The federal government released some of the broad items that the revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will address today.  While I understand they are attempting to placate the part of the market that has kept up to date on their mortgages while their home value has fallen below their mortgage balance, I don’t get how this is going to help the public in general…and especially the housing market.

While the details of the program are scant so far, it is [...]]]> The federal government released some of the broad items that the revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will address today.  While I understand they are attempting to placate the part of the market that has kept up to date on their mortgages while their home value has fallen below their mortgage balance, I don’t get how this is going to help the public in general…and especially the housing market.

While the details of the program are scant so far, it is the belief of most that homeowners who have been current for their last 6 months on their mortgage and who have missed no more than 1 payment in the last year will meet the bare minimum of eligibility for the program.  Other factors, such as credit score, will also be in play within the determination if someone qualifies or not.

From the side of the banks, I don’t understand why a bank would be incentivized to refinance or take on a mortgage with a loan to value over 100%.  These homeowners are much more likely to default if times get tough. (we’ll see what types of incentives the government ends up giving them)

From a housing market perspective, I don’t see HARP really having any effect.  Those that are currently current on payments and that would like to stay in their home will probably not make a move whether they were given the opportunity to move or not.

All I see this program as is a way to make a certain segment of voters happy.  Those who were current on their mortgage payments, but underwater with their loans, and angry that other people who were behind on their mortgages were getting ‘bailed-out’.  But, as always, its just my opinion…let me know if you think I’m right or wrong.

I’ll update this post as more details become available on HARP.

As a parent of children in the Edina School system, I can’t explain how nice it is to be able to check what homework [...]]]> Edina Schools was recently announced as one of 10 global winners of a campaign put on by Google Apps.  Called Gone Google, the campaign asked organizations and companies from around the world  to share how they have integrated Google Apps into their workflow for the better.  Edina Schools was one of six places from the US selected.

As a parent of children in the Edina School system, I can’t explain how nice it is to be able to check what homework is due on a public Google Doc, or be able to see what spots are open for a volunteer opportunity and then be able to sign up right away…all online.  I can only hope that they use this public success to go further, integrating teaching videos, audio, and interactive student components to make the great schools they have even better.

It looks as though Google is going to write up a post featuring how Edina has been utilizing Google Apps within the next week or so.  I’ll make sure to link to that post when it is available. For now, here’s more information from Google on the Gone Google Campaign: Gone Google Stories

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the write-up on Google’s Enterprise Blog written by Molly Schroeder, the Technology Integration Specialist at Edina Public Schools: Our Gone Google Story: At Edina Public Schools Google Apps helps students learn without boundaries

A provision in which each bank that bundles and sells mortgages and loans as securities will need to keep 5% of that credit risk (thus hopefully giving incentive for those banks to be more careful with who they lend money to in [...]]]> Regulators from the FDIC and Federal Reserve unanimously approved a draft version of mortgage-lending rules that could drastically hike up mortgage costs to potential homeowners.  The two main things I took out of the various articles I read were:

A provision in which each bank that bundles and sells mortgages and loans as securities will need to keep 5% of that credit risk (thus hopefully giving incentive for those banks to be more careful with who they lend money to in the first place).

and

the proposal would eventually reset what constitutes a prime mortgage as only those to borrowers who make down payments of at least 20%, with higher equity levels required for refinances. (with about 46% of homeowners having less than 20% equity in their current homes, this would obviously reduce homeownership through higher costs)

There still could be a good amount that changes between now and when the FDIC and Fed enact these changes.  It should be an interesting (and very important) story to follow over the next 2-4 months.

The article from the Wall Street Journal is here

According to Forbes, Minneapolis currently has the second lowest rental vacancy rate in the nation at 3.3%. This is in accordance with what we saw occur over the fall and winter time period where a good amount of our clients were choosing to rent for a short period of time in between selling their home and purchasing another. While this did mean multiple moves, it allowed some of our clients time to breathe when their home sold a [...]]]> According to Forbes, Minneapolis currently has the second lowest rental vacancy rate in the nation at 3.3%. This is in accordance with what we saw occur over the fall and winter time period where a good amount of our clients were choosing to rent for a short period of time in between selling their home and purchasing another. While this did mean multiple moves, it allowed some of our clients time to breathe when their home sold a little quicker than they thought it would and they weren’t quite ready to purchase yet. We also saw nearly all of our short-sale clients end up renting after their sale closed. Buyer activity has definitely been picking up over the past couple weeks, but we’ll see if that becomes a trend instead of a mirage, or if clients continue to choose rentals over purchases.

