Kim Melin

Refund! That is a word sure to make anyone perk up their ears. And if you have ever had an FHA-insured mortgage then you should pay attention. While the refund process should be automatic, sometimes a refund gets missed or the payee can’t be located. First check the HUD website to see if you are owed a refund. You will need to enter your name or your FHA case number.

To be eligible for an insurance premium refund, you must meet these requirements:

• acquired your loan after September 1, 1983
• paid an up-front mortgage insurance premium at closing and
  
• did not default on your mortgage payments

To be eligible for a distributive share from the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund you must meet the following:

• originated your loan before September 1, 1983
• paid on your loan for more than seven years and
• had your FHA insurance terminated before November 5, 1990.

The HUD site encourages people who need help with their refund to contact them directly and not to hire someone to assist in collecting the refund. Often the collectors are scam artists. The direct number to the HUD support center is 1-800-697-6967.

For more details, directions on requesting your refund, and a list of the exceptions, read the FHA Homeowners Fact Sheet.

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To begin your search for a new home, check out my Listingbook.

Contact me, Kim Melin, for more information on buying or selling.

This shouldn’t surprise any locals, but Edina High School ranks as one of the top 110 high schools in the nation! Newsweek magazine released a list last week of the top 1500 high schools and Edina ranks at 108! Among the Minnesota schools on the list, Edina High School ranks at number 2.

According to Newsweek:

Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 6 percent of public schools measured this way.

The Twin Cities area has 11 schools appearing on the list and Minnesota has 27 overall. This simply confirms what we have known all along. Minnesotans are a smart bunch!

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To begin your search for a new home, check out my Listingbook.

Contact me, Kim Melin, for more information on buying or selling.

People are saying that mortgage loans are hard to come by, but that’s not true in all cases. Those with excellent credit and a reasonable income can still get a loan from a mortgage company or a bank. People with not-so-good credit are discovering that finding mortgage money can be a problem.

For those with less than stellar credit but with average or higher incomes who want to take advantage of the lower priced properties that have flooded the housing market, the answer may be finding an Angel. An Angel is an individual investor, usually with cash to lend to home buyers or someone who has a preferred rate with a bank. Sometimes the Angel is a friend or relative, but there are professional Angels as well. This is how the angel system works:

Let’s say that a distressed property is selling for $60,000 but the estimated worth, once fixed up, is $150,000. The needed repairs cost $20,000. Add the cost of the house to the repairs and you’ll need $80,000, an amount which comes out of the Angel’s pocket when he buys and fixes up the house.

Meanwhile, the hopeful buyer (we’ll call him ‘Bob’) rents the home from the Angel for $800 per month (1% of the cost of the house) for six months to a year as he cleans up his credit. (Remember this won’t work unless Bob has a good income and is willing to work to raise his credit score.)

After the six months (or more) have passed, Bob the Renter can become Bob the Homeowner with his improved credit score and a mortgage loan from a bank or mortgage lending company. The house is now fixed up and worth about $150,000, but Bob buys it for $100,000 from the Angel. The Angel now has $100,000 in cash from the home sale (a 20% profit on his investment) and Bob has a $150,000 home for which he paid only $100,000.

While not everyone has a friend or a relative who can help in this way, many mortgage brokers have contacts with Angels. Of course, any buyer who decides to use an Angel should be sure to understand how this system works, be willing to sign a promise to buy the home even while still a renter and must work to improve his credit score so that when the time comes, he can get a mortgage.

As with everything, there are risks, but for some, an Angel may be the answer to how to afford to buy a home. This scenario is only an example and every situation is different. Before making a commitment, talk to your real estate agent, loan officer or a real estate attorney to decide if an Angel is right for you and your circumstances.

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To begin your search for a new home, check out my Listingbook.

Contact me, Kim Melin, for more information on buying or selling.

The old Shakespeare-based adage “all the world’s a stage” is nowhere so true as in the world of modern real estate. Staging, the art of preparing a home for sale by de-cluttering, depersonalizing, cleaning, repainting, rearranging, landscaping, and cosmetically improving a home to make it more saleable, has become the norm. The theory is that when a home is properly staged, it will appeal to the largest number of buyers, sell more quickly, and sell for more. While “staging” has always been a normal part of getting a home ready to sell, since the 1990’s, staging has become an industry of its own that has emphasized home presentation.

This theory is backed up with data from HomeGain.com. For a modest investment, staging efforts bring three to six times their value increased prices, as noted in the chart below.

