Home Buying Tips For Beginners
Home buying is not an easy process, especially if you are on a limited budget. If you have never bought a home before in Minnesota, you may be a little lost as to how the process works. This does not mean that you cannot get the home of your dreams. All you need is a simple guide to make this process much easier for you. Here are some tips that may help you out.
1. Know Your Budget
You should get preapproved from a bank for a certain amount of money before you start looking at homes. That way you know exactly what your budget is with your down payment money. Beyond this though, you need to think about what you could actually afford to pay for your mortgage a month because that may be less than what the bank approved you for. Factor in costs like property tax, insurance premiums and maintenance costs so you have the best budget possible. Eden Prairie real estate can have higher taxes than other cities.
2. Look around
You should not assume that the first property you look at is the one for you. Check out a few different homes so you can figure out what you like and what you do not like. With that in mind, you need to move fast if you find a home that you are passionate about. Some markets are more competitive than others, so you need to lock in your home purchase before someone else does.
3. Get the Home Inspected
Before you sign for a home, you need to send a home inspector out to tour the property. People who are selling their Eden Prairie home will not provide this option for you, so you will need to schedule the inspection yourself. This is crucial to making a purchase though because an inspection may reveal things about the home that you are not comfortable with. You can renegotiate your deal if the results come back negative.
4. Never Give Up
If you look at ten homes and do not find something you like, you should still keep looking for something out there. Certain times of the year in Minnesota will yield more homes to buy than others, so you have to look for one within the time that will work for you. At the same time, you may want to think about some compromises you can make with your requests because you may be expecting too much from a home. If all you see is cosmetic problems to fix, be willing to change those to get the place of your dreams.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
Read This Before You Buy or Sell Your Home
Thinking of selling or buying a home? Home buying and home selling can be done through many different channels and it is up to you to determine which channel is best for you. When deciding on your best option for home buying or home selling, you need to look at your time, your knowledge, your budget and your skills. How much you are willing to invest each of these skills to be successful in your home buying or home selling journey will predict the channel you choose and that is best for you.
The obvious option for your home buying or home selling journey is to find a Eden Prairie real estate professional to market your home or search for a new home. This is the best option for those with little time, research ability or the desire to look for a buyer for your home or a new home.
In the internet and social media age, home buying and home selling can be researched online through various websites, social networks, home buying and home selling databases and with the use of computer software. This is becoming an increasingly popular option when home buying and home selling so that the people can save on professional fees, find great home buying deals and market their own home in the home selling market. What you need to recognize is that this option is time consuming, requires some skills to make this successful and has the home buyer or seller having to find their own support for the final transaction. If you believe you can do this, it is a great way to do your home buying or home selling.
The other option when home buying and home selling is to combine both of these processes whereby you enlist the help of a home buying or home selling professional while using the internet to compliment the professional’s search for your new home or a buyer for your current home.
No matter which option you choose for buying or selling your Eden Prairie home, an assessment of your skills, time and interest is an important part of determining which channel is best for you and your success.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
4 Tips to Preparing Your Home For Sale
So you are getting ready to sell your home. Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably know this is a tough real estate market to sell your home in. Unfortunately, you are competing with foreclosures and short sales. Both of these competitors are much less concerned with the price they ultimately receive for the property. Luckily, there are many home buyers that are not interested in dealing with these distressed properties. They really just want something they can move into immediately.
This gives you the advantage if you know how to capitilize on it. Your home needs to look, show and BE better than the short sale down the street that is 10% less than your listing price. Here are some quick items that can shorten your sales time and maximize your selling price:
- Consider doing a home inspection. Have a neutral 3rd party inspector come through your home and find items that need to be fixed, prior to putting your home on the market. You may be constantly be walking by that handrail that is falling off the wall or ignoring that leaking faucet, but a buyer will see that. More importantly, if you get an offer, the buyer’s inspector will find these items and it could mean the difference between saving and losing an offer. Make the repairs prior to putting the home on the market. Remember that you may need to disclosure any material facts that the inspector turns up. The cost for an average Eden Prairie home pre-sale inspection will run around $350.