The Top 10 from Forbes:

1. New York, NY: 2.4% vacancy
2. Minneapolis, MN: 3.3% vacancy
3. San Diego, CA: 3.4% vacancy (tied)
4. San Jose, CA: 3.4% vacancy (tied)
5. Jersey City, NJ: 3.5% vacancy
6. San Francisco, CA: 3.6% vacancy
7. New Haven and Fairfield County, CT: 3.7% vacancy
8. Portland, OR: 3.8% vacancy
9. Philadelphia, PA: 3.9% vacancy
10. Milwaukee, WI: 4% vacancy

The full post is here: 10 Cities Where the Rental Markets are Rebounding (Forbes)

MONDAY – 7th

Events:

11am - Baby Storytime (Southdale Library York Ave)

School:

7pm – PCN Forum (South View)

Music:

6pm – 8th Grade Band Concert (South View) 7:30pm – 9th Grade Band Concert (South View)

TUESDAY – 8th

School:

7am – Concord Site Council Meeting 7am – Spirit of South View Breakfast Cornelia DGT Community Service Night 7:30pm – Listen to the Images (EPAC) Edina High School Blood Drive

Music:

6pm – 6th Grade Band Concert (South View) 7:30pm – 7th Grade [...]]]>

MONDAY – 14th

Events:

11am - Baby Storytime (Southdale Library York Ave)

School:

3pm – South View Site Council

TUESDAY – 15th

Sports:

6pm – Edina Girls Varsity Hockey Sectional Semi-Finals vs Prior Lake (Bloomington Ice Gardens)

7pm – Edina Boys Varsity Basketball at Eden Prairie (Eden Prairie High School)

7pm – Edina Girls Varsity Basketball vs Eden Prairie (Edina High School)

School:

High School Spring Musical Auditions (through Thursday)

7:30am – Edina Community Council Meeting

11am – South [...]]]>

MONDAY – 31st

Events:

11am – Baby Storytime (Southdale Library York Ave)

11:30am – Edina Education Fund Show and Tell Luncheon (St. Patrick’s Church)

TUESDAY – 1st

Sports:

3:30pm – Edina Alpine Ski Varsity Meet (Buck Hill Ski Area)

7pm – Edina Boys Varsity Basketball Game vs. Minnetonka (Minnetonka High School)

7pm – Edina Girls Varsity Basketball Game vs. Minnetonka (Edina High School)

School:

2pm – Highlands Exec PTO Meeting (Highlands Elementary)

2:15pm – Edina Family Center [...]]]>

Here are some upcoming events in Edina to check out this week (January 31st through February 6th):

MONDAY – 31st

Events:

11am – Baby Storytime (Southdale Library York Ave)

11:30am – Edina Education Fund Show and Tell Luncheon (St. Patrick’s Church)

TUESDAY – 1st

Sports:

3:30pm – Edina Alpine Ski Varsity Meet (Buck Hill Ski Area)

7pm – Edina Boys Varsity Basketball Game vs. Minnetonka (Minnetonka High School)

7pm – Edina Girls Varsity Basketball Game vs. Minnetonka (Edina High School)

School:

2pm – Highlands Exec PTO Meeting (Highlands Elementary)

2:15pm – Edina Family Center PTO Meeting (ECC)

3pm – Creek Valley Pride Day

Music:

7pm – Valley View Jazz Band Concert (Valley View Middle School)

Events:

7pm – Family Storytime (Southdale Library York Ave)

WEDNESDAY – 2nd

Events:

10:30am – Family Storytime (Southdale Library York Ave)

THURSDAY – 3rd

Sports:

1pm – Edina Girls and Boys Nordic Ski Varsity Conf Tournament (Baker Park Reserve)

7pm – Edina Boys Varsity Hockey Game vs Eden Prairie (EP Community Center)

7pm – Edina Girls Varsity Hockey Game vs Wayzata (Braemar Ice Arena)

School:

9:30am – Creek Valley Exec PTA Meeting (Creek Valley Elementary)

3:30 – Creek Valley Chinese New Year Parade (Creek Valley Elementary)

6pm-7:30pm – Concord Family Night Out (Concord Elementary)

All Day – Countryside Kindness Retreat for 5th Grade

7pm – Edina High School Junior Parent Program (EPAC)

7pm – Calvin Chrisitan School Admissions Info Meeting

Music:

12pm – 4 Ace Productions (Edinborough Park)

Other:

Edina History Museum Open
10am-2pm

FRIDAY – 4th

Event:

Sports:

4:30pm – Edina Boys Swimming and Diving Varsity Meet vs Hopkins (Art Downey Aquatic Center)

Theater:

SATURDAY – 5th

Sports:

