Special offer

Maple Grove, MN Real Estate News

By Eric Hempler, Minnesota Realtor
(The Minnesota Real Estate Team)
Maple Grove Home Prices Maple Grove Market Conditions Maple Grove Market Summary Active Listing up 5% from one year earlier and down 3% from the previous month. Days on the Market for the Month of April was 46 The Median Sale Price is trending flat at $230,000 The market currently favors Sellers
Comments 1
The FOMC of the Federal Reserve released its customary statement after its meeting concluded April 30. FOMC members said that the economy is improving after a winter lull caused by poor weather. The national unemployment rate remains high, although some improvement in labor markets was reported. Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth, although FOMC said that the restraint is diminishing. FOMC Monitors Inflation, Further Reduces Asset Purchases: The FOMC statement reflected members' concerns about the inflation rate remaining below its goal of two percent, and said that this could eventually impact economic recovery. The Fed expects inflation to approach its goal within the "medium term." The Fed will reduce its monthly asset purchases of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury sec...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
After three consecutive months of decline, the S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Index remained nearly unchanged in February. Year-over-year home prices rose by 12.90 percent in February as compared to 13.20 percent in January. 20 Percent Below Their 2006 Pre-recession Peak: Analysts note that in spite of recent slowdowns in home prices, the year-over-year rates of home price growth remain close to peak price growth attained in 2006. National home prices remain approximately 20 percent below their 2006 pre-recession peak. 13 cities posted lower rates of price gains in February. The Case-Shiller 10 and 20 city indices showed year-over-year price gains of 13.10 and 12.90 percent respectively. Only five cities posted year-over-year gains in price appreciation. Las Vegas, Nevada continues ...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
Refinancing your home might be a great way to save money or tap into the capital needed to pay off large debts. However, a refinance can also be an expensive endeavor, and you could even risk harming your credit rating or risk foreclosure if you're not careful. Before you take the plunge with a refinance, here are five essential questions that you should ask before signing on the dotted line. How Much Equity Do I Have In My Home? Many homeowners today owe more on their mortgage than what the property is actually worth. For mortgage refinancing to be possible, a homeowner must have at least 20 percent equity in their home in order to avoid paying private mortgage insurance. The benefit of refinancing would be negated if PMI has to be added to the cost of the new loan.  Do I Have A Good C...
Comments 1
March sales of existing homes exceeded expectations at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million sales according to the NAR. Analysts projected that existing home sales would reach 4.55 million based on February's reading of 4.50 million sales. The pace of existing home sales declined by 0.20 percent as compared to February's reading. Headwinds Cause Slower Pace Of Home Sales: Analysts cited poor winter weather and rapidly rising home prices as factors that kept buyers away, although the Northeast and Midwest regions reported improvements in home sales in March. NAR said that the national average home price increased to $198,500, which was a year-over-year increase of 7.90 percent. New mortgage regulations, which have caused mortgage lenders to take a conservative position with ...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
To refinance a mortgage means to pay off your existing loan and replace it with a new one. There are many reasons why homeowners opt to refinance, from obtaining a lower interest rate, to shortening the term of the loan, to switching mortgage loan types, to tapping into home equity. Each has its considerations. Lower Your Mortgage Rate: Among the best reasons to refinance is to get access to lower mortgage rates. There is no "rule of thumb" that says how far rates should drop for a refinance to be sensible. Compare your closing costs to your monthly savings, and determine whether the math makes sense for your situation. Shorten Your Loan Term: Refinancing your 30-year fixed rate mortgage to a 20-year fixed rate or a 15-year fixed rate is a sensible way to reduce your long-term mortgage ...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
Real estate investments are still going strong and will probably continue to be a popular method of financial gain into the future. Real estate is solid. It is a tangible product that is attractive to both beginning investors and experienced pros. The most important part of getting started in real estate investing is knowing what you're getting into and what to watch out for. Here are 4 top tips from real estate investment professionals: Understand The Realities: Real estate investment, like any form of investment, is risky. Do not use money you cannot afford to lose. Careful study, understanding the market, and practice help alleviate a lot of the risks but things happen in the best of situations so don't play with what you can't afford to lose. Research Is A Constant: Research in real...
