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Recent Blog Posts by Mary Leizinger

Principal Reductions Coming for 200,000 Lucky Bank of America Customers

As part of the settlement with the states Attorneys General, Bank of America has announced that they will be sending letters to 200,000 borrowers for whom they either own or service a mortgage loan.  Those customers were selected from a pool of underwater homeowners and they will be offered up to $100,000 in principal reduction.  Loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will not ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 03/10/2012
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Cleaning Honeycomb Blinds

If you are prepping a home for market and have everything ready, but your dingy, stained honeycomb blinds are making the whole room look tired, you may be able to clean them rather then throwing them out!  You'll first want to dust them gently with the brush attachment of your vacuum or use the cool setting on a hair dryer to blow anything in the honeycomb cells out.  Then you'll want to ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 02/04/2012
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Points Paid on a Mortgage Are Tax Deductible

When you buy a house, you get to deduct in one fell swoop the points paid to get your mortgage. When you refinance, though, you have to deduct the points on the new loan over the life of that loan. That means you can deduct 1/30th of the points a year if it's a 30-year mortgage. That's $33 a year for each $1,000 of points you paid -- not much, maybe, but don't throw it away.Even more important, in ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 01/27/2012
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Carver County Home Buyer Education Classes

To participate in certain mortgage programs that may offer more flexible terms, better rates or even provided needed cash for the down payment, a home buyer education class may be a requirement.  The Carver County CDA offers these classes periodically and awards the certificate that is required by these loan programs.  The next class offered will be on Wednesday, February ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 01/08/2012
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Top 10 Mi$take$ that Co$t $eller$ Thousand$

1. Improper Pricing 2. Declining Showings 3. Poor Housekeeping 4. Repairs Needed 5. Attending Showings 6. Relying on Lawn Sign 7. Emotional Decisions 8. Misunderstanding Market 9. Unqualified Prospects 10. Wrong Agent
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 07/16/2011
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Is Real Estate a Local or International Business?

We are fond of saying in real estate that "all markets are local".  Well they are, but not so much as they used to be.  I recall a day about 10 years ago when I woke up to the globalization of our local real estate market when I took calls in a single day from Sweden and Brazil, each from a past client who had been working abroad and were repatriating back to Minnesota.  ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 04/19/2011
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Where Does Your Tax Money Go?

As Tax Day looms, and I hope you've got your return completed already, you may be sighing over the amount of money you are paying out.  That's what can be called a "high quality problem".  If you are paying taxes, you are making money.  The White House has a new calculator on their web site that will show you exactly where your federal tax dollars go as they disappear into the federal ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 04/16/2011
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Heard the One about the Obama-Care Tax on Real Estate Transactions?

There are viral emails circulating that claim there are huge taxes coming on the sales of homes starting in 2013 that are hidden in the Affordable Health Care Reform Act of 2010 - also known as Obama-care.  Don't believe everything you read just becasue it's on the internet.  There are some that use the internet as a means of circulating propaganda to spread miss-information.  Here's ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 04/12/2011
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Anxiously Waiting for Green

Tom Abst, the head pro at the Deer Run Golf Club in Victoria, is closely watching the 10 day forecast and all the 40 and 50 degree days it holds.  He's thinking that they may be able to open the course for the season by March 31st!  Wouldn't that be fabulous after this long winter? 
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 03/18/2011
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Rental Market Improving

There have been two articles recently in the StarTribune which have reported significant declines in rental housing vacancies in the past year.  The improvement is thought to be the result of the addition of about 17,300 jobs in 2010, the majority of them coming in the second half of the year.  Urban locations are being favored over suburban locations by young renters with the downtown ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 02/09/2011
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Shadow Inventory

I saw an interesting article on Inman News today.  An estimate is being made as to how many months it will take to clear the "Shadow Inventory" of distressed properties.  The analysis suggests that it will take about 4 years to clear the mess on a national basis.  In the Minneapolis market, the shadow inventory is still rising, up 10% from 3rd to 4th quarter of 2010, ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 12:00 AM on 02/04/2011
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Cost of Living Calculations

In the past couple of months I've spoken to a number of relocating home buyers and others who have been considering taking a job in the Twin Cities.  Housing costs can vary widely from city to city within the Twin Cities and the cost of living can vary dramaticily from region to region across the United States.  There are a number of cost of living calculators that can be used to help ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 3:13 PM on 08/26/2009
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Corporate Relocation

Corporations are starting to move people again.  After an 18-24 month drout, relocation business is starting to perk up.
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 10:12 AM on 08/03/2009
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Some observations in Scott County

During July, I've done a lot of showing in Scott County including town homes below $150 and single family homes below $300.  While there is a good amount of inventory, I noted that especially among short-sale and foreclosure properties, that they were selling quickly and many of them have multiple back-up offers stacked up waiting for a bank to respond to the original accepted offer.  ...
Posted by Mary Leizinger @ 11:29 AM on 07/31/2009
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