Richfield, MN

Minneapolis Realtor, John Schuster, of the John Schuster Group deserves some kudos for a real estate sale and purchase he negotiated last week in the Minneapolis area. In a market like the one we are experiencing today, it's good news when we experience success.

I had some customers who had found their dream home a few months ago. They had a home to sell in the Minneapolis area and wanted to upgrade to a home nearby. Reading the news of the real estate market recently they were a bit skeptical if the deal could be accomplished.

The buyers had met John Schuster as a result of his listing. They had noticed the house a year ago when it was significantly different in terms of price. At this new value this year, they wrote a purchase agreement with John Schuster and promptly listed their house in Minneapolis.

In a period of just 7 weeks, John had their home sold so they could lift their contingency and move to their new home. I was able to help the buyers with their financing and they locked in at the bottom of the market in terms of interest rate.

If we believe the press, we hear all day long how we can't sell our houses and we can't get a mortgage. "Nobody has mortgage money to lend", they like to write in the press. This blatantly inaccurate press might sell papers but it's far from the truth. Here's a great story about how Minneapolis residents can sell their homes and can get a mortgage-- sorry, press. It actually happens.

The buyers told me as an aside, "John worked a miracle for us".

Well, that kind of comment just shouldn't go unnoticed as far as I was concerned. I heard many good comments along the way about how attentive John was to his Minneapolis buyers. I witnessed their respect for him at their real estate closing.

In some small way, I'd just like to note success out there in the Minneapolis real estate market today. John Schuster is not the only one selling homes, and I'm not the only one lending morgage money. Real estate transactions are actually up over last year but you probably won't read that in the paper. So here it is--there's good news, too!

John Schuster's web page can be found at www.TwinCitiesListed.com

Single Family Homes

May 2008

Richfield real estate market seems to act a bit more like the weather. It goes, it goes down. No one knows why.

Temperatures again have been below average. However, there have been more weekend activity between scheduled showings and the open house attendance.

As you see, there are many homes that have been on the market for months now. The total market time of currently active listings ranges from 1 day to whaping 400 days, and the average is 77 days on the market.

Again, home owners whose homes are currently on the market are seeing an increased showing activity, and homes are selling a bit quicker. Overall, encouraging news!

Currently available for sale: 200 homes, up from 188 last month change: +6%

Homes listed during the month: 73 homes up from 66, change: +11%

Pending transactions during the month: 38 homes down from 50, change: -24% !

Home sales closed this month: 31 homes up from 29, change: +7% !

Market Temperature

Four homes listed this month sold quickly:

2 sold in 2-4 days - list price $175,000 and $309,900

3 sold in 10-16 days - list price $172,900, $214,000 and $217,900

3 sold in 21-28 days - list price $162,000, $240,000 and $345,000

1 sold in 3 days - list price $189,900, although this home was previously listed for 49 days. This closed was successfully closed on 5/28/08 - sale price $160,000

Aver. List Price Aver. Market Time Aver. Sq Ft

Transactions Pending: 54

List Price: $0 - $100,000 (1) $89,900 291 1,120

List Price: $100,000 - $200,000 (31) $169,626 134.8 1,454

List Price: $200,000 - $300,000 (20) $226,308 109.6 1,814

List Price: $300,000 - $400,000 (2) $327,450 11.5 2,541

Aver. Sold Price Aver. Market Time Aver. Sq Ft

Homes Sold: 31

Sold Price: $0 - $100,000 (1) $87,000 223 1,440

Sold Price: $100,000 - $200,000 (13) $167,900 107.5 1,576

Sold Price: $200,000 - $300,000 (17) $227,361 120.9 1,728

If you are looking for market information for condos, duplexes, or multi-family residential investment properties, email your request to: Marzena@MarzenaMelby.com

Sellers: If you are planning on selling your home within the next six months, call me foe a complimentary market analysis. Hire the agent who has the right tools to find the right buyer for your property.

Buyers: Are you ready?! We offer a free consultation to help you determine the timing and the price range right for you and your situation. We are very knowledgeable about financing options, including special programs and first-time home buyers programs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contact Marzena M. Melby, Broker/Partner, Counselor Realty, Inc., Licensed REALTOR® in the state of Minnesota at 612-267-6798 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in the Twin Cities Greater Metro Area.

Visit my profile to find out more about my services. Call me today at 612-267-6798. If you prefer, contact me by email, by clicking on "email me" link of this page under my profile.

Visit my website to search homes for sale in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog does not guarantee, or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author. Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog does not express the views of Counselor Realty, Inc. or its other partners or agents.

Copyright © 2008 By Marzena M. Melby, All Rights Reserved

Single Family Homes

April 2008

Richfield real estate market continues to slowly wake up this spring. April weather in our area was finicky. Temperatures below average, rain and even some snow (mostly in western and northwestern Minnesota, those areas received 6-12 inches!). Since weekends are usually the time when most people shop for homes, the weather halted that activity a couple of times.

As you see, there are many homes that have been on the market for months now. The total market time of currently active listings ranges from 3 days to whaping 482 days, and the average is 131 days on the market.

Again, home owners whose homes are currently on the market are seeing an increased showing activity. Our appointment center is noting a significantly higher appointment call volume.

Currently available for sale: 188 homes down from 200 last month change: -6%

Homes listed during the month: 66 homes up from 56, change: +18%

Pending transactions during the month: 50 homes up from 31, change: +61% !

