If you are looking for a place to view fall color around the state of Minnesota, a great place to check out is the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website. They update what is happening around the state, and give a lot of information on how/what causes the leaves to change color. Typical peak color for the Twin Cities area is Late September to Mid October.

Taken from Lake of the Isles, just minutes from Downtown Minneapolis.

One of my favorite places in Minneapolis.

Ok, so I would hope people would know by now that one of my biggest pet peeves is real estate photographs. It really drives me crazy with all the terrible photos I see constantly in the MLS database. I can understand terrible photos for $100,000 homes (but even those tilted photos get under my skin), but when it comes to terrible photographed homes priced in the million dollar range...I just don't get it.

Homeowners - When you hire real estate agents to sell your home, do the agents even tell you about their marketing plan? Better yet, do you even ask? Do you ask them how they will be photographing the home? Do you ask to see the end result?

Why does this matter? Because photos sell a home. Let me tell you something...agents have NO excuse for not paying for a professionally photographer to come into your luxury home. If you are letting them get away with walking into your home with their point and shoot camera, then there is probably a really good reason your home is not selling. Your photographs stink!

Agents - Who do you think you are? Professional is NOT the word that comes to my mind. If you are listing a high-end home, then you better be shelling out the dollars for high-end photos. You are doing a huge disservice to your client and not giving them the proper exposure they need for an expensive home. Either spend the money for a professional, or leave the luxury home market.

In this post you will notice the photos I have used. All were taken from active homes in the MLS system, high end homes currently listed for more than $2.4 Million. See the problem?

• the first photo is pretty dark and not too inviting. A professionally photographer would have lit up this room with his equipment, lit the fireplace, and created a photograph that presented a cozy living room space.
• the second photo is always the main feature of the home which buyers want to see - the kitchen. This tilted photo makes the room look narrow and small, most likely scaring buyers away. If a wide angle lens was used and the room professionally lit, then the kitchen would look like a gourmet space, without having an ugly flash bouncing off the far cabinet.
• the last photo, just makes you want to jump in that tub...I don't think so. The room is dark, and I just "love" the shadow of the agents head taking up a quarter of the photo.

So hopefully, you can now see my points. Professional photography MUST be used when listing an expensive home. I see well known agents in the Twin Cities shooting million dollar homes themselves, and I am amazed that they keep getting hired. Sellers really need to understand that to attract buyers who can afford luxury real estate, you need to present the home as a luxury property. If your home photos stink, then maybe you should think about hiring another agent, one that specializes in selling luxury homes.

Last night I took the chance to photograph the fireworks show in downtown Minneapolis for the annual Aquatennial celebration. It was my first time shooting fireworks so it was actually pretty fun trying to time the bursts. Out of 100 shots, I probably have five photos that are worthy of keeping.

I know many of you won't believe this, but the dirty little secret that the local media isn't reporting is that homes in the lower price range are flying off the racks. Yep...just like a bridal store having a super cheap sale on gowns with women knocking each other out of the way as they try to snatch up the latest deal, so too are investors and first time home buyers trying their best to win that little cottage home, out doing each other with above list price offers.

Like I said, you don't believe me, do you?

Last month I experienced this phenomenon first hand with a duplex I listed. With-in five days, I had five offers, all above asking price. There must have been some telepathy in the air because almost all of them were around the same price. I actually had to tell them to resubmit their "highest and best" offer. Who ever did the best, gets the house. Let me tell you, it was competitive bidding and I was truly surprised at how high some of the offers got.

Even better, I know an investor couple who are snatching up dilapidated foreclosures and rehabbing them to flip. Not only do they have to bid against other offers each time they find a home, but when it comes time to sell the property, they have to deal with multiple offers from first time home buyers. (They do fantastic rehab work by the way!)

So yes Virginia, there are some segments of the real estate market that are doing quite well. Multiple offers do exist and are getting more common.

It makes is hard to explain to a buyer why they need to offer above listing price if they want to get a home, especially when all they hear about is how cheap homes are. But if you want to purchase a home in decent shape and at a great price, be prepared to pay for it because in this market you'll be just like those brides you see on television...pushing and yelling your way to that perfect find.

I can't tell you the number of times that I have called clients, only to have my phone calls either returned two days later, or sometimes never. I hear plenty of excuses, the most common being "I am too busy". But nothing irks me more than contacting a client regarding an important item, or better yet, a looming deadline, only to hear crickets as my messages go unanswered.

