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Open House in West St. Cloud MN on Sunday

2008-09-16T13:16:02Z

West St. Cloud, St. Cloud MN Open House -

We invite everyone to visit our open house

at 1754 Cottonwood Circle on September 21 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM.

Spacious Westwood Rambler located on nearly 1/2 acre landscaped w/mature trees and in ground sprinkler system with a well for watering the lawn. Maintenance free exterior, new interior paint, all new stainless steel kitchen appliances, professionally cleaned and painted, 3 season porch off Kitchen / dining room with a brick fireplace.

Property information

Steve Baklaich of RE/MAX Realty Source
cell - (320) 260-3290
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com

Open House in West St. Cloud MN on Sunday

2008-09-16T13:14:04Z

We invite everyone to visit our open house at 5255 CENTER ST on September 21 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM.

Property information

Address: 5255 CENTER ST Type: Residential Style: 4-Level Split Bedrooms: 5 "spacious" Bathrooms: 4 "huge master bath" Garage: Triple, Attached "lots of room" Basement: Yes, Walkout "drain tile, egress, fin" Size: 2,954 sq. ft. "Beautifully finished, upgrades!" Lot Type: Rectangular Lot Size: 10522 sq. ft. 85.05ft x 123.7ft ".24 acres" Year Built: 2004 "wonderful attention to detail"

Steve Baklaich

RE/MAX Realty Source
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota's 6th District Staff to come to a MN town near you

2008-09-15T22:53:23Z

I had invited Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to come to St Cloud to have an open discussion about the housing situation with the community and area REALTORS®. I want to let you know that this week, her staff will hold Mobile Office Hours at the following locations. She asks that you "Please bring copies of any paperwork that you might have with you when you visit. Particularly, if you are having a problem with a federal benefit or program and have letters or documents that might help my staff get answers for you quickly."

Tuesday, September 16^th

10:00 am to noon

Anoka County Library: Johnsville Branch

12461 Oak Park Boulevard

Blaine

Tuesday, September 16^th

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Rum River Library

4201 6^th Avenue

Anoka

Thursday, September 18^th

10:00 am to noon

Ramsey City Hall

7550 Sunwood Drive, NW

Ramsey

Thursday, September 18^th

10:00 am to noon

Richmond City Maintenance Building

710 Main Street E

Richmond

Thursday, September 18^th

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Albany Mercy Manor

334 Golfview Drive

Albany

Thursday, September 18^th

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Lino Lakes City Hall

600 Town Center Parkway

Lino Lakes

Thursday, September 18^th

4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Rice City Hall

205 Main Street E

Rice

If you wish to contact Congresswoman Michele Bachmann regarding a specific issue, please visit her contact web page at http://bachmann.house.gov/Contact/ . The original invite: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2008/04/02/invitation-to-michelle-bachman-congress-woman-for-the-6th-district-to-come-to-st-cloud-mn.aspx

Steve Baklaich

RE/MAX Realty Source
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com

ATTENTION HOMEBUYERS: $7500 Homebuyer Tax Credit

2008-09-15T22:50:33Z

A tax credit of as much as $7,500 can provide opportunity for many homebuyers due to newly enacted legislation.

Homebuyers who close on a home between April 9, 2008 to July 1, 2009 may be eligible. There are a few requirements:

you must be a buyer who fits the description of a "first time homebuyer" this is defined as
as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase
in order to qualify for the full $7500 a single person may not earn over $75,000 and for married persons the limit is $150,000 per year
The credit works like an interest free loan and must be repaid over a 15 year period

This is a very brief description of the program, for the full details please check out http://federalhousingtaxcredit.com/ or contact your tax professional.

Steve Baklaich of RE/MAX Realty Source
cell - (320) 260-3290
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com

St Cloud Mn Real Estate Agents work together to get homes SOLD!

2008-06-25T14:44:35Z

St Joseph City wide open house list - St Cloud area real estate open houses

Here is a full list of the homes and agents who are holding homes for sale open this Saturday June 28, 2008 from 1:00 to 3:00pm. This is a fantastic opportunity to see multiple homes in one trip.


