REAL ESTATE BLOG & NEWS
Below you will find real estate articles, news and more.
Confusion Over Contingent Offers
Buyers and sellers differ on their view of offers that are contingent on the sale of the buyer’s home. Currently in Chisago County there are only 3 listings that are sold contingent on the sale of the buyer’s home. No doubt there have been many more offers submitted...
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There’s Still Time to Sell Your Waterfront Home!
According to the Multiple Listing Service, in July there were 18 new waterfront listings in Chisago County, 13 sales that are pending or closed, and 6 more under contract with a contingency. The median marketing time was 20 days and many waterfront homes sold in...
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Home Equity is Up
Many sellers think they still don’t have equity in their homes and are surprised to find out they can sell their home and walk away from closing with a substantial check. Foreclosures are down, but there are home owners that get behind in their mortgage payments,...
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Open Houses Are a Success!
There are very few open houses in July as many agents as well as buyers are vacationing. Last weekend there were only two open houses listed on the MLS in zip code 55013 and both were mine. I thought I must be the only crazy agent in town until I sold both to...
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Limit Spending When Selling Your Home
Sellers often ask how much they should they spend to improve their home to get top dollar when they sell. In most cases, my response is, as little as possible. I am all for cosmetic updates, like painting, cleaning, flooring, staging, and deferred maintenance items,...
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Open House is Valuable Tool
There are many differing opinions when it comes to the value of an open house to sell your home. Most sellers don’t like them and fear that that nosey neighbors will want to check out their home and they feel an invasion of privacy. The upper bracket home owners have...
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Real Estate Sales Change with the Season
New listings were up 16.6% for Chisago County in May 2016 over May 2015, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, however, closed sales were down 6.4%. This is most likely attributed to our warm winter weather, which brought the buyers out early for...
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Out-House Loses Grand-Fathered Status at Time of Sale
This week I met with some homeowners that have a seasonal cabin on Green Lake with a grand-fathered out-house. Like many homeowners they thought they could sell it as a cabin with an out-house, but that isn’t the case. When they sell, they lose their grand-fathered...
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Do Open Houses Work?
There are many differing opinions when it comes to the value of an open house to sell your home. Most sellers don’t like them and fear that that nosey neighbors will want to check out their home and they feel an invasion of privacy. The upper bracket home owners have...
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Student Loan Debt Delays Homeownership
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) teamed up with American Student Assistance®’s (ASA’s) SALT® consumer literacy program to conduct a survey of student loan borrowers who are current in repayment. Of the respondents 71% cite student loan debt as the factor...
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