Whether you’re buying or selling a home, there are four important factors to consider before making a decision. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleWhat are the four most important factors to look at then buying or selling a home?Everybody's heard the old adage, "location, location, location." Location is the most important factor to look at when buying or selling a home. Short of physically picking up the home and moving it, location is something you can’t change.Secondly, look at the home’s yard, including its size, layout, and whether it’s usable. The yard is another thing that’s really hard to change, and it can also be very expensive. Next, pay attention to the square footage. How big is the house overall? It’s hard to add square footage to a house if you have all the area of the home completely finished off. If’ you’re a buyer, consider buying a house that’s only big enough for you and your family. Last but not least, look at the overall style of the home. Whether you’re a buyer looking for a two-story house or you’re a seller with a bi-level split home to sell, style is one more thing that’s almost impossible to change. Again, if you’re a buyer, consider buying a home that has a style that fits your family’s needs. Making additions to your home down the line can be very expensive.Making additions to your home down the line can be very expensive, which is why it’s always important to consider these four factors when buying or selling. If you have any more questions about this topic or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in the Twin Cities market, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you. 

Huerkamp Home Group Minnesota Real Estate Podcast

The 4 Most Important Factors in Buying or Selling a Home

Many buyers avoid homes within HOAs. Here’s why you shouldn’t.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleMany times, buyers are hesitant to purchase homes that lie within an HOA (homeowners association) because they view the HOA dues as a tax that they won’t get anything back from. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You actually get quite a bit with most HOA dues. HOA dues cover things like garbage disposal and recycling, snow removal, and yard mowing. If you were to contract this kind of stuff out on your own, it would cost you at least $100 to $150 per month. In addition, most HOA dues include exterior insurance coverage on your home. If there is a fire, natural disaster, or some other emergency, the HOA insurance policy covers the building’s shell. All you’ll need to get is an HO6 policy, which is much cheaper. There are many benefits to living within an HOA.As a buyer, don’t write off homes within HOAs right away. Look at them as a potential help rather than a potential hindrance. If you have any other questions for me about HOAs, buying a home, or anything else relating to real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

How HOA Homes Can Be Beneficial

Winter will be here before you know it. Here are a few things you should do to prepare your home for the colder weather.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleToday I want to talk about just a few things you should be doing to get your home ready for the upcoming winter months. Here are a few things to think about before the cold weather comes in earnest:1. Get your sprinkler system blown out. It will set you back around $75, but it will help prevent damage to your system when the cold turns bitter.2. Disconnect your hose from the house before it gets too cold. There’s water in the hose and as it freezes, it expands. Disconnecting the hose will help avoid any damage inside your home.3. Get new furnace filters. This is one of the few things in life where cheaper is better. Get the cheapest furnace filters you can find. Any heating or A/C professional will tell you that those expensive filters don’t work very well. You’re better off getting the cheapest filter possible and changing it every 30 days.For furnace filters, cheaper is better.4. Make sure your lawn can breathe. You can do this by cutting your lawn about a half of an inch shorter than usual on your final mow of the season. Get the lawn aerated while you’re at it.5. Remove any screens. These can get covered, but you can see better without them.If you have any questions for us about getting your home ready for the winter or about anything else related to real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

5 Ways to Prepare Your Home for Winter

The home remodeling market is absolutely booming right now. So, which projects truly bring you the most bang for your buck?Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleRight now a lot of people are wondering what home remodeling projects will get them the biggest bang for their buck.As a trend, home remodeling is absolutely skyrocketing. The market for it is seeing a lot of intense growth right now. In fact, it’s up 6% year-over-year in terms of spending. This amounts to $324 billion being spent on home remodeling projects. Impressively enough, that means that a quarter of all real estate spending is directly related to home remodeling. With that being the case, it’s no wonder people are curious about which projects are best. Today, I’d like to give you a look at the top five projects that will give you the most bang for your buck. Kitchen remodels. With kitchen remodels, you are going to get about 85% of your value back. However, it’s important to keep in mind that you should never spend more than 20% of your home’s total value on projects related to your kitchen. If your home is worth $200,000, don’t spend more than $45,000 on your kitchen.Bathroom remodels. Bathrooms are another great place to get back a large portion of what you’re putting in. For bathroom remodels, you aren’t going to want to spend more than about $20,000. The right updates and changes will bring you about an 80% rate of return on your investment. Deck remodels. Remodeling your deck can be a great idea, but be careful that you’re making the right choices. Even though there are a ton of fancy new products out there, keeping things simple is going to be the best choice. Maintenance-free products are going to cost you more than they may be worth. Like bathrooms, deck remodels will bring you approximately 80% return on investment.New siding. Peeling or chipping siding can do a lot of harm for a home’s appearance. Sometimes the best option is to simply replace it. For vinyl siding, it’s going to run you about $10,000 to $15,000 to have it replaced. This amount will go up depending on if you opt for more expensive siding, or if you have an especially large home. Replacing old or outdated windows. This remodel specifically will generally bring about a 70% return on investment, but don’t overdo it. It’s easy to go overboard by choosing a particularly expensive window system. A quarter of all real estate spending is directly related to home remodeling.Finally, keep in mind that all of these returns are based on you having contractors do the work. If you don’t have contractors doing the work, you could double your return by doing it yourself. For example, you could get a 140% return on investment instead of a 70% return if you were to replace your own windows instead of hiring someone else to do the work.When it comes to remodeling and construction, about half of your money will go to materials. The other half goes toward labor. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Which DIY Projects Bring the Most Bang for Your Buck?