Comments 1
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
When people purchase their home, one of their common requests is "plenty of light." And for good reason! This is a critical factor for enjoying your home, and when designing your interior, you should pay special attention to just that: your sources of light. See them not only as a way to brighten up your room, but also as an opportunity to infuse your home with a fashionable design and aesthetic appeal. You'd be surprised at how much lighting can dramatically enhance any given room in your home. Here are our six favorite lighting installations that are bound to give you and your home that "wow" factor. The Chandelier For Pretty Places Chandeliers provide arguably the prettiest and most classic fixtures possible, and they are a growing trend right now in interior design. Acting as the "c...
Comments 2
By Eric Helmers, Your Trusted Real Estate Source
(Realty Group, Inc.)
Attention Home Buyers, Sellers, Renters, Landlords or anyone else searching for properties and rentals on the worldwide web.  Especially sites like Craigslist, BackPage.com, Zillow or other free listings sites that allow non licensed people place ads for real estate! There is a HUGE SCAM running through out sites like these that you need to be aware of. CRIMINALS are Hijacking addresses, property pictures, property descriptions from honest people and/or real estate ads and then placing their own ads on the same sites with different pricing, rents, etc to draw you in.  Then they have you call a fake Google Voice number that when someone then "bites" they send them an email with an link to an application asking for ALL your information. They say that they're moving cross county or being r...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
When it comes to selling your home and getting the full selling price you want, there are certain tactics and methods you can employ to ensure that this wish becomes a reality. Avoiding the commonly made mistakes that end up lowering the value of your home and discouraging people from viewing it is ultimately the key in getting top dollar, as well carrying out the showings and sale of your home in a professional manner. Listen to the professionals, and make sure you employ these real estate sale methods to get your desired number on your home sale. Listing Tactic: Adding A Buffer Always dependent on the type of market you find yourself in, a common and successful tactic in getting the price you really want for your home is adding a buffer on the list price. This means that if you want $...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
Something that the Europeans have been doing for decades has finally made its way over the Atlantic Ocean to North America: the trend is called micro housing, and it's turned into an entirely new way of living. With micro housing, we're beginning to do away with oversize condos and even detached homes, learning to live in a more minimalistic manner and curbing our hoarding habits for good. The affordability of micro housing is making it possible even for young adults and students to purchase their homes in the city centers across North America. But one must ask, is the micro housing trend good for the globe too? Sustainability Of Micro Condominiums: Being able to pack a higher number of salable units into one building and lowering the prices to widen the market and encourage young buyer...
Comments 1
While the traditional method of trawling for sale listings, making bids, and negotiating with the seller has been a popular rite of passage for many home buyers, buying a house at auction is swiftly becoming a favored way to purchase property. Buying a home through auction can be tricky, so it's best to do your research and keep your cool on auction day, lest you find yourself stuck with a less-than-ideal place to live for a price you didn't expect to pay. If you're in the market to buy through auction for the first time, here are some things you need to know. How To Find Houses Up for Auction: Real estate agents will often use the same methods to sell a house by auction as they do in a traditional sale: adverts in newspapers and online, posters in their office windows, and signs outsid...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
Water is the planet's most precious resource. Access to clean water is a privilege that, unfortunately, many people still take for granted. By utilizing new water efficiency technologies and age-old conservation methods, we can help preserve the water supply for future generations. Cutting down on consumption whenever possible is something that everyone can do to live a little greener. Making Sure Your Home Holds Water: The first stop on your journey to save water is to ensure your home is free of water leaks. Make your way through your home, and properly shut off the water at all fixtures and faucets. Air-cooling systems and other devices that use water should also be shut of. Read your water meter, wait two hours (without using any water), and check it again. If your water meter gives...