See, real estate is its own beast. Things can fall apart in a hurry if people don't communicate. Sometimes I feel us real estate agents earn our money best by chasing people around for signatures and approvals. Why is it that if a client leaves me a message or email, they expect me to call them back with-in 30 seconds, but for me, some clients feel no need to hurry up and do the same. I believe the door should swing both ways. Oh, but that's just my opinion.

No I am no saint, and have had my moments when I have failed to reply quickly. But I tell all those that know me that I usually respond the same day, if not in 24 hours.

I guess the moral of the story is to pick up the phone, or tippy tap away on the keyboard, and at least acknowledge your agent's existence. If you fail to, please don't ask them why the deal has fallen apart and the other party is walking away, or better yet, why you must follow through with the home purchase or forgeit your deposit.

I just got a phone call from a very pushy salesman at Realtor.com. It got to the point where he was getting very upset with me because I was questioning his statistics and his reasoning. A civil conversation at the least, but an interesting one at that.

See, I refuse to sign up with their website to feature my listings. I used there "showcase listings" system when I lived in Florida a few years ago, and honestly didn't see any return on my investment. When it was time for me to move to Minnesota, I obviously had to start my business from the ground up. It had been a year since I had been using them with six listings, so my subscription was up for renewal. I had sold all my Florida listings save one, but Realtor.com told me that to continue the featured listing service, I would now have to pay $1300 for the next year. What?! But I only have one listing. Talk about highway robbery. My current rate was $200. I quickly decided to NOT renew.

For me, it comes down to principle. I personally do not agree with the pricing structure that Realtor.com has chosen to implement. To tell me that this year, if I signed up, I would pay $345 for 10 featured listings, but next year, the new price would be $710, is ridiculous. They should have a flat rate system, and it would be better for business.

But no, THEY are the "largest real estate website" out there and they can charge what they want. THEY control the buyers, yada, yada, yada....or so they think. While talking to the rep today, he gave me all kinds of statiscics and data to prove his point. Even going to the length to tell me that I did not know what I was talking about when it came to my local market and how buyers find homes.

He even said that I should go with a year subscription, then cancel so as not to incur the higher fee with renewal. To me, if I am going to invest time and energy into such a service, I am not going to spend a year featuring these listings, to dump them in a year.

The funny thing about the website that is "looking out for its members", is that our MLS idx feed supplies them with all the information they need, additional photos, contact info, etc. So if they are already getting this information, which I pay to have sent to them via my Realtor Association dues and fees, why should I pay them more to release the information? There are plenty of sites that my listings are syndicated to that do this for free.

When I mentioned Trulia and Zillow, the rep got defensive. He asked me how many sales I have generated via Trulia, and I told him two in the last six months. I then told him I have received more listings and sales via my blogs and website, than I have with Realtor.com (which is zero). His answer was that I could do more with their enhancements.

Sorry, but I don't think so.

I told him that Realtor.com is rarely used by the buyers I speak with here in Minnesota. They use other sites that have more market exposure. He didn't believe me, and spewed more stats and data. Talk about pushy! I told him he doesn't know my market, being that he is in Los Angeles. Hasn't he ever heard the phrase "Real Estate is Local"?

So once again, I have shot down Realtor.com. I have better places to put my money that will get me more local market exposure and better ROI. I didn't mention that I am on Active Rain and would be writing about this...that might have been the straw to break the camel's back.

Oh, and by the way, when searching 'minneapolis real estate', my website comes up second, Realtor.com comes up sixth. Hmmmm.....

One of my favorite spots to visit in Minneapolis is Minnehaha Falls. A few weeks ago, I took the camera out on a cloudy day and was able to capture this silky effect of the waterfall.

(I placed this post originally on my Historic Home Blog today, and thought it best to bring it on over to my other blogs, as an FYI about copyright and not stealing my photos and content.)

A recent incident that is now recurring is forcing me to write this post about copyright of photos used on this site. (Notice the "Do not Copy" notice on the leftside of this blog.) To some people, it is ok to go onto the Internet and lift photos of other peoples work. They then use these photos on their websites without permission. They either do not care or don't know the law, but either way, what they are doing is stealing....oh, and Copyright infringement.

As a visitor to this blog, I am sure you can easily see that I travel around the area taking photos of historic homes (and other places around the Twin Cities), then post them to my blog with a story about the home. It's what I do, and the whole reason for this blog, which is to educate locals and others about the great historic resource we have in Minnesota through our homes and buildings. Taking these photos takes time, energy, patience, and creative thought.

