Agents Make Unexpected Finds in Foreclosures

Anywhere from just the standard messy house, to dog poop or dirty diapers all over the floor, to garbage randomly scattered... As Realtors, we find our fair share of the unexpected when showing homes.  You never know what you'll find when you open doors, old appliances with unidentified substances remaining, lights that dont work, fumbling through the dark hoping to avoid someone lingering in the dark.  With foreclosures being a commonplace, the showing of homes is sometimes filled with shockers!  It's not only foreclosures, you'd be amazed at how some people just live day to day.  Staging has a whole new meaning in some peoples households.

I myself have had my moments of shock, finding a sleeping college student in a downstairs bedroom, running into a naked man coming out of the shower, both situations have left my heart pounding but I'm still not sure who was more shocked, me, my clients or the person who was unexpectedly shocked by our presence.  All I know is the biggest shock and most frightening was when we were casually walking through a home in Dilworth when around the corner came a giant pit bull, baring his teeth and growling.  I wanted to run for my life but as the agent, I felt the need to protect my clients (I dont know why, dont think thats in my job description...lol).  So, as I calmly talked to the dog, and waved to the clients to leave the house, I slowly coaxed the dog into a bedroom, ran for the door and slammed it behind me.  So, there I was running frantic out of the house while listening to the dog barking and scratching at the door.  Needless to say, not a sale that day!  My love for animals was questioned for a moment.  I wondered, "Did I sign up for this?"  I'm pretty cautious going into any home after that moment.

In the article below, read about various interesting adventures Realtors and their clients have run across when looking at homes...

Agents Make Unexpected Finds in Foreclosures

Relying On An Agent

The latest NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed a growing trend among recent buyers.

The latest figures show that 89 percent of buyers purchased their home with the help of a real estate or broker. This is a sharp increase from a decade ago in 2001, when only 69 percent of buyers enlisted the help of an agent or broker.

Why do today's buyers choose to work with an agent? Let's look at just a few of the many reasons an agent can be your biggest ally.

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Realty Times - Relying On An Agent

Whitney Houston’s New Jersey Mansion for Sale

The late singer’s New Jersey mansion, where she once lived with ex Bobby Brown, is listed for sale at a reduced price of $1.75 million.

The five-bedroom, 12,561-square-foot home has been listed for sale since 2009, but has lingered on the market. Originally, the price for the home was listed at $2.5 million.

“With the recent passing of Whitney Houston in Beverly Hills…

Read More...Whitney Houston’s New Jersey Mansion for Sale

Successful Homeowners Since 2009

Good news: those who bought homes in 2009 and later have become one of the most successful groups of homeowners. Mortgage default rates have been exceptionally low.

Bad news: the loan approval process has become so strict since 2009 that only super-high credit score individuals are able to obtain mortgages. A good chunk of middle-class borrowers have therefore been shut out of the market.

Is there any hard factual evidence to show that lending standards are just way too tight? Well, the Federal Reserve’s white paper, released last week, explicitly emphasized the need to ‘remove some of the obstacles preventing creditworthy borrowers from accessing mortgage credit’ in order to upgrade the economic growth prospects.

As for the data, consider the following...

Read More...Successful Homeowners Since 2009

The Importance of Staging Your Home to SELL!!

If you'd like your house to be sold immediately, you want the “wow” expression on the potential purchasers face as they enter your home. So, house staging is crucial to de-clutter your things, and highlight the powerful points in your house. All you need is a storage unit to put your clutter or extra furniture, paint, bedding, shower curtain, flowers, throw pillows & a few small decorative pieces.  The less "stuff" in your home makes everything appear larger.  Shop clearance, a few hundred dollars could net you thousands.

Living Room
Every room of the house is checked and checked by clients. Among the room, they are particular with the living room because this is where family spends time together. You must design and stage your living room in a way the furniture pieces and the design are engaging. There are 2 main activities that occur in the lounge which are entertaining guests and hanging out with family. Make the room more inviting and warm. Avoid loud color fabrics like your throw pillows and curtains. Also remove family photos.  Prepare your furniture pieces in a way that they have interaction with each other. Make efforts to test your furniture pieces and remove the chairs with wobbly legs or has defects. You can lease furniture or borrow from friends or family.

