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Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
Stop By And Say “Hello”
February 27th, 2009 categories: Twin Cities Real Est, Uncategorized
I’ll be having an open house at 5933 Chicago Ave S in the Nokomis neighborhood on Sunday from 1-4. If you’re in the neighborhood, feel free to stop in and introduce yourself.
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Twin Cities Duplex Owners – Time For Your CRPs
January 23rd, 2009 categories: Uncategorized
It’s January. In Minnesota, that means bitter cold, cabin fever and dashed Super Bowl hopes. And for Minnesota landlords, it also means it’s time for the annual ritual of filling out the Certificate of Rent Paid (CRP) for tenants.
The CRP is a means of giving tenants partial credit for the property tax they helped the Twin Cities duplex owner pay.
Any landlord with a rental unit where there was property tax payable in 2008 is required to fill out the required state CRP form for each adult who lived in the rental unit, regardless of who made the actual rent payment. Married couples may receive a single CRP.
Basically, all the landlord is required to fill out on the form is the tenants name, location of the property, and the amount of rent received from that unit. Of course, this figure is based on the actual amount of time the tenant occupied the duplex and the landlord owned the property.
This worksheet must be given to tenants, past and present, no later than January 31, 2009. Failure to do so may result in a fine of up to $100 per incident, so it’s worth taking the time to get it done.
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Twin Cities Real Estate Market Has A Little Good News
January 22nd, 2009 categories: Twin Cities Real Est, Uncategorized
MAAR released their weekly market activity report the other day, and while I’ve already shared the encouraging data from the Minneapolis duplex market, the single family home sector warranted some minor celebrating as well.
While the number of newly listed homes for the week ending January 10 jumped, as they always do after the holidays, they still trailed last years figure by 7.6 percent. In fact, over the last three months new listings are down 9 percent from the mark set in the same period the year before.
But here’s the really encouraging news. Pending sales for the week were up 19.4 percent week over week from their 2008 mark. Over the last three months, pending sales are up a whopping 17.9 percent from the mark set during 2008.
Again, don’t buy any party hats. But a half-hearted “Yea!” might be appropriate.
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Why “As Is” Isn’t Code For “Surprise” On Your New Minneapolis Duplex
October 29th, 2008 categories: Uncategorized, What Does That Mean?
In today’s real estate market, many buyers are alarmed when they see the words “as is” in an MLS listing, or are asked to sign a corresponding addendum as part of the purchase agreement. In their minds, “as is” translates to a Pandora’s Box of problems and surprises that they have no right to know about until they own the property.But they’re wrong.
Generally, buyers see this phrase in three situations. First, the property is bank owned. As the banks employees have never lived in the property, and in all likelihood have never even been in it, they have no knowledge of a history of water in the basement, leaking roofs or ice dams.
The second usually occurs when the property is an estate. In that case, the seller has passed away, and the property is being sold by his heirs. Now, the kids might remember dad saying something about a roof leak in the duplex a while back…but was it in 1998 or last year? In other words, they may be able to remember some things, but probably not to a legal certainty.
The final situation may occur when a seller simply doesn’t want to make repairs or vouch for the condition of the building.
If a buyer decides to purchase an “As Is” property, he still has the rights to review a Truth-In-Housing Report (if required by city) and to hire an inspector for a thorough going over. In the event something troubling is found, he may then either ask for it to be repaired or attempt to renegotiate the price.
It is important to remember when contemplating the purchase of an REO property that banks are in the money business, not the home repair business. Most of the time, they will opt for a price reduction.
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Sorry for My Absence
July 14th, 2008 categories: Uncategorized
Sometimes real life gets in the way of blogging.
A big storm blew through my neighborhood last week. And my neighbors suffered a great deal of damage to their property.
All of us were without power and water for three days; which makes it tough to get on the Internet to blog.
Hopefully, all will be back on track soon.
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