A Recap of The Minnesota Real Estate Show – June 14th, 2008

The Minnesota Real Estate show, our weekly Saturday afternoon real estate radio show on 100.3 KTLK had no “set topic” on June 14th. However our conversation on air drifted to many important updates going on here in our local marketplace and with our real estate team. Joining me live on air was Rob Bonahoom from The Minnesota Home Loan Partners. Rob is a top loan officer, with a special focus on investment property financing.

We discussed our upcoming seminar on June 17th for beginning real estate investors. Affectionately known as our “Real Estate 101″ seminar, Rob went over his role in the seminar as our team’s “financing specialist.” Rob also covered some information on our “Real Estate 201″ seminar. This investment property seminar will be for more of the seasoned real estate investors, however all are welcome of course. We will be discussing issues with tenants, namely how to “get them in” and how to “get them out.” For more information on these great informational events, go to Minnesota Real Estate Investment Properties.

Steve Stalock from Win Home Inspections also joined us on air. Steve has been the preferred Home Inspector for our team for quite some time. Steve commented on air how busy he has been as of late. In spite of so much “gloom and doom” portrayed on the television, Steve is finding buyers out in full force here in the Minneapolis real estate market!

Over the course of each two hour show, we always encourage listeners to call in at 1-800-396-0406. Yesterday, we had a number of great phone callers that I wanted to highlight.

A couple listeners who called in own some investment property here in Minnesota and are now wanting to sell. One caller, Luke, mentioned that he had bought a home off the Minnesota MLS on a contract for deed. He assumed everything was in order with his purchase, as he had been paying the current owner monthly. However, the Sheriff showed up on his doorstep this past week because the current owner had not been making mortgage payments.

We have found this happening more and more often, not only with Minneapolis real estate, but homes all across Minnesota. Buyers who buy MLS Listings in Minnesota on a “rent to own” or contract for deed, are finding the current owner of the property is not and has not been making their mortgage payment. Obviously this is not a good situation. If you are in this type of contract, please be sure to check that the owner is making payments on the mortgage.

The conversation on air also moved towards the number of foreclosures and REO properties for sale here in the Twin Cities on the MN MLS. Locally, we are seeing obviously huge numbers of MN MLS listings. Nationwide, the numbers are staggering. I found this article on CNNMoney.com and I thought it was very good information on what is happening across our great country.

Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer wrote on June 5, 2008:

“More than one million homes are now in foreclosure, the highest rate ever recorded, according to a trade group which warned Thursday that number will continue to climb. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s first quarter report showed that a record 2.5% of all loans being serviced by its members are now in foreclosure, which works out to about 1.1 million homes. That’s up from the 2% of loans, or about 938,000 homes, that were in foreclosure at the end of 2007. The report also showed that 448,000 homes, or about 1% of loans being serviced, began the foreclosure process during the first quarter. That’s up from about 382,000 homes, or 0.83%, that entered foreclosure in the last three months of 2007. The seasonally-adjusted rate of homeowners behind on their mortgage payments also hit a record high. Nearly 3 million home loans, or 6.4%, have missed at least one payment, while about 737,000 are at least three months past due, but not yet in foreclosure.”

Lastly, I wanted to touch encourage readers of this blog and/or listeners to our show, to call or email us with any real estate related issues you would like us to cover on our show. More than anything, The Minnesota Real Estate Show is meant to be an informational source for any and all Minneapolis, St Paul, and Minnesota real estate items.