Dining Room and Kitchen
In staging your dining room, avoid the “staged home” set up where you set up the table and display your chinaware and wine glass. Keep the dining table clean and just put a vase with freshly cut flowers instead. There are people who pay attention to the kitchen especially those who like to cook. Make sure to pay extra attention on your household appliances like your stove, fridge, kitchen counter and the sink too. A clean and organized kitchen is the way to go.  2 or 3 kitchen appliances on the counter tops is plenty.  No fridge magnets, make sure the refrigerator is bare on the outside and neat and clean inside, less is more. It's also important to devote more lighting in the kitchen especially in the areas where slicing and cooking is done. If required, an additional lighting in dark areas is a good move. Always keep the motto “clean and bright” in mind.

Bedroom
When staging for the bedroom keep the short principle in mind “simple and straightforward.” Choose neutral colored fabrics and painting. Ensure that the room looks roomy and remove needless furniture that makes the room look smaller. Un-clutter the closet and make it look enormous by eliminating 80% of storage and clothes.  Invest in bedding too. Buy neutral pillows and comforter to make the room more at ease and inviting to sleep in.

Bathroom
Your toilets should be “clean and updated”. This implies that it should be clean and arranged as well as having newer bathroom pieces like the shower head, faucet, lighting fixture, toilet, and so on. A lot of buyers need a clean and organized rest room. Throw away softened soap, mucky loofah, and even used toothpaste. Add towel racks, and ensure that the shower curtain is new. Make sure everything is functional. Add fresh flower(s), it makes the room fresh, clean and inviting to the customer.

From the 2011 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers: Length of the Home Search

• The length of the typical home search has remained the same at 12 weeks since 2009.
• While searching, buyers on average looked at 12 homes before deciding on their purchase. Buyers in the South typically only looked at 11 homes, while buyers in the West looked at 15 homes.
• Repeat buyers usually spent two weeks searching before they contacted an agent, while first-time buyers spent three weeks. First-time buyers also searched longer for their first home, 12 weeks, compared with repeat buyers who spent 10 weeks in the process.

 Our Services for Sellers

We specialize in “marketing” homes, not just “listing” homes. We do home video tours, we have a text service for drive by buyers also used in advertisements so that people can simply text a code to receive pictures and information on your home… instantly! We help you stage your home. We hold public open houses around your schedule, marketing them aggressively. We use exceptional listing descriptions to give your home the exposure it deserves. Plus we utilize today’s technology to make sure that your home is in front of the entire online community via websites, search engines, social media, virtually everything that is being used by buyers to search for homes. We have done the research to see where the buyers are, ultimately, your home is found each and every time a buyer is searching! We use all of these tools to keep only very serious buyers scheduling showings inside your home. There is no need for you to be inconvenienced more than necessary, we want to sell your home, not let everyone just wander through. This is one way we make the process less stressful on you as a seller. Everything we do, is to make sure your lives can go on as normal as possible throughout the home selling process. Let us take care of the details while you handle day to day life as uninterrupted as possible.

 

Our Services for Buyers

We take the time to examine exactly what you are looking for in a home.  We do a buyer consultation where we get to know what your personal wants and needs are in your next home.  We then search through the thousands of homes available for sale to find homes that fit your criteria and send them to you the very FIRST day they go up for sale.  This way, you will not miss your perfect home!  We then take you on a tour of all the homes that interest you and start the hunt for that home that you walk into and immediately know that “you are home”.  We enjoy the entire process and can’t wait to help you in your search.  We understand how important of a move this is for you and we take the  time and patience to work with you and make sure you find exactly what you want in a home.  Let us take care of all the details and simplify the process for you so that you can just enjoy every minute until “move in day”!

View this FREE list of Forclosures in Fargo Moorhead and surrounding area!

Contact us if you would like to see any of the foreclosed properties!

Home Ownership Matters

• Home owners are happier and healthier and enjoy a greater feeling of control over their lives.
• Owning a home is one of the best ways to build long-term wealth. Historically, a homeowner’s net worth has ranged from 31 to 46 times that of a renter.
• Home owners are free to redecorate, renovate, and modify their homes as they wish.
•  Most home owners enjoy stable housing costs—a fixed-rate mortgage payment might not change for 15 to 30 years while rent typically increases 3% a year.
• Home owners can typically deduct mortgage interest and property taxes on their federal individual income tax return.

Read More: Home Ownership Matters

JUST LISTED...4602 81st St. N. Fargo

Click here to view photos/video of this home...

