Ok, I don’t normally like to be negative but in the world of home buying, there are certain things that you should NOT do and typically these are some of the most important. And this is not just me making things up, this information comes from Cornerstone Mortgage, a very reputable lender in the Twin Cities market. Steering clear of these items below will give you a much better chance of qualifying for a home loan.

Whether you are a first time home buyer, a move up buyer, a downsizing buyer or any type of home buyer in between, here are a few things you should keep in mind BEFORE buying a home in the Twin Cities or anywhere in the US.

1. Do not look for a home without being pre-approved for a loan.
2. Do not suddenly pay off debts and collections or close accounts.
3. Do not apply for new credit cards.
4. Do not change jobs or change your pay structure at your current job.
5. Do not consolidate bills.
6. Do not make non-payroll related deposits into your bank account without keeping copies of the checks.
7. Do not pack the documents needed during the loan process. These include W-2′s forms, tax returns, bank statements, pay stubs, etc.
8. Do not choose a mortgage without researching all the different types.
9. Do not shop for, lease or purchase a car or other type of vehicle.
10. Do not incur more debt by making large purchases such as appliances.

If you do need to do any of these things, please discuss with your loan officer IMMEDIATELY, delaying can and most likely will cause issues with obtaining a loan and or closing on a house. I’ve seen bad things happen in the Twin Cities market when buyers do not fully disclose their financial information to a loan officer. Remember, your loan officer is there to HELP. You want to make sure you have a good relationship with your loan officer because without them, it’s pretty tough to get a house.

Looking to buy? Give me a call!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
612.384.1073
jen[at]MnRealEstateTeam.com

AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
Member of The Minnesota Real Estate Team

Now, I want you to know that I will never pressure anyone to buy a home. However, as I have stated in the past, if you find a home in the Twin Cities that you like, you’d better be ready to move fast. And I mean within hours!

I have a client who is a first time buyer and is looking at using an FHA loan to purchase his first house. He is looking to pay under $160,000 and plans on having to do some repairs and cosmetic work to the house.

First of all, most of the homes we are looking at in the Northern Suburbs of the Twin Cities are short sales or foreclosures (bank owned – REO).

Second, we are having a difficult time finding houses that will accept FHA financing as most bank owned / REO homes have a number of problems that FHA inspecion will not pass without the seller fixing the issue (which 9 times out of 10 the bank, who is the seller, will not fix).

Third, when we are making offers the houses are usually in a multiple offer or better yet, a highest and best situation (this is where the seller, usually a bank, will call for all offers to be resubmitted with their absolute highest and best offer. This puts everyone who has submitted an offer into a “panic” and gets the bank more money. Good tactic for them, bad for buyers.

Finally, we ran into a situation with a Twin Cities suburb home that had been relisted on the market for only 6 days and when I called in the morning there were no offers but alot of interest. 5 minutes later one offer was submitted. So we got out and looked at the house about 2 hours later and I informed the agent immediately that we would be submitting an offer. Come to find a few hours later that the bank had already accepted the first offer that got submitted and although the listing agent submitted ours he did not forewarn the bank that a second offer was coming in. This would have given them two offers to review and potentially the option to have us submit highest and best.

So, as you can see, some REO / bank owned listing agents are actually acting quickly and submitting offers ASAP and I feel this was a very rare bank that made a decision in HOURS instead of days or weeks like many take.
One more reason to act fast and be ready to make the decision. Get the offer in and use your inspection contingency to back out if need be.

Jen McKinnon
Realtor/Investor
MN Real Estate Team
The #1 Real Estate Team in MN

612.384.1073
jen [at] mnrealestateteam [dot] com

Agent Referral Network
10663 165th St Suite 17
Lakeville, MN 55044

The housing market in the Twin Cities is an incredible market for home buyer’s of all price levels right now. Buying a home in the Twin Cities is especially exciting for First Time Home Buyers and especially those looking at homes under $200,000 because inventory is HIGH! Not to mention the nice $8000 tax credit that you will be eligible for on your 2009 tax return.
So, as a future home buyer, what are some important pieces of information that you should know and be prepared with?