What many people fail to realize is that even though the Internet is public domain, the content is not free for all to use. The general rule of thumb (in this instance) is that once a photo hits a hard drive, it is considered copywritten. The photo does not have to have a copyright notice on the photo, nor a big C. In order to use a photo, one must obtain permission from the source. So for those people out there that "right click and save" and then use the photo, you are committing copyright infringement.

Any excuse you give does not matter. Taking something created by another without permission is wrong.

I could go into greater detail, but I don't want to clutter up my nice blog with a post such as this. I just want you to know, that I work hard to write this blog, so please do not steal my stuff. Simple as that.

If you want to learn more about Copyright law as it pertains to blogs and websites, please visit a great lady's blog regarding copyright law, Lenn Harley, for in depth articles on the subject.

Recently the Minnesota Association of Realtors has made its members aware of current legislation being proposed by the Minnesota House of Representatives that will greatly affect Minnesota homeowners in a negative way. On Monday, the Tax Committee "released a "delete all amendment" to HF2323 and added provisions that are negative for real estate in the Omnibus Tax Bill. Authored by DFL Representative Ann Lenczewski, it contains a number of tax law modifications that hurt all Minnesota home owners."

We all know that the state of Minnesota, as well as numerous states across the country, are hurting financially. They find themselves with a growing budget, but no way to fund the increased expenses. Instead of finding ways to cut within the government, many politicians choose to look to the tax payer for "relief". The only solution in their eyes is raise taxes or take away tax incentives.  Minnesota State spending, for the record, has gone from $14.5 billion in 1992/93 to $34.6 billion in 2008/09 - a 138% increase. 

(As an FYI: Governor Pawlenty has proposed a plan focused on reducing spending and raising revenue without raising taxes.)

No big surprise to those of us in real estate, but the house tax bill hurts real estatein the state of Minnesota. The DFL (Democrat) House Tax Plan raises revenue by cutting a number of income tax deductions. Of significant concern to Minnesota REALTORS® and homeowners, the DFL House plan eliminates two major real estate tax deductions: the Mortgage Interest Deduction and Real Estate Property Taxes. The bill also eliminates provisions of the Relative Homestead Tax.

• Elimination of Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID)- a feature of the tax code since 1933, the MID has helped numerous generations achieve the American Dream of owning a home. A significant public policy objective for decades, homeownership stabilizes families, neighborhoods and communities. The House DFL Tax Bill eliminates the MID for homeowners and replaces it with a "housing credit" for qualified homeowners. The maximum credit is $420, which is equal to 7 percent (7%) of up to $6,000 of mortgage interest paid during the taxable year. However, no credit is applied to the first $4,000 of interest paid. Therefore, a homeowner must pay at least $10,000 in MID in order to receive the full $420 credit. As an example, if a homeowner has mortgage interest of $8,000 in the tax year, the credit equals $280. ($8,000 - $4,000 = $4,000 x 7% = $280).

This provision hurts young families disproportionately because mortgage debt loads are highest when people are establishing their households. This provision changes the financial plans numerous families have made when purchasing a home and increases the financial difficulties many are facing during this economic downturn. At a time when housing is finally getting a financial foothold why eliminate a tax provision that has helped millions of families achieve the "American Dream?"

• Real Estate Property Tax Deductibility -This public policy provision has been included in the tax code since 1933 and allows taxpayers to deduct property taxes paid from their income. The House DFL Tax Bill eliminates the deductibility of real estate property taxes at a time when local property taxes continue to increase faster than Minnesotan's income.
• Relative Homestead- If you own identical houses, with identical values, with identical tax rates you would assume you would pay identical taxes - Right? Not if the House DFL Tax Bill becomes law. In a provision of the bill, authored by a DFL legislator, families that provide housing to other family members will pay more taxes on the second home. The goal of the provision, as stated by the legislator, is to stop parents from buying homes for their college students. MNAR pointed out that this is a small piece of the overall program and instead the proposal will be hurting families trying to assist other family members who may have gone through job loss, divorce or other financial difficulties. Isn't it better to have families provide for families instead of government?

WE NEED YOUR HELP

ACTION REQUEST: To fight this unbelievable proposal we are asking that you take three steps:

1. Please contact your legislator and let them know how you feel about this proposal. Please find attached a list with legislator contact information or use this link: http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/Districtfinder.asp
2. Forward this email to your clients, customers and friends. Let them know what is being proposed and give them the web address above to review the bill.
3. Go the extra mile and CALL your legislator about this tax bill. Let him/her know your concerns and how it will impact your clients, your family and your business. Let your Representative know that it is time for our elected officials to "LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS" by prioritizing spending and not raising taxes.
   You can access the bill summary (48 pages) at: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/bs/86/HF2323.html