11am – Edina Varsity Gymnastics Invitational (Breck High School)

2pm – Edina Girls Varsity Basketball Game vs Woodbury (East Ridge High School)

2:30pm – Edina Boys Varsity Hockey Game vs Wayzata (Plymouth Ice Center)

Events:

10am – A Manners Tea for Young Ladies (Historic Minnehaha Grange Hall in Frank Tupa Park)

Theater:

SUNDAY – 6th

School:

Music:

Here are some upcoming events in Edina to check out this week (January 24th through 30th):

MONDAY – 24th

School:

No School Edina K – 12 (Student Recordkeeping Day)

TUESDAY – 25th

Sports:

Edina Boys Varsity Basketball Game (@Home) vs  Mpls Washburn 7pm

Edina Boys Varsity Hockey Game (@Highland Ice Arena) vs Cretin-Derham Hall 7pm

Edina Girls Varsity Basketball Game (@Hopkins High School) vs  Hopkins 7pm

Edina Girls Varsity Hockey Game (@Braemar) vs Hopkins 7pm

School:

ECSE Site Council 4-5:30pm

Music:

Jazz on the Prairie Big Band (@Edinborough Park) 7pm

WEDNESDAY – 26th

THURSDAY – 27th

Sports:

Edina Boys Varsity Swimming & [...]]]> Here are some upcoming events in Edina to check out this week (January 24th through 30th):

MONDAY – 24th

School:

No School Edina K – 12 (Student Recordkeeping Day)

TUESDAY – 25th

Sports:

Edina Boys Varsity Basketball Game (@Home)
vs  Mpls Washburn 7pm

Edina Boys Varsity Hockey Game (@Highland Ice Arena)
vs Cretin-Derham Hall 7pm

Edina Girls Varsity Basketball Game (@Hopkins High School)
vs  Hopkins 7pm

Edina Girls Varsity Hockey Game (@Braemar)
vs Hopkins 7pm

School:

ECSE Site Council 4-5:30pm

Music:

Jazz on the Prairie Big Band (@Edinborough Park)
7pm

WEDNESDAY – 26th

THURSDAY – 27th

Sports:

Edina Boys Varsity Swimming & Diving Meet (@Plymouth Arena)
vs Wayzata 5pm

Edina Girls Varsity Gymnastics Meet (@Minnetonka HS)
vs Minnetonka 6:30pm

Edina Boys Varsity Hockey Game (@Braemar)
vs Hopkins 7pm

School:

Concord Kindergarten Registration 3:15-4:45pm

Countryside Kindergarten Registration 4:15pm-5:45pm

Normandale Kindergarten Registration 4-5:30pm

Normandale Scholastic Book Fair (Auditorium)

Music:

Creek Valley Orchestra Concert 3pm

Will Hale and the Tadpole Parade (@Edinborough Park)
12pm

Theater:

Edina High School Theater One Act Play (@EPAC)
7:30pm

Other:

Edina History Museum Open
10am-2pm

FRIDAY – 28th

Event:

EFC PTO Benefit Gala

Winter Neighborhood Night Out (@Normandale Park, Pamela Park, and Weber Park)
For all families.  Ice Skating, Winter Activities, Campfire.  Free cider and coffee from Caribou. Cookies from Potbelly.
7-8:30pm (Rescheduled from the 21st)

Sports:

Edina Boys Varsity Basketball Game (@Home)
vs Moorhead 7pm

Edina Girls Varsity Basketball Game (@Eden Prairie HS)
vs Eden Prairie 7pm

Theater:

Edina High School Theater One Act Play (@EPAC)
7:30pm

SATURDAY – 29th

Sports:

Edina Varsity Quiz Bowl Meet (@Minnetonka HS)
vs EP, Hopkins, and Wayzata 8am

Edina Boys Varsity Hockey Game (@Braemar)
vs Totino-Grace 7pm

Edina Girls Varsity Hockey Game (@Pagel Activity Center)
vs Minnetonka 7pm

Music:

All City Orchestra Festival (@ South View Gym)
4pm

Theater:

Edina High School Theater One Act Play (@EPAC)
7:30pm

SUNDAY – 30th

School:

Cornelia Skating Party 1-3pm

Music:

First memorial John Phillips Sousa Band
7pm

It’s been awhile since we actively posted here.  We have been spending the holidays with family, friends, and clients.  While we are not the biggest believers in New Years resolutions, one of the major parts of our 2011 plan is to bring you much more relevant and timely content on this blog.  As always, make sure to let us know any of your real estate questions.

Happy New Year!  Here’s to the best one yet…

Posted by Don Edam

@donedam