1. YOU MUST BE PRE APPROVED
I don’t know how many times we can say it….talk to a lender and get the pre approval out of the way. Homes are selling FAST and no seller – especially a bank owned property / REO / short sale is going to even look at your offer without a pre approval letter or if you are paying cash, a proof of funds.

2. BE READY TO WRITE AN OFFERMany houses are going into multiple offer situations within days of being listed. This means that buying a home in the Twin Cities can be much more difficult because there are alot of buyers just like you out there and the ones that are pre approved, look at listings everyday, can get out to look at houses quickly and are ready to pull the trigger and write an offer are more likely to win the home that they want to buy.

3. DON’T GET EMOTIONAL – YOU AREN’T ALONE
On a daily basis, I am looking up houses to show clients who want to buy and on a daily basis, I am running into houses that are listed as active on the MLS but are really either in a multiple offer situation or are already sold. Why, you ask, would the house still be listed as active then and tempt you with it’s pretty pictures and hot price point? Many houses listed today (especially those under $200,000) are short sales, foreclosures or REO’s (Real Estate Owned) and the listing agents on these properties are VERY busy and typically don’t get the status updated on MLS fast enough. They are also overwhelmed with how fast properties are moving.

4. USE THE INSPECTION CONTINGENCY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
When you make an offer on a house, always ask for an inspection contingency (unless of course you bring an inspector with you on the first visit) because you obviously want to inspect the property before you buy it and the inspection contingency allows you a timeframe that you can still back out of the transaction and get your earnest money back (the money you gave when writing the offer and will be used towards your purchase). You can back out during inspection for ANY reason. Bottom line, WRITE THE OFFER and back out if you need to. If you do not write the offer, you will NEVER get the house. Of course, I don’t want you to write a purchase agreement on a house that you do not want to buy but if you are even remotely interested in a Twin Cities house, WRITE THE OFFER or someone else will.

Call me when you are ready to start looking!
Jen McKinnon
Agent Referral Network and
Member of the MN Real Estate Team

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

As the Jefferson’s said, “we’re movin’ on up!”
Are you hoping to make the move to your “next” home?

Do you need a bigger house because of a growing family or maybe you want to move into one of the Twin Cities best school districts like Wayzata, Minnetonka, Edina or Eden Prairie. Or, maybe you just want to take advantage of the great home prices in the Twin Cities or the even better mortgage rates that lenders like Cornerstone have to offer.
As a Twin Cities home buyer, we have a great seminar that you should check out that will cover all of your questions.

Moving in a Down Market
Tuesday, June 2nd, 6:30- 8 PM

Afraid to move in this market? Learn the math behind buying a home at a great price and with a great interest rate! Take advantage of the opportunities to enhance your current financial stability in today’s low mortgage interest rate environment by joining us for our upcoming seminar and Q&A forum.

Topics include:
- Eye-opening financial benefits of buying a home now versus waiting for economic recovery
- Pricing and preparing your home to sell in this market
- How a loss on your sale may be recouped with a good buy
- Cost effective services to rent and manage your home if it doesn’t sell

Please contact me for more information or to register:
Jen McKinnon
612.384.1073
jen [at] mnrealestateteam [dot] com

Are you a first time home buyer in the Twin Cities? Now is a great time and even better than we saw last year! Hello….$8,000 tax credit!
If you are wondering about First Time Home Buyer financing and assistance, Alec Grebis with Cornerstone Mortgage is a great person to contact. He wrote a great article about this at his blog, The Mortgage Scoop. Remember, talking to a knowledgeable lender is the first step in the home buying process!

Are you looking to buy and live in Minneapolis or St Paul?
Do you want information about all of the financial resources available to you from the State, County, City or Non Profits?
There is a new website coming out tomorrow, Thursday April 23 2009 that will give you all of that and more.
Live MSP is a website dedicated to showing potential buyers all of the neighborhoods in Minneapolis and St Paul, available homes and most importantly, all of the financial programs that are available to home buyers and home owners to entice buyers to buy in the city and encourage current city dwellers who may want to remodel.
Check out Live MSP now!

