Here’s what’s happening in our market as we head into spring.Let’s talk today about the early spring market. Our state association of Realtors says that the number of closed sales fell by 50% compared to March 2021. If the market is so hot, how can we sell fewer homes? It’s just because we don’t have enough homes. It’s hard to sell properties when …

Please take a close look at your valuation notice when you receive it.Today we’ll talk about the property tax valuation notices for Scott County that were recently sent out. It’s no surprise property values increased last year, but is the county’s valuation accurate?We’ve been talking to past clients about the valuations, and we’re seeing a fairly …

Here’s how sellers can prepare for our spring market in Minnesota.When we meet with sellers this time of year, we usually advise that they have their homes ready for the spring market around the time of the Super Bowl. It still feels like winter, but about that time is the opening of our Minnesota real estate market. This year we’re seeing more his…

What trends emerged from 2021 that will predict the market next year? It’s hard to believe, but we’re nearing the end of 2021. This has been a pretty crazy year in real estate, so today we want to take a look back and wrap up 2021’s market for you. It’s hard to remember at this point, but even before COVID in 2020, we had low inventory. Once the pa…

Here’s a really quick end-of-summer/early fall market update.We’re here with an end-of-summer or early-fall market update. First, let’s talk about what we’d expect a normal market to look like for comparison.We’ve seen a bit of this in 2021 during the summer. Right after school ended, activity slowed down a bit before picking back up towards June a…

Here’s an overview of what it’s like to be a buyer or seller in this market.What are we seeing when homes go live on our market?First, most listings coming onto the market are doing so under the ‘coming soon’ status. We’ve done a few videos that delved into this topic, so be sure to explore our website to learn more about what ‘coming soon’ means. …

Here's an on-the-ground perspective of our wild spring market thus far.2021 is the third straight year of low inventory in our market. Here in early spring, we’re already seeing an extreme amount of buyer demand. Given these low interest rates and a lack of new construction, this should come as no surprise. Not enough homes are hitting the market t…

Here’s how the beginning of the spring 2021 market has been faring.Today we’re sharing how the early spring market is doing. We are assuredly in a seller’s market; we’re seeing unprecedented shortages of inventory. Usually, we’d be seeing many more homes coming onto the market by this time in the season; it hasn’t happened yet, but we’re hoping it …

Our Real Estate Review will let you know what your home is worth. If you’ve ever wondered what your home is worth, that’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask. We get asked this question a lot, and not always from prospective sellers. Sometimes people want to know what their home is worth to understand their equity position. Others are looking to…

Here’s where the ‘coming soon’ and ‘pre-marketing’ statuses differ.Many people assume “coming soon” status and “pre-marketing” status are the same thing, but they’re not. The coming soon status is for sellers who are preparing to put their homes on the market. It’s a status the general public can find and see online. It’s searchable and the home do…

January and February are great months to put your home on the market.If you need to sell your home in January or February, we have good news: Now is a great time to put your home on the market, and there are several reasons why. For one thing, inventory is low. It’s been low for a couple of years, but it’s really low at the moment. Interest rates a…

As 2020 finally draws to a close, we wish you a happy holiday season.We wanted to take a moment today to extend a happy holiday greeting. As 2020 winds down (which we’re willing to bet a lot of people are excited about), we hope your year has gone well. We’ve seen first hand how the pandemic has affected people’s lives, especially as it relates to …

Here are three vital mistakes to avoid when preparing your home for sale.Unfortunately, some people make mistakes while preparing their homes for sale. Here are the three main things to avoid when getting your house ready for the market:1. Updating multiple levels. If you’ve done a dramatic upgrade somewhere in your home, such as in the kitchen, yo…

Let’s compare the market conditions from August 2020 to those of August 2019.Both last August and this August, we witnessed relentless buyer demand. Let’s take a look at how those numbers compare:So far, buyers have signed 19.7% more purchase agreements in August 2020 than they did the previous year. That’s evidence of strong buyer activity in our …

Here are a few reasons to pay attention to this fall’s Parade of Homes.We’re in the middle of the fall Parade of Homes, which runs through Sunday, October 4, and many people are asking themselves why they would even go to such a thing. Well, there are actually a number of reasons.If you’re thinking about buying a home, you might want to do some cro…

