Saint Cloud, MN

I read an article in the St. Cloud Times Sunday edition (1-18-09), titled "Bad Time To Buy", off the wire from Boston. This article strongly suggested that buying a home now would be a mistake, but fails to weigh all the factors.

There is a great difference between Boston, Ma. and Saint Cloud Minnesota. The prices are lower here, and the market more conservative. In fact, there are vast differences between the best and the worst market areas in this country.

In my 25 years as a licensed Realtor®, I have never seen better conditions to buy a first home. A buyer today has the benefit of great inventory, low prices driven by the competitive sell-off of bank owned properties, plus historically low interest rates, plus motivated home sellers, plus a first time homebuyer tax credit of $7,500 that expires on July 1, 2009. http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2008/10/15/so-important-it-needed-to-be-reposted-st-cloud-mn-area-real-estate-buyers-please-read.aspx

Now, in Boston, $7500 will not go very far towards the down payment and closing costs on a home. In central Minnesota however, you can buy a nice home for $125,000. A 3% down payment (FHA) and 2.5% closing costs equals $7,500.

So ask yourself some serious questions.

Are my job and income secured?

Will I stay in the area, and in this first home, for 4+ years?

What can I afford?

The article places the interest rate around 5%. If that rate goes up 1% that is a 20% increase in the interest expense. If you buy a home for 10% less, but can not afford the payments, what good is the price?

The St Cloud Times should have printed the article with the disclaimer: This is not Boston. This is Saint Cloud Minnesota, and some of this information may not be relevant. Please seek advice from a Professional Mortgage lender, Attorney, Realtor®, and or Financial Adviser.

When looking at statistics and market data, consider the source and scope of the data, and then discuss this with your professional advisers.

For accurate market statistics I am providing the following links:

East St Cloud Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/09/update.aspx

South Saint Cloud Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/09/saint-cloud-minnesota-area-real-estate-market-update-south-st-cloud-housing-statistics-2007-vs-2008.aspx

West Saint Cloud Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/12/west-saint-cloud.aspx

North Saint Cloud Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/12/st-cloud-mn-area-real-estate-market-update-north-st-cloud-housing-statistics-2007-vs-2008.aspx

Sauk Rapids Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/13/sauk-rapids.aspx

Sartell Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/13/sartell.aspx

Waite Park Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/14/saint-cloud-minnesota-area-real-estate-market-update-waite-park-and-vicinity-housing-statistics-2007-vs-2008.aspx

Saint Joseph Minnesota: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2009/01/14/saint-joseph-and-vicinity.aspx

Originally posted at http://stcloudedina.com/blog on 12/27/08:

I am a little anxious to get started on the final tally of numbers for the St Cloud MLS in 2008. In the meantime, I am finishing up some of my own personal numbers and one stuck out as a glaring "heads-up" to any potential seller in the St Cloud MLS.

There were 13 listings last year that I lost out on to other agents or chose to not list. Most of them were because of price. My starting price was too low for what each seller needed to get in order to sell. I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the market is going down for those of you who hadn't heard. My early estimations are that we will be down nearly 8% from last year in both median and average sales prices on the St Cloud MLS. I cannot sell your house for the same price it was worth in 2005. I'm sorry, but it just won't happen.

Out of those 13 listings, NONE HAVE SOLD! Ouch. While this is a perfect "I told you so moment," I feel truly bad for every single one of those families. Some really needed to sell their homes. I also hate losing listings (for whatever the reason), so that frustrates me too. Even if homes don't sell, they are great generators of potential buyers.

While I would like this stat to change in the new year, I cannot control the market. What I can pledge is to continue being honest with potential home sellers so that they are aware of what they need to do in order to sell their homes. That with a little pinch of a market turn will make 2009 a banner year for my real estate business.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud MN

http://StCloudEdina.com - Home of the e-Market Analysis (Free Home Value Estimator)

http://StCloudEdina.com/blog - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN

Originally posted at www.StCloudEdina.com/blog on December 19th, 2008:

I wanted to give a quick "Thank you" to Brian Musech of Batteries Plus in St Cloud MN. Just before going on vacation I had the joy of owning a laptop that gave me about 15 minutes of run time before the battery died. As I like to use my laptop as a movie viewer for the kids when we fly, I needed to get a new laptop battery quickly.

I went to Batteries Plus in St Cloud and met with one of their sales consultants. They not only knew exactly what I needed, but they also had it in stock so that I could get my new battery immediately and be on my way.

If you are in need of a battery - any kind of battery - give the folks at Batteries Plus a quick visit. With their great customer service and knowledge of the product they sell, I am sure that you will be as impressed with them as I was.

Thanks again to Dolora and Brian Musech with Batteries Plus and keep up the great work.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real estate broker associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud MN

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Find open houses in Waite Park MN

http://StCloudEdina.com - Home of the e-Market Analysis (free home value estimator)

Originally posted at http://stcloudedina.com/blog on 11/08/08:

While it wouldn't have been my first choice of things to do with a whole lot of money, I have to admit that the new St Cloud Regional Library is a very impressive structure that accents the landscape of downtown St Cloud quite nicely.

I had the chance to do a tour and utilize one of their meeting spaces (free for non-profit organizations) with a group from the Chamber of Commerce the other day. While I started out very skeptical of this expensive structure, once I got inside I was really quite impressed. Hopefully it gets used like the citizens of St Cloud think it will be for many years to come.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud

Planning on selling your home? Over 80% of buyers are finding their homes on-line. Use the real estate agent that is the best in Central MN for real estate advertising on the web.

http://JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Try the e-Market Analysis (free home value estimator).

Originally posted at www.stcloudedina.com/blog on 04/02/08:

I read today from Realty Times a phrase that got me thinking. The article is at: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20080402_sandiego.htm

I believe that the articles take on real estate professionals trying to predict real estate market trends is sometimes extremely careless. However, I also believe that some real estate professionals spend a lot of time analyzing the data that comes from their MLS systems. These real estate agents and brokers can be extremely accurate interpreters of real estate trends for their local area.

That isn't the topic that I wanted to cover.

What got me thinking was how long it would take until you can tell that the real estate market HAD hit its bottom. The line from the article stated that it would at least a couple of years afterwords that someone could honestly say that the bottom HAD come for the San Diego real estate market. How true.

Think about how long it takes (with the last 5 years removed) to show significant changes in the real estate prices. The trend for low rates of appreciation over time (1-2%) in housing could make very easy to interpret a bottom when only a specific segment of the market picked up. With two years of data, a person can hopefully eliminate market spikes and get a much broader picture of what the real estate market actually did.

So if you are hoping to know when the bottom is going to be, the earliest we can tell you is two years from now (if today is the bottom). If you want a crystal ball prediction, hmmm... That will cost you $10. No self repecting psychic would give out such valuable information for free:)!

Jason Tangen, GRI - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty St Cloud, MN

JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search real estate in St Cloud, MN and surrounding areas.

www.StCloudEdina.com/blog - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN