Duplex Chick

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For the first time in ages, there were more new Minneapolis and St Paul duplex, triplex and four-plex listings that came on the market for the week ending February 25, 2012, than there were the same week one year ago.

Granted, there were only two more duplexes for sale year-over-year, but after months of shrinking inventory, those two were like two inches of rain in a desert.

Minneapolis and St Paul duplex sellers with equity made a significant contribution to the number of new duplex investment opportunities, bringing 45 percent of the new listings to the market.

One year ago, equity duplex sellers pitched in just 31 percent of the market inventory.

For the most part, however, the number two seemed to be a theme, as there were also two more Minneapolis duplex sellers who received offers on their property than there were for the week in 2011.

Of the twenty three Twin Cities duplex owners who signed purchase agreements on their properties during the week, 26 percent were traditional selelrs with equity in their properties. This represents a slight increase of– you guessed it, 2 percent in distressed duplex market share.

Like the Minneapolis duplex market, the single family home sector saw a slight increase in inventory as well, rising 1.2 percent from the same week in 2011.

This increase of inventory, however, won’t be enough to compensate for the 49.5 percent jump in pending sales for the week, which helped the total number of homes for sale on the market drop 23.5 percent.

As we continue to get improving economic and  jobs reports, let’s hope we also continue to get encouraging real estate news.

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Many duplex buyers want to see every duplex for sale in Minneapolis.

Even if the first one they see on the first day they go out looking for duplexes with me is the best one they’ve seen all day, they don’t feel like they’ve seen enough.

This is ironic, especially in the age of the Internet. After all, don’t we all sit at home in our pajamas looking online at duplexes for sale, scrolling through the pictures, and deciding which ones we don’t want to see?

Part of my job as a Realtor who specializes in duplexes is to know the market. That includes both existing and coming inventory well. And it also includes offering counsel as to what is a good buy.

When I sit down and visit with a duplex buyer for the first time and ask questions, I mentally eliminating properties that won’t work for them, based on the information they give me.

For example, if a duplex buyer tells me she’s willing to do cosmetic work to a property, such as painting or stripping wallpaper, I mentally discard the duplexes for sale that I know need more extensive rehabilitation.

If my client says they like built-in buffets and woodwork, I focus my attention on the Craftsman era duplexes where those characteristics are found, rather than the 1960’s side by side duplexes which don’t include them.

And if my client needs three bedrooms in each unit, there really isn’t a point in showing them duplexes with two.

In other words, I don’t show buyers properties that don’t suit they’re needs.

When you work with a duplex specialist, especially one with years of experience, not only will that Realtor help you find a great duplex that’s also a good buy, but more importantly, they will save you time.

And that’s the one thing none of us can never get back.

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At least the Minneapolis duplex market is consistent.

Somewhat.

The trend of dramatically fewer new duplex listings continued for the week ending November 12, 2011, with just 17 new duplex opportunities appearing on the Minneapolis  market compared to last year’s 40.

For the math whizzes in the audience, that’s a decline of 57.5 percent.

Of these new listings, 8, or 47.05 percent were offered by sellers who won’t have to consult with a bank before signing a purchase agreement. Last year, 50 percent of the duplex sellers had equity in their properties.

There were 15 duplex owners who accepted and signed purchase agreements during the week. Of these, just two will take a check home from closing.

Last year, there were 26 Minneapolis and St Paul duplex, triplex and four unit property owners who accepted offers. Of these,  26.9 percent were sellers with equity in their properties.

What may be perceived as an encouraging sign is last year’s average sold price for the week was $113,631. This year, the average list price Minneapolis duplexes left the market at was $127,253.33.

On average, listings on the MLS are closing at 91.2 percent of the price they were last listed at, so we should see average sold prices finish at or slightly above last year’s figure.

The single family homes market continued to see increased sales and decreased listings as well.

There were 2.5 percent fewer new listings for the week, while pending sales increased 37.1 percent over last year’s tally.