Home sales closed this month: 29 homes up from 17, change: +71% !

Market Temperature

Four homes listed this month sold quickly:

1 sold in 9 days - list price $199,900

1 sold in 13 days - list price $209,900

2 sold in 17 days - list price $157,900 and $219,900

Aver. List Price Aver. Market Time Aver. Sq Ft

Transactions Pending: 53

List Price: $0 - $100,000 (1) $84,900 223 1,440

List Price: $100,000 - $200,000 (30) $169,370 130.8 1,470

List Price: $200,000 - $300,000 (22) $232,906 118.8 1,799

Homes Sold: 12

Sold Price: $100,000 - $200,000 (8) $168,288 129.8 1,384

Sold Price: $200,000 - $300,000 (2) $247,900 298.5 1,747

Sold Price: $300,000 - $400,000 (2) $344,450 305 2,640

If you are looking for market information for condos, duplexes, or multi-family residential investment properties, email your request to: Marzena@MarzenaMelby.com

Sellers: If you are planning on selling your home within the next six months, call me foe a complimentary market analysis. Hire the agent who has the right tools to find the right buyer for your property.

Buyers: Are you ready?! We offer a free consultation to help you determine the timing and the price range right for you and your situation. We are very knowledgeable about financing options, including special programs and first-time home buyers programs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contact Marzena M. Melby, Broker/Partner, Counselor Realty, Inc., Licensed REALTOR® in the state of Minnesota at 612-267-6798 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in the Twin Cities Greater Metro Area.

Visit my profile to find out more about my services. Call me today at 612-267-6798. If you prefer, contact me by email, by clicking on "email me" link of this page under my profile.

Visit my website to search homes for sale in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog does not guarantee, or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author. Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog does not express the views of Counselor Realty, Inc. or its other partners or agents.

Copyright © 2008 By Marzena M. Melby, All Rights Reserved

Single family homes

March 2008

Richfield real estate market continues to slowly wake up this spring. March weather in our area was not the best forour business. Since weekends are usually the time when most people shop for homes, the weather halted that activity a couple of times.

As you see, there are many homes that have been on the market for months now. The total market time of currently active listings ranges from 5 days to whaping 452 days, and the average is 136 days on the market.

Home owners whose homes are currently on the market are seeing an increased showing activity. Our appointment center is noting a significantly higher appointment call volume.

Here is the summary of the MLS data for the month of March:

Currently available for sale: 200 homes up from 193 last month change: +4%

Homes listed during the month: 56 homes down from 70, change: -20%

Pending transactions during the month: 31 homes up from 8, change: +35%

Home sales closed this month: 17 homes up from 15, change: +13%

Market Temperature

Four homes listed this month sold quickly:

1 sold in 1 day - list price $149,900

2 sold in 8 days - list price $177,500 and $199,900

1 sold in 23 days - list price $218,900

However, three of these homes were re-listed from earlier this year. When priced appropriately, they received attention of the right buyers.

One of these homes, 3 bedroom and 2 bath with a 2-car garage, has just been completely remodeled from a previous foreclosure condition. It was priced at $218,900 and sold in 23.

If you are looking for market information for condos, duplexes, or multi-family residential investment properties, email your request to: Marzena@MarzenaMelby.com

Sellers: If you are planning on selling your home within the next six months, call me foe a complimentary market analysis. Hire the agent who has the right tools to find the right buyer for your property.

Buyers: Are you ready?! We offer a free consultation to help you determine the timing and the price range right for you and your situation. We are very knowledgeable about financing options, including special programs and first-time home buyers programs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contact Marzena M. Melby, Broker/Partner, Counselor Realty, Inc., Licensed REALTOR® in the state of Minnesota at 612-267-6798 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in the Twin Cities Greater Metro Area.

Visit my profile to find out more about my services. Call me today at 612-267-6798. If you prefer, contact me by email, by clicking on "email me" link of this page under my profile.

Visit my website to search homes for sale in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog does not guarantee, or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author. Twin Cities Homes 4 Sale Blog does not express the views of Counselor Realty, Inc. or its other partners or agents.

Copyright © 2008 By Marzena M. Melby, All Rights Reserved

As the wife of a City of Richfield employee I really feel like I know this city inside and out. My husband comes home from work some days with all sorts of city news. All the latest civil engineering conflicts, like the roundabouts, the stop sign policies, yawn…

Lately talk has been about the 76th Street Bridge over I-35W. This one is going to drive me insane. This is my street! My bridge! I go over this bridge almost every day. I have to wonder how this will impact our commute, especially all those folks over at the Best Buy headquarters.
We only have about a month to enjoy a normal commute on 76th street as construction will begin in April. It will be seven months of inconvenience with a finish date some where in November of 2008.

Why a new bridge? Apparently the old bridge has a low clearance and trucks have actually collided with this bridge on separate occasions. I know our seven agonizing months of detouring will be worth the end product. One of the reasons the city gives for the bridge needing to be replaced is because of its “deficiency”. In light of the 35-W bridge collapse we can only wonder what exactly they mean by “deficiency.” I don’t know about you, but lately I am all for new bridges after that catastrophe.
More good news about this bridge is it will be built to hold more cars! So less waiting to get onto the freeway, less backup, resulting in a faster commute.

So get ready, this is just one of many projects going on in the Twin Cities. Richfield keeps improving, I will keep you informed of the many updates going on. If you ever have any questions about certain improvements in Richfield please feel free to contact me and I will try to answer them for you.