Twin Cities, MN Real Estate Podcastwith David Vanneste David Vanneste

We're very excited to show you this gorgeous home on Lake Josephine. Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale. Today we’d like to take you on a quick tour of one of the most gorgeous homes we have on the market. This property is located in on Lake Josephine and its westward-facing view is second-to-none. The home features three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, two three-quarter bathrooms, and one half-bathroom with a finished basement. The house features a stunning sun room overlooking the pool and lake. The jetted hot tub and pool are very close to the water as well. This is a picturesque lake home. In addition to the two garages, there are also two large decks that overlook the pool and lake. The master suite in the home includes a separate shower and Whirlpool tub. This is a picturesque lake home that you need to see in person to fully appreciate. If you have any questions about this property or would like to schedule a showing, don’t hesitate to reach out and give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

If you’re looking to buy a home, these are five things that you will need. Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale. If you’re looking to buy a home, these are five things that you will need:  1. A mortgage pre-approval: You should rely on your real estate professional to give you some advice on who might be a good lender to use, but most Realtors like myself won’t show buyers homes until we have a pre-approval from a good lender. 2. Earnest money: This will sit in an escrow account to be applied to a down payment. Typical earnest money will run between 1% to 2% of the purchase price of the home you’re looking at. 3. Money for a down payment: Unless you’re a qualified veteran, down payments will range anywhere from 3.5% to 20% of the sale price of the home you’re looking at. Most Realtors won’t show buyers homes until we have a pre-approval from a good lender. 4. Money for closing costs: In some situations, we’re able to get the seller to pick up the closing costs for the buyer, but that will also increase the price you pay for the home. Typical closing costs for a mortgage will be about 3% of the purchase price.  5. Money for the home inspection: Typical home inspections today will cost between $350 to $500, depending on whether or not you choose to have a radon inspection. The inspector will expect to get paid at the time he does the home inspection. If you have any questions about what you need to buy a house, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to assist you.

What's going on in the Twin Cities market? We're seeing some interesting trends, so I wanted to give you a quick update. Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale. A lot's going on here in the Twin Cities market, so I wanted to give you a quick update. New listings are down about 8% from last year to roughly 8,000 homes for sale on the market. The number of active listings stands at about 11,000 right now, which is a decrease of about 20% compared to this time last year. Pending units—homes that have gone under contract but have not yet closed—stand at about 6,000, which is an 8% decrease from this time last year. Inventory is down and home values are up. This is all probably due to the lack of inventory on the market. The median home price has jumped up to $246,000, which is a 6% increase from where we were at this time last year. The average days on market, or the average amount of time it takes a home to sell, is at 58 days currently. That's also an improvement from last year. The final and perhaps most interesting recent statistic from our market is that in the last 30 days, 22% of properties in the marketplace had some kind of price adjustment. If you have any questions about our market or any specific neighborhoods, don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I'd be glad to help however I can!

Our newest team member has some important advice on the home buying process and how you can move into your dream home. Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale. Today I’m joined by JJ, one of our buyer’s agents and our newest team member, so he can introduce himself and tell you what you need to know about the home buying process. As a buyer’s agent, JJ meets with clients who are seeking their dream home and consults with them to understand all their expectations and desires so they can hit the ground running to start their home search. Once you’ve found a home you like, your first step is to present a strong offer. According to JJ, a strong offer starts with being pre-approved. If you don’t have a pre-approval in place or a pre-approval letter ready to present, your offer won’t be seriously considered. Make sure you’re working with a lender and you have a pre-approval letter that you can attach to any offer you make. We’ll help walk you through the process. After your offer is accepted, next comes the home inspection process. This will give you a feel for the home, from the foundation to the roof to everything in between. Keep in mind that you have to have your inspection completed within a certain amount of days, though. In a typical contract JJ writes up, his clients’ inspections happen within 10 to 14 days. In addition to the inspection, you must also present amendments to the sellers if there are things about the home you need to have fixed. To that point, JJ has many people at his disposal that will work on your behalf to ensure your new home is deemed safe and healthy. Lastly, you need to beware of radon. Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that emanates from the soil and has been proven to cause cancer. If the house you want to buy has high radon readings, you want to properly address that with an amendment to the seller after the inspection process. In this situation, JJ will fight for his buyers to make sure a mitigation system is installed properly. We want you to be a client not just for this home, but for future homes as well. If you have any other questions about the home buying process, feel free to give us a call. We’d be happy to help you. 

You should have received your property taxes statement in the mail. Here’s what to do if you feel the valuation of your home is out of line. Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale. By now, you should have received a copy of your proposed property tax statement. On the back of this statement, you’ll find a process you can follow if you feel that your property valuation is out of line. We’ll help walk you through the process. If you’d like some help with that, give us a call and we’ll help walk you through the process. The county will recommend that you have a Realtor give you a market analysis on the value of your property. Keep an eye on the deadlines because they’ll be coming up before you know it. The first half of home taxes are due May 15th. If you’d like us to help you with your property taxes or you have any other questions we can help with, give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to be of service to you.

Homes actually sell faster and for more money during the winter months. Follow these tips to pull off a successful winter home sale. Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale. Winter is traditionally thought of as not the best time to sell a property, but statistics actually tell us that homes sell faster and for more money during the colder months, even in cities like Minneapolis. For example, we recently put two properties on the market and both sold in less than a week. If you’re thinking about selling this winter, follow these tips: Make sure your sidewalks and driveway are perfectly cleared of snow to keep your home open and inviting. Turn up the thermostat a little bit and make sure your fireplace is on. You also want to be sure all the lights in your home are on, including the closets. This is especially important this time of year when it gets dark so early. Statistics actually tell us that homes sell faster and for more money during the colder months. Staging your home is another key component. If you list with us, we’ll spend hours with you helping your home get ready for sale because this is a critical step. You can even check out some staging tips in advance on our website. Winter is a great time to sell your house, so why wait for spring when all the competition comes out on the market? If you’re thinking about selling your house this winter, give us a call or send us an email today. We’d love to hear from you!