About Dakota County, MN

There are plenty of folks who are choosing to buy their first homes right now in Dakota County, especially in Apple Valley and the five cities on its borders. Interest rates and prices have converged to the optimal level, and the indications are that this may be as good as it gets.

There are a lot of real estate professionals who offer reasons to buy a home right now, and most of the given reasons are valid for somebody. They are not all valid for everyone. For example:

Interest and Property Taxes are Deductible. This is true, but the fact that they are deductible does not always mean that they should be deducted. The standard deduction for single filers in 2012 will be $5,950, and the standard deduction for married filers will be $11,900. You have to have enough deductions to exceed the standard deduction or your deductions will not help your tax bill. If you have little else but mortgage interest and property taxes to deduct, many entry level home purchases will not give you a tax advantage.

Owning is Cheaper Than Renting. This could be true, but it is necessary to include all the new expenses that go along with owning your own home. In addition to the monthly payment which may actually be lower than your current rent, taxes, insurance, general maintenance, periodic updates, future assessments, and desired improvements need to be considered. Generally the new home is larger than the rental, so utilities could also cost a bit more. Owning will probably cost more than renting, but driving your own car usually costs more than taking the bus too, which brings us to the one reason to buy your first home.

It May Cost More, But It's Worth It. The best and most universally valid reason to buy your first home is because it will probably make your life better. That is, it will make your life better if you do your homework, don't overspend, and choose carefully. talk to a financing professional, and expect that you will be qualified for more than you feel that you can comfortably allocate to your monthly payment. The comfortable amount is the important one, and it's best to not exceed that level. Keep in mind that unexpected expenses, both home-related and otherwise always occur. Have a cushion saved that will not be used for buying and moving expenses. With the proper preparation, your lifestyle upgrade will be worth the effort and the possible additional expense over the cost of living in the world of temporary housing.

If you're ready to declare your independence from Mr. Landlord, call me to arrange a convenient time for a home buying orientation and strategy session. You'll learn about buyer advocacy, the risks and rewards of buying foreclosures and short sales, what to look for when shopping for a new home, and a whole lot more. Call now, you have nothing to lose but about an hour of your time.

Over that last ten years the Cobblestone Lake Area of Apple Valley has averaged about 2 - 3 sales each month, which is why it's very important to look at data on a specific neighborhood with a 12 month moving average so we can figure out the trend for that specific neighborhood.

The Absorption Rate peaked at about 21 Months of Inventory over the Winter of 2007 - 2008. In December 2010 the Absorption Rate stood at 5.3 Months of Inventory and inventory increased by ten homes in the following month moving the Absorption Rate to 12.5 Months of Inventory.

(Big changes like this is a reason why I look at a twelve month moving average.)

Months of Inventory has been trending down since peak inventory levels during 2007 - 2008 and have fallen to about 6 - 7 Months of Inventory in 2010 and have remained at about that level ever since. Inventory levels did decline most of 2011 up to August and have gone back up sustaining a slight Buyer's Market in the Cobblestone Lake Neighborhood.

The Median Sale Price in Cobblestone Lake has been relatively flat during 2010 and most of 2011 and has just recently started to rise slightly. Prices in the Cobblestone Lake area have fallen about 44% since the Housing Market Peak of 2006 and have risen 10% from January 2011.

In this next chart we see sales data by price bracket. I would take this information with a grain of salt since the data available is pretty small group of homes. But it is worth reviewing to get an idea of what market conditions may be like for various price ranges.

Yesterday I posted about an email I had received regarding a Home Staging Consultation where the subject line was : "Your Expertise Helped Us Get an Offer In Five Days After Listing!" Well, I got up this morning and found this in my email:

"Hello Shar,

Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for helping us with staging our townhome a couple months back. After 6 weeks of de-cluttering, moving, cleaning, shopping, and rearranging, we put our home up for sale last Saturday. Our Open House was on Sunday, we had 8 showings by Thursday and 2 offers on Thursday night. We accepted an offer that ended up being above our asking price!

Your advice was so valuable to us. I just wanted to let you know that we couldn't have done it without your help! We close at the beginning of April, and we will definitely be calling for help with our new home :)"

Okay....I mentioned I don't normally hear how Home Staging Consultations end up as so much time may elapse between when I meet with a homeowner and when they may list and I don't hear back. But here I got two emails in a few days! And did you see that part that said..."above our asking price".

More proof that Home Staging can and does make a difference!!

Need some assistance getting your home sold? Call Rooms With Style Home Staging and Redesign to book a Home Staging Consultation Appointment! 952-567-1124

www.roomswithstyle.com

The Housing Market in Rosemount, Minnesota is a good example of a Twin Cities suburb poised for a rebound. As of January numbers Rosemount has a couple of indicators favoring better market conditions.

Since January last year Rosemount's Monthly Market Conditions have changed from a Buyer's Market to a Seller's Market. January's Absorption Rate stood at 5.1 Months of Inventory whil trending in to 5.2 Months of Inventory from 6.2 in December. The overall trend on the other hand, which is a 12 month moving average, indicates Rosemount has actually been experiencing a Buyer's Market until November were it entered into a Balanced Market. January 2012 is the third consectutive month were Rosemount has been trending in a Balanced Market.

Home Prices on the other hand have fallen 32% since the housing market peak of 2006 and 14% since 2002. The Home Price Trend in the chart below made it's first movement upward in January 2012 since October.

In the chart below we see what the conditions are for various price ranges in Rosemount. Homes a cross the board seem to be experiencing a Seller's Market as of the date of this post.

Click Rosemount, Minnesota for more information on this community.