Spring Market Season Has Arrived!

Spring is here, and with it comes the annual springtime seller’s market! The national trend of low inventory and high demand have dropped the number of days for homes staying on the market and driven prices higher. Interest rates have remained low, which also provides further incentives for buyers to bid high to get the best deal as soon as possible.

The Following statistics have been sourced from MAAR: (View the full report here)

In the Twin Cities, for the week ending March 26th:

• New Listings decreased 15.9% to 1,488
• Pending Sales increased 4.4% to 1,384
• Inventory decreased 17.9% to 12,214

For the month of February:

• Median Sales Price increased 3.5% to $207,000
• Days on Market decreased 9.4% to 96
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 1.1% to 95.2%
• Months Supply of Homes For Sale decreased 25.0% to 2.4

Upcoming Home Buyer Seminars with Wendy

The 2016 real estate market is in full force! Last week, Wendy conducted the first of many buyer/seller seminars for 2016, this time at Thomson Reuters. Coming up next is Hamline, and later comes 191 and 196 school districts. If you are wanting to offer a free educational home buyer or seller seminar to your employees in the Twin Cities, contact Wendy here. Wendy would be happy to educate them on what to expect this year, and how to make their move a success!

7 Moving Tips to Settle Into Your New Home

Moving to a new community and home, whether it’s 1,000 miles away or just across town; involves a lot of planning and attention to detail. Much attention goes into getting moved out, but getting moved in is just as important. Here are 7 moving tips to settle into your new home:

1: Unpack the essentials

With a little planning you can create an “open first” box that will have your essentials for the first few days. If you’re not moving everything yourself, plan for the possibility of arriving before your stuff does. Toiletries, medicine, a few changes of clothes, and basic kitchen items (such as a can opener, wooden spoon, cutting knife, one pot and one pan) are good examples of must-have items.

2: Help your pets acclimate

A move can leave pets excited and scared. If possible, do not leave them unattended in the yard. Staying in their presence will be calming and lessens the chance of runaways.

3: Get the kids settled

If your things have arrived, help each child set up their bed and unpack one box of toys. Otherwise, get them excited about “camping” in their new home. Make sure you have a bag with their few favorite toys, or for teens and pre-teens, some electronics and books or magazines.

4: Go to the grocery store

Consider eating out the first night, and buy essential groceries on the way home. Focus on easy-to-make foods and quick snack items. Buy any cleaning supplies that you need. If you have a pet, buy any food and supplies not already in your “essentials” box.

5: Cover the windows

If your home doesn’t yet have window coverings, hang sheets up to add privacy and security.

6: Set a finish line

Make a list specifying the order in which you will unpack and complete other moving-in tasks. Creating a list will help keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

7: Get the lay of the land

Walk through your new home to check the heating, air conditioning, and electricity, as well as all appliances. Take your family on a walk through the neighborhood to learn your surroundings, and if possible meet your neighbors.

Ready?

This is by no means everything you need to know about getting settled, but it’s a good place to start. Do you need to find a good plumber, a carpet layer, a painter and so on? Take a look at Wendy’s Resource List on wendycarson.com for her recommendations!

Starting in January 2015, a new law takes effect that mandates all new homes 4,500-square-feet (whether all the square footage is finished or not) and larger are required to have residential fire sprinklers. All new homes will also be affected by other new energy code changes such as air exchangers and insulation changes. It is estimated that these changes could drive up prices of new homes by more than $10,000 when you factor in the sprinklers. If you are able to purchase a new home before these changes come, it will save you some money.

Minnesota homeowners and their families will benefit from this new law: residential fire sprinklers save lives and can minimize the damage caused by a house fire. In addition, most insurance companies offer a discount from 5 to 15% for homes with fire sprinklers.