 

This unique home will take your breath away! Must see inside to appreciate. Double Garage, spacious foyer with view of spiral staircase and upper loft. 4Bdrms or 3bdrm w/den, 3 full baths, 1992 sq' on main & loft plus completely finished basement w/2bdrms (walk in closet), bathroom w/dual sinks. Gorgeous & open kitchen w/custom cabinets, stainless steel appliances and beautiful flooring. Main floor laundry & main floor master bedroom w/dual walk in closets & private bath. Spiral staircases to loft and lower level. (Wide entrance from garage to basement for easy moving of furniture.) Wet bar with oven, gas fireplace, built-ins, loft w/patio doors to upper deck. 2.3 Acres including swingset, playhouse & pool (pool can stay or go). 

Call today for your private showing (701) 491-2000.

Click here... to search ALL homes listed for sale in the FM Area and Surrounding Areas.

Fargo opening new Pizza Place!!

Deek’s Pizza began leasing a space in Fargo at 702 N. University Drive in November, and Kuenzel said crews have been working ever since to get it ready to open in late January or early February.  The Fargo location already has hired 15 to 20 employees to get ready for the opening.

Kuenzel said the Grand Forks restaurant has thrived despite heavy competition — 27 other pizza places were in town when Deek’s first opened — because of its simple concept and ability to offer “an inexpensive pizza for the college budget.”

Read all about it...

Train Your Brain to Focus - Harvard Business Review

Next time you are sitting in a meeting, take a look around. The odds are high that you will see your colleagues checking screens, texting, and emailing while someone is talking or making a presentation. Many of us are proud of our prowess in multitasking, and wear it like a badge of honor.

Multitasking may help us check off more things on our to-do lists. But it also makes us more prone to making mistakes, more likely to miss important information and cues, and less likely to retain information in working memory, which impairs problem solving and creativity.

Over the past decade, advances in neuroimaging have been revealing more and more about how the brain works. Studies of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using the latest neuroimaging and cognitive testing [PDF] are showing us how the brain focuses, what impairs focus — and how easily the brain is distracted. This research comes at a time when attention deficits have spread far beyond those with ADHD to the rest of us working in an always-on world. The good news is that the brain can learn to ignore distractions, making you more focused, creative, and productive.

Here are three ways you can start to improve your focus.

Train Your Brain to Focus

Popular Web Sites Shut Down Today in Protest

WordPress.org, Craigslist, Wikipedia, Moveon.org, Reddit, and Firefox browser creator Mozilla are among more than a dozen Web sites that are going dark on Wednesday for a 24-hour period to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which critics say threaten free speech on the Internet.

Google, Twitter, and Facebook -- who also are strongly opposing SOPA -- say they will not be participating in Wednesday’s blackout. However, at midnight Eastern time Wednesday, Google blacked out its logo on its home page in protest. Visitors who click on the blacked-out logo will be directed to more information about the protest.

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Popular Web Sites Shut Down Today in Protest

Shopping For the Best Rates

The lowest interest rates in decades sound enticing enough, but they are often out of borrowers’ reach.

 Mortgage lenders adjust their rates based on perceptions of risk, so unless you can show you’re a low-risk borrower, you are unlikely to qualify for a rate that matches those seen in all the advertisements or headlines.

The rates quoted by Freddie Mac and others are averages drawn from a variety of financial institutions, and lenders use varied approaches to set them. As its base line, for instance, the Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union uses rates posted on the Credit Union National Association Web site for New York, according to Daniel Alejandro González, the credit union’s director of lending. Others, like Chase Mortgage, use markers like Treasury yields and agency mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae.

Consumers who want to try for the lowest rates available need to consider these basic factors.

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Shopping For the Best Rates

Simply click on the photo and enter details of the home you're looking for and you'll receive a FREE list of local homes for sale that fit EXACTLY what you are looking for! Free, Easy, Quick & no obligation!

Is That Fixer-Upper a Wallet Emptier? Get Free Info

The average cost of a midrange bathroom remodel is $16,552, according to the 2011-2012 Remodeling Magazine Cost v. Value report. That may be just the tip of the expense iceberg for buyers considering purchasing a fixer-upper.

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Get free info... 

