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Top Residential Transactions Plymouth MN – Finance and Commerce

November 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Finance and Commerce publishes a list of the top transactions for various cities.  Here’s a link to the top transactions in Plymouth, MN for the week ending October 28, 2011.  The home pictured below is a gorgeous home built by Mike Hillesheim’s Creek Hill Custom Homes.

Creek Hill Custom Homes - Taylor Creek

According to Finance and Commerce, this home sold for $1.1 million.  It also has over 6600 finished square feet and includes a sports court.  It is located in the Taylor Creek neighborhood in northwest Plymouth.  The draws of course are spectacular homes like this one, the setting and that it’s located in the Wayzata School District.

The brokers involved in this transaction were Coldwell Banker Burnet and Keller Williams Integrity.

For more information on the build out of northwest Plymouth, Maple Grove as well as the restart in Medina, check out my new site dedicated to new construction at Northwest Plymouth.

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The 6 Worst Home Improvements and Upgrades for the Money

November 4, 2011 By 3 Comments

Financially Fit via Yahoo! produced a fun story called, “The 6 Worst Home Fixes for the Money.”  Their information came from Remodeling Magazine’s annual issue on Remodeling Costs versus Value.

The 6 worst home improvements or remodeling projects you should undertake if you’re trying to recoup your money when you sell are as follows according to Remodeling Magazine.  Note costs below are national averages according to their research.  (My personal opinion is some of these costs seem high – really high – but, that said, if you want to go high end with the finishes and custom features, there may not be a limit as to how much you can spend – these are averages).

Home Office Remodel: costs are $28,888 — recoup about 45.8% at resale.

Backup Power Generator: costs are $14,718 — recoup about  48.5% at resale.

Sunroom Addition: costs are $75,224 — recoup about 48.6% at resale.

Upscale Master Suite Addition: costs are $232,062 — recoup about 52.7% at resale.

Bathroom Addition: costs are $21,695 — recoup about 53% at resale.

Upscale Garage Addition: costs are $90,053 — recoup about 53.6% at resale.

I’d love to hear what you think about this?  Certainly what the writers aren’t taking in to account is the value these projects have on your life in terms of enjoyment and quality of life.  If you’re looking for a better return on your money just to get your home sold, the best places to start are usually the simplest – paint and carpet.

 

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Price Reduction Day in Plymouth, MN – 11 Active Homes for Sale Drop Their Prices Today

November 3, 2011 By 1 Comment

I have a screen or dashboard where I can see the general overall activity in a given city.  I always keep a close eye on Plymouth and noticed that 11 properties took price reductions today.  Many of the reductions weren’t big, but they were still reductions.  About half the reductions were for homes in Lennar’s Taryn Hills neighborhood and Pulte’s Elm Creek Highlands.  The average reduction was about 2%.  These homes are priced between about $350-$500k so the reductions were between about $5-$10k.

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Plymouth MN New Construction Report

November 2, 2011 By 4 Comments

 

Plymouth MN New Construction Report

Plymouth, MN continues to be one of the leading communities in the Twin Cities in terms of new builds.  New construction is going up at quite a pace in northwest Plymouth.  I’ve put together a new report with the following information.

  • Number of New Homes built and sold year to date
  • Average Sales Price
  • Average Price per Square Foot
  • Complete with pictures when available

For the following neighborhoods:

  • Lennar’s Taryn Hills
  • Pulte’s The Willows
  • Spring Meadows
  • Hampton Hills
  • Taylor Creek

Please complete the form below in order to receive your report.

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Name" type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Email" type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Other New Construction Reports" type="select" options="Maple Grove New Construction,Medina New Construction,Only send me the Plymouth New Construction Report" /] [contact-field label="Comment" type="textarea" /] [/contact-form]

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Reclaimed Wood – Beautiful, Old World and Environmentally Friendly – Minneapolis Remodel by Nate Jurmu’s Meadow Creek Building Corp.

November 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When it comes to home remodeling and improvement projects, many contractors, home improvement stores and consumers are demanding more green building technology and materials.  Perhaps there is no better material that exemplifies this than the use of reclaimed wood.  In addition to being environmentally conscious, the material adds beauty and old world charm to virtually every project.  Reclaimed wood is being used quite a lot in remodeling and renovation in many homes throughout Minneapolis as well as across the state of Minnesota.  Just check out the number of web sites and pages dedicated to reclaimed wood Minnesota.

Nate Jurmu is a licensed general contractor and owner of Meadow Creek Building Corp which specializes in quality home remodeling projects.  I had the opportunity to catch up with Nate yesterday to discuss some of the work he is doing.

