About Dakota County, MN

If you are like hundreds of thousands of renters, your lease ends sometime between the end of April and the end of June. The landlord (God love him) wants two months notice of intent to renew or not. It’s time to make the annual decision, rent another year or move on with your life and buy something.

Owning your home truly has economic advantages. However, it is not merely an economic investment. Sure, you will build equity by owing a little less every time you make a monthly payment. You may pay less income tax by itemizing the real estate tax and mortgage interest expense that makes up such a large part of the monthly payment. Your home’s value may increase, giving you a positive return if you ever decide to go back to renting. Yeah, sure you will.

The real investment value lies in ownership itself. Home ownership is about moving forward toward complete independent adulthood, investing in yourself, for yourself. It’s time to move down the road to independence you began traveling the day you were born. First, you were totally constrained and dependent. Then, step by step, you moved forward, crossing the street without Mom’s help. Then, off to school with even more independence, but still lots of rules. Then, your first job. Wasn’t that a treat? Seemed like you were back in elementary school, didn’t it? And, your first apartment! No, you can’t paint! Of course, you can’t hang pictures, holes in the wall are not allowed. A dog? You’re kidding, right?

You’re an adult now, isn’t it about time you were treated like one? Stop taking baby steps. Fire your landlord. And, please, can I help? How about an $8,000 landlord firing bonus from the government?

For the past couple months I've been doing analysis within Dakota County to compare the final selling price of homes sold to their tax assessed value to see if there were some common numbers that could be found to help buyers and sellers to get some rough estimates of home value. In November I looked at single-family homes that were not bank-owned or short sales and found that those homes were selling for about 90% of their Dakota County 2009 tax value.

In December, 2009 I expanded my analysis to include -

• Single Family Homes, Not lender mediated - Selling at 86.6% of Tax Value
• Single Family homes sold via Short Sale - Selling at 73.4% of Tax Value
• Single Family Bank Owned homes - Selling at 59.7% of Tax Value
• Townhouses, Not lender-mediated - Selling at 82.1% of Tax Value

So to continue the trend, I ran 3 of these statistics again to see if things were different for January 2010 sales in Dakota County and found -

• Single Family Homes, Not Lender Mediated - Sold for 88.7% of Tax Value
• Single Family, Bank-Owned Homes - Sold for 62.5% of Tax Value
• Townhouses, Not Lender Mediated - Sold for 84.1% of Tax Value (If I take out 3 oddballs that messed up the averages)

  (I'd be happy to make the detail available to anyone upon request showing addresses and prices - send me an e-mail at bill.wallace@results.net )

So what does this mean?

I think that with the continued decline in the number of homes available on the market (down to about 21,000 in the Twin Cities) we saw a small upward tick in home sales prices in Dakota County. With the ongoing Homeowners Tax Credit through April and low interest rates of around 5% we might see this continue to inch upward. All bets are off though after April 30th.

6395 Peacan Avenue N , Oak Park Heights, MN 55082 Buyer-Agent to verify measurements. Sauna room has shower also for 6 person hot tub. See supplements for disclosures- sold as is & seller does have a real estate license $3500/mo rental would work- Ask list agent for more details. Rent to own option avail Mn home contract for deed-seller... More Info

13920 40th Street N , Stillwater, MN 55082 House & barn are quality throughout.Cates built in 1999.Estate was designed by serious equestrians for western,dressage,show jumping & pleasure riding.Indoor arena has 14 ft sidewalls, aisles between pastures.Wooden fencing.Poss. subdivision.Sold "as is". Public Remarks: Stillwater 28+ acre... More Info

1459 Kings Wood Lane , Eagan, MN 55122 Not bank owned!High end Kingswood cul-de-sac.Great setting!Outstanding oaks offer privacy.Wonderful flr plan,lrg rms,2 sty staircase,huge mstr ste,W/O LL,a ton of nat light!Remodeled kit,doors,new roof,H2O heate. Mn home contract for deed-seller financing available Public Remarks: High end... More Info