1	$159,900 209 GUMTREE ST NE St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 81077	159,900	Coldwell Banker Burnet Amye Levin
2	$174,900 9642 MEADOW LN St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 82267	174,900	Carrie Hunter Edina Realty St. Cloud
3	$184,900 600 4 AVE NE St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 78147	184,900	Kristi Hoeffer Granite City Real Estate
4	$184,900 311 IRIS LN NE St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 80206	184,900	Craig Hiltner Edina Realty St. Cloud
5	$189,900 618 GUMTREE ST NE St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 78651	189,900	Tina Zapf Showcase Properties, Ltd
6	$219,900 1213 CALLAWAY ST St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 79661	219,900	Todd Edstrom Coldwell Banker Burnet
7	$219,900 32755 Pamela LN St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 76060	219,900	Tami Deland Coldwell Banker Burnet
8	$229,900 510 FIR ST NE St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 81911	229,900	Steve Baklaich RE/MAX Realty Source
9	$249,900 515 FIR ST E St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 82000	249,900	Coldwell Banker Burnet Steve Hansen
10	$249,900 440 E POND VIEW LN St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 81370	249,900	Dona Lamphere.com Coldwell Banker Burnet
11	$259,900 32664 MEADOW LN St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 81194	259,900	Nick Novak Castle Realty Inc
12	$289,000 32320 MEADOW LN St. Joseph, MN 56374 Active / 79516	289,000	Mary D. Brazys.com Equity Realty

Please sign in and remove your shoes. See you there!

For more information on having a group open, please look thru this blog and check back, we will be adding more information. If you would like more specific information on any of these homes or all of them please contact me and I will happily e-mail out full listing sheets for each home.

Steve Baklaich RE/MAX Realty Source
405 33rd Avenue N
St Cloud,MN 56303
Direct Office - (320) 258-5766
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com

Agents compete together - Drive traffic to your open house!

2008-06-25T14:31:20Z

A new way to conduct open houses

The goal in holding an open house is to attract potential buyers to your listing and get interested buyers to the home. We have tried a new method for attracting more buyers in one shot, really this works!

Hold a group open! As a listing agent it only makes sense to attract the most buyers you possibly can to your open house. Here is what I have done. Look thru the local listings and find every listing that is in close proximity to yours, by working with the other listing agents in the immediate area you can create a very attractive situation for the area's active buyers. Reserve a large ad space in the paper, post the opens on all available websites, if time and the location permits flyer the surrounding area and post flyers at local stores, e-mail the entire MLS letting all of the other agents know so that they can inform their buyers, coordinate the ad with the newspaper, proof it and make sure that the billing is handled.

The main reason that this is so successful is that the buyer only needs to park their car once to walk thru every home in the neighborhood and see what is available in the area.

Convenient, yes, gas saving, yes, time and energy saving BIG YES! We have done this several times and had fantastic turn out for these group opens. I have received feedback from other agents who have participated that they had held multiple opens (on their same participating listing) before only to have complete shut outs (no one showing) but thru the multiple open they actually had several buyers attend. Our most successful group open to date was when we held the entire city of Holdingford open, agents reported between 9 and 27 guests at their opens and the following week 3 homes that participated went pending (offer on the home accepted and getting ready for the closing).

This is the ultimate in the "compete together" mentality for real estate agents: advertising costs go down, traffic increases and sellers get their home seen by buyers.

We are right now working on coordinating another group open for this upcoming Sunday June 29 in St Joseph MN from 1-3pm. There will be more information posted about this group open and how it is put together, there is a lot of work on the part of the listing agent who is coordinating it, but this is a great way to get homes SOLD and network with other agents in the area.

2nd Invitation to Michele Bachmann of Minnesota's 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives to come to St Cloud MN

2008-05-08T17:35:27Z

Final reply - Invitation to Michele Bachmann of Minnesota's 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives to come to St Cloud MN - Original invitation sent April 2, 2008

Well we have finally received a reply with the date and the time for the meeting from Michelle Bachmann's staffers (only it actually came from a group of REALTORS® in the twin Cities Metro area) last night only to need to have it clarified today. The meeting is tomorrow. This is the notice that we have been given. I was hoping to have more notice so that carpooling could be figured out and so that we could have a wonderful showing for this event. According to the e-mail that was sent out yesterday, REALTORS® can attend free of charge, I am not sure what this means for non REALTORS®.

I am reiterating my original invite to Michelle to come to St Cloud, MN. There should have been more notice given to those who have requested and been waiting (and who vote) to have this meeting. It should not have been left up to a group of North Metro REALTORS® with almost no notice to give the information to everyone who wanted to attend.

Here is a copy of the notice On Thu, 5/8/08, North Metro REALTORS Association

MN REALTORS® HOUSING FORUM

*This Friday, May 9, 2008*

With Special Guests: U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, MN-6th & Administration Officials

Join us for a discussion of federal programs aimed at helping distressed homeowners and the foreclosure housing market.

May 9, 2008
Refreshments 1:00- 1:30pm
Program 1:30-3:00pm
At the Schwans Center, Blaine MN

This event is FREE to REALTORS®!

View Michele Bachmann's press release here.