There are a few areas in the Twin Cities where the $1 million dollar price tag is still the “norm”. According to Mpls St Paul Magazine, the cities of Woodland (a strip of shoreline along Lake Minnetonka’s east side), Tonka Bay (a south central bay on Lake Minnetonka), Sunfish Lake (between Hwy 110 and Hwy 494 just west of Robert Trail) and Mendota (just across the Mendota Bridge from St Paul) had median price tags of $1 million in 2008.

These areas are high demand because of their locations and the homes are beautiful.
Currently, there are 43 single family homes listed as active – 26 are under $1 million and 17 are over the $1 million mark. Looking for the best? There is a Tonka Bay location for $5,950,000 and 7,348 square feet of Mediterranean styled luxury. Want the biggest in Woodland? $8,500,000 will buy you 8,036 square feet on Wayzata Bay and 571 feet of lakeshore and private boat docking.

Want more information on these types of homes?
Contact me
Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
MN Real Estate Team – #1 Team in MN

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

I showed a house last weekend that was in a high demand neighborhood in Minneapolis near Uptown that was listed at $300,000 which seemed to be a decent price for the size of the home, number of bedrooms, baths, location, etc…UNTIL we walked in and the painter was there working, the kitchen cabinets were not completed, the trim work was not done and the “master bath” upstairs was still a framed out shell.  It was a nice touch to have a paper sign posted that said “build to suit your tastes.”  

Personally, if I want to buy new construction, I will buy new construction but I am certainly hesitant of buying and spending $300,000 on a home that first of all is not finished and second is not finished carefully or with great skill.   Personally, I’d want to hire my own contractor to finish the job and offer them $50,000 less for the house.

In my opinion, if you are rehabbing or “flipping” a house, PLEASE have it finished before you list it OR at least fill us in on how far along you are with the construction so we know what we are walking into.

Looking to buy in the Twin Cities?  Give me a call!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
MN Real Estate Team – #1 Team in MN!

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

So, I get alot of questions about the new $8000 tax credit and what is involved.

Here are the VERY basics and of course, you should always contact a tax professional if you have any questions specific to your situation.

1. $8000 can be yours if you are a FIRST TIME HOME BUYER
2. Who does the Government consider a First Time Home Buyer? Anyone who has not owned a principal residence for the last 3 years.
3. This tax refund DOES NOT have to be paid back IF you hold the residence for at least 3 years.
4. This tax credit is available for homes purchased January 1 2009 to November 30 2009

Here is how you can take advantage of the tax credit for your 2008 tax year:
1. The tax credit can be applied against your 2008 tax return that is generally filed on or before April 15, 2009.
2. If you have already filed your 2008 tax return, you can immediately amend your return once you purchase a home and you should receive a refund in 30 to 60 days.
3. If your home is scheduled to close after April 15, 2009, you can file an extension until October 15, 2009 to file your 2008 tax return to take advantage of the tax credit and receive your refund.

If you are looking to buy in the Twin Cities please give me a call!
Jen McKinnon
Realtor/Investor

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

Real Estate Investing 201 Seminar – Saturday, March 21st, 12:00PM-?
North Minneapolis Bus Tour
I am frequently asked where the best deals are for investors in the Twin Cities area. Right now North Minneapolis has the largest concentration of amazing investment property opportunities. For several years now, the majority of North Minneapolis has been going through a transformation. North Minneapolis Crime is down, rental demand is strong, foreclosures are running rampant, and good deals are everywhere. Nice properties in nice parts of North Minneapolis are selling for $49,900, $39,900 and even $19,900.

We have put together a program for new and seasoned investors to capitalize on this perfect storm of investing and buy up properties that sold for up to $200,000 just years ago. Our team has assembled real estate agents, a general contractor, leasing agents, property managers, and the financing to make this a rare turn-key investment.

If you have ever been interested in the great opportunities in North Minneapolis, let us show you around. This is a rare bus tour where we will drive you around the areas, show you both rehabbed houses and for sale properties. The tour will leave at noon on Saturday, March 21, from nearby Robbinsdale and will take approximately 2-3 hours. We handle parking, finding the properties, and logistics. You simply sit back and listen and see how so many investors are taking advantage of these great deals. Because of limited seating, a reservation is required. Contact us now!

Future Seminar Dates: April 28, May 26
Please call me at 612.384.1073 or email at jen [at] mnrealestateteam [dot] com

Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
MN Real Estate Team