If you plan on selling your home or if you are ready for a new look, there are four simple, inexpensive things you can do to update your bathroom. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleWhether you just want to change the look of your bathroom or you are preparing your home for sale, there are four simple things you can do. These remodels will make a huge difference and can be done for under $1,000. 1. Update your lighting. Lighting is super important and a lot of bathrooms have old, outdated lighting. You can change the vanity light out on your own for about $100. If you have an electrician install the fixture for you, that will cost around $200. Oil-rubbed bronze and satin nickel are popular choices for light fixtures right now. 2. Get a new faucet. Make sure you match the new light fixture. This update also costs around $100 for you to do on your own, or $200 if you hire a plumber. Home Depot, Menards, and Amazon are all great sources for a new faucet and light fixtures. 3. Pay attention to the flooring. Many homes have vinyl flooring, which can look great. You should be able to get a remnant at Menards or Home Depot for under $200, and we can put you in touch with installers who will update the bathroom floor for under $300. A new bathroom floor is a great way to create a fresh look. 4. Repaint the bathroom. A lot of people like to choose crazy or fun colors to enjoy while living in the home. However, when it comes time to sell, those colors can turn prospective buyers away. Pick out a popular color from the hardware store. Neutral grays are very popular right now. Paint your bathroom a neutral color, like a gray.If you aren’t sure which updates you should make or have trouble deciding what color to paint the bathroom, let us know. We have an interior designer on staff who can help you update your home and prepare it for the market.   Ultimately, you should be able to take care of those remodels for less than $1,000. If you want to sell your home, you could get a $3,000 return on investment, which is pretty good. If you have any other questions about updating your home or preparing it for the market, give us a call. We do quite a few flips and home improvement projects, so we would be happy to help you!

4 Simple Ways to Update Your Bathroom

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, there are a few things you should pay attention to when it comes to a home’s condition. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleWhen it comes to home showings, there are a few things to be aware of from both the buyer and seller perspectives. If you are listing your home, showing the property is an essential part of the process. The approach taken by our certified team of buyer specialists here at Huerkamp Home Group sets us apart in helping our clients show their homes. We’re here to be your advisor, teacher, and advocate. Instead of coming into the situation as salespeople, we want to instead be there to explain the positives and negatives of a property. Because of this, there are a few things we do when showing a property.First of all, we take a look at the neighbors. We examine possible red flags like a cluttered yard or maintenance problems because the truth of the matter is that you can only pick your neighbors once. Once you’ve already chosen to buy into a neighborhood the tables turn and after that: your neighbors choose you. Next we look at the condition of the roads. Could there be street improvements? Are they new or in disrepair? If the streets by a listing are not in the best condition, we may even consider calling the city to inquire about when they will be fixed and also alert them that there may be an assessment that’s going to happen. It is our job when we’re representing you as buyer clients to make you aware of a home’s condition.Additionally, we inspect the condition of the driveway itself. From the material the driveway is made of, to its current state, to whether or not the apron is becoming deteriorated, we need to assess these things to know what costs could be associated with them.The state of the sidewalk is also important. When we look at a home we consider not only appearance but also condition. A sidewalk is one item that needs to be both attractive and well-maintained. This is especially true because the sidewalk leads you to the front door.Paying attention to the exterior of the property, including the front door and siding, is another key factor. Finally, we look at the interior and whether there are any needed repairs. This could be everything from replacing the carpet, sanding wood floors, painting, and more. In any case, it is our job when we’re representing you as buyer clients to make you aware of a home’s condition. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

