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Mixed Signals: Good and Bad Signs for Twin Cities Real Estate Market in September 2011

by Alex Stenback 10.13.2011
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Let’s check in with the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, who just published the September 2011 numbers.  Press release here: “Without any government stimulus, the Twin Cities housing market continued to take small yet noticeable strides toward recovery in September. Sellers listed 5,562 new homes on the market, down 16.8 percent from last year. Buyers entered [...]

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De-Mystifying The Loan Approval Process (It is not as tough as you think)

by Alex Stenback 09.28.2011
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Mortgage Applications Are Rising, but… The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that mortgage purchase applications rose 2.6% pecent last week. While this is potentially good news for the ailing housing market, these numbers are not as high as they should be when we have record low interest rates and housing prices have been rolled back by [...]

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Why You Can Ignore The Case-Schiller Home Price Index

by Alex Stenback 09.27.2011

Standard and Poor’s Case-Schiller Home Price Index for July  is making headlines today, as it does every month.  Cutting to the Chase, locally, the results the Twin Cities were: – Prices rose slightly from June to July this year. – Year over year, the index showed about a 10% decline in prices. – Were are back at [...]

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Mortgage Market Weekly Update: Monday, Sept 26th 2011

by Alex Stenback 09.26.2011

Last Week: The Fed statement and announcement of Operation Twist (more on this here) contained a bonus for mortgages.  The simple plan? The Fed will buy more mortgage-backed bonds in 2011 and 2o12 in an attempt to anchor mortgage rates at low levels. Add to the mix renewed economic pessimism globally and from our own [...]

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MN Property Tax Changes: Up for Everyone?

by Alex Stenback 09.23.2011

As the font of knowledge for all things real estate, I bring to your attention an article from MPR  which unpacks the recent changes to Minnesota property taxes. For those just picking up on this issue, quick background:  Earlier this summer, while everyone was distracted by the govt shutdown, the legislature eliminated something called the market [...]

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How To: Refinance Your Mortgage Without Paying Closing Costs

by Alex Stenback 09.22.2011

Refinancing can be expensive.  But it does not have to be. That’s because, with a little bit of creative thinking, or if you are working with a lender that knows what they are doing (and probably does not work under the thumb of a major national bank,) your lender will pay your costs for you. This [...]

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What Today’s (semi-surprising) Fed Statement Means for Mortgage Rates (Thanks Ben!)

by Alex Stenback 09.21.2011

Today the Fed punctuated it’s two day conclave in the usual manner – by releasing a policy statement. Though it was widely expected that the Fed would address the persistent economic weakness and add additional measures to bolster an obviously stalled-out economy, the exact nature and size of the initiative was a bit of an [...]

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Does this count as a Testimonial?

by Alex Stenback 09.16.2011
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Been a busy week with little posting.  Mortgage rates are still most excellent, so you should really call someone about that. In other news: I returned to my office to find this waiting for me. Best “Thank You” note (from a client who recently purchased a new home) ever.

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Weekly Mortgage Market Update: September 6th 2011

by Alex Stenback 09.06.2011

Last Week: Mortgage rates improved modestly last week, with the benchmark 30 year fixed seeing about .125% improvement by week’s end. The reason?  A drumbeat of very lukewarm economic data, capped off with a truly dismal Employment Report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) which showed our economy netted ZERO new jobs in [...]

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