19443 Meadowridge Circle N , Marine On St Croix, MN 55047-9641 $400,000+ Price Reduction!! 475 feet of waterfront plus deeded access to prime Big Marine Lake. This home has been completely remodeled from top to bottom with nothing but the best craftsmanship and materials. Mn home contract for deed-seller financing available Public Remarks: Incredible all... More Info

28038 144th Street NW , Blue Hill Twp, MN 55398 CONTRACT FOR DEED being offered on this property! Complete remodel and NEW garage! LIKE NEW! All living on one level. Must see this FANTASTIC location that over looks most of lake with frontage on semi-private lagoon AND frontage ON Elk Lake. Yr round OR Seller will consider any new financing... More Info

28038 144th Street NW ,Zimmerman MN 55398 CONTRACT FOR DEED being offered on this property! Complete remodel and NEW garage! LIKE NEW! All living on one level. Must see this FANTASTIC location that over looks most of lake with frontage on semi-private lagoon AND frontage ON Elk Lake. Yr round OR Mn home contract for deed-seller financing... More Info

28038 144st nw zimmerman, mn 55398 CONTRACT FOR DEED being offered on this property! Complete remodel! EZ2C. 22x22 detached garage. New septic 2 yrs ago as well. Property goes from 144th st to 145th st w access to the back of property. After hours &/or ?'s 763.856.5698 Public Remarks: CONTRACT FOR DEED being offered on this... More Info

16962 357th , Shafer Twp, MN 55074 COUNTRY LIVING AT ITS BEST. PEACE AND SERENITY. Turn of the century farmhouse with lots of recent updates.Windows,doors,roof,and siding.New furnace and water heater.Oversized 2+car garage insulated with heat. An older barn with silo, and a out bldg.Mn home contract for deed-seller financing... More Info

3017 Chamberlin Street N #7, Maplewood, MN 55109-5611 SPACIOUS HERITAGE SQUARE TOWNHOME W/SS APPLS, LOFT & 2 LG BRS W/WALK-IN CLOSET. UPPER LEVEL LAUNDRY & BATH W/DBL VANITY. EXCITING VAULTED LIVING RM, KITCHEN BREAKFAST BAR, 2-CAR ATTACHED GARAGE & SWEET FRONT YARD PATIO.Mn home contract for deed-seller financing availableCENTRALLY LOCATED FOR EASY... More Info

44 12th Street , Newport, MN 55055 Mississippi River Front property! Boaters paradise! Complete kitchen and bath remodels. Lg master suite that overlks River w/ fireplace, deck, 2 balconies, FR, office. Gazebo w/ hot tub, 2 tier deck overlking River, 30 ft boat slip, hydraulic boat liftMn home contract for deed-seller financing... More Info

2753 Leyland Trail , Woodbury, MN 55125 CONTRACT FOR DEED AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED BUYERS! Mn home contract for deed-seller financing... More Info

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Http://www.mnhomescontractfordeed.com largest seller financed site. Cd homes-land contracts-free information on buying a home with out a bank.

This is the weekend for the annual Mid Winter Fest in Apple VAlley featuring over fifty activities ranging from magic shows to hayrides to tubing and cross country skiing. To attend events, you eill need a Mid Winter Fest button available at most city owned businesses including community centers and liquor stores. Here's a link to all the 33rd Mid Winter Fest information. This event has come a long way since the early pre-organized event days of everyone meeting at the big hill behind Andy"s Market for sliding.

The principal residence mortgage interest tax deduction in its present form rewards homeowners with low equity in their homes. Homeowners with little or no debt are paying a disproportionate share of taxes because they are acting responsibly. Tax policy should be adjusted to give all homeowners a credit, not just those who have incurred debt. We are somehow deluding ourselves into thinking that tax policy that encourages debt somehow encourages home ownership. Actually, it just helps banks.

My proposal is that a tax credit of 1% of the purchase price of the home be given to all homeowners, annually, for as long as they own their home. In a year when a homeowner sells and buys, credit could be claimed for both homes, an incentive to move up/down. A credit of this type would be an incentive to buy, to trade, and to own. It would eliminate cash-out tax advantages that probably shouldn’t exist anyway.