HOMETOWN REALTY BLOG » real estate

Real Estate Market Update

cheryl — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:13:03 +0000

For the week ending August 20, Twin Cities home sellers continued to list fewer
properties than last year at this time, as new listings were down 11.8
percent to 1,342. That makes for 11 consecutive weeks of (still welcome)
declines. Meanwhile, buyer activity was up 53.3 percent over last year, the
largest increase in 12 weeks and the 15th consecutive week of double-digit
gains.

Inventory has been a winner all summer, and we haven’t broken the positive pattern yet.
The number of active listings for sale was down 20.0% from 2010 to 24,183
homes. That’s the largest decline since the beginning of 2004 and represents
more than 6,000 fewer homes on the market than at this time last year.

A flurry of housing and employment reports due out this week could set the stage
for the rest of the year. These two economic indicators are more closely tied
than ever.

Although these numbers represent all of the metro area, Hutchinson’s real estate market reflects all these same trends.

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We’re Growing

cheryl — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:54:29 +0000

We are proud to announce that Diane Sorensen, Ryan Lickfelt, and Traci Atkinson have recently joined us as sales agents. As you might remembert, Diane and Ryan worked for us previously and we are pleased to welcome them back.

All of these agents have been in the real estate business for many years and bring with them extensive knowledge and experience.

The addition of these three agents helps us in achieving our goals as well as helping us to continue to give the best possible customer service to the buyers and sellers that we serve in the Hutchinson and surrounding area.

New Signs of Spring

cheryl — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:33:42 +0000

Spring has always been my favorite season in Hutchinson, MN. It starts with the Crow River opening up, the beautiful spring flowers begin to bloom, and the trees start to bud out. Along with all of nature’s signs of spring, the real estate market also begins to come alive.

We are seeing many home buyers making decisions about purchasing their new homes and are getting good prices on these homes. The relatively low interest rates also make the home buying decision a good one at this time.
Even though the prices are not as strong for the sellers, they are happy that homes are selling. There seems to be more confidence in the overall economy.

So, I’m happy to report that there are New Signs of Spring.

Be Cautious of Pre-Approval Letters

cheryl — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:49:13 +0000

Recently one of our clients in Hutchinson, MN had an experience with one of the “big” mortgage companies that I want to share with you.

They decided to sell the home they currently live in and buy a larger home. They went to the mortgage company and made loan application based on them selling their current home (which they were selling on a contract for deed.) They were also putting 30% down on the purchase of the new home.

The pre-approval letter they got from the mortgage company said that one of the conditions was that the contract for deed be executed. They and their buyer signed the contract for deed and it was recorded at the courthouse.

One week before they were scheduled to close on their new home, the mortgage company’s underwriting department denied their mortgage application for the new house stating that they “wanted one year’s history of payments made on time with the contract for deed.” The original pre-approval said nothing about payment history on the contract for deed, just that it needed to be executed!

Fortunately for this client, they had other resources so they were still able to purchase their new home, but needless to say, they were not happy with the mortgage company.

So, even though you have a pre-approval in writing with certain stipulations, be cautious because they could change their mind.

The Early Spring Market

cheryl — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:55:13 +0000

As we anticipated, the Spring Real Estate market seems to have arrived early this year here in Hutchinson, MN. Despite the extra cold weather, buyers and sellers are anxious to get moving.

We expected this based on the fact that both the First-Time Homebuyers’ Tax Credit and the other Homebuyers’ Tax Credit require that buyers have a signed and binding purchase agreement in place by April 30, 2010 and close by July 1, 2010.

Sellers don’t want to miss out on any of the market time between now and the end of April, so they are calling to get their homes put up for sale as soon as they can.

With the interest rates still staying low, buyers and sellers are smart to get a jump start on the housing market.