Whether you own a Minneapolis duplex or St Paul home, you may want to consider listing it over the holidays. There is far less competition on the market right now, while buyer activity remains high.

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In the last several weeks, I’ve had several buyers and sellers ask me to give up all or part of my previously agreed upon commission on a duplex sale so they can either pay less or net more.

My answer was “no”.

Yes, real estate commissions are negotiable.

And I realize every get rich quick real estate seminar or web site encourages you to ask your Realtor to financially contribute to the sale. After all, the thinking goes, you’re going to be giving that agent “so much business” they’ll be glad to trade hundreds or thousands of dollars for the opportunity of your continued loyalty.

Besides, Realtors make so much money, they can afford to give up some or all of their commission, right?

Wrong.

In 2010, the average income for a Realtor was $34,100. This was down 4.5 percent from the average Realtor income in 2009.

Compare this to 2002, when the average Realtor earned $52,100; 34.7 percent than they do almost a decade later!

And that figure includes agents who’ve been working selling duplexes and homes for more than two years.

Realtors who’ve been in the business two years or less earned, on average, $8900.

Out of that income, Realtors pay for gas, car insurance, desk fees, errors and omissions insurance, marketing of their listed properties, mandatory continuing education, MLS dues, cell phone and Internet bills, open house signs, the installation of signs in yards, and a thousand other expenses associated with running a business.

All of this in the worst housing market in decades.

I absolutely love what I do. And I am happy to work long hours for clients who see the value in what I do; whether it be finding them a non-MLS duplex that suits their needs, or guiding them through the complicated process of a short sale.

But unfortunately, Duplex Chicks have bills to pay too.

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Buying a duplex can be a lot like having your senior photos taken in high school.

Selecting the right outfit and photographer is a bit like getting pre-qualified for a loan and selecting a Realtor.

And if you decide you want to see every duplex on the market,  it’s kind of like digging through all the proofs where your eyes are half-closed or you had a hair sticking up on the back of your head.

What would that experience be like if, instead of weeding through 80 proofs (like I had to) in order to find the one or two good ones, you just saw the good ones?

And what if instead of seeing the duplexes with mold in the basement where the light fixtures had been ripped off the walls, you just saw the ones that were right for you?

There are a lot of duplexes listed for sale all over the Internet. And, if you’re anything like me, it’s easy to write a mental story of how wonderful the property is based on a few good or bad photos.

It’s easy to get discouraged when time and again, those stories don’t come true.

I used to show buyers a lot of duplexes. The more they saw, the more disappointed they became.

So I don’t do that anymore.

I ask my duplex buyers a lot of questions. And then I do my very best to run out and find properties that match their answers.

It saves us both a lot of time. And disappointment.

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If the Twin Cities housing market were on a diet, it would be featured in a Jenny Craig ad.

For the week ending June 19, 645 single family home purchase agreements were signed. That’s down 44.2 percent from the same week one year ago.

New listings kept eating fruits and vegetables too; down 8.4 percent.

Duplexes and the small multi family market also dropped a pant size, shrinking 23.5 percent year-over-year.

The good news is traditional sellers continued to hold their ground, contributing 42.3 percent of the week’s pended sales compared to just 20.68 percent for the week last year. This was true of new listings as well, with bank mediated properties weighing in at 51 percent this year, down from last year’s 63.8 percent.

The week’s off market price must have cheated with a couple of cookies, because it finished at $129,748.  This is up from last year’s $114,580, but then again, we are comparing pended prices to closed transaction prices.

Let’s hope this week the market cheats with a Big Mac.

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Thank God that shipment of newly listed single family homes and duplexes hit the market just in time for the expiration of the first time and repeat buyer tax credits.

I’m being sarcastic, of course.

But with 2,147 new single family listings for the week ending April 24, representing an increase of 19.1 percent over last year, and duplex and multifamily listings up 32.7 percent year over year, it does appear sellers were rushing to get their properties on the market before the incentives ended.