What We Look at When Showing a Home

Many people don't want to list their house while they hunt for the next for fear that it will sell before they have a new place to live. Here's how to avoid that problem.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleWe find that many people buying a new home don't want to put their home on the market until they've found a new home to buy. However, many of these sellers also can't afford to pay a mortgage on two houses at once. If you have to sell your house in order to pay for the next one, you need to be careful about the process so you don't wind up without a home temporarily. The main thing we can do to protect you is making an offer to buy your next house that's contingent on you finding a home of your choosing. This protects you as a seller by ensuring that if you sell your house, the sale will only go through if you find a new house to buy, keeping you from winding up without a home.Make your home sale contingent on finding your next home.If you have any other questions about buying and selling real estate here in the Twin Cities, don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email soon. I'd be more than happy to help you.

Afraid Your Home Will Sell Before You Find the Next One?

If you have a pet and you're looking to sell your home, I’ve got some helpful advice. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleFriends and Clients —If you have a pet and you're looking to sell your home, then read on for some helpful advice. The good news is, many homebuyers are looking for a pet-friendly home.Two out of three of us have a pet, and 61% of pet owners say they have trouble finding a home that is a good match for their pet.In fact, a recent survey estimates that 31% of animal owners frequently don't put in an offer because a home would not suit their pet.This means that if your home is a good match for a pet, it will be attractive to a large pool of dedicated animal owners. On the other hand, 67% of Realtors also estimate that actually having a pet in your home can make it harder for you to sell.So what can you do? Here are three things I typically recommend:1. Repair any damageFloors, walls, doors, the yard — these are some typical areas that pets love to chew, scratch, and dig up. Repairing this damage is an investment that will pay for itself many times over in terms of a higher selling price. 2. Get a professional to remove pet odorsMany pet owners are less sensitive to odors in their home than prospective buyers will be. That's why you should hire a professional cleaning crew to clean any carpets, rugs, or upholstery that have absorbed pet odors. Once you're done with the cleaning, ask a friend or your Realtor for a sniff assessment to make sure the job is really complete. Pet owners are less sensitive to odors in their home than prospective buyers are.3. Take your pet out during showingsSome people are afraid of animals. Others are allergic. And regardless of the time, money, and effort you've put in to clean and repair your home, many buyers will be prejudiced by knowing that a pet currently lives there. That's why I recommend taking your pet out during showings and also removing any pet objects such as toys, food bowls, or scratching posts. By following these three simple guidelines, you will be able to sell your home for top dollar, whether the buyer is a pet owner or not. If you’re curious what you could get for your home in the current market, check out this home value calculator on my site:Enter your street address here to find out what your home is worthAnd in case you have any questions or concerns about preparing your home for a sale, give me a call at 612-314-6330. I’m here to help. 

How to Prepare Your Home for Sale With Pets

Buying a new construction home is very different from buying a resale home, and you need to keep these things in mind during the process.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleIf you’re thinking about buying a new construction home, there are a few things you need to keep in mind as well as a few pitfalls you must avoid. Of course, one of the best parts of buying a new build is that it’s brand new. However, we find that there are often some hidden costs that can drive up the price. For example, many of these homes won’t have landscaping or a deck included in the build, which can cost thousands extra. New homes won’t have window treatments or blinds, which can also cost thousands. When buying new construction, you always want to make sure you have representation. Many new construction buyers make the mistake of thinking they don’t need an agent of their own because there’s an agent at the model house. However, these people don’t realize that in Minnesota, 90% of the builders out there have agents that represent them alone. They’ll make you sign something that says the builder’s agent represents them. They’ll have the builder’s interests in mind, not yours.You always want to make sure you have representation.When you’re represented by an agent, they will save you a lot of money by telling you the options that will benefit your sale down the road. For example, we recently worked with a client who chose the option of a fancy speaker system in his new home that wouldn’t really add value when he sells the home. By helping him eventually decide against the speakers, we saved him about $35,000 that he wouldn’t have recouped when he sold the house. If you have any questions about buying new construction or you’re thinking about selling your Twin Cities home, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying New Construction

