Governor Dayton declared this to be emerald ash borer week to increase awareness.   

Ash tree

Will the ash tree be around for our children and grandchildren to enjoy?  The ash borer had been found in St. Paul and they kill ash trees.  You may have seen the purple triangular traps in some of the trees.   This particular tree has a bat house in it which has nothing to do with the EAB but the bats like it and they eat mosquitoes so we like them. 

Here is some information from the DNR:

What you need to know

EAB kills ash trees, and it does so in great numbers. Already it has killed millions of ash trees in North America . EAB will have a huge effect on Minnesota's landscape and the 998 million ash trees that grow in our cities and forests.

• Recognize the signs and symptoms of an EAB infested tree: heavy woodpecker activity on tree, dying branches in the top canopy, sprouts around the tree base, vertical cracks in the bark, S-shaped tunnels under the bark, and 1/8 inch D-shaped exit holes in the bark.
• If you think your tree is infested with EAB, complete the steps outlined in Do I Have Emerald Ash Borer ?  and refer to the Signs and Symptoms of EAB in Ash Trees slide show for more examples.
• If your ash tree is showing other signs and symptoms, visit the What's wrong with my ash tree?  online diagnostic tool to help identify problems caused by insects, diseases, and nonliving factors.
• To report a possible EAB infestation, contact the Arrest the Pest Hotline atarrest.the.pest@state.mn.us or 888-545-6684.
• Consider insecticide treatments only when your property is within 15 miles of an EAB infestation.More information  
• Do not transport firewood, even within Minnesota.

Trees, especially disease free trees add to the value of your home. 

Not sure if you tree is an ash tree?  Check the Minnesota DNR web site.

 It is hard to imagine but real estate agent made the list of the top 12 most overrated careers, it is number 9 even which means it is in the top 10.  I guess it must look glamorous to some or it could not be over rated.

"CareerCast.com describes this job as overrated due to the decrease in activity that the profession has undergone since the housing crisis began."

Many people that I know who are involved in the real estate industry tend to see it as some kind of a higher calling.  . . .of course those folks don't actually sell real estate . .  

No one is saying that the job isn't needed or important but that it is overhyped and it looks better than it really is.  I am not so sure I agree.  What could be better than working for free seven days a week and hoping that the bank approves the sale or comes through with the loan so that something closes and there is a pay check however small?

It is not the kind of job that a person should have if they don't like looking for work every day or taking risks or working long hours including nights and weekends and handling real estate emergencies in the middle of the night when there is no such thing as a real estate emergency.  If things like health insurance, pensions and paid vacations are important then being a real estate agent is a really bad career choice. 

The work is harder than ever before and the pay is has gone down with home values.  Unfortunately the cost of everything else has gone up.  If you talk to most any real estate agent he or she will tell you that they are doing wonderfully well and that life is good.  Maybe that is how the occupation got overhyped.  Any job that gets paid on a 100% commission basis in not for wimps, whiners, wanna be's or mama's boys.  

Life is like a box of chocolates

Also see:  Getting a Minnesota real estate license (how to without any hype)

Also see: Being a Realtor

The latest version of the mobile app for our MLS (multiple listing service)  now has "HomeSpotter" which is augmented reality.  The app is just for realtors at this point but there will be a consumer version in the near future.

Home buyers can put the app in their iPhone or android type phone and point the camera in any direction and the homes on the market that are nearby that are on the market will show up on the screen.   

I took the screen print from my iPad while I was at CoCoMSP on 4th street near Sibley in downtown St. Paul.  I pointed the camera North and it shows that  5 properties at 168 6th street, also known as Airye condominiums and it shows some office space available at 401 Robert Street North.  

The little round circle in the lower left corner shows which direction the device is pointing and the yellow dots show real estate for sale or rent.  

homespotter

It seems to be fairly accurate.  The data is coming from our MLS which is a reliable source.  Sadly an app is only as good as the data that it uses. 

 January is a great time to write about how well our Minnesota Realtors are doing.  This is the time of year when people decide to be come real estate agents. This is the time of year when they call and ask questions.    

First off let me point out that a Realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors and that is it possible to be a real estate agent and not a member of the association.  A real estate agent in this context is a someone with a real estate license. It is that license that allows us to work on behalf of others for a fee.

In 2001 there were 14,230 Realtors in Minnesota.  Durning the peak of the real estate boom in 2006 there were 25,429 Realtors.   In 2011 we had 15,892 agents which is still way to many.  There were more home sales in 2001 than there were in 2011 and home prices were about the same both years. 

Minnesota Realtors

There is always churning.  Most of us are self employed independent contractors.  There were people who became Realtors in 2011 and people who left.  The failure rate is very high.  When the unemployment rate goes up people decide to become Realtors and some of them succeed.  Being in 100% commissioned sales is something that most people never experience and even if it doesn't work out it is a learning opportunity like no other. 

Getting a real estate license is easy and once licensed an agent can join the National Association of Realtors by paying dues.  

When choosing an agent experience matters.  An agent with no experience will  charge the same amount as an agent with decades of experience.  Real estate companies give agents training but they are on their own, real estate companies do not sell real estate. [see The Truth About real estate companies]  

Also see How Many Realtors in Minnesota?

 The holidays are over and it is time to get back to work or at the very least to get back to buying houses and reading my blog.   I can tell when there are a lot of people taking the day off because blog traffic goes way down.  My apologies if reading my blog is work.  Some of our listings got a decent amount of traffic last week which is unusual for the last week in December.  I am guardedly optimistic that the housing market will not be the catastrophy in 2012 that it has been for the last few years. (I can say anything I want about the housing market because I am not running for office and I do not work for any of the boards of Realtors) 

I do not have any  numbers yet but we may have hit a ten year low for the number of homes that are on the market.   That means that buyers will have fewer choices but  we can count on more homes going on the market in January. . . wait for it . . 

35 E West of downtown St. Paul  

I took the picture almost two years ago but I checked and it all looks the same.

*not the first day back for me because I have been here all along

This is one of the biggest shopping days of the year but if you are shopping for a house there aren't many on the market in some price ranges. There are only about 1115 homes on the market in St. Paul that that don't have offers on them.  This has to be a new low.  

I have buyers who are looking for a home and I am having trouble finding the right home.  There are plenty of smaller fixer uppers and a lot of small homes on the market but not very many larger homes.  Lower priced homes have been the hottest sellers this year.  Buyers that are looking for larger homes, more expensive homes or homes in neighborhoods with lower foreclosure rates will need to be patient and sellers who need to sell should consider taking advantage of the situation and putting their home on the market soon instead of waiting until spring. 

The big real estate news story today is that pending home sales were up in October.  Here is a lead in to the story that Realty Times magazine posted today

"Pent-up demand could finally be working its way through the market. Pending home sales rose sharply in October according to the National Association of Realtors." See Pending Sales Rise

The number of pending home sales is a measure of the health of the real estate market.  The sale is pending after all the paperwork has been signed by both parties but before the sale has closed.  They do not all close but when pending sales go up so do sales.

The important fact that is missing from the news story is that pending sales were lower in 2010 than they were in 2009, or 2008, or 2007 . . and I suspect I could have gone back further.   Pending home sales for November are lower than they were for October but that is a seasonal thing.

The report is accurate pending sales did rise sharply over what they were in October of 2010 and that holds true for pending home sales for most if not all months since then once they are seasonally adjusted because that was the low. 

Good news

If I were to put a spin on the big news story of the day it would be that the housing market is a disaster but at least it isn't has bad as it was in October of 2010.