Neighborhood groups on social media

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. I belong to a couple of neighborhood groups on Facebook and on NextDoor.  I don’t advertise in any of the groups. They are a news source and a chance to share information when I have it.

One of the most common posts I see in neighborhood groups are from people asking if anyone heard the loud bang, explosion, or gunshots. On any given day there is at least one such inquiry in at least one group or page that I participate in.

The second most common post is when the neighbor displays a video of a package or mail thief in the act of thieving. We rarely know for sure where the crime is being committed and even though these criminals are caught on video I don’t think they are ever arrested and have never heard of anyone getting their packages or mail returned to them.

All I can say is there are always loud noises in the area and they are rarely gunshots or explosions. Most of the time the loud noise season peaks around July 4th.  It would be nice if neighbors could work together and identify the neighbor responsible for the noise but that never happens.

As for the packages, cameras don’t seem to be a deterrent. If they were a deterrent we wouldn’t be seeing so much video of people stealing packages.

People also ask for advice in neighborhood groups. I don’t ask for advice or give it but those postings are an endless source of entertainment.

Join a neighborhood group on social media today. I promise you will get a bang out of it.

National real estate trends

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Cash is still king. According to Realtor®.com reporting, 36 percent of home sales across the nation were cash sales last year which is about a 3% increase from 2019. 

Remote workers are moving further away from work. Like 50 miles away. I have been watching this trend for a year. It will be interesting to see how it all works out when people change jobs or when employers decide they want to open offices again.

There is also a trend of using tiny houses as offices. A tiny house may have 100 to 500 square feet of living space. My own office is about the size of a small tiny house with 144 square feet of space. Personally, I like the idea of using a tiny house as a she shed.

Accessory dwelling Units or ADU’s as they are called are allowed in St. Paul and they would make great offices assuming they can be adequately heated during our annual polar vortex.

A look at March 2011

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

The housing market crash of a decade ago seems like a distant memory for many. Home prices hit their lowest in more than a decade in 2011. Those who bought a house that year could make a lot of money selling it this year.

march2011
March 2011

Median home prices in St. Paul have more than doubled since March of 2011 when they were 95,000. Median sale prices are currently $250,000. We were in a strong buyer’s market at that time.

Home sales for March 2021 by Neighborhood

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

March home sales were fast in St. Paul with an average of 31 days on the market.   There were about 50 homes that were on the market as active listings for less than two days. The average sale price was higher than the average listing price and I took a deep dive into the numbers to check and see if the original asking price was higher than the final sales price and discovered that original asking prices were slightly higher than the final sales price.

I looked at these numbers partly because some local agents are changing,  the listed price after offers are accepted. The price is being raised when the offer is significantly higher than the asking price.

The shortage of homes for sale continues and with the high demand, prices continue to rise. The median home sale price in St. Paul is around 285K. As buyers compete with each other and bid up the home sale price.  It isn’t unusual to see offers the are 15% higher than the original asking price. Some of the houses are appraising for less than what the buyer is offering.

There are various downpayment assistance programs for first-time homebuyers. Most are aimed at specific neighborhoods and that is likely driving up the prices in those neighborhoods. The programs are supposed to help home buyers but they end up helping homeowners by driving the prices up.

The real estate market is fairly stable in downtown St. Paul and there is plenty of inventory. As the pandemic winds down and businesses operations with fewer restrictions I expect to see buyers flocking to downtown to take advantage of a buyers market.  Right now almost a third of all of the residential real estate for sale in St. Paul is located in downtown St. Paul.

home sales
March home sales in St. Paul, MN

The data in the table above was extracted from the NorthstarMLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

If you would like to see more numbers about St. Paul home sales check out Local Market Conditions and Home Prices. 

If you would like to know how much your home will sell for contact me for a free no-obligation analysis. 

April is fair housing month

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
dormer
Dormer

National Fair Housing Month celebrates the Fair Housing Act passed in April of 1968. The law prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, and gender.

The Act was later amended to include protections for people with disabilities and families with children. In Minnesota, public assistance, disability, familial status, gender identity, and sexual orientation were added. In St. Paul age was added as a category.

I see housing discrimination on the job in various forms. It is the home seller who asks me to sell the house to a family with children or occasionally the seller who doesn’t want to sell to “those” people because his neighbors won’t like it.

Last year I helped out with the deed mapping project. I read real estate deeds and flagged those that contained race-based restrictions. Housing discrimination is baked into our system. Even though the deed restrictions are no longer legal our neighborhoods are segregated.

If you are selling your home and want to be fair look at the term of the offer and choose the offer with the best terms. Treat it as a business decision which is what it should be. Do not choose an offer based on who the buyer or buyers are.

Peeps inedible but photogenic

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. I noticed that some businesses are closing at noon today. I think I’ll do the same but I have to stay open on Saturday just in case someone wants to buy or sell a house. I rarely work on Easter and for the second year in a row, I’ll prepare a small feast for my household of two.

Happy Easter

Peeps invade downtown St. Paul