What’s the latest news from our real estate market as the summer winds down?July was a boom month for our market. Normally, the activity we saw would’ve been spread out across the spring market, but the shutdown pushed everything back a couple of months. As a result, we’re seeing some interesting trends emerge.The first involves closing dates. Ordi…

What’s going on in the market as we reach the midway point of 2020?In terms of showing activity, things are pretty consistent across the board. When a home first comes on the market, we’re seeing an initial surge of showing activity due to our low inventory. What’s interesting, though, is that as showing activity returns to normal, it can feel a bi…

Mortgage consultant Shane Hofmann explains changes in the lending world.I recently sat down for a Zoom call with loan officer Shane Hofmann of Edina Realty Mortgage (whom you may recognize from some of our previous videos) to discuss interest rates, mortgage forbearance, and more. In the wake of COVID-19, the mortgage world has been subject to dail…

How is our market doing amid the COVID-19 pandemic?Now that we’re in the first part of summer 2020, we can all look back and say it’s already been quite a year. Obviously, there has been the issue of COVID-19 shutting down the country (and the world) for a while, but our real estate market has been humming along. Most people are still buying and se…

We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about the real estate market. Today, we are answering some of the most common questions. One thing a lot of people want to know is, “Are people still buying and selling houses?” Although we saw a slowdown after the Stay-at-Home Order, we have started to see our activity pick up in recent weeks. Most of i…

This pandemic has certainly affected our real estate market in terms of volume, but it’s interesting to note the different mindsets of the buyers and sellers who are out in the market right now. Here’s what we’ve been seeing lately.As we’ve continued to navigate the real estate market during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been keeping a close eye on …

In a previous video, we talked about what was happening in the real estate business and how we were adapting to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, we’ve seen inventory levels and showing traffic drop. Make no mistake though, there are still serious buyers out there right now, but an increasing number of them are utilizing virtual showings. Inter…

We are in the very early stages of the stay-at-home order issued by Governor Walz, and naturally, we’re getting so many calls, texts, and emails from folks asking us if the real estate market has shut down. The answer is no, we’re up and running; real estate is considered an essential service. We’re helping buyers and sellers with every step of the…

By Chad and Sara Huebener

By Chad and Sara Huebener

If you’re thinking about listing your home in the spring of 2020, here’s what you need to do.If you plan on selling your home in the spring of 2020, now is the time to start thinking about what you must do to prepare it for the market. Winter in Minnesota is a great time to get any indoor projects done because we spend much of our time indoors anyw…

As we head into the holiday season, we just wanted to express our gratitude for all the support you’ve shown our team. Here’s our full holiday message.We wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy new year. We hope you have had a great 2019 and are looking forward to 2020 as well.Last but not least,…

Let’s jump right into the numbers, starting by comparing the stats from Scott County from December 2018 to December 2017.For the price range at and under $250,000, the market was extremely hot in 2018; homes were flying off the market right and left, selling very quickly. Last year at this time, we had 48 active listings; this decreased in 2018 to …

Hello! We’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, happy holiday season, and a happy new year! We hope 2018 was as great for you as it was for us, as we gear up for an exciting 2019. Whether you have any questions about the real estate market, real estate needs we can assist with, or video ideas for us, we would love to hear from you. To see our f…

This fall, we’ve seen a lot of contingent purchase agreements. While most purchase agreements have built-in contingencies for financing and inspections, the contingency we’re referring to here is the home sale contingency. While not unheard of, contingent offers in a hot market are not the norm, simply because a seller is more apt to roll the dice …

Are we on the verge of a bubble? A shift? A crash? A market correction? We’ve been hearing questions about all of these possibilities frequently as we’ve entered the fall season. People want to know if they should be concerned or not. The best way to answer these questions is to simply give the facts we can see about the current market.It’s pretty …

Believe it or not, there are quite a few cash buyers in our market.Cash offers can be very attractive for sellers, but there are certain things buyers must be able to provide before proceeding with an all-cash deal. Proof of funds is one key example of this.Also, sellers often expect higher offers from buyers willing to make a cash purchase, but bu…

If you’re thinking about selling your home in the near future, here are some things that you can do this fall to prepare your home for sale in the next six months.When it comes to preparing your home in the fall, the things that should be looked at most closely are the exterior items. Once the cold and snow set in, many of these things can’t be don…

Today we are going to be talking about the state of the multiple offer market. We seem to be seeing a lot of them this summer, especially in the under $350,000 market.As a seller, when you’re evaluating multiple offers, the highest offer isn’t always the best. There are plenty of terms to consider as well, including earnest money, closing date, and…

