This is good news if you currently live in Minneapolis or St Paul and another good reason to move to the Twin Cities if you don’t!

According to Men’s Health and Women’s Health Magazines (January / February 2009 issues) here are the rankings:
Best Cities For Men 2009
St Paul, MN ranks #2
Minneapolis, MN ranks #10
Best Cities For Women 2009
Minneapolis ranks #6
These rankings are based on Health data, Fitness, Quality of Life Variables including crime rates, air quality and job growth (30 variables total).

I have live in both cities – they each have their own great qualities. Although they are called the Twin Cities, they are very different from one another. Want to learn more? Give me a call!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
Member of The MN Real Estate Team
612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

So, I was in a suburb south of the Twin Cities doing a showing today on a great property, in a high demand neighborhood and we found that the disgruntled sellers had taken a number of things from the property before they moved out.  They had gone into forclosure and apparently got mad at their lender so before they moved out they took all of the appliances, light switches, door knobs, smoke detectors, the water softener and even the kitchen sink!

Luckily, the bank will be taking care of replacing most of these items except the appliances.  It turns out that they replace anything that could be hazardous if not replaced and anything that FHA lenders would require the home to come equipped with.

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon for  home sellers who are in a bad situation with their lender.  They become angry at the situation and take it out on future home buyers.  I guess the home seller figures that since they are not making any money at the sale of their home, they are going to make it harder for the bank to sell it too.  Too bad…all this does is continue to drive the poor market situation that is driving down prices.  This house is most likely worth close to $400,000 but is listed at under $300,000.  Great for a future buyer but bad for the Twin Cities housing market and home values.

I wonder where the sink ended up…..

Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
612.383.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

Real Estate Investing 201 Seminar – North Minneapolis Foreclosure Bus Tour – Saturday, December 6th, 12 PM

Every day we get asked where the best deals are for investors in the Twin Cities area. Hands down we have to say North Minneapolis. For several years now, the majority of North Minneapolis has been going through a transformation. Crime is down, rental demand is strong, foreclosures are high, and good deals are everywhere. Nice properties in nice parts of North Minneapolis are selling for $49,900, $39,900 and even $19,900, and they are cash flowing a few hundred dollars a month. 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 drive 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, December 6, 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!

Call me at: (612) 384-1073 or use the seminar registration form to get signed up today!

Looking for investment properties?
St Paul Minnesota is a great place to buy rental / investment properties.
Good areas to consider for higher rents and alot of renters out looking are:
Merriam Park
Town and Country
Macalester Groveland

There tends to be alot of students looking in these areas because of the number of colleges such as: St Catherine, Hamline, Concordia, St Thomas and Macalester.
We have found that students are good tenants, stay for at least a year and since parents typically pay the rent, there is rarely an issue with collecting rent on time.
The typical homes in this area available for rentals / investments are Single Family Homes and Duplexes. There are other options as well but keep in mind, if you get 5 or more units in a building, it will be considered a commercial building and therefore have different financing guidelines.

Do you want to get into the St Paul rental / investment property business?
Contact me today!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
MN Real Estate Team

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

Let’s face it, winter is here….If you are like me, you love living in the Twin Cities but could do without the winter that we are blessed with.  I live in St Paul, the lovely Macalester Groveland neighborhood, and we all have OLD houses and old houses are not exactly air tight and energy efficient (unless you’ve done alot of updating….). 

Here are a few tips on how to reduce costs on your home heating this winter.

A few FREE and easy things to do but that we sometimes forget about are:
1. Make sure your storm windows are up and secure and or closed all the way
2. Open blinds / shades during the day on windows that allow the sun to shine in for natural heat
3. Close blinds / shades during the night to help insulate your home
4. Close heat vents in rooms that are never or seldom used
5. Wear an extra layer of clothing so that you don’t have to turn the heat up so high
6. Make sure the fireplace flue is closed when you are not making a fire

A few energy saving tips that will cost a little money up front but could save you big in the long run:
Block the Leak - use silicone or acrylic latex caulks to fill in cracks and gaps.
Plastic – put plastic over the windows. Easy to use kits from 3M or Scotch at most stores
Fill your Attic - insulate with fiberglass batts or blown in cellulose
Program your Thermostat - install a programmable thermostat and cut costs by 15%-30% per year. We have also done this at our investment properties – tenants love it!!
Cover the Ducts - check out the heating and cooling ducts in the attic, basement and closets. Cover the seams with Scotch Duct Sealing Foil Tape and insulate the entire duct itself.
Wrap your Water Heater - $30 will buy you a water heater blanket and save 15%
Service your Furnace - clean the furnace but get help from a professional

