Two events one weekend. Take a tour of real homes, real people, real ideas Saturday, April 28 & Sunday, April 29, 2012 to find examples and get ideas by touring 60 homes on the 2012 Minneapolis St. Paul Home tour.  These are not Realtor type open houses that are for sale but a chance to look at what our neighbors have done with their homes. The tour is from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Sunday. 

 It is St. Paul Art crawl weekend.   Noon to 8:00 PM today and Noon to 5:00 PM on Sunday.   Much of the event is in downtown St. Paul and you can go to the lowertown area near the Farmers market and kind of follow the balloons and banners.  There are events outside of downtown too.  The details and maps are on the Art Crawl site.  It is a unique and fun event. 

art crawl 2012

I will be at both events and working part of the weekend.  I 'll have to rest up on Monday. 

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. 

In Minnesota people who buy condominiums have a ten day recision period in which they can review the condominium documents and if they don't like what they see they don't have to buy the condo and they get their earnest money back.

Here is a list of some of the things that a condo buyer should look for in the documents:

1.  How much are the association dues and what do they cover? 

2.  Does the association have any money?

3.  Are there scheduled repair and if so is there money to pay for them?

4.  Can units be rented out?

5.  Are pets allowed, if so are there any restrictions on how many pets or what type of pet?

6.  Is the condo building smoke free?

7. Is the association managed by a professional management company or by the members?

8  Are there any restrictions on the use of the property that would limit your enjoyment of it?

Read the rules, read the documents even if there are a few hundred pages.  It is worth it in the long run.  If they don't make sense ask questions.   Ten days is enough time to find an expert and you can contact the association president and ask questions.  I know I would. 

These are some treasures I found last weekend when I spent some time going through old files.  I found a treasure trove of marketing materials for projects that did not go as planned.   I have kept some of the marketing materials from the downtown St. Paul condo projects because they can come in handy for marketing ideas when I list a condo for resale.  

I did not have the heart to toss out the marketing pieces I found from the projects that were never built.  The builders would host these big open houses for Realtors with food and wine and they would answer our questions and send us on our way with marketing materials, business cards and price lists.  It seems like just yesterday . . .and it has been some time since I have been wined and dined by a builder. 

The past

We do have plenty of housing downtown, 65 condo type units on the market, starting at a mere $35,000 and on up to 2.8 million dollars.  I have a wonderful unit at the Rossmor that we are running a special on this week.

unit 206 Rossmor 

People do go house hunting during the holidays.  Sometimes buyers want to see homes on Christmas eve or on Christmas day.  It is sometimes hard for sellers to be ready for a showing but they should be because it is only the most motivated buyers who will be looking this weekend. 

The unit in the picture is on the market for $89,900 and it isn't really snowing inside but you knew that. 

lockboxes 2009 River Park Lofts

  
 The inventory of homes on the market in St. Paul keeps getting lower. Did you know that Realtors and analysts refer to homes for sale as inventory?  They are inventory.  

Currently there are only 53 condos on the market in downtown St. Paul and five of them have offers on them that are waiting for bank approval because they are being sold short and even though the bank does not own them the bank has to approve the offer. 

There are 15 units listed for less than 100K.  For people that want to pay more there is a 2.8 million dollar unit available at the Lowery on St. Peter street.  If that is a little to expensive there is a 1.4 million dollar unit available at River Park lofts on Wacouta street. 

There was a lot of development in the last decade downtown especially in 2002 to 2005 before that there was not a lot of housing the the downtown area.  There are still new units here and there because the housing market crashed before the new units were sold out. Many condo owners bought the units for a higher price than they can be sold for.  There are owners who would like to sell but can not afford to.  

There are bargains for buyers but there are also some units that are over priced by 30% or more. 

Also see Go Downtown For Condo Bargains and Tower of Bargains

 There are 73 condos on the market in downtown St. Paul right now starting at $34,000 and going up to 2.8 million for a Penthouse in the Lowery condos building on St. Peter street. 

There is a lovely condo on the 45th floor of the Airye in downtown St. Paul for just under 900K and a lovely condo at one of my favorite buildings The Great Northern Lofts for $629.  What can you buy for $34K?  A one bedroom with a little over 700 square feet of living space.  Cheaper than rent and for those who work downtown the short walk to work could save time and money.

Some people reject the idea of buying a condo because they do not want to pay association dues.  It is a good idea to find out what the dues cover.  In some cases the dues are a bargain.  The association rules are another matter.  Condo buyers are given a chance to look at the rules before they commit.  Read those documents carefully boys and girls.  You may find out that you can not place a flower pot on your own railing and that the only pets that are allowed are goldfish or there rules may be non-existent and you may find your self living in close proximity to someone who plays the tuba and raises snakes in their unit. 

As for the chart it is safe to predict that we will not see as many sales as we saw in 2010 or in 2009.  Get ready for a new low.