Part of staging is repainting dingy walls before moving, preferably in neutral shades. While there may be a few potential buyers in the world that hate eggshell-colored walls, statistically, there are more who would reject a home because it had a fuschia living room. Even when paint is in good condition, it tends to yellow with age, so a fresh coat brightens up a room and makes it inviting.

Buyers typically do not want to buy other people’s dirt, even if they are not good housekeepers themselves. It’s really important that the house be clean and free of clutter. If a house is clean but cluttered, the clutter is so distracting to buyers that it makes it harder for them to visualize how their things will look there. Clutter also makes the buyer wonder if the seller is covering up a flaw. Ideally, sellers should prepare for the upcoming sale of their home by selling or donating what they won’t be taking to the new home and by neatly organizing the rest. Since it’s fair game for home seekers to open every closet, purging is a better technique than relocating clutter.

Because the yard is what potential buyers will see when first approaching the property, improving the exterior landscaping will add curb appeal. (Some real estate professionals say people are attracted to a home within 8 seconds of seeing it!) At the minimum, lawn and gardens should be neat and appear well tended to. A plant on the porch might be nice touch accomplished by a $10 visit to Home Depot. The rest of the exterior should look pleasing too. A truck full of Home Depot geraniums won’t incite house-love if the siding is falling off or the steps are cracked.

The next level of staging, often done by professional decorators, designers, and real estate agents, concentrates on furniture rearrangement, accessorizing, and depersonalizing the space. The idea is to make the home look more like a new model home. Extra furniture might be put in storage so that a few pieces might be arranged to maximize the space. Family mementos are often tucked away so potential buyers can more easily see their bowling trophies on the mantel in the family room or their mother’s picture in the living room.

This last phase of staging is often replicated in vacant homes by renting furniture, as having furniture in the room gives a better perspective on room size. Furniture also makes a home look more “wanted” and tends to make the home sell more quickly than an empty home.

Some of the staging effort may seem like common sense and some may seem contrived. It’s best to remember that, especially in the current market, few homes sell themselves. Proactive marketing effort is necessary to make a nice home an outstanding one on the real estate stage. These days, there is so much competition among homes on the market that proper staging will give your home the applause and the curtain call you want – a sale!

For a look at some beautifully staged homes in Minneapolis, check out my Listingbook.

Contact me, Kim Melin, for more information on buying or selling.

There are many people who are beginning to take advantage of the post-bubble home prices of bank owned properties to make a housing purchase before the chance is gone. If you are one of them, there are some things you should know before you make an offer.

Banks have no emotional ties to influence their side of the negotiation. The only thing banks care about is the amount of money in the offer. They often won’t accept that low-low-ball offer, but will accept some offers below the listing price. If your offer is too low, the bank will simply reject it. If the offer is within the amount the bank will accept, they will counter with changes, probably the only counter they will make. If there are multiple offers, banks favor the buyer who plans to make the house their home as opposed to the investor who will not.

Quite often, banks will have their own dense and legalistic forms that are unlike the usual purchase agreement forms used by real estate companies. Read these carefully, having your agent explain things you don’t understand, before you sign.

Once an offer is submitted, be patient. The purchase agreement you sweated over will go to the bottom of a pile of offers on the dozens of foreclosed properties assigned to the over-worked loss-mitigation worker you’ve been assigned. It can take two to three weeks to get an answer and nothing you or your real estate agent can do will speed up this process. However, once the bank either counters or accepts your offer, things will move quickly.

Banks want rock solid proof that you can pay for the home you want. Don’t delay seeing a mortgage lender to find out exactly home much home and what kind of loan you can afford. Do this before you start looking at homes.

Some banks will allow a small amount of seller paid closing costs, but not always. Don’t ask for this unless you have no choice. While quick closes are often possible, banks discourage closing dates over 30-days past acceptance and can charge a daily fee for every day over their 30-day deadline.

Personal property like appliances have often been removed from the property by the seller or by the bank and shouldn’t be included in your offer. Former homeowners who have had their houses taken away by the bank may cause revenge damage or have simply deferred needed repairs because they didn’t have the money. Some need a few cosmetic repairs but others need thousands in professional repairs and replacements. The bank isn’t going to tell you about these problems. Pay the extra money for a professional home inspector so you’ll know just what you’re buying.

A bank-owned property can be a wise purchase, but it takes more work to buy than a regular sale. Keep your eyes open so that the decisions you make are the right one.

Contact me, Kim Melin, to see the selection of bank owned properties available in the Minneapolis area. Start your search for your next home at my ListingBook.