What can you do to ensure your offer gets accepted in a multiple offer situation? There are four things we have our buyers do to ensure their offers beat out the rest. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleHow do so many of our buyers win in multiple offer situations? We find out exactly what the seller is looking to get out of the property, and it doesn’t always come down to price. Here are a few things we recommend homebuyers do when crafting their offer: Get pre-approved by a well-known lender. Being pre-approved is very important to sellers. We even have your lender call the seller’s listing agent to make sure they feel comfortable about your financial situation, which makes a huge difference. Write a letter. Sellers love a personal touch, so writing them a letter stating what you love about the house or how you can see your family living there will make your offer much stronger. Look at the overall terms of the agreement. This is something we help our buyers with. We look at when the seller wants to close and what type of financing you have, as that could make a difference to some sellers. Make the largest down payment possible. The bigger the down payment and earnest money amount you present in the offer, the better. The bigger the down payment, the better.If you have any further questions about winning a multiple offer situation or if you have any other real estate-related questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

4 Tips to Winning a Multiple Offer Situation

What will happen in the 2017 real estate market? I will share my predictions with you today. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleAlthough I don’t have a crystal ball, there are a lot of market indicators that show where the housing market is heading in 2017.Interest rates seem to be on everyone’s mind. As interest rates go up, so does the cost of your home and the monthly mortgage payment. For every point that an interest rate goes up, your affordability goes down by 10%. Rates may go up a full point over the next year, so your buying power will decrease as 2017 progresses and rates go up. As a result, there is no better time to buy a home than right now. The other big question everyone is asking is, “Where will appreciation happen? Where is the best place to buy?” It really comes down to location, location, location. In Minneapolis, Northeast is a great up and coming neighborhood. Home values are increasing so rapidly there, though, that appreciation might not be sustainable. In St. Paul, the Highland and Mac-Groveland neighborhoods both continue to appreciate. If you look at the suburbs, appreciation there is getting kind of flat. That’s partly because the Twin Cities saw its highest average sales price ever this past June. Those areas have fully recovered and the suburbs are not going to see the same kind of appreciation as they did back in 2014, 2015, and 2016. As interest rates go up, buying power goes down.I recommend that you pay attention to those outer, fourth-ring suburbs. Many of those suburbs have not reached the peaks they saw in 2006. Those first-ring, second-ring, and third-ring suburbs have fully recovered, so if you want the best bang for your buck, buy a house in one of those fourth-ring suburbs. Those are my predictions for the 2017 real estate market. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

What Will Happen in the 2017 Housing Market?

Buying a home during the winter in Minnesota brings about a couple extra things you need to be aware of that I'll shine a light on today.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleWhen you buy a home in Minnesota during the wintertime, there are a few certain things you need to be aware of.For starters, remember that if there's snow on the ground, you might not be able to see all the landscaping and the condition of the lawn. Have your agent ask the seller for pictures of the property taken during warmer months to find out if the lawn is in good shape or is infested with weeds.You also need to be wary of snow-covered roofs. If it's coated in snow, the inspector won't go up on the roof and find out if there's hail damage. Frankly, the sellers might not even know if there's hail damage. If possible, make sure the roof can be seen during the inspection period. Get confirmation from the seller about anything covered in snow.We also run into this issue with driveways. You want to know if the driveway is perfectly paved or if it's crumbling. If it's covered with snow or ice, it's obviously very hard to tell. If you have questions about things like the landscape, roof, or driveway, it's always good to go to the sellers and get something in writing about the condition of these items. You want to be sure you're actually buying what you think you're buying, rather than facing a big bill down the road that the sellers should have covered. If you have any other questions about buying a home during the winter or you have other real estate-related topics you'd like me to cover in a video, don't hesitate to shoot me an email or give me a call. I'd be happy to help.

