New Real Estate and Homes Website for Edina and Minneapolis
My new website is now up and running. This blog will rarely be posted to and is now winding down. My new site also has a blog built into it. As this blog has been, my new website will be primarily for the real estate/homes market of Southwest/Lakes area of Minneapolis, the Edina real estate market and the Minneapolis Western and Southwestern metro area real estate/homes market. It will also (secondarily) feature articles on local culture, art, cuisine and entertainment.
The new address: www.minneapolis-edina-realty.com or just www.zebhaney.com
It is a work in progress, and will have many tools for you to utilize. Enjoy!
Southwest Minneapolis and Edina Real Estate Market Update
Our local market in Minneapolis and Edina, and the Twin Cities metro is typically a very cyclical market. We usually see a large slowdown between the months of November and the first week of February. Then, as winter usually does to people, they start to become anxious (cabin fever?) and once we are past the weekend of the Superbowl, our local market starts heating up.
Typically, the first Tuesday after the Superbowl (today) through the last weekend of May is a constantly-growing market. We usually see a continual increase in our inventory of homes building steadily week-after-week, until the middle of April. Then the inventory holds steady until the end of May.
What causes the market to slow by the first week of June is a combination of items: A) end of the school year, B) many people exit to vacationland (lakes etc.) or C) people leave the state altogether (off traveling). This does not mean that good homes and mini-surges don’t still occur, but it does point to the optimal time for buyers and sellers.
The point, now is the time that the large inventory and large buy-offs begin. It is the best time to list your home, and the best time to be a buyer. Right now we have (roughly) 5.0% interest rates, low pricing and motivation all-around.
In certain areas, I believe it will be a ‘normal’ spring. We are going to have to refer back to about 12 years ago for the reference point of ‘normal’.
Minneapolis Realtor Zeb Haney Films Episode For HGTV’s ‘Sweat Equity’
Over the past 4 months I was asked by Edelman Productions to be ‘the Realtor’ for an episode of an HGTV show called ‘Sweat Equity.’ A young, gutsy fella named Jed Hirschfeld (the bearded-one) was the renovator. He bought a condominium in the Southwest Minneapolis/St. Louis Park/Edina area and decided to give a renovation a try. At first I was quite skeptical, as the condo market is not the best place to start with a renovation for profit, but in this particular instance, the before and after was very dramatic: the renovation was excellent, which is not usually the case. Jed did such a good job, he is deciding to stay.
Also in the photo is the host – Amy Matthews.
The first day of filming was the end of September, and as per the usual Minnesota weather dichotomy, the ‘before’ filming was blazing-hot (we were sweating…without the equity), versus the ‘after’ filming of the finished product in the end of December, which was quite freezing.
This particular episode will be premiering in 1 year, and will be on a 5-year syndication on cable’s HGTV.
A very fun time was had by all. For me, it was a very enjoyable, different,
couple of days.
Minneapolis And Edina Real Estate Market
The Minneapolis metro real estate market is an interesting market. If one is listening to all of the press, one is under the impression the sky is still falling unilaterally in our local housing market. Such is not always the case.
If you subtract from the equation the suburban (2nd and 3rd tier) distressed/REO properties (short-sales and foreclosures), all condos and townhomes, a much different picture appears.
Single family homes within the belt, and especially within the ring East of 169, South of 394, North of 494 and West of 35W is actually doing much better. New listings are down 9% from this time last year, prices are not reduced nearly as much, and when a nice property appears, that is priced right, we see the occasional multiple-offer.
All of this data can be found here, at the MAAR 100+.
Just Listed Minneapolis Lake Calhoun Tudor Offered At $659,000
I have just listed a beautiful home in the Ecco Neighborhood of Lake Calhoun. The address is 3554 Humboldt Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55408. This home is being offered at $659,000.
It will be on the market 12/03/2008.
This home has been entirely updated inside and out. The craftsmanship is stunning. It is not possible to list all of the updates here, but several notable ones are: A chef’s-dream of a kitchen with Sub-Zero and Asko appliances, as well as a dual-Thermador oven, surrounded by custom cabinets made by The Woodshop of Avon. It also boasts new Marvin Windows with Hunter-Douglas Duette blinds, pristine wood floors, a wonderful wood-burning fireplace, concrete by Hage, custom stonework by Mohler, custom landscaping by Norscape, new stucco, a security system as well as high-end interior carpentry by Jack Cormack.
If you are looking for a turn-key, beautiful, bright, sunny home with partial views of Lake Calhoun, call today. This home is a rare gem in an excellent neighborhood!
Feel free to take the VHT video tour by clicking here
Fed Creates Excellent Opportunity For Refinancing Or Buying Minneapolis And Edina Homes
Here is a good, short article from the Wall Street Journal. Yesterday morning one of my lenders called to inform me that mortgage rates were expected to drop all the way down to 5.25%, by 10:15AM.
About 2 hours later, he was proven correct. The amount that rates dropped in a 1-day period, would have taken about 6 months in a ‘traditional’ market of the past. However, in our volatile economic times, this is one of the benefits, or silver linings of market volatility. The market moves up and down very fast these days, and with it go mortgage rates. The mortgage rates follow the bond market. When the bond market (10-year) goes up, usually we see a drop in mortgage rates. 5.25% is an excellent rate, even if rates continue to lower further. Historically speaking, it does not get much better.
For those living in the higher-priced areas of Southwest Minneapolis; Linden Hills and Lynnhurst of the Lake Harriet area, or the Ecco neighborhood of Lake Calhoun, the Kenwood and Lowry Hill neighborhoods of Lake of the Isles, or the Country Club, Sunnyslope and Rolling Green neighborhoods of Edina, you stand to benefit the most, as homes in these areas are usually priced the highest in the Minneapolis and Edina Real Estate market.
Even at the lower price-points of the Fulton, Armitage and Uptown neighborhoods of Southwest Minneapolis, or Richmond Hills, Highlands and Brookview Heights of Edina, you still stand much to gain by refinancing or purchasing.
For new home buyers or investors in Minneapolis or Edina real estate, now is the time! Home prices are low, mortgage rates are low.