- Make the minor repairs. Fix all the small items such as the dripping faucet, the squeaky door, the missing cabinet handle. You might spend less than $200, but those small items can make a big impression on a buyer. They see that as a proxy for the overall maintenance of the entire house, including the big ticket items such as the furnace and roof. If you are too busy or not good with tools, hire a handyman for 3-4 hours. Give him a long list and tell him to get as many done as possible in a set number of hours.
- De-clutter. I am constantly amazed when I go into homes and find they have 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag. Every closet is full, the garage is so full that you can’t park in it and there are too many pieces of furniture in each room. Even large 3-4000 square foot Eden Prairie homes can look tiny when full of clutter. Again, use a professional organizer or stager to come in and give you an assessment of your situation. Clean out, clear out. Don’t expect to do this 24 hours before you list your home. This is a longer term project that must be done months before. If necessary, rent a storage pod and fill it with extra stuff if you just can’t part with things.
- Clean, clean, clean. You may be OK with dirty windows and dog hair on the carpet, but your buyers are not. Clean the carpets and furniture. If you can’t get the stain out, replace the carpet or cover the furniture. Dust everything, wipe down the baseboards and tops of cabinets. Pull everything out of the refrigerator and clean it out. Clean the garage, wash the floor. Put things in neatly stacked boxes. Tell the kids they need to put their shoes and clothes away. If you can’t do it, hire a professional. For about $150-$300, you can easily have your home cleaned like you have never seen it before.
Doing these small things can help your home shine and compete against those foreclosures and short sales. This will allow you to maximize your sale price and minimize your time on the market.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
Eden Prairie Foreclosures
I have spent a lot of time over the last 3 years working with buyers looking at foreclosed properties. When we first started, just about all the foreclosed properties were in the core of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. It was rare to see one even outside the 494/694 loop. As the housing crisis continued, the wave of foreclosures started to expand from the epicenter (North Minneapolis on the west side) into neighboring communities. As 2009 hit, we started to see a couple foreclosure in the suburbs such as Eden Prairie occasionally, but usually they were older homes that had issues and they were also sold in minutes of hitting the market.
Fast forward to mid-2010, we are seeing many more Eden Prairie homes hitting the market as foreclosures. Short sales continue to also be very popular in this area, although many buyers are getting frustrated at the uncertain nature and time that most of these deals take. The bank-owned properties that we are seeing hit the area in Eden Prairie are mostly made up of townhouses and condos. Owners of these properties are seeing that these were both overbuilt and overpriced in this part of the cities. They are looking at 40-60% losses in property values and they simply have little choice but to get out . I am seeing townhouses that sold in 2005 for $200k, now on the market for less than $100k.
I had lunch with a very seasoned REO agent today and he had some interesting things to share with me. He said that many banks are simply sitting on foreclosed homes waiting for the market to recover. The bank has winterized the home, they cut the grass and shovel the snow, but otherwise they are simply waiting. He also stated that they learned their lessons in 2008 when they flooded the market with foreclosures and drove the prices of everything down so fast. This phenomenon is what many experts call the the “shadow inventory” of homes. While I didn’t really want to believe it when I heard it, I trust this agent and his experience.
So what does this mean for Eden Prairie home buyers? I think the message is that don’t rush to make a bad decision on buying that new home because you think the good deals will be gone in 6 months. I have no doubt that interest rates will be higher in 12 months, but I really believe that if this shadow inventory exists in any volume (and my agent friend said that most of these homes were in the suburbs), you will still be able to find good deals on nice homes a year from now. Keep in mind that I hate to say that since I get paid by selling homes now! But, I think it needs to be said that I would rather see a home buyer wait, get their lives and financing ready, and then make a good choice on a new home, instead of rushing.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
The Pros and Cons of Buying a Used Eden Prairie Home
Eden Prairie is one of the few inner suburbs that still has new construction properties available to buy or build. Have you always dreamed of building a home for your family from scratch? Maybe you have been frustrated in the past by what is on the used market or could just never find the features you wanted all in one house. Building could be a good alternative for you. What are some of the gotcha’s and benefits:
Pros:
- The first is that you get everything you want (or more importantly, everything you want and that you can afford). If you want blue walls or gold appliances, you can have them. If you want an extra large garage or laundry on the 2nd floor, all that is possible when you build a home.
