5 Reasons To Buy A Minneapolis Duplex Now

Come winter, most duplex buyers turn their thoughts to the holidays and devising survival tactics to make it until spring.  After all,  icey sidewalks and knee deep snow are hardly inspiration for moving, right?

Well, here are five good reasons why everybody should.

1. The Tax Credit – While we’re still waiting for Congress to officially act on extending the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit, signs coming from Washington are encouraging. It looks, at the very least, as if there will be a new deadline of April 30th in order to qualify for the credit. Remember, in Minnesota, if you wait, sometimes it still snows in April.

2. Low Interest Rates – On Friday, both 30-year fixed conventional and FHA loans were at 4.875 percent. For those who are qualified, money is historically cheap to borrow.

3. Banks Don’t Wait Until Spring – Like many buyers, most traditional home and duplex sellers believe spring is the optimum time to move. As a result, they wait until they’ve seen the first robin to put their home on the market. However, banks don’t typically have the luxury of timing the market, and list their foreclosure inventory year-round.  This means there will be plenty of properties to choose from through the long, frozen months.

4. Fewer Buyers to Compete With – One of the challenges people rushing to beat the November 30 first time home buyer tax credit deadline ran into was they were not alone. A mad crush of buyers resulted in multiple offers on the more desirable properties, and a venerable frenzy to get there first. Winter, and its challenges, will keep many of those potential competitiors home until the first thaw; meaning you’re more likely to be able to buy a good property at a fair value, rather than a number that’s been inflated by fear.

5. You’ll Save A Lot of Money– Believe it or not, perhaps due to the preponderance of bank-owned properties on the market, the average sales price of a duplex that sold between October 1, 2008 and Februrary 1, 2009 was $23,000 lower than that of properties that sold between May 1, 2009, and August 1, 2009.

Last I checked, professional movers didn’t cost anywhere near that much.