It’s tough out there.  Twin Cities home sellers are languishing, waiting for the “just right” home buyer to come along.  While home buyers in Minneapolis and St. Paul alike are restricted by more stringent mortgage requirements.  It’s going to take a while for the pendulum to return to the middle. 

In the meantime, it might be best for some Twin Cities home owners to just stay put.  In the spirit of making your house the home you’re looking for, the city of Minneapolis is hosting the  Midwest Fall Home and Garden show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  You’ll get so many home design and gardening ideas, you’ll go home and take out the tool box. (or the telephone to call your contractor!)   Click here for Home Remodeling Show info.
Let Buyers Real Estate Group be your host.  Contact us for free tickets. 

And, what about a downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul condo?  Lots of folks are buying an “urban cabin”, or looking to stream line their life style by buying a Minneapolis or St. Paul condo, or making a condo their first home.  Condo sale prices have increased by almost 6% market wide, while inventory has decreased by almost 10%.  Want to check out condos and lofts?  Check out the Twin Cities Loft and Condo Living Tour in November.  Click here for Loft Condo Tour info
Make sure you let us be your host and your guide.  Even if you’re just looking, make sure you don’t get caught dealing with the builder’s agent.  That’s NOT in your best interests.  Call us for your FREE tickets and set up a time to go. 

Don’t forget, you can get creative design ideas, travel destinations, gardening tips and fabulous recipes from my online By Design magazine. 
Click here for Susan's By Design Online magazine

As the downtown Minneapolis condo market continues to shift and change, so do the plans for downtown grocery stores.  In 2004, Lunds was looking in to plans for a downtown location at 12th and Hennepin.  Apparently, they ran in to some snags with regard to having enough room to contain all of the offerings we’ve come to know and love.  On August 5th, 2008, it was announced that Lunds will be going in to a location on Hennepin Ave., between 10th and 11th, filling up approximately 30,000 square feet.  Here’s an article from the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal that explains it all.
http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2008/08/04/daily16.html

Not to be forgotten is the current Lunds location at Central and University which has been open since 2006.  For now, downtown residents have to drive over the bridge to get there, but we all know it’s worth it!

Another grocery venture on the other end of downtown is the Whole Foods at 1 Washington Ave., the former location of a Jaguar dealership.  The snags all along have involved financing as well as getting approved plans with regard to commercial, residential and rental property combined in one building.  Look at info from the Star-Tribune article.

http://www.startribune.com/business/19878954.html

As these projects progress, I predict we will see the recovery of downtown condo sales move in tandem.  Along with these ventures that make downtown living more do-able, the new Twins Stadium is almost finished and the conversations about new modes of transit in and out of downtown from each direction, with a hub at Twins Stadium, keep downtown Minneapolis in the forefront urban growth and vitality. 

I’m looking forward to updates about North Loop project and anything about The Nicollet.

I'm getting a little annoyed at how the media is alarming the public about how bad the real estate market is because of foreclosures.  Nationwide, foreclosures are in effect for 2.5%-5% of mortgages overall.  The first quarter of '08 saw .99% of mortgages go in to foreclosure.  I know these are record numbers for 30 year time period, but there were record numbers of transactions that took place from 2000-2005, right?  Does anyone remember that?  And, lots of fraud occurred, too.  I don't know how to let the "public" know that the media alarmists are not giving them the whole picture.  Thoughts?