The Brainerd Lakes Real Estate Blog

 November 2010 . Market Update The housing market continues its gradual recovery without the aid of the tax credit. Sales are slower but growing. Although it will likely be uneven at times, slow growth is believed to be the trend moving forward. Interest rates hit a new historic low again, a major factor in helping keep mortgage payments incredibly affordable. Extended periods of record low interest rates and further plans from the Federal Reserve Board to expedite recovery have some concerned about future inflation. One such investment guru, John Paulson, touted the benefits of owning real estate as a hedge against inflation on Forbes.com. “Your debt and interest payments get locked in at record lows, while the price of your home will rise … If you don’t own a home buy one … if you  own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes, buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.” This march back up continues to provide excellent opportunities: ...

Helping make real estate dreams come true Have you received a Notice of Default on your property?  What are your plans?  Do you plan to walk away or do you want to try a Short Sale which has much less damage to your credit and helps you save face? You need a plan of action and if you want to buy some time, stay in the home until it sells and save up some money - then contact:  Kathleen Lordbock REALTOR/Staging & Short Sale Specialist  Keller Williams Realty Brainerd Lakes Don't just walk away - there is hope, there is help! Can You Prevent Internet Scams such as others stealing listings and posting them as rentals? It would be nice but you probably can not. This is very common on the Internet now days. One scam you may not have heard of involves stealing a listing's for sale information and photos and then the thieves run ads that the house is for rent. They run the ads on free websites like Craigslist. Their hope is that someone out of state might be i...

Helping make real estate dreams come true The Law of Liberty from the Institute for Creation Research July 4, 2010   "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." ( James 2:12 )   On Independence Day, Americans should give thanks to the Author of liberty that we have been privileged to live in this "sweet land of liberty," where we can worship God freely, in accord with His Word. Liberty is not license, however, and the essence of the American system is liberty under law. Fundamentally, that law is "the law of nature and of nature's God"--the natural laws of God's world and the revealed laws of God's Word. Within that framework we do have liberty--but not liberty to defy either the physical law of gravity or the spiritual "law of liberty." The latter is formulated in Scripture and has been applied over the centuries, in the English common law and later...

Helping make real estate dreams come true! Homebuyer traffic nationwide tumbled in May, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions. Most of the decline was attributable to first-time homebuyers who sharply reduced their home shopping last month. The survey's first-time homebuyer traffic index, which measures home shopping activity on a scale of 1 to 100, registered an anemic 35.1 in May. This was down from an index of 63.5 in April. Since September 2009, the index had never been below 50, which represents a flat, or neutral, condition in home purchase activity. “The decline of first-time homebuyer traffic is undoubtedly related to the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit,” stated Thomas Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys. “Homebuyers had until April 30 to sign a purchase and sale agreement and receive the credit. Once we entered the month of May, the government stimulus disappeared.” Have you ...

Helping make real estate dreams come true The last week of 2009 found the Twin Cities housing market singing "Auld Lang Syne" and taking a breather. For the first time in four years, the active listing inventory dropped below 20,000. Chiming in the New Year at 18,980, inventory is at its lowest point since April 2005 and is 22 percent below last year at this time. Also of note, January's Supply-Demand Ratio of 6.69 houses per buyer is 20.6 percent behind a year ago. New listings for the week ending December 26 dropped 18.9 percent from last year to 446. The 392 purchase agreements for the week were up a merry 53.1 percent above the previous year; while a significant jump, this reflects a small sample size. We expect 2010 to begin slowly as car starting becomes more important than house hunting during the frigid conditions we're presently experiencing in the metro area. Have you received a Notice of Default on your property?  What are your plans?  Do you plan t...

Helping make real estate dreams come true posted by Jon Lansner Developer Emaar, the real estate giant from Dubai, officially opened the largest building in the world today! Associated Press reports … Dubai opened the world’s tallest skyscraper today, and in a surprise move renamed the gleaming glass-and-metal tower Burj Khalifa in a nod to the leader of neighboring Abu Dhabi — the oil-rich sheikdom which came to its rescue during the financial meltdown. A lavish presentation witnessed by Dubai’s ruler and thousands of onlookers at the base of the tower said the building was 828 meters, or 2717 feet, tall. Dubai is opening the tower in the midst of a deep financial crisis. Its oil rich neighbor Abu Dhabi has pumped billions of dollars in bailout funds into the emirate as it struggles to pay its debts. Let’s hope Emaar does better at high rises in its own neighborhood than it did on investing in U.S. real estate. Emaar lost $1.6 billion buying Orange County homebui...

     A very talented artist for several years has painted ornaments to be hung on the various White House Christmas trees . The WH sends out an invitation to send an ornament and informs the artists of the theme for the year.  She got her letter from the WH recently. It said that they would not be called Christmas trees this year. They will be called Holiday trees . And, to please not send any ornaments painted with a religious theme.     She was very upset at this development and sent back a reply telling them that she painted the ornaments for Christmas trees and would not be sending any for display that left Christ out of Christmas.   Just thought you should know what the new residents in the WH plan for the future of America . If you missed his statement that "we do not consider ourselves a Christian Nation" this should confirm that he plans to take us away from our religious foundation as quickly as possible. ...

Helping make real estate dreams come true!      Attention firefighter, teachers, police and other essential workers, you may qualify for special terms to buy a home with FHA funds.  Call for more information and to see homes that will qualify for the FHA program. $6500 and $8000 tax credit possible as well. Kathleen Lordbock REALTOR/Staging & Short Sale Specialist 218-831-8001 KLordbock@kw.com

via Harris University Short Sale Blog Are you upside down on your mortgage - needing to sell? Contact:  Kathleen Lordbock REALTOR/Short Sale & Staging Specialist KLordbock@kw.com Brainerd Lakes Area of Minnesota Outside of the area ?  I can put you in contact with other Short Sale Specialists across the United State. There is help - there is hope. Helping make real estate dreams come true

As a specialist in short sales - I can offer you help with your short sale and hope. Tell me your short sale story and let's work out a solution. KLordbock@kw.com in reference to: YouTube - RE/MAX North Central's Tuesday Tip: Short Sales Real Results ( view on Google Sidewiki )

Helping make real estate dreams come true Current REBAC News ECONOMISTS ENCOURAGE TAX CREDIT EXTENSION (New York Times Online, Sept 15, 2009) When Congress passed an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers last winter, it was intended as a dose of shock therapy during a crisis. Now the question is becoming whether the housing market can function without it. As many as 40 percent of all home buyers this year will qualify for the credit. It is on track to cost the government $15 billion, more than twice the amount that was projected when Congress passed the stimulus bill in February. In the view of the real estate industry and some economists, all that money is well spent. They contend the credit is doing what it was meant to do, encouraging a recovery in the housing market that is gathering steam. Analysts say the credit is directly responsible for several hundred thousand home sales. Skeptics argue that most of the money is going to people who would have bought a home anyway. And...