If you are selling a home in Bloomington today you will find it can be quite a challenge, especially considering that nearly half of the competitive listings are short sales or foreclosures. Real estate values have been declining in part because of the lower asking prices offered through banks who need to bring down their real estate owned inventory. Roughly half of the closed sales in the curret MN real estate market has come from traditional home sellers. Are you in the search for help to sell your Bloomington home?

Using a Bloomington Real Estate Agent

It's never been more important to work with a Bloomington real estate agent who studies recent trends in Twin Cities market values. When we come out and visit your property to complete a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA), we will compare all of the features and benefits of your property to the competing homes for sale in the area. We need to look at all of the properties that have sold within the past few months to analyze 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.

Choices When You Owe More Than The House Is Worth

The challenge for many sellers today is trying to get enough for their house to pay off the current mortgage on their home. 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 rapidly rising rents in today's market home sellers are often finding that they can cover all of the expenses for the home through their renter's income.

Lenders have guidelines for the Bloomington sellers who will rent out their home 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 have a chance to meet to discuss the value of your current home it is important 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 renting or selling your current house. The process of preapproval is generally free and contains no loan obligation. A good mortgage banker will be able to analyze all of the options available to you such as MN FHA loans, Conventional, VA, or other types of mortgage loans.

Bloomington MN Information

The City of Bloomington, MN is the 5th largest city in Minnesota and lies within the boundaries of Hennepin County Bloomington's residential neighborhoods include upper-tier households in the Bush Lake area as well as traditional middle-class families in its rows of single-family homes in the central to eastern portions With a stable economy, Bloomington actually has more jobs per capita than either the cities of St. Paul or Minneapolis. Major employers such as Toro, Ceridian, Donaldson Company and Health Partners are headquarted in Bloomington. With a well established Parks and Rec department there is always something to do in Bloomington, MN!

The Call Is Free

If you want to learn more about the process of selling your Bloomington home call me. I will arrange a time to come out and complete a market analysis of your home 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.

If you are looking for a lower payment on your car insurance in Bloomington, you have to call the Schwake Agency. I was quite shocked when I saved over $30 dollars per month over my other premium insurance that I had through my other insurance company. (I was with that company for 5 years!) You can even save more if you have a homeowners policy or renters policy with them too!

That extra $30 comes in handy with the increase in gas prices. Not only did I lower my monthly payment, but their staff is top notch as well when it comes to costumer service. They have someone in the office at all business hours. I even had a question for them on the friday after Thanksgiving and they were open! After my experience with the Schwake Agency, I think I probably would have switch regardles if my I saved money or not.

The Schwake Agency is a family run business and when you call 952-888-8005 you can talk to Stephanie, Jeremy, Kim or Carie. They are all willing to help you get a lower payment on your car insurance. It might be the best call you made and it doesn't cost you a dime to start saving some money.

Here is there contact information:

9448 Lyndale Ave S # 203, Bloomington, MN 55420

You can call them at 952-888-8005

If you are looking for a lower payment on your car insurance, contact the Schwake Agency!

The National Association of Realtors© (NAR) does a survey every year which give them data on what the average profile of a property buyer and seller is. This data allows us to get an idea of who is buying homes and how they are finding the homes they buy. This information helps sellers and real estate agents understand how to market to buyers better. The information received by NAR also proves that if you are looking to purchase a home you need to be using the Home Buyer Scouting Report© to search properties online. If you don’t know what this is, go to www.kengraczak.com and pick on one of the icons on the right hand column. Here is some of the data that came from this 2010 NAR report.

• 50% of the homebuyers surveyed where 1^st time homebuyers. This number was up from the 36% in 2006
• Most buyers are looking for a quality neighborhood, a home in that is convenient to where they work, the overall affordability of the home, the quality of the school district and its convenience to shopping.
• During the search process 99% of homebuyers used the internet in their home search
• 74% of all buyers frequently looked online throughout the buying process and 15% occasionally looked online. 89% of buyers are looking online at least occasionally during the process to find the right home!
• 36% of all home buyers 1^st step was to look online at properties before doing anything
• 11% of all home buyers 1^st step was to look online for information about the home buying process
• 8% of all home buyers 1^st step was to contact a bank or mortgage lender
• It took buyers an average of 12 weeks of searching to find a home.
• 35% of all buyers found their home online

The top features of a website most valued by a buyer:

• Photos
• Detailed info about the property for sale
• Virtual tours
• School district information
• Neighborhood information
• Detailed information about recently sold properties
• Info about upcoming open houses

Obviously this information is only as good as you use it. Here is how you can use this information if you are selling your property or if you are a real estate agent. NAR posted that 99% of homebuyers use the internet to search for properties. 74% of buyers are looking online frequently during the process to find the right home and the average search is taking 12 weeks. You need to use single property websites for EVERY listing to maximize the exposure online and on social Medias. The systems I have put together are easy to use and virtually free. You will get websites for your listings, training on how to market your website, a partner to help market your listings, online buyer education webinars, the Home Buyer Scouting Report© and a competent loan officer that knows how to close loans. If you are a consumer looking to sell your home and your real estate agent is not using this system for you, give them my contact information and demand them to use it. If you are a real estate agent and want to use my system you can go to my fan page (please like the page) and learn how this virtually free system can help you gain more market exposure and allow you to get more closings.

	Ken Graczak - NMLS 184394
Company NMLS ID 4474
Phone - 612-516-5626
Fax – 877-347-5676
www.KenGraczak.com
Ken@KenGraczak.com
Get Pre-approved	Online Rate Quote	Loan Account Login	Foreclosure Search

First Time Buyer's - Durham Executive Group

Becky and John received a phone call from a young couple looking to purchase their first single family home. We worked with them in setting up a detailed search for properties meeting their search critieria and after one full day the four of us went looking at homes until the buyer's found their dream home. An offer was made, negotiated, and the home passed both a radon and home inspection. The transaction has been seamless and the family will be moving into their new Bloomington, MN home at the end of July.

When Staging a Home Keep the Targeted Buyer in Mind. Doing so is extremely important and can determine success or failure with the Home Staging.

Am I staging a downtown loft or a home in the suburbs? Who lives in this neighborhood? These are some of the questions I ask myself.

Point in fact: When I went to do the bid for this condo I noticed it was extremely quiet, not a lot of activity in the common areas and a few people of the older generation walking through the halls.

I asked the Realtor if the buyer would likely be someone downsizing or a young professional wanting to entertain clients since the condo was located on an Exclusive Private Golf Course. I was told most likely someone downsizing.

When I stopped to chat with the Maintenance Manager I was told the average age of owners was 72. Ah huh!

In home staging you must keep your most likely buyer in mind. I wanted to play to that demographic but also keep it some what modern in case a young professional walked through.

I think I found that balance. The condo had been vacant and on the market over a year without an offer. They pulled it off the market for a few months, had it staged and then re-listed.

IT SOLD IN LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!!

What did I do? I made the home feel more traditional but with a hint of modern elements.

The artwork is more formal and traditional but the furniture is cozy and neutral and the colors of dark brown and light blue are fresh and modern.

The bathroom was blah. It needed some life and vibrant cranberry did the trick.

The porch: Antique wicker in modern black with lime green and hot pink accents made it refreshing for any generation.

The office: Well of course it needed a Golf theme being on an exclusive private golf course.

The bedroom: Aahhh....tranquil for any age.

Staging a home for the most likely buyer is important but a balance is needed so anyone can fall in love with it. You never know who may walk through the door.

For Home Staging and Redesign Services in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN area ..... Rooms With Style has the experience you need and will ask the necessary questions to stage it correctly.