Mortgage Applications Soar 4.5%

Mortgage applications for purchase -- a gauge of future home buying -- increased 8.1 percent last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. The purchase index on an unadjusted basis now stands at 41.9 percent higher than last year, signaling more people taking out loans to buy homes.  More home owners are also taking advantage of low...

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Mortgage Applications Soar 4.5%

Home Affordability Offering Up 40-Year Deals

Home affordability is at 1971 levels, due to falling home prices and record low mortgage rates, pushing home ownership in reach to more families, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Home owners are bringing in nearly double the median income they need to cover the cost of an average home, Housing Predictor reports.

"With interest rates at historically low levels and markets across the country beginning to improve, home ownership is within reach of more households,” 

Read More...

Home Affordability Offering Up 40-Year Deals

Eighth annual Farmers Insurance study ranks the most secure places to live in the U.S.

Fargo-Moorhead RANKS 3rd in the U.S.!!







Mid-Size Cities (150,000–500,000 residents)

1. Kennewick–Richland–Pasco, Wash.
2. Boulder, Colo.

3. Fargo, N.D.–Moorhead, Minn.

4. Olympia, Wash.
5. Binghamton, N.Y.
6. Sioux Falls, S.D.
7. Bellingham, Wash.
8. Lincoln, Neb.
9. Fort Collins–Loveland, Colo.
10. Rochester, Minn.
11. Duluth, Minn.–Superior, Wis.
12. Utica–Rome, N.Y.
13. Bremerton–Silverdale, Wash.
14. Yakima, Wash.
15. Anchorage, Alaska
16. Burlington–South Burlington, Vt.
17. Las Cruces, N.M.
18. Green Bay, Wis.
19. Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux, La.
20. Spokane, Wash.

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 15, 2011) —Farmers Insurance Group of Companies® annually ranks nearly 400 U.S. communities based on safety and security. In its Eighth Annual Most Secure Places to Live in the U.S. study (2011), Farmers has rated Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania., as the most secure U.S. community among large metropolitan areas (population of 500,000 or greater).

The Kennewick–Richland–Pasco, Washington, area is the most secure mid-size U.S. city (population between 150,000 and 500,000), while Ithaca, N.Y., ranks as the most secure small town (population less than 150,000).

The rankings, compiled by database experts at www.bestplaces.net, took into consideration crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, terrorist threats, environmental hazards, life expectancy, mortality rates from cancer and motor vehicle accidents, and job loss numbers in 379 U.S. municipalities. The study divided the communities into three groups: large metropolitan areas, mid-size cities and small towns.

Read More... Safest Places to Live

2011 Market Statistics "What does it take to get your home sold in this market?"

If you notice the number of homes on the market greatly exceeds the amount of homes sold, this is due to a number of factors. Overpricing and condition are the two biggest problems in our market that keep homes from selling or from selling quickly. If the condition of the home is not in tip top shape, then neither should be the pricing of the home. This leads to multiple homes with fewer sales. The homes that are selling are priced right and they are prepared for the sale. There are too many homes on the market for buyers to skip over the ones that do not compare in their price range. When you are pricing your home, make sure your agent does their homework and tells you the truth of what your home will sell for. Many agents will inflate the pricing to get you to list with them, ask them if they feel the price they are telling you will "really" sell you home. If your home is being compared to many others that are in better shape, are larger, better location... then your house WILL NOT SELL. Either make the effort to put the work into your home that it needs, stage your home or simply drop your price to where you're home needs to be to sell. Plan to have your home on the market for around the average days on market (which has been over 3 months for quite awhile), unless you are pricing under the market or doing excessive staging to your home, do not expect your home to sell quicker. This is why it is worth doing the extra work to make your home stand out.

Check out the days on market graph to see what the averages were throughout 2011. This doesn't mean that homes do not still sell very quickly. It takes 2 to get the job done quick and for the most money! You ~ and ~ Your Realtor! Its all in the preparation and staging of the home by you and then how aggressive and knowledgeable your realtor is. Honesty is sometimes hard to hear when it comes to where your home should be priced. Keep in mind... Any realtor can list a home, but to price it right and market it aggressively takes knowledge and experience!

If you are currently thinking about selling and would like an HONEST analysis of your home and what it will take to sell it quickly and net the most money. Give Modern Market Realtors a call and we can tell you the TRUTH and get your home on the SOLD CHART!! Call or email Shannon anytime 701-491-2000, shannonbarnum@gmail.com