- It goes without saying that when you build, everything is new the day you move in. There is no wondering about when the furnace is going to fail or having to worry about replacing the roof next year. Additionally, you can be confident that there was not a previous owner that was trying to cover up a problem with the home. The Eden Prairie homes inspectors will have been through your home several times prior to you moving in to insure it is constructed properly.
- All home builders in Minnesota are required to provide you with a
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
Finding the Perfect Eden Prairie House For You
Eden Prairie is a wonderful place to own a house, start a family, work, and play. It has so many things to offer, it is no wonder that so many people are looking for homes in Eden Prairie. So how do you find that perfect dream house? Here are some thoughts to make that happen:
- Spend time with your significant other dreaming about what things you want in a home. Maybe it is a main floor laundry, maybe it is a larger kitchen, another bedroom, a 3 car garage, good schools. List all these items that you want in a new home. Include both features about the house such as hardwood floors and a three car garage, but also about the community and neighborhood that are important to you such as good schools, walking distance to parks, close to church. Prioritize that list as well as spend time deciding if those wants are really necessary. You may want to have a 6 car garage and tennis court, but can you afford that on your house budget? Eden Prairie real estate has many different wants to offer so getting your list together first is important in order to set your priorities.
- In this housing market, the financing is actually much tougher than finding a home to purchase. Ask around, get referrals from friends and family for a fantastic mortgage person. Do not get locked into the first one that you meet. If you have anything but perfect credit and solid employment, consider shopping around if any one particular mortgage person says it will be difficult to get you a loan. Different loan officers specialize in different loan products. Have the mortgage person tell you what qualify for and make sure you feel comfortable with the mortgage payment.
- Find an Eden Prairie Realtor that knows the market. This should be someone that understands where the best values are in Eden Prairie homes right now and may even have some personal listings that they can get you into prior to them hitting the market. Interview this Realtor over coffee or lunch and see if they are someone that you will enjoy working with. If not, find another agent. You will be spending a lot of time on the phone and touring houses with this person. You need to respect, trust, and enjoy him or her.
- Have your real estate agent set up a property search on the MLS for you. It should come automatically to your email everyday with new listings that have just come onto the market. Make it a habit of reviewing that email immediately. You will want to be the first to see the new Eden Prairie homes for sale when they hit the market to insure you get first shot at making an offer. Getting the emails automatically is also critical so you stay involved in the process and do just wake up and 30 days have gone by with you doing nothing.
- When you find a home that you are interested in, make an offer. Your Realtor will do the legwork and guide you through the process. That is what they are getting paid for, use them. If the offer is accepted, let the mortgage person recommend a title company/closer. They will know who is the best and who you can trust. Get your real estate agent to recommend a home inspector. Have them go through the house to find any major problems that you did not see during your showings.
Buying an Eden Prairie home is a fun and exciting process if you do your preparation work up front and surround yourself with good people.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
Eden Prairie School Superindendent Orders Parents to “Move On”
Despite having 730 signatures to revisit the K-6 facility rework plan, the Eden Prairie school board dismissed the idea. Superintendent Krull then penned an email to all district parents and then responded publicly in the Eden Prairie News. Here response was anything but warm, fuzzy, and conciliatory.
In her message titled “Leading Transformation”, she tells parents to “move on”, saying that any contrary opinions are just “noise”. In the response she calls the parents “angry” and their petition and responses “divisive”. This is my opinion, and you can disagree with me on political grounds, but this sure sounds like the Nancy Pelosi complaints about the “angry mob” of people at the town hall meetings regarding the health care bill. I thought that America was founded on the freedom of speech? Seems like the establishment and career government workers don’t like it when you question their tactics!
Karla Bratrud and Jessie Score wrote a great editorial piece in the Eden Prairie news regarding this. I loved their reply:
We understood that the superintendent and some board members might not welcome our actions. We knew they might say “thank you very much” and then promptly throw our petition in the trash can. But our superintendent decided to go a step further. She thought taking parents to the woodshed in the newspaper and via e-mail was also in order, maybe forgetting that parents and community members are not on the payroll. She is on ours, and it is not wise to try to intimidate us in the same way that the recent teacher’s survey indicates that she intimidates some of them.
You can read the entire article here. I suspect Eden Prairie home owners have not heard the last of this discussion!
