This is kind of an annual topic on this blog.  I post it once a year or so, usually in the spring.  When first time home buyers start house hunting they don't always know which neighborhood they want to live in. It is an important decision.

It isn't just about where you want to live.  The cost of housing and housing styles are different in each neighborhood.  I sometimes have buyers who want to buy a very inexpensive home but want to live in the most expensive neighborhood. Every month I list average home sale prices in St. Paul by neighborhood, it is a good starting point for determining affordability. The numbers I have go back a few years. Check the local prices and market conditions category, there is a link on the side bar too.

There are others who want a certain type of housing. Maybe they want something new  but they want to live in one of the historic neighborhoods near downtown, or they want a loft but they want to live in Highland Park. There are lofts in Highland park but not many. Downtown is the best place to look for a loft but there won't be any ramblers down there. Ramblers can be found in Highland park and there are a ton of them on the upper East side.

There are two ways of going about it when it comes to housing style.  A buyer can pick a housing style and then figure out which neighborhoods have that type of housing. A quick search on the MLS, or driving through a neighborhood is an easy way to find out which type of housing is available.  The other way is to decide which neighborhood and find a home that is available in that neighborhood.

As a Realtor it is illegal for me to recommend a neighborhood. Buyers don't understand that and they ask anyway and some get frustrated when I explain that I can not recommend a neighborhood.   They ask "is this a good neighborhood". Even if I could answer that question, what is good is open to interpretation. What is a good neighborhood? 

We have district councils in St. Paul, 17 of them. These neighborhood councils are a great resource.  They all have web sites too.  The community organizers really know the neighborhood.

Friends and family can sometimes recommend a neighborhood too. For more information about how walkable a neighborhood is I have a link on the side bar to a site that provides a walk score. A buyer can put in the address of a home and find out what is near the home. A zip code can be used to find out more about a larger area.

Walking through a neighborhood or even driving it a great way to find out more.  If crime rates are a concern St. Paul has a grid system. The city is split into 12 block grids and crime rates are available for each grid through the St. Paul Police web site.

A big house isn't for everyone and some folks want to own a home but they don't want to be house poor.  . .or end up in the poor house.  There are some advantages to owning a small home:The heating and cooling costs are lower.

There is less to clean Less Maintenance which means more time and money for other things. 

Small houses are greener - they leave a smaller carbon foot print

Smaller homes are less expensive to buy.  

The down side is there may not be enough room for all of your stuff. The truth about houses is there is almost never room for all of the stuff because we tend to fill up the space we have.

There are many small houses and condos on the market right now. Last week I took a buyer to a 500 square foot condo.  We were surprised by how much space it had and it was inexpensive.  

Realtor seems to be one of the harder words to learn how to pronounce.  I have never corrected anyone for mispronouncing it because I don't correct other people.   There is not "lit" in Realtor probably because the word doesn't have an 'i' in it. 

Now that I got that off my chest I can move onto today's topic.  People call me because they want to see the homes I have for sale.  That works for me because to is my job to sell them. 

Even though it is my job to sell the homes I have for sale I don't think buyers like it when I ask questions and I do ask questions.   I ask the buyer if he/she is working with a Realtor.   If they say yes I explain whey they need to call their agent.  

Sometimes they tell me their agent is out of town, but I still tell them they need to call their agent.  Sometimes I call their agent and we talk amongst ourselves and usually when we are done the agent makes arrangements to show my listing to his/her buyers.  In general agents do not work with other agents clients and all of the rules are too complicated to explain in one blog post. 

When someone wants to see a home and they have told me that they don't have an agent I ask them if they are pre-approved for a home loan and some general questions about what kind of home they are looking for and try to determine if they are at least somewhat serious about buying a home or "just looking".  

I like the clock in lowertown

I ask these questions because I work for free and only get paid if and when someone buys a home and the sale closes.  There are people who have "real estate emergencies" at all hours and on holidays.  They don't understand that I am not providing a free public service and will even go so  far as to tell me that my what my job is and that it is my job to show them houses.  Generally I just say no to people who tell me what my job is.

I will go to hell and back for my clients.  Just ask them because I will but to get that kind of service a buyer or seller pretty much has to be my client because it is only when I work with clients that I can get paid.  Notice I used the word 'can' .  There are no guarantees and I am OK with that.   Maybe if I did not work on a 100% commission basis I would do things differently.  There are agents that will show anyone any house any time.   

Buyers who pick a 'real-it-ter' before they go house hunting will get much better service than those who do not.  If you have a job you probably understand the whole getting paid thing.  If you have a life you probably understand about how there are other things todo besides working. 

Daffodils 

There are 95 open houses today in St. Paul that are being advertised there are probably a few more that are going to be advertised with signes only.  I can find 72 open houses listed in the public MLS.  There are close to 1200 homes on the market in St.Paul right now. 