Below are some pictures of a couple of projects he recently completed where he used reclaimed wood beams.  One project involved the complete remodel of a basement while the other was a beautiful great room addition complete with vaulted ceilings, hard wood floors and a gorgeous, custom fireplace.

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Name" type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Email" type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Website" type="url" /] [contact-field label="Reason for contacting us" type="select" options="Interested in a remodeling project,Want more information about Reclaimed Wood Remodeling,Want to find a house with reclaimed wood" /] [contact-field label="Comment" type="textarea" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

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HARP II: Fannie, Freddie Announce Changes to HARP Program

October 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For excellent analysis on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Home Affordable Refinancing Program, Part 2 (HARP II) see Alex Stenback’s post.

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John Murphy’s Commentary on the Latest Case-Shiller Index Home Price Report – August 2011 Data Minneapolis

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Here’s my brief commentary on the latest from the Case-Shiller Index which showed the Minneapolis area was once again leading the decline in home prices – down 8.5% year over year through August, 2011.

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See Borrowers As You’ve Never Seen Them Before: CoreScore™ Credit Report from CoreLogic® Credco®

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Okay, so this banner ad got my attention on Housing Wire today…

CoreLogic Ad on HousingWire - See Borrowers as You've Never Seen Them Before

CoreLogic Ad on HousingWire - See Borrowers as You've Never Seen Them Before

Congratulations to the team at CoreLogic….they got my attention and I clicked through.  My sense is this is only going to make it more difficult for borrowers to get mortgages.  What do you think?

Below is the information from CoreLogic’s landing page:

Everything will change

The new CoreScore™ credit report from CoreLogic® Credco® will explode the old reality by bringing unique information to traditional credit reports. The supplemental information the CoreScore credit report provides will expand your view of borrower credit profiles and deliver important insight into unseen risk and opportunities.

Everything will change

The CoreScore credit report will disclose Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)-compliant consumer credit-risk information contained in our continually updated proprietary databases—information that can boost your understanding of borrower credit worthiness.

Everything will change

CoreScore will add to—not replace—current credit reports by aggregating timely information we collect and report, usually within 23 days of filings, including:

  • Properties owned—with and without debt obligations
  • Mortgage obligations with companies that may not report to traditional credit reporting agencies
  • Property legal filings, such as notices of default
  • Property tax amounts and payment status
  • Estimated market values on all U.S. properties owned
  • Rental applications and evictions
  • Inquiries and charge-offs from pay-day and online lenders
  • Consumer-specific bankruptcies, liens, judgments and child support obligations
  • And more

Everything will change

CoreScore credit report will supplement what you know about any borrower who owns or has owned real estate in the U.S. and can expand your knowledge on nonowners with additional data intelligence on other credit extension behavior.

Everything will change

Preliminary testing revealed that one in 13 credit reports analyzed from a sample data set were missing unique consumer credit data that the CoreScore credit report provides— often mortgage obligations and other data that could significantly impact a borrower’s debt-to-income ratio and credit risk score.

The CoreScore aggregated data will be available to lenders and consumers in a single credit report, compiled instantly using proprietary merge technology for user ease.

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Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP II) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Refi Program

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There has been a lot of news and interest in the latest announcement from President Obama regarding the FHFA’s decision to take a more aggressive stance on refinancing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages.  There are lots of details and I suspect not everything has been hammered out at this point.  Be sure to check with your mortgage brokers for details.  It seems everyone in the real estate business is excited about this news and seems to think it will help get the housing market going.  I’m not so sure about that…but have you ever seen another industry so driven by the need for more government handouts?  Other than health care that is… :)

Here are some good sources for information on the latest government refinance program: Fannie Mae, Washington Post, and Behind the Mortgage.

And here is what some of the industry leaders and/or associations are saying: National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), National Association of Realtors (NAR).

From what I’ve read and heard, it sounds like about 800,000 – to perhaps 1,000,000 home owners might be able to take advantage of this latest effort.

Now, from an economic standpoint, how much stimulus or kick will this provide to the economy?  It appears the effects will be muted according to Bruce Krasting.

This will become a bigger issue in the coming year and home owners become a new constituency!

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Google Trends: Home Affordable Refinancing Programs – Highest Search Ranking is in Minneapolis

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Given the news that just came out that the Minneapolis Area continues to lead the nation in home price declines according to the Case-Shiller Index, I guess it doesn’t come as a surprise to see that on Google Trends right now, for the search “Home Affordable Refinance Program” Minneapolis is #1.  Image below.

Google Trends Home Affordable Refinance Program

Google Trends Home Affordable Refinance Program

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