If you would like to read the original invite: http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2008/04/02/invitation-to-michelle-bachman-congress-woman-for-the-6th-district-to-come-to-st-cloud-mn.aspx

St Cloud Mn area fundraiser - Subway and Anna Marie's Alliance

2008-04-18T13:01:18Z

To all our friends - A remarkable opportunity for Anna Marie's: Subway is having a $5 Foot Long special during the month of April. April is also Child Abuse Awareness Month. The owner of Subway at 9^th Ave S & 10^th Street and the SCSU Atwood locations is donating $1 for every Foot Long sold. If you are in that neighborhood stop in and buy a Foot Long. As of April 15, $10,293 has been raised. Share with your friends. Thank you!

This information was presented by:

Jacque French
Director of Development/MIS
Central MN Task Force on Battered Women
(d.b.a. Anna Marie's Alliance)
320-251-7203
http://www.annamaries.org/

Foreclosure help is here!

2008-04-17T19:58:57Z

On April 1, 2008 Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced that there will now be expanded foreclosure prevention counseling due to a federal grant of 4.3 Million dollars. Another Grant of $500,000 for foreclosure prevention deferred loans was made by Marquette Financial Companies.

To read the announcement please check out: http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?id=-536882793&subchannel=null&sc2=null&sc3=null&contentid=536916039&contenttype=EDITORIAL&programid=536912010&agency=Commerce

Counseling has been stepped up by the Minnesota Homeownership Center, they are adding to the schedule so check out http://www.hocmn.org/HomeownersEvents.cfm for dates and times near you.

On April 14, 2008 our Governor announced additional measures to assist homeowners facing foreclosure you can read the entire announcement here: http://www.mnrealtor.com/publications/pdfs/ForeclosurePR.pdf

To find a foreclosure counselor in your area please use the map at: http://www.hocmn.org/foreclosurePrevention-map.cfm

If you are outside Minnesota and need foreclosure assistance/counseling please go to: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof14.cfm

If you are considering filing bankruptcy http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/cc_approved.htm

DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO A SCAM OFFER OF "ASSISTANCE" Please read

http://www.housinghelpnow.org/RescueScams.cfm

There is a lot of info here, please take the time to read thru and find proper help for your situation. The worst thing you can do when facing a foreclosure is nothing.

Steve Baklaich

RE/MAX Realty Source
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/

Plan to change the current foreclosure situation - Please contribute ideas

2008-04-15T00:12:34Z

Hi everyone,

We have been working on getting some attention to the foreclosure situation from the local government and lawmakers. Personally I am concerned about the possibility of the government stepping in and doing a bail out of sorts. I believe that if this happens that it will cost us all a lot more in the long run, there has to be a way to work within the current system and come up with a solution that will stop the current rate of foreclosed homes from increasing, increase buyer confidence in the market, stop the high rate of vacancies in certain areas, keep homeowners in their homes, alleviate the pressure on the insurance industry, help the neighborhoods that are hardest hit from becoming rundown and turn this situation around.

I have been looking at the possibility of having the banks recast the loans, I do not think that this should be done in a way that will put homeowners who have been careful and have been able to keep up with their payments at a disadvantage, nor should it be charity. It should be worked out so that they have a fighting chance if they choose to take it to be able to stay, and make it work.

I am looking for some ideas to present, in the hope a viable solution is reached that will effect a huge change.

I was toying with the numbers today for an extension of a loan. For example, J.Doe was OK when the mortgage payment was 1073.64 (5%, 30 year PI for 200,000) and now it has gone to 1467.53 (8% 30 year PI for 200,000). Imagine taking the loan and recasting it out for a longer period, reducing the rate, making it fixed and building the late fees or a cost for the recast into the loan.

I know these next numbers look ugly, but we need to get the banks on board with the idea. If we went with a fixed mortgage at 6% for 45 years on the same 200,000 then they would only have a change in payment from their affordable payment of -1.07 (new payment would be 1072.57), now overall the amount they would pay for the home would increase to 579,187.80 when the very last payment is made on month 540. The rate of 8% and a payment of 1467.53 would have left the bank with a total of 528,310.8 at the end of the 360 payments, so the bank would have actually made an extra 50,877 over the life of the loan. Most homeowners only stay in their home for an average of 9 years so the bank would make more money at any time that they decided to sell. This would keep the owners in their homes, keep the banks from having to carry the costs of foreclosing, keep the insurance companies from having to pay out on the vandalism claims, keep people in their homes, potentially help keep housing prices more stable and neighborhoods from crumbling under the weight of the vacancies and the declining real estate values.

What do you think? Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts, helpful feedback?