Why is it important to use an experienced, local agent in your next home sale?Truthfully, all agents use the MLS for comparable data. It’s a really great source; however, there are a number of other factors that homeowners should consider when pricing their home for the market.One of these factors includes the homes that sold which weren’t actually…

Today we have a summer market update for you. One of the biggest things we are noticing right now is a balancing act in certain price points. Underneath $350,000, it is still very much a seller’s market, especially in the Prior Lake School District.However, once you get between $375,000 and $425,000, we’re starting to see a bit more balance. The in…

Dan Patch Days is coming up here in Savage, and we wanted to fill you in on all the details.The festival starts on Thursday, June 21 and runs until Sunday, June 24. There will be plenty of food, live bands, and lots of entertainment. On Saturday, there will be a parade in downtown Savage at 11 a.m., and we’ll be in attendance. On Sunday, the festiv…

What remodeling projects should you do this year? Today we have a few suggestions for projects that will improve your home’s value whether you’re selling or staying put.Let’s start with kitchens. Some very common, simple things you hear of people doing include adding granite and stainless-steel appliances. But, there are other options as well inclu…

Have you ever encountered a “Coming Soon” listing during your home search?Whether you have or this is your first time hearing this term, allow me to explain. When a home is described as a Coming Soon listing, this means that the seller has begun marketing their property prior to listing it on the MLS.Sellers may choose this option if they still nee…

We’ve got a mid-spring real estate market update for you today. We’re also going to talk a little bit about multiple offers.As far as our market is concerned, the big topic of conversation is inventory. We pulled some numbers for specific areas that we want to talk about today.First, let’s look at 719 area codes and 720 area codes because they kind…

Today, I’m joined by a special guest, Kim Lindquist from Edina Realty Home Warranties. Kim has been in real estate for over 25 years. She started on the warranty side about four years ago. We’re going to discuss what a warranty is and a few of the benefits of home warranties.What is a home warranty?A home warranty is a one-year service agreement th…

Today, we’re going to be talking about repairs in the inspection contingency period.It’s pretty common for buyers and sellers to have two very different ideas of what the repairs are intended to be, or what is actually asked for. It is important for a buyer to be very clear when asking for repairs on their inspection amendment. The seller would nee…

Today, we’re going to over the standard closing cost that a seller can expect to pay when selling their home. We’re going to going through a quick, estimated seller’s net sheet that we present to all of our sellers and for anybody who requests a market analysis from us, breaking it down into different categories.1. Governmental costs. There will be…

For our a look ahead at our spring market, we’ll focus separately on the Prior Lake Savage and Shakopee areas and talk about how inventory levels are shaking out in three distinct price ranges.The first of those price ranges is the first-time buyer market, which typically represents homes priced up to $250,000. In both Prior Lake Savage and Shakope…

Why is it important to get a look at your home’s current market value, and what are the benefits of knowing that information?This is a good time of year for people to assess their current home. We can come out, take a look, and give you an idea of what your home’s value might be.People often like to ask us about what they can work on to improve the…

Today we want to take a quick look at the home buying process.If you’re a first-time homebuyer, the first thing you need to do is have a conversation with us. We’ll talk about your wants and needs, the areas you’re looking at, and how we can get you into contact with a loan officer so that you can get pre-approved right off the bat. This will answe…

When people think of buying a home, they often naturally gravitate towards the spring market. As a result, spring is a common time for buyers to enter the market.However, buyer traffic is very heavy in the springtime. In low inventory markets, some of our listings may get as many as 25 to 30 showings over the course of one weekend in the spring. As…

It’s time for your fall real estate market update.Just like this past spring and summer, inventory is low across the board. The market did slow down in August as families wrapped up vacations and went back to school. That slowdown can often transition into early September, so we do see the market pick up again in late September, October, and into T…

There are two components to representation in a new construction transaction. The first is your representation during the actual purchase of the site of the new home. The second is when you have a home to sell in order to purchase a new construction home.When you buy a new build site, it’s important to know that the agent at the model home represen…

Here in the state of Minnesota, there are two types of seller disclosure statements.One is the seller’s property disclosure statement, also known as the full disclosure. There is also an alternatives form, which is only used in certain circumstances.Usually, though, a seller will use the full property disclosure statement. This is a very lengthy, 1…