Traditional sellers represented a clear majority of the new to market duplexes, with 60,9 percent of the new listings. This represents a significant jump from last year’s 21.2 percent market share.

Of the multifamily properties that received purchase agreements over the week, 38 percent were offered by traditional sellers. While not the majority of the transactions, this figure nonetheless represents healthy improvement over last year’s 7.9 percent.

This increase in traditional seller market share may also account for the average off market price of $155,428 compared to $88,026 for the same week last year.

Have the tax credits had an impact? We won’t know until the numbers for last week come in, but pended single family home sales for the week were up 9.8 percent over the same stretch last year.

Guess we’ll have to wait until next week’s report to see if sellers, as well as buyers, benefited from the tax credit’s end.

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With just hours left to take advantage of either the $8000 first time home st  buyer or $6500 repeat buyer tax credits, you may find the inventory of decent dupelxes offered by traditional sellers and banks gone.

In fact, with time running out, you may feel a bit like Cinderella. Your carriage is about to revert to a pumpkin.

But fairy tales aren’t the only place where magic happens.

In this case, have your fairy godmother Realtor wave her wand at a short sale.

Legal counsel for Coldwell Banker Burnet’s parent company, NRT, has found that in order to qualify for either credit, a fully executed contract must be in place no later than 11:59 pm on April 30, 2010. Counsel further advises that a short sale is considered a legally binding contract when both the buyer and seller have signed the purchase agreement.

The fact that the lender still has to approve the terms doesn’t prevent the contract from being created. Therefore, that contract qualifies the buyer to earn the credit.

Of course, Cinderella still had to wait for her glass slipper to be returned. Duplex tax credit sales are no different. They must still close no later than June 30, 2010, in order for the buyer to earn the credit, which may or may not be problematic.

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As the $8000 first time home buyer and $6500 repeat buyer tax credits round the bases for home,  the Twin Cities housing market appears to be staging a late inning rally.

For the week ending April 10, 2010, the number of new listings to hit the market was up 47.9 percent over the same week last year. In spite of this leap, there is still just 6.5 months of housing inventory in the marketplace; the lowest supply in years.

Pending sales were also ahead of last year, though the 3.6 percent jump wasn’t enough to seal a victory.

Meanwhile, the Twin Cities duplex market seems to need a seventh inning stretch.  The number of properties to receive purchase agreements for the week was down 39 percent from last year. Of those transactions, 32 percent belonged to traditional sellers, with the balance involving some sort of negotiations with a lender.

This slow re-emergence of the traditional seller has served to boost the average price a property leaves active status on the MLS at. For the week, this figure was $106,489; a grand slam when compared with last year’s $80,873.

While excess supply can often lead to falling prices, the week’s  23 percent year-over-year gain was as welcome as a seventh inning stretch. Much of the existing inventory had been sitting for a while, and the appearance of great new listings gave duplex buyers in search of a tax credit something to cheer.

Remember, the deadline for both tax credits is April 30. By then, buyers must have a signed purchase agreement in place, with closing on the property occuring no later than the end of June.

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We’re living in economically challenging times.

As a result, most of us are cutting back on “extras”.  For some, that means opting to stay home and watch cable rather than going out.  To others, that may mean choosing to make a peanut buttersandwich  rather than bologna.

Unfortunately, for some tenants, that also means going without renter’s insurance.

First, if you’re a landlord and your lease doesn’t include language clearly stating that it’s your tenant’s responsibility to get insurance for her belongings, it should.

The reason is your owner’s insurance policy doesn’t cover the contents of your duplex.

In other words, if a fire, tornado, hurricane or earthquake topples your property, your losses may be covered, but your tenants belongings.

Most major insurance companies, like Allstate, Geico and State Farm offer some form of renter’s insurance.

While you must tell your tenant of their obligation to buy coverage, it’s a good idea to require them to provide you with proof they’ve done so.

After all, times may be hard but they’d be tougher still if you lost absolutely everything and didn’t have insurance.