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
No New Referendum for Eden Prairie Schools
Just last month, the Eden Prairie School board was considering a fall referendum to close the projected budget shortfall of about $5 million. Eden Prairie home owners will be happy to hear that the district has decided that they will wait at least one more year before asking the taxpayers for more money. While the school superintendent is stating that they are expecting a better than expected 2010-11 budget year, I wonder if they have upset enough parents with their school rework plan that they figured they should lay low for a while!
She did say that while a referendum for the fall 2011 is likely, they will not begin discussions until late in 2010. This will give them time to see how their actual budget numbers are coming in. Meanwhile, the district is expected to adopt the existing school budget next week.
The executive director for business services for the Eden Prairie schools said that the better than expected budget for next year could be linked to stabilizing enrollment as many parents have decided to forgo private schools in this weak economy. She also says that the emphasis on the Spanish Immersion School has lured otherwise private school-bound students back into the district. The board has also implemented several cost cutting measures including a pay freeze, which all totaled amounted to a $3 million savings.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
Choose the Right Mortgage When Purchasing a Home in Canada
If you’re unable to purchase a house with your own funds, you can obtain a mortgage. There are various types of home loans available in Canada. So, when you want to apply for one, you must find out the types. A sound knowledge of the types will also help you refinance home mortgage in case you find it difficult to make timely payments towards it in future. Some of the major types of mortgages are:
* Conventional mortgage: Conventional mortgages do not exceed 80% of the purchase price or appraised value of the property, whichever is less. You have to pay the remaining 20% as down payment.
* High-ratio mortgage: High-ratio home loans allow you to borrow more than 80% of the purchase price of your property. These loans are insured by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) or Genworth Financial Canada. You will have to pay a fee for this insurance. You can get the premiums added to the home loan amount or pay it at closing.
* Fixed-rate mortgage: The rate of interest on a fixed-rate mortgage remains the same through out the entire term. Regardless of the changes in market rates, you will have to pay the same amount of premium each month.
* Variable-rate mortgage: In a variable rate mortgage, the rate of interest fluctuates with the market rates. However, the premiums remain leveled. When the interest rates rise, more of your payments will go towards your interest and less towards the principal. When rates drop, more of the payment will be applied to the principal and you can pay off your loan soon.
* Open mortgage: Open mortgages do not have any prepayment penalty and are available for short terms. If you are planning to sell your house in the near future, you can opt for this home loan as it offers you the flexibility of making lump sum payments before maturity.
* Closed mortgage: This type of home loans are available at lower rates of interest as compared to closed loans. However, if you repay it before the maturity, you will have to pay a penalty.
Based on the term of the home loans, they can also be classified into short term and long term loans. Before you obtain a mortgage, you must analyze your situation and shop around comparing the interest rates so that you can obtain a loan at an affordable price, as per your needs.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
Searching for Eden Prairie Houses
Are you looking for Eden Prairie houses? If so, the best way to begin your search is online. Just type in the keywords “Eden Prairie Homes” and click search. You will be directed to many different sites that have listings of the homes available in that area. You may be overwhelmed with the many results, however you can narrow down your search. This article will help you choose the best home for you in Eden Prairie.
Once you search for Eden Prairie Homes online you will now need to narrow down the results that come up. You should choose a website that gives you pictures and prices of the homes available in that area. Once you choose a website you will now be able to see a complete listing of the homes available. I would recommend that you try several different real estate websites as many have different formats and some display more of the MLS data than others.
Your next step is to narrow down the homes within that specific website. There are many ways you can narrow down your choices. First of all, you can pick a price range. Almost every home buyer has a specific amount of money in mind when it comes to buying a home. By narrowing down the homes according to the price you will be able to see which ones you can actually afford. Next, you can narrow it down further by choosing the square footage. Many real estate websites give you the option to view the homes by square footage. Knowing how big you want the home to be is another great way to narrow down your search. There are a few others ways you can narrow down your home search, such as picking out the number of bathrooms or bedrooms.
Once you narrow your search down will probably only have a few homes to choose from. Your next step is to schedule an appointment to go and see the home. Since this will probably be the biggest investment in your life it is important to see the home before you make an offer.
Now that you have seen all the Eden Prairie Homes that you like you can now pick the best that suites you and your family. Your final step is to put in an offer and wait to see if it is accepted. Soon you will be living in the home of your choice.
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
