The number of new listings decreased considerably in Blaine, Minnesota through 2011 as did the average sales price. Blaine’s lender mediated foreclosure/short sale homes in the lower price points that worked their way through the system continued to affect the average sales price. With this the average price per square foot dropped over 11% from triple digits to $88/sq ft. The lower pricing has brought out the buyers as closed sales are up for Blaine in 2011 over 2010. Listings are moving at relatively the same pace taking just a week longer to sell than in the previous year, up from 125 to 132 days on the market. Blaine sellers did receive a bit less than asking than in 2010 but still over 92% This north metro community has sold through most of its current home inventory and remains an affordable option for first time home buyers. With low levels of inventory in the lower price points, 2011 might be the year for a traditional seller with a starter home to have the opportunity to move up in Blaine, Minnesota.

For additional details on the inventory levels in Blaine, MN at the end of 2011, Click HERE.

Looking To Buy Blaine Foreclosures?

Are you thinking about buying one of the foreclosures in Blaine? Whether you own your own home now or are a Minnesota first time home buyer, you will want to learn the basics before going out to buy. While there are many great values in Blaine foreclosuresyou will want to be prepared for how to negotiate your offer.

Information About Blaine

When looking to buy a suburban home to the Twin Cities make the city of Blaine one of your possibilities. Just 13 miles from Minneapolis and 20 miles from Saint Paul, Blaine offers all the benefits of a Twin Cities suburb. As a neighboring community to the Twin Cities, the City of Blaine has doubled its population over the last 3 decades. Mostly located in the County of Anoka, some portions of Blaine are in Ramsey county also. Take a moment to watch this brief video which was produced by the City of Blaine, MN. If you are thinking about about buying or selling Blaine foreclosures, please call me for further information.

Knowing What To Offer On A Foreclosure

A Blaine foreclosure can be a great value because the bank owns it and is paying for the maintenance of it. As opposed to a short sale transaction, the selling bank has a big motivation to get the listing off of their books. At the same time, banks who are involved in selling a foreclosure want to maximize the amount they get out of the property. In the lower price ranges it has turned into a sellers market meaning that many foreclosures sell for well above the listing price! Knowing what to offer for the foreclosure is critical in terms of being successful with your purchase.

Foreclosure Purchases: Things to Consider

There are two big factors to consider what you will want to make as an offer to purchase. The first factor is to consider how long the property has been on the market and the second is the general property condition. A foreclosure listing that has just been listed for sale is apt to sell for near the listing price (or even higher), while a bank that has a house that has been on the market a long time might be willing to negotiate for deeper discounts. Also, a listing that is in poor overall condition may not be able to be financed with traditional mortgage financing so the bank may have to reduce the price far enough to attract cash buyers. I can help you determine these factors as we go out looking for Blaine foreclosures.

Financing Foreclosures

If you are going to be financing the purchase of a foreclosure there are some critcal things to know. First, the listing must be in acceptable condition to the lender in order to qualify for most loan programs. Foreclosure listings that are in poor condition will either require a cash offer or special financing such as FHA 203k. The selling banks will also usually limit the amount seller paid concessions towards the closing costs of your home loan. In most cases the selling bank limits the contribution to 3 per cent of the selling price, or 2 per cent if you are an investor. Additionally, a selling bank will never look at your offer if it includes a financing contingency for the sale of a home and never if you do not provide a letter of financing preapproval along with your offer.

First Step In The Process

For many MN first time buyers the intimidating question is where do I start? Your very first step to home ownership is to get preapproved for a mortgage. By doing so you find out how much of a loan you are qualified for so that we can search for homes in the right price range.

If you are planning on buying a Blaine foreclosure please give me a call or send me an email. There are many great foreclosure values out there but knowing which one to buy will take some time and expertise. I would very much like to help you in your quest for the perfect purchase!

Casey Anderson
Sales Executive, Licensed Realtor in Minnesota
IBR Realty
caseyanderson@ibrrealty.com
Cell 651-245-1820
Woodbury, MN 55125
With a focus on Woodbury real estate and surrounding communities.

Selling a home today in Blaine can be a big challenge, especially with the tough competition from nearby short sales and foreclosures. Real estate values have been declining in part because of the low sales prices offered by banks who need to unload their inventory of their real estate owned. Roughly half of the sales in today's MN real estate market has come from non-bank home sellers. Are you searching for help to sell your Blaine home?

Benefits of Using A Real Estate Agent

It's never been more important to work with a Blaine real estate agent who understands the recent trends in Blaine market values. When we come out and visit your property to complete a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA), we will compare your home to all of the recent sales in your neighborhood. We will need to look at all of the homes for sold within the past few months to determine what the actual sales prices have been. In so doing we can estimate what type of price a home buyer might pay for your home within a reasonable period of market time.

One of the challenges for many sellers today is in trying to get enough for their house to pay off the their current mortgage. If a property seller owes more on their home loans than what we can sell it for we will either need to discuss paying down the mortgage, attempting a short sale on their home, or listing it for rent and in order to move to another home. With the quickly rising rents in today's market, sellers are quite often finding that they can cover all of the expenses for the home through their renter's income.

Lenders have specific guidelines to follow for those Blaine home sellers who have made the decision to rent out their house to buy another. Depending on the equity that you have in your home, a mortgage lender may or may not consider the rental income you receive when they qualify you for the new mortgage. The only way to know this is to call a lender to get preapproved.

Once we meet to discuss your home's current market value it is critical that you go through the process of getting preapproved for a mortgage loan. Your MN mortgage lender can help you discover which of the options are best whether selling or renting out your current home. The process of getting preapproved is generally free and contains no loan obligation. A good lender will be able to examine all of the options available to you such as through MN FHA loans, Conventional, VA, or other types of mortgage financing.

Blaine As A Community

When searching for Twin Cities suburban homes, consider the city of Blaine as a great possibility. Just 13 miles from Minneapolis and 20 miles from Saint Paul, Blaine offers a wide variety of employment as well as things to do. As a bedroom community to the Twin Cities, Blaine has more than doubled in size over the last 30 years. Mostly located in the County of Anoka, some portions of Blaine are in Ramsey county also. I found this excellent brief video which was produced by the City of Blaine, MN. If you are thinking about buying or selling Blaine real estate agent, please give me a call or send me an email.

Ready to Get Started?

If you think you want to learn more about selling your Blaine home call me. I will create a competitive market analysis for free. We will discuss all of the options available in the market today. Feel free to email or give me a quick call.

Casey Anderson
Sales Executive, Licensed Realtor in Minnesota
IBR Realty
caseyanderson@ibrrealty.com
Cell 651-245-1820
Woodbury, MN 55125
With a focus on Woodbury real estate and surrounding communities.