A friend of a friend, a family member, an agent who is part time. Who do I choose?

I’ve heard this story now far too many times.

I would have called you for assistance but my uncle Buck’s best friend George knows a guy who knows a guy and that guy is a part time agent and so I felt obligated to work with him after we had met last week while playing cards and watching the MN Vikings game.

OR

My sister has her license or my cousin has his license and so I figured I’d just use them as my agent that way the commission received would stay in the family.

OR

Well Kathy a fellow teacher friend of mine also has her real estate license and so I assumed they would be able to assist me.

And now before I go any further let me point out that yes. Each and every one of these parties mentioned above can read and write. Each of them is licensed and therefore they know how to fill out an offer.

However…

Purchasing real estate is an investment. A rather large investment and maybe the biggest investment many of you will ever make so why do so many people take the decision of purchasing a home lightly. Would you go and hand your sister or brother $200,000 dollars and say, “make me a return on my money so that I can use some of the proceeds towards my children’s education when that bill comes in the mail.” How about your fellow teacher friend? Knowing that she maybe sells 4-5 homes a year, not a month now, but a year. Would you give her $400,000 dollars and hope she turns it into something you can allocate towards retirement? How about uncle Buck’s best friend George who knows a guy who knows a guy and that guy loves to gamble. Would you give him a million bucks and say, “pick a few stocks for me and give me all but 6% of what you make.”

The decision of selecting your agent should be an interview process. Ask them where they currently live. Do they own? Do they rent? How many pieces of Real Estate do they own or have they owned? How many transactions a year do they do? What price point are most of those transactions? What part of the market do they consider to be their farm? And once you have those questions answered. Pause. Interview another agent.

Most likely you will have one agent in particular who truly stands out as knowing the market area in which you are searching. He or she should have a reputation within that market as being a leader and should be able to truly represent your best interest, keeping the financial aspect of investing in real estate front and center at all times, for all homes can have nice amenities such as new carpet and an updated kitchen, but not all homes are in the right location or laid out with the most opportunistic floor plan to maximize resale potential.

If you have questions about the current state of the Real Estate market or if you would like to Buy Sell Lease Real Estate give me a call or contact me by one of the following methods:

Travis Senenfelder

C: 651.216.9466

E: Travis@BuySellLeaseMN.com

W: http://www.BuySellLeaseMN.com

Common Questions on the Current State of the Real Estate Market

The questions are often asked:

• Is the real estate market still falling?
• Have we reached a bottom yet in the real estate market?
• Is the real estate market starting to stabilize?
• Where is the real estate market going to go from here?

And although I would love to answer this question for each and every one of you I must first point out that I am currently a licensed MN real estate agent and more specifically an agent whom primarily focuses on working with buyers and sellers in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. With this being said, if those questions are being asked in reference to the western suburbs of Minneapolis I can say without a doubt that the free fall has ceased. Rock bottom was hit last November 2009. Prices are starting to stabilize. Traditional sellers have moved away from huge price reductions and although some are still reducing their prices, they are often doing so only if a property sits on the market for quite some time. Agents in today’s market have got a grasp once again on market values. And upon further investigation you will find that foreclosures, although still entering the market daily, are becoming less and less. Once the bank has listed the home for sale post foreclosure it is found that they are starting to stick closer to their asking prices. Buyers are snatching these properties up almost as fast as they are hitting the market often times leaving multiple buyers competing for the property. Short sales are being negotiated quicker for you will find that many agents (not all) are becoming very versed in the short sale process and those that are still struggling at quick turnaround times on short sales have since given up on even attempting to list them.

Does this mean that there is no chance of another slight downturn?

To be honest with you, I can’t answer that. The market is likely to still have its ups and downs much like any market in which investors invest in does. I just don’t think we are going to see double digit declines in this market when looking at it as a whole. I think there are pockets in the western metro that are still going to experience some downturn and I think there are pockets in the west metro that are going to see more of a stabilization than others. If the job market and interest rates play any impact you are likely seeing much like I am that interest rates are starting to climb. Individuals looking for a job are a bit more optimistic than they were six months ago and all in all my glass is once again half full.

For some of you it’s time to change your outlook, look deeper for simple pleasures rather than luxury goods and be glad you and your family are still able to enjoy lemonade that you bought at the lemonade stand just down from the Cottagewood general store.

If you have additional questions about Real Estate, I would love to help in answering them. Feel free to give me a call or contact me via the following information.

Travis Senenfelder
Buy Sell Lease Real Estate

C: 651.216.9466
E: Travis@BuySellLeaseMN.com

W: http://www.buysellleasemn.com/
W: http://www.buysellleasemn.com/blog/
W: http://www.buysellleasemn.com/contact-bsl-mn/

Market Watch / Market Recap

Are your eyes and ears Open? Are you ready to capitalize?

If your new to the Twin Cities, are looking at purchasing your first home or have been a dabbler in the Real Estate market from time to time; I want to start by saying, “Welcome to the market!” You could not have selected a better time to be purchasing a home in the Minneapolis, Twin Cities Area.

Much like many other parts of the country, home prices in this MN market have fallen tremendously over the past three years. And quite frankly although things have seemed, on the surface, to have stabilized; It is so important to stay current with what is happening and what may be about to happen within this market as you travel through the purchasing process. Because of this I want to point you in the right direction and then let you know that I am more than happy to assist you in finding that perfect investment opportunity. For a number of years buyers looking to buy a piece of real estate have relied on their agents for advice.

In the last three years however the question must be asked. Where did this advice come from? Was it a personal opinion of an agent and then passed on to a buyer? Was the advice ever looked at subjectively? Was a second opinion ever obtained? Was the advice based on hard facts?

Many buyers in the last 4 years bought based on my neighbors glass is now half full mentality. You see their glass was empty. Their neighbors was too. Shortly thereafter the neighbors glass began to fill up. It became a quarter full and then months later it was half full. The market value was climbing faster than the Mississippi river in the Fargo/Moorhead area was rising during a spring thaw. Because of this they bought. They assumed that in a short amount of time their neighbors glass would then be full and theirs would be half full. They would be in a better position. The type of loan didn’t matter much due to mentality that the market would keep climbing. The objective approach to buying a piece of real estate was never even in the picture.

In reality an objective approach to purchasing a home is the only way to purchase real estate and because of this:

Here is what I recommend.

Take a look at this website. This is data. Data compiled on a daily, weekly, monthly basis showing you exactly what is going on within the Minneapolis / St Paul Real Estate market.

*** http://www.mplsrealtor.com/market.aspx ***

Once you have read through some of it, call me: Travis Senenfelder | Buy Sell Lease Real Estate llc ( 651.216.9466 ) and lets discuss it. It is important that we take this actual data into the marketplace when we begin looking at homes to purchase for after all purchasing real estate is not just a roof over your head. It is an investment in your future and the future of others.

http://www.buysellleasemn.com

http://www.buysellleasemn.com/blog/

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