Ken Horst's (khorst) Blog

President Bush chimed in today and is talking about a plan to help diminish the effects of the "Great Mortgage Debacle of 07".  Imagine that!  I had commented on a post by Jay Beckingham yesterday regarding his belief that there will be no replacement for the subprime mortgage.  I had suggested t...

I participated in a purchase closing today that should have gone better than it did. We started closing about a half hour late and ultimately got the purchase closed and funded. Fortunately the sellers had already had their purchase closing a week earlier so this delay really didn't inconvenience...

Contrary to popular belief, it is still possible to purchase a home in Minnesota with no down payment.  There are two great programs for Minnesota home buyers and most people can qualify for one or the other of these programs.  While the 100% sub-prime loan is currently very hard to find if not c...

Well if there is any silver lining in the current home market it is that falling home prices should lead to lower property taxes right?  We'll see.  It is pretty unlikely that the counties are going to be quick to spend the money to re-value anyone's home only to find out that the county is going...

If you have homes for sale or information you would like to share with first time home buyers in Minnesota, visit http://www.firsthomeguide.com/.  You can post your property listings for free and we are accepting articles from local Realtors around home buying topics to share with our visitors.  ...

Because if Countrywide were to declare bankruptcy, your local experienced mortgage broker still has great mortgage products from quality lenders like Wells Fargo. Here is a memo I received today from one of my lenders who you may have heard of, Wells Fargo,  to the mortgage broker community;Toget...

It was just a short time ago that investors from all over the world were hot for US Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS).  Historically these investment vehicles performed well as US home owners made good on their mortgage payments.  Think about it, in the olden days home buyers needed at least 10% d...

In order to help real estate agents get a better idea of some of the different ways consumers are looking for agents on the web, I thought I would share with you some of the most recent Google searches from the web analytics of Agentopolis.  Agentopolis is seeing a growing trend in consumers simp...

Many things are changing in the real estate business this year and some things faster than others.  Two of the biggest changes are the number of agents that will be leaving the business between now and the end of the year and the evolution and or demise of the web 1.0 companies.  The web 1.0 comp...

Years ago life was very different for real estate agents, listing agents would put a sign in the yard, list the property in the MLS book!, take out a few print ads, talk to some of their peers and eventually your clients house would sell.  Buyers agent would interview a prospective home buyer to ...