When Will Spring Come!?

Does this Minnesota winter seem longer than normal? Well that's because it has been! The average temperature for this time of year in Minneapolis is in the mid fifties! This drawn out cold weather is not slowing down home buyers though! Spring is one of the busiest times of the year for home buying activity, the low inventory levels are driving some competition in the marketplace! If you are buying a house, you might find yourself in a multiple offer situation!

The weather forecasts another snow fall this weekend, but it may be mother nature's last hurrah for winter. Everyday it seems that the snow is melting away, soon we will see the brown grass turn green, leaves forming on the trees, and the ice melting on the lakes.

Before you buy or sell a house, make sure you have done your research, and have consulted with a professional. This Spring will be very busy and it's important that you are prepared to move fast in today's market!

Robots In Real Estate?

The world is constantly being changed by technology, the iPad is becoming a must for real estate agents. Could robots be the next must? A recent article from inman news showcased five ways that robots could change the real estate business.

The first showcased robot is a telepresence robot made by Double Robotics. This robot basically allows you to be in two places at one time! It requires two iPads, one mounted to the robot, and the other in your hands. It features a remotely adjustable neck height so you can remain at eye level when having conversations. This model is available for just $1,999!

Next, we have Romo. Romo can be an extra hand around the office, and it can help take photos!

Another Robot will enable Realtors to take pictures from up above without the use of a ladder. The AR.Drone 2.0 is a flying drone that can record video and take pictures, all while being controlled using your mobile device! Check out the article here.

What do you think about these devices? Could you see them being frequently used in the near future?

Everything you need to learn the Twin Cities real estate market.

The Minneapolis Association of Realtors website offers a very unique tool to help people learn about the real estate market of the twin cities. This tool is great for everyone from home buyers and home sellers, to real estate investors, to individuals who just want to learn more about the market. This tool is appropriately called, "The Thing".

"The Thing" lets you search for information on any part of the metro area you wish. It really has every metric you could think of. Click here to learn more about the real estate market using "The Thing"

HomeFinder.com joins Re/Max's vendor network.

RE/MAX has included HomeFinder.com into it's approved supplier program, which gives all of its 90,000 agents access to the vendor's marketing platform. HomeFinder.com has been a very successful real estate listing and marketing company for quite some time, and RE/MAX knows that this is a good move. Around 90 percent of home buyers start their search online, so this partnership will give RE/MAX's associates a greater web presence, which in turn will help them provide a higher level of customer service.

Are the mortgage rates as low as they will go?

Mortgage rates have risen very slightly for three out of the past four weeks. It has been two months since we have seen the lowest recorded rates of 3.31 percent for the average 30-year fixed-rate loan.

Frank Nothaft, (Chief Economist for Freddie Mac) seems to think that the all- time low rates may be behind us. Nothaft foresees the rates to climb up to 3.75 percent by years end, and move to above 4 percent the next year.

The rates will still be very favorable for new home buyers for a while, however, home owners exploring the option of a re-finance shouldn't wait around too much longer if they want to lock in with these historically low rates. As the economy shapes up, rising rates are a natural occurrence. They will fluctuate a little, but the days of 3.31 percent may be gone.

New Year

Happy New Year! There are a lot of exiting things to come in 2013. We are very happy to announce that we have a new member on the JAM Team! Brad Novy is working with us and will be attaining his real estate license by early February. He just received his Bachelors from St. Cloud State University in December of 2012. Brad will be a great fit with our team and will help our growing business. Brad specializes in working with lake homes and relocating buyers that are new to the Twin Cities area.  We are happy to have such a motivated, kind and diligent new agent share his talents with the team and our clients. 

The real estate market really took a turn in 2012. In the next few weeks we will have the Twin Cities Housing Market Annual Report available. Please let us know if you would like a copy.  Remember, we are happy to be resource to you for any housing related information.

RE/MAX is celebrating its 40th anniversary and Jacqueline is attending the RE/MAX R4 Convention in February.  We look forward to sharing what we learned about the direction of real estate industry from some of the top minds in the world.