of 2436 homes currently on the market in St. Paul. The numbers come from the regional Multiple Listing service (MLS) and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. May home prices by St. Paul Neighborhood will be published here next Tuesday.
View previous local market condition reports.
A St. Paul Treasure 2007-06-07 00:51:13
Located at 165 Western Avenue, St. Paul, MN. Originally hotel built in 1887, Blair Arcade, was added to the National
Register of Historic Places in 1979. The building houses condo's, offices, and some retail space. The lobby was recently restored to it's original condition.
This part of Selby avenue is located in the Summit hill historic district. If you are visiting or new to St. Paul and love the architecture of the late 1800's and early 1900's this area is worth a visit. Walking is better than driving and it is a good idea to bring a camera. While I was out taking these pictures there was a young man on the next block taking pictures of the same buildings.
Read more:Treasure
To trust or not to trust 2007-06-06 05:28:11 According to a recent Harris poll people don't trust
real estate agents. 20% don't trust us at all and only 7% trust us completely.
I understand where this is coming from and am some what relieved. I have been handling rejection for quite some time and took it the wrong way. I thought it was me. I have noticed that people talk to me, and then when I tell them what I do for a living they kind of drift away, but not without making me work by asking questions about property values and home improvements first.
It is easy for me to understand why real estate agents are not trusted. It is relatively easy and inexpensive to get a real estate license here in Minnesota and there are some under qualified and dishonest agents out there. It doesn't help that we attack each other. The news media helps make us look bad. They don't write stories about good real estate agents.
The trust thing isn't e
St. Paul will miss you 2007-06-05 15:02:53
Nick Mancini 1926-2007Mourners along West Seventh Street outside of Mancini's Char Househttp://www.twincities.com/ci_6016252?source=most_viewedhttp://www.startribune.com/466/story/1213360.html
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=255725
Madam to a Saintly City 2007-06-10 08:27:36
By Erik Hare
Nina Clifford is as well known in Saint Paul today as when
she lived, a century ago. That’s not
bad for a madam of a one of the largest brothels in town.
This is the second on what has become a series of pieces on
the colorful history of Saint Paul. The
word “colorful” is used to describe the bright lights of sin and sleaze faded
by passage into history. That’s not to
say that Saint Paul isn’t an upstanding and proper town, but we have always
stressed the great virtue of honesty. I
think it may be our Irish or French-Canadian heritage that leads us to easily
say, “Father, forgive me, for I have sinned”. That may also be why my first piece on Pig’s Eye Parrant was so popular.
Nina Clifford (pronounced NINE-ah in Saint Paul, for reasons
we do not know) is a woman shrouded in mystery. She was born after 1860 as Hannah Steinbrecher, possibly in
Canada. She came to Saint Paul in the
1880s, and purchased two lots in the infamous Washington Street neigh
Saturday's church 2007-06-09 07:43:10
This turn of the century stone Cass Gilbert church located a 495 Ashland Avenue in St. Paul, MN 55102 has been converted into condos. They have stained glasses windows. I wonder what it would be like to live in a church?
Read more:Saturday
Airplanes, writing and Fruitcake 2007-06-08 06:41:14
Back by popular demand - Friday! Such a nice day to put before Saturday. Fridays are for fun, well at least on my blog they are. I have written about everything from socks to fruitcake. The next logical step is to try it all in one post. I won't do it but the idea does put a smile on my face.
The title for this may not seem like a good fit but it makes sense to me. Sometimes friends and family members give me ideas for Friday blog posts. The title comes from their suggestions. I put it out there so they know I am paying attention.
I decided that I would like to try a rerun. They do that on television all the time and I don't see why it can't be done on a blog. Last December I wrote a post about fruitcake. The post got a lot of traction. Kristal Kraft - Denver's top Realtor has often been invited to my blog for fruitcake, she really hates fruitcake. I just send her a note Read more:Airplanes
, writing
, Fruitcake
Trains and tracks 2007-06-14 05:42:04 Today's light weight, yet noncontroversial post takes a not so in depth look at train tracks
in St. Paul. It has pictures which as everyone knows is how we non-writers keep our blogs going. It works well with the non-readers who visit this site too.
We have train tracks in St. Paul. I guess we need them for the trains to run on. This particular set runs along the Mississippi River and goes to the Ford Plant. Trains
come through up to six times a day but are only allowed to 10 miles an hour through town. They are not permitted to sound their horns at crossings because we are more civilized than that in St. Paul. The boats on the river sound their horns but that is different. If the boats stopped sounding their horns I would miss it.
For a more in depth look at rail transportation in St. Paul and in all of Minnesota, and some nice big maps too, please visit the MN Dot Rail pages. Please don't f
Real Estate Commission Structure 2007-06-13 09:36:36 In the real estate business most agents , including me, charge a percentage of the sale price of the property they are listing as their fee, or commission for selling it. 6% seems to be a popular number around the metro area these days, although I have to say 5% may be the new 6%, and 6% is becoming the new 7%.
As a business person I incur costs finding business and then marketing costs when I put a home on the market. I need to make a profit or I can not stay in business. With all of the technology I use my marketing costs have gone down. Some of my other costs are rising. Most notably the amount of money that I spend on gasoline.
It doesn't makes sense to charge the same percentage for a 800,000 home as I would charge for a 200,000 home.
I have to pay out 2.7% of the sale price of homes I list to the agent who represents the buyer in the transaction. Fair enough buyers agents do much of the work. Most real estate t Read more:Estate
, Commission
, Structure
, Real Estate
May Home prices by St. Paul neighborhood 2007-06-12 06:15:59
There were more houses on the market in may than in April and more home sales too which is typical. Local homes sales peak in April or May. The number of homes being put on the market is declining. The data used to make the chart was gathered from the Regional Multiple Listing Service. (MLS) and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
According to the Minnesota Association of Realtors spring market is slower this year than last. To translate fewer people are purchasing homes some 18.9% fewer than at the same time least year. It isn't because of the interest rates, locally homes are affordable. It isn't due to lack of choices there are plenty of homes on the market. It may be because buyers don't feel confident. The news stories about foreclosures, bubbles and mortgage fraud have shaken buyer confidence. I think we should blame the media, but not my blog.
My personal experience with buyers has been that they look at
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