Buyers should be looking at a lot of homes not just a few.  Start on the internet, learn the neighborhoods and housing styles and then contact your real estate agent and tour a several homes any day of the week that works with your schedule. 

Sometimes buyers want to see a home and they "wait" for an open house.  Smart home buyers don't wait for anything. 

An exciting topic in real estate and one that is often misunderstood by consumers who think there is an advantage in buying a home through the agent at the open house.  That agent represents the seller.  

This post is a kind of public service message that I like to run once a year. 

Today is the day.  This applies to Minnesota, real estate is locally regulated so it may not work the same way in other  states.  There are five kinds of agency relationships in real estate recognized by the state of Minnesota:

1. Seller's Agent: representing and acting for the seller only. May be a listing agent, or any REALTOR® licensed to the listing broker, or a selling subagent.

2. Subagent: a broker or salesperson who is working with a buyer, but represents the seller.

3. Buyer's Agent: representing and acting for the buyer only. As with a listing contract with sellers, an agreement for buyer representation must be in writing.

4. Dual Agent: one licensee representing both the seller and the buyer as clients in one transaction, or two agents licensed to the same broker, one of whom represents the seller and one of whom represents the buyer in one transaction. This requires  full disclosure and informed consent of both parties. Dual agents have a limited role, must not advocate or negotiate for either party, and must not act to the detriment of either party.

5. Facilitator: a real estate licensee who works for a buyer, a seller or both in a transaction but does not represent either in a fiduciary capacity as a Buyer's Broker, Seller's Broker or Dual Agent. Facilitators may perform services for consumers, but do not represent them. Facilitators are bound by license law and common law, but owe only the fiduciary duty of confidentiality unless other fiduciary duties are agreed to between licensee and consumer.

Buyers and sellers both like to ask if I am a buyers agent, or a sellers agent.  Some of these conversations have revealed some mis-information about dual agency.   Dual agency happens only when an agent, or the agents broker, or more than one of the brokers agents  are working on behalf of that broker and representing both parties in the same transaction.

I am both a buyers agent and a sellers agent.   I encounter situations where I am asked to play both roles in a single transaction.   I have represented both parties in a transaction but I prefer not to.   Dual agency is a bit different in than buyers agency or sellers agency in that the agent can not advocate or negotiate for either party.  Takes the fun out of it for me, and I still believe that both parties are better off if they each have their own agent.

As an agent I find that my experience as a buyers agent and as a sellers agent helps me with both roles.  When it comes to negotiating an offer no matter which side I am representing I have a clear understanding of what the other party might want, or how they might be feeling about it all. 

Real estate is about people and buying or selling property is a large and important transaction, and there are always emotions involved.  Having experience with sellers helps me advise buyers and having experience with buyers helps me advise sellers and understand how to market their home.  I can see the home through the buyers eyes, just as I can see the buyers offer from the sellers point of view.

If I were choosing an agent I would not consider it an advantage to work with an agent that is not representing both parties in the transaction.    I would consider it an advantage to have my own agent representing my best interests instead of an agent who is operating in the dual agency role and representing both parties.  Like it says above:  

"Dual agents have a limited role, must not advocate or negotiate for either party, and must not act to the detriment of either party."

Buyers who go from open house to open house or the agent listed on each sign, to see each home,  run the risk of working with an agent in a dual role.  Get your own agent. There is still a myth out there that agents can only show their own listings.  We can show any home listed in the MLS, this is called "broker reciprocity".  It helps sellers because all agents are working to sell their home and it helps buyers because they can work with any agent from any company to buy any piece of real estate.

  Hone buyers are often surprised at what can be called a bathroom. Most people know what a full bath is: Tub, sink, toilet and sometimes a separate shower.  A three quarter bath is a sink, shower and toilet.  A half bath is a sink and a toilet but I have seen half baths that consist of a bath tub and a sink or a bath tub and a toilet.

The quarter bath is often found in basements of older homes and it is usually a toilet or a shower stall.  These baths are not always in separate rooms either.  If a home is advertised as having two bathrooms sometimes one of those bathrooms is that toilet in the basement or the shower stall. 

Quarter baths are the most common in the older parts of town in smaller homes.  

So don't get two excited about the home with three bathrooms.  

If you are  buying or selling a home that is within the city limits or St. Paul you need a truth in housing report.  The home owner pays to have an inspector who is a approved by the city do a complete inspection of the home.  

Here is a secret that many Realtors don't know.  Anyone can view a truth in housing report on the internet. 

If you are a buyer and want to know more about a home before going to see it look at the truth in housing report.  The older homes in St. Paul often have multiple comments or code violations.  Home owners are not required to fix anything except all homes must have a hard wired smoke detector.

Sellers can get a list of the most common deficiencies and fix them before the inspection. It isn't a bad idea for buyers to check out the list of common deficiencies so that the truth in housing reports make more sense.  I think I have seen a zillion of them.