That sound you heard was my jaw hitting my keyboard – Reply from Michele Bachmann

2008-04-04T21:11:16Z

OK much better now, I received a call from Michele Bachmann's staffer Julie Quist today in response to my invitation to come to St Cloud to discuss the housing situation. They are working on setting up a meeting for May 9, 2008 at the Schwan Center, 1700 105th Ave Ne, Blaine, MN, 55449. The time for the event still has yet to be set but they are currently thinking between 11am and 2pm. I was also informed that there would be someone from the Treasury Department in attendance.

Please mark your calendar, I will update this post and add new posts as more information is made available. Original invitation is attached in this link http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2008/04/02/invitation-to-michelle-bachman-congress-woman-for-the-6th-district-to-come-to-st-cloud-mn.aspx

Steve Baklaich

RE/MAX Realty Source
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/

Another factor in the Foreclosure mess

2008-04-04T12:50:39Z

On Thursday April 3, 2008 the Star Tribune ran the story City sues firm over mortgages: ‘It's personal' about properties in North Minneapolis. The first link is to the entire article, the second link shows the map of some of the homes affected by this company and their "complex and fraudulent real estate and mortgage fraud scheme".

http://www.startribune.com/local/17245204.html

http://www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/17246104.html

Steve Baklaich

RE/MAX Realty Source
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/

Permission to post links from John Wareham from the Star Tribune.

St Cloud Mn area market update - Buyers are rushing to Rice MN

2008-04-04T11:52:37Z

The city of Rice, MN has had more than its share of foreclosures lately, due almost entirely to the illegal activities of one real estate agent/mortgage broker. Sham sales were made and hopefully the authorities will bring those responsible to justice.

Now for the good news! Yesterday I showed property in Rice. We started out with 7 bank owned houses to view. Of those 7 homes, 3 had multiple offers, and were all but sold.

This is a view of things to come. Investors and first time home buyers are coming to the market to buy now! No one knows what interest rates will do in 6 months or a year down the road. Today we have the ultimate convergence of low prices, and low rates.

The smart buyers are getting in!

Steve Baklaich

RE/MAX Realty Source
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/

This blog was originally posted on Steve Baklaich's website blog on April 3, 2008, reprinted with permission. http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/blogs/elizabeth__steve_baklaich/archive/2008/04/03/buyers-are-rushing-to-rice-mn.aspx

Invitation to Michele Bachmann of Minnesota's 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives to come to St Cloud MN

2008-04-03T22:48:42Z

I would like to invite Michele Bachmann to St Cloud MN to have a sit down with the community and the area REALTORS® about the housing market. I feel that at this time that it is very important for our representatives in Washington to hear from us the citizens about how things are actually affecting individuals who are living with this everyday. I would also ask that there be a large showing from the REALTORS® in the area as we are the people with their feet on the ground in this situation. We are hearing the stories day in and day out.

This came to mind after receiving a call from Michele doing her teleconference town hall meeting and hearing the concerns of the other people who were willing to stay on the line to ask her questions during this meeting.

Brian from St Cloud called in and wanted to let her know that he felt that she was doing a good job, she responded by asking him to write a few lines to the editor of the times and state the same and if he felt strongly about certain things that she was doing in a positive manner to mention those items specifically.

Frank in Elk River had questions about what was happening in the mortgage industry. He believed that congress was working on passing a bill that would enable everyone to become a home owner. Michele then spoke of the "crisis with Foreclosures" and stated that we are in a "downturn" currently but that she firmly believed that there were people out there with money and when the crisis hit bottom that they would return to the market and start buying homes which would in turn get the market going again and we would see prices start increasing. She did not have any recollection of any program that would allow for everyone to afford a home.

Frank also wanted to know if there were any plans to alleviate the foreclosures and the rate of bankruptcy, Michele expressed concern about over regulating the market. She is unsure about where the economy is going to go and is taking it very seriously. She was wondering what could be done without causing more difficulty.

Linda in Elk River commented about having 4 children in their 20s. None of them own their own home as they were not sure that they could afford to buy at this time. She did not want there to be a bail out of the banking industry and have the burden fall, thru taxes, upon her children to pay for the mistakes of others. Michele stated that she is aware that we do not want to continue to support "pork barrel spending" and then mentioned how a teapot museum was built with tax dollars while currently the DeSoto Bridge is closed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/06/eveningnews/main3025025.shtml

She seems to be aware of the problems facing her constituents, she made mention of her increasing grocery bill. I think that it is wonderful that she understands rising food and gas costs and our concerns about current govt. spending, I would like to have her understand what is actually going on with the foreclosures and the mortgage mess.

Michele, you said that you try to come to St Cloud fairly regularly, would you please on one of your trips allow for a meeting to discuss the housing market and viable solutions?

Steve Baklaich

RE/MAX Realty Source
Steve's cell - (320) 260-3290
Offfice - (320) 258-5766
steve_baklaich@yahoo.com
http://www.stcloudareahomesforsale.com/