Comments 1
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
When you're looking for ways to supplement your retirement income, there are a number of different options to consider. A reverse mortgage is becoming a more popular and more common way to provide income when your retirement savings don't leave enough to live on. But with all the information out there, how do you know what happens in a reverse mortgage and whether it's a good option for you? What Is A Reverse Mortgage? A reverse mortgage essentially reverses the typical actions of a mortgage. Instead of making payments on your home, you receive payments against your home's equity. The amount you are loaned is dependent on your age, your home's value, the interest rate and any restrictions placed by state or local laws. Then when your home ownership changes through sale, death or moves o...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
1) Do I Have Enough Equity To Get A Mortgage? To get a conventional loan, you will usually need to have at least 20 percent equity. This means that your house will have to be worth at least $250,000 to get a $200,000 loan. If you have less equity, you could end up having to pay for private mortgage insurance, which can easily add $100 or more to your monthly payment. 2) How's My Credit? Most lenders will look at your credit score as a part of determining whether or not to make you a loan. With conventional lenders, your rate will depend on your score and the higher it is, the lower your payment will be. Other lenders, like the FHA and VA programs have an all or nothing rule. If you qualify, your rate won't be based on your credit, but if your score is too low, you won't be able to get a...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
Paying your income taxes each year leave your wallet a bit thin? There may be money hiding in your home that lessens your tax burden. Here are four places to look: 1. Home-Office Deduction: If you work from home, you could qualify for a home-office deduction. Taking the deduction can be a bit complicated; so many people who qualify don't claim the exemption. An estimated 26 million Americans have home offices, but only 3.4 million claim them on their tax return. Perhaps that's why the Internal Revenue Service attempted to simplify the process in 2013. The write-off takes into account depreciation, utilities, insurance, the amount of square footage dedicated for office space, whether you host clients at your house and other factors. Because the parameters involved in filing a home-office...
Comments 0
By Eric Helmers, Your Trusted Real Estate Source
(Realty Group, Inc.)
Data on websites like Zillow, Trulia and many other sites can be out dated and highly inaccurate. One study found that up to 30-40% of the data was incorrect on many sites. If you want to search for homes that are actually available in your market or want to view your neighborhood sales activity, visit this site and start receiving 99% accurate information and save your time of the web for something like Candy Crush or watching Game of Thrones.  
Comments 0
By Eric Helmers, Your Trusted Real Estate Source
(Realty Group, Inc.)
It's slowly gaining public attention, but likely you have not heard of the Heartbleed Open SSL bug that researchers at Google discovered recently.  However, this bug is waking up tech and business people worldwide do to it's intrusive nature, inability to trace origins and it's potential uses. It has been reported that the bug has likly infected upto 60% of all networks and computers and has been active for nearly 2 years.  The bug is able to find your social security numbers, drivers license numbers, bank account numbers and more without you or the firms infected even knowing. One person I talked to wishing to stay anonymous stated,  "when it comes to banking, job resumes, paying taxes or any other sensitive personal information he thinks we may be going back to the age of paper".  He ...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
Though it can be an entirely different story for a trend shift in the opposite direction, which then requires you to get out the soaking bucket and scraping tool, wallpaper coming back into style is a home décor blessing for many. Wallpaper is back in - in a big way! - and it's making your dreams of accomplishing a fashionable living space come true much faster and easier than you could have imagined. Quite frankly, wallpaper can do the "fashionable home" trick to virtually any room in your house, adding that touch of warmth and personality you've so far only seen in show homes. It's time to get with the trends, and give your home a quick and easy face-lift A World Of Design With Wallpaper: Let's face it: wallpaper can achieve a world of options that paint simply never could! Now that w...
Comments 0
By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
The economy seems to be finally turning, and home loan interest rates are still historically low. Real estate values are starting to climb as well, all of which makes for a growing opportunity for new homeowners to get into the market before it gets too expensive again. Millennials Don't Seem To Be On Board: They represent the next generation of homebuyers, but a number of barriers can seem to be smack in the way, discouraging many. Yet there are ways around these issues. According to the Boston Globe, only 32 percent of Millennials are homeowners in 2014, either with a house or a condominium. A number of factors contribute to this situation, and the big issue is finding a viable career. The general unemployment rate for young people is at 16 percent nationwide, almost double the regula...
Comments 0