Watch out for These 3 Winter Home Buying Mistakes

When selling your home, redesigning the interior will help it appeal to as many buyers as possible. The redesign doesn’t have to be complicated, either. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleOn our team, interior redesign is a very important part of selling a home. How important? We do it with each and every one we list. With that in mind, we asked interior design expert/real estate agent Jennifer Rasmussen-Herz to join us today to help explain both what goes into an interior redesign and how it helps a property sell. In short, the goal of an interior redesign is to make the home appeal to as many buyers as possible. At the end of the day, more buyer interest means you’re more likely to get your preferred asking price. As a homeowner, Jennifer recommends three specific things you can do in your redesign to appeal to a deep buyer pool: Avoid obnoxious wall colors. This means colors like hot pink or lime green. The most popular color of this season is grey, which makes sense because it is neutral.  Upgrade your kitchen to granite. Jennifer did this to her own home, and it paid off by generating multiple offers. Declutter. As the saying goes, you live in your house one way, but sell it another. Decluttering is the most important part of the strategy of appealing to as many buyers as possible. A clean, organized, open spatial interior optimizes the buyer’s chance to visualize themselves in the home.   If you hire an interior design expert like Jennifer, your session with them will generally consist of an hourlong a walkthrough where they go through your home home room by room and make recommendations on what furniture to rearrange or remove completely. Their recommendations are based specifically on what they think will help you sell for the highest price possible. Don’t worry about price, either—they only recommend what you’re capable of doing within your own resourcesMore buyer interest means you’re more likely to get your preferred asking price.If you have any more questions for Jennifer about redesigning your home, you can reach her by phone at (612) 385-5770 or visit her webpage at www.herzhomestaging.com. If you’re looking to buy or sell a house, please feel free to reach out to us by phone or email. We’d be happy to help you! 

What Makes Interior Redesign So Important in a Home Sale?

If the hidden costs of a fixer-upper stay hidden, they can add up and eventually overwhelm you. Luckily, there are two key things you can do to prevent this from happening. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleIf you’re buying a fixer-upper, there will usually be hidden costs involved. A lot of people tend to forget about these costs, however, which is unfortunate because they can add up over time and become overwhelming. Some examples of these hidden costs include:Carrying cost, or how much it will cost you to hold the property. The total cost of your principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Lawn maintenance. Weather variables. If you’re in an area where it snows, you’ll need to pay to remove it.  Getting an inspection will both identify hidden costs and give you peace of mind.It’s important to have a slush fund ready and waiting to cover hidden expenses. No matter how much you plan out your budget for a fixer-upper, you still want to have a slush fund that’s at least 10% of what you think your repair costs are going to be. If you plan to spend $25,000 on your fixer-upper, for example, you’ll want to have a slush fund of at least $2,500. The number one way avoid the hidden costs of a fixer-upper, though, is to get an inspection. It costs less than $500 and will give you a good overview of everything that’s wrong with the house. It especially helps in focusing in on things like how the house is wired electrically, how the plumbing is installed, and whether those things need to be fixed or replaced. If it’s your first fixer-upper or you don’t have any previous experience in construction, getting an inspection will go a long way in giving you peace of mind. If you have any questions or any additional ideas for us to discuss, just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Hidden Costs of a Fixer-Upper

Knowing if a fixer-upper is worth your time and effort means knowing the safety of the neighborhood it’s in and whether the house features major issues.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleTypically, there can be quite a few deal breakers when it comes to fixer-uppers. What they are and how they affect you, though, generally boils down to two factors: the condition of the home itself and how safe its surrounding area is. So, how do you identify these deal breakers? The first step is determining the safety of the area. You can call the police department and ask them about the specific property and area and see what you can do to find out other statistical information about that area. Ultimately, safety is a relative term, so you have to determine for yourself if that area is one that you’re comfortable living in.Secondly, you want to look at the entire home and search for anything that’s either really hard or impossible to fix. Foundations, for instance, are very hard to fix. If a home has a bad foundation, it might not be worth your while as a fixer-upper. That kind of repair could cost you tens of thousands of dollars, and it’s hard to get that investment back. It’s usually much more prudent to put that money into a nicer bathroom or a nicer kitchen. Choppy floor plans and foundations aren’t worth your while to fix.The third thing you want to look at is choppy floor plans. Choppy floor plans are very difficult and expensive to correct. In this case, you would be spending your money in a place that you simply shouldn’t. If you have to change a wall here and there, that’s fine; however, if you have to adjust the location of major rooms like the kitchen or a bedroom, you should seriously consider whether that is a fixer-upper you really want to take on. The cost alone in making those repairs would be exorbitant. So, before making a decision about taking on a fixer-upper, ask yourself these three questions:Is the house in a location that you feel like you can work in?Does it have any sort of foundational issues?Would you have to change the location of any major parts of the house, specifically bathrooms or kitchens?Stay tuned for the next part in my series about fixer-uppers. If you have any questions, feel free to email me or give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you!

Fixer-Upper Deal Breakers

If you are looking to buy or sell a home, get all the information and the latest updates, tips, and tricks from Jason Huerkamp - your professional Real Estate Agent.

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Huerkamp Home Group Minnesota Real Estate Podcast

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