Questions? Need a great Realtor? Give me a call!
Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
MN Real Estate Team

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

Real Estate Investing 101 Seminar – Tuesday, December 16th, 6:30- 8PM
From his experience of owning 15 rental properties in the Twin Cities, Ryan O’Neill (owner of the MN Real Estate Team)will teach you a concrete, non-infomercial way to build wealth through real estate. This seminar will be a one and a half hour presentation in regards to wealth building through real estate. There is no charge at all, no contracts you sign with us, no consultation fees, no hidden agenda. The seminar simply will be an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about our process: how you get pre-approved, what type of low-down loan product to choose, and then how we step you through the process of finding the home and helping you get it rented out. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced investor, this will be a great chance for you to learn more about how you can build your long term wealth through buying real estate.

Jen McKinnon, the Twin Citites Real Estate Gal, owns 3 investment rental properties.  2 Duplexes in St Paul and 1 Single Family Home in North Minneapolis.

Call me at: (612) 384-1073 or use the seminar registration form to get signed up today!

Ok, so no more complaining about gas prices. This is great news and I wish the media would talk about this a little more. The Twin Cities is below the national average of $2.34 per gallon. I was thrilled to fill up for under $35.00 yesterday in St Paul. Now, if only food prices would come back down and home prices would go up! Slowly but surely it will happen.

Ah, property taxes….Last year, the property taxes on my St Paul rental properties went up almost 50% while the value of the property went down.  Many property owners in the Twin Cities – especially St Paul, saw felt this similar pain.  I tried calling my local tax appraiser and was told that I was too late to appeal SOOOOO, this year I will pay more attention to the Proposed Property Tax Statement that comes my way in mid – end of November.

So, can you appeal your property tax statement and get it changed?  Yes.  Will it work?  Who knows….
Property taxes are based on the market value of the home. As we all know, market values have dropped recently which would make you think that your property taxes should drop too, right?! The assesment is typically done in the year or so PRIOR to the taxation year so your 2008 tax value was based on the market value of your home from 2007 or maybe even earlier and are not always reevaluated on an annual basis.

Steps:
1. Watch for and READ your Proposed Property Tax Statement when it arrives in the mail.
2. If you feel that your home is not “worth” the amount on your statement, have a licensed REALTOR do a market analysis for you on your home.
3. A market analysis will tell you what other similar homes in your area have sold for recently which will tell you what you could probably sell your home for. This will give you an updated “market value”.
4. If you still feel that the assesment amount is inaccurate you can file an appeal with your local taxing jurisdiction but make sure you know what the filing deadline is.
5. You may also be required to appear at a live hearing before the assessment appeal board.

Bottom line, if you don’t agree, fight it. Nothing changes if you don’t act. I think we all pay enough taxes and any chance we get to fight it, we should.

Good luck!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor/Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
MN Real Estate Team
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

Wednesday, October 29th – 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Bloomington Center for the Arts Building at 1800 Old Shakopee Road

This is a FREE all day workshop designed for the new and seasoned investor. This event will feature a full panel of experts in the area of financing, tax, law, 1031 exchanges, financial planning, rental management, insurance and much much more. You will leave this day will real tools to integrate into your investment plan as well as some excellent professional contacts for your Rolodex. Six hours of real estate continuing education have also been applied for.

Featured speakers will be as follows:
Rob Bonahoom – Mortgage Coach
Greg Nelson – CPA
Jeff Peterson – 1031 Specialist
Matt Engel – Attorney
Adam Hartung – Certified Financial Planner
Brent Mohlenhoff – Insurance
Nina Haugen – Rental Management
Bruce Zimmerman – Rent Collection
Peter Fanucci – Credit Lines

Ok, so this isn’t really a post about real estate but I saw $2.99 / gallon gas today in St Paul – Highland Park and it got me thinking that things aren’t all that bad.  Just a few months ago we hovered at $4.00 / gallon but we still hear on the news how bad and horrible gas prices are and how this also affects the price of everything else in the economy.  Well, it does.  Gas prices certainly do affect the rest of the economy but $2.99 is where we were long before the economic crisis started to really put a pinch on people’s wallets and long before the recent Wall Street bail out.

Look at the positive and talk about the positive - $2.99 / gallon gasoline is a good sign and will be better for the people of the Twin Cities.  We will have more money in our pockets at the end of the day and typically, lower gas prices translate back into lower cost of goods like food and other daily essentials because the cost to ship these goods goes down.

Lower costs of goods will equate to more confidence in the market and more confidence in the market will lead to better business overall. 

Stay POSITIVE – this WILL get better even if we have to look at it one little step (like $2.99 gas) at a time!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor/Investor

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
MN Real Estate Team – #1 Team in MN!