June 27th, 2008 categories: Home Buying
Okay, “10,000+ Reasons to Buy a Home” might seem a bit excessive, but in a new housing initiative called Minneapolis Advantage, the city of Minneapolis is offering just that….up to a $10,000 zero-interest, zero-payment loan that’s forgivin over a 5 year period (a.k.a. totally FREE after the 5 years are up) to qualified buyers that purchase a home in one of the city’s 18 eligible neighborhoods.
Developed in response to the city’s rising level of foreclosures, the Minneapolis Advantage loan program is a downpayment and closing cost assistance program to help rebuild the housing market in key neighborhoods (located mostly within the central South and North communities) that have experienced higher than normal levels of mortgage foreclosures.
In addition, the Harrison, McKinley, Folwell and Webber-Camden neighborhoods are offering buyers $4,000 in mortgage assistance, and Harrison is adding another $15,000 for renovations. That makes $29,000 in forgivable loan money to fix up an abandoned home in that neighborhood.
So, if you’re looking to buy a home in Minneapolis and you have good credit, now you have 10,000+ more reasons to get out there on the house hunting trail and buy today 
Make sure to check out these two listings, which both qualify: 2810 Aldrich Ave / 1820 Skyline Curve
For more information on Minneapolis Advantage program details and detail on how to apply click here.
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June 10th, 2008 categories: Home Buying
Newsweek has recently published their list of America’s Top Public Schools. Edina High School ranked number 93, and was the only Minnesota high school in the top 200. Other notable schools in the top 300 were St. Louis Park High School at 209 and Southwest High School (in Minneapolis) at 215. To see other schools in Minnesota and Nationwide, here’s a link to their rankings.
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May 13th, 2008 categories: For Fun, Home Buying, Real Estate
Google has been synonymous with everything from great search, to amazing free email, to maps, etc…but one of their relatively new features (for Minnesota at least) is Google Street View. Google Street View is built right into their Google Maps feature. The implications of this tool for your home search are enormous. Google Street View allows you to type in an address, location, or point of interest and then take a virtual walk through the neighborhood.
For example, if you were interested in our listing on 1511 W 33rd Street in Minneapolis and wanted to see how far your actual walk to Lake Calhoun would be, you could go Read the rest of this entry »
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April 22nd, 2008 categories: Home Buying, Home Ownership, Real Estate
There are currently at least 29 short sales that are available for sale in the Edina and Southwest Minneapolis markets (found by searching in agent comments for “bank approval” and “short sale”). In the Camden area of Minneapolis, there are at least 70. If I look at Minneapolis proper, the number is over 315…St. Paul proper gives us over 300 as well. So, needless to say, there are a good amount of short sales out there. The question is, what does that mean to you, the buyer? How can you keep your dream home from vanishing before your eyes (like the one above)? Short sales open a whole new can of worms throughout the buying process…but first, a short (no pun intended) explanation of them. Read the rest of this entry »
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