West Savage Real Estate Blog

Market Minute - Attend the February 10 Savage Planning Commission Meeting

NW Savage Alliance Needs Your Help

The NW Savage Alliance group is seeking the help of West Savage residents to help block Ron Clark Construction's proposal to build high-density housing in West Savage behind Rainbow Foods.

The development would require that the City of Savage rezone the commercially-zoned area to mixed use, and would allow a 3-story, 166+ unit, capped-income apartment complex to be developed.

Concerns of the West Savage Alliance, the group leading the local community in fighting the zoning change, include:

• Changing the zoning from Commercial to Mixed Use eliminates the option for much-needed commerical space. 
• Three other areas in Savage are already designated for high-density housing and those options are being ignored. 
• The City states this development of "workforce housing" is for "Police Officers, Firefighters, Administrative Assistants, and Bank Tellers."    Just how many of these jobs exist in Savage and are lacking applicants in close proximity to these employers has not been clarified.  
• Rental rates quoted in the Savage Pacer would be $745 - $945, considerably higher than market rates for rental properties in the area.  
• Adding high-density housing for reasons of affordability at a time when our market is flooded with entry-level housing (for rent or purchase) further supresses home values.  
• Ron Clark's neighboring development (to The Pointe) - Trout Run - has been a noteably stagnant development, and prices have been dropping steadily to meet demand.  There is concern that the neighborhood behind Rainbow will follow that same trend, eventually attracting low rents. 
• The addition of the neighborhood would add an expected 120 children to Glendale School, putting the school well over capacity. 

Please see the attached flyer on what YOU can do to help.  A simple email or small donation to the NW Savage Alliance for defense costs would be tremendously appreciated.  Also see the Facebook Group established for the NW Savage Alliance.    

 

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Tale of a Short Sale - Sebastian and Teri's Story

This story is published with the cooperation and consent of the buyers mentioned in the story.  

You've heard it before...there is nothing "short" about a short sale.  And our clients Sebastian and Teri experienced their offer on a short sale property to be no exception.   True, some short sale purchases go smoothly and quickly.  But it's rare.  And this one was no exception.   Nonetheless, their story is an interesting one.

When we wrote an offer on a 4BR 2BA home for Sebastian and Teri, they understood that there would be hoops to jump through when working to purchase a short sale property.  The property was a tremendous value, but the seller was out of state and difficult to reach.  Additionally, there were two mortgages on the home, one of which was with US Bank, a notoriously perplexing lender to work with.  And thirdly, the property was in foreclosure, with the expiration of the redemption period falling on December 15.  That date seemed far off, and Sebastian and Teri were more than patient - this house fit their budget, school district and location needs.  Additionally, it was spacious, updated and needed very little work beyond the cosmetic.

Shortly after writing our June 18 offer, we received bank approval on the first mortgage.  Now only the second one hung in the balance. 

As summer faded into fall with no response from the bank regarding the second mortgage, Teri and Sebastian found themselves having to make a decision about their current housing situation - they could either sign another lease, live with relatives, or pull their offer and hope to find something equally appealling in their budget that was not a short sale and met all their criteria - a difficult task despite our efforts.   Signing a short-term lease was not really an option, because they knew they had to be ready to "jump" when the bank said "GO."   Furthermore, they could not afford a mortgage payment and a rent payment during any crossover months.  They found a place to stay with some relatives, and kept their fingers crossed. 

Meanwhile, negotiations behind the scenes continued.  The second mortgage holder (TCF) refused the $750 payoff offer from US Bank, instead asking for $3000, leaving a $2,250 discrepancy.  The two lenders squabbled over this amount for the next four months, with no agreement in sight, and with weeks going by without any communication from the bank.  The listing agent representing the seller worked very hard, but was running into continuous walls with the bank. 

As November approached, we were five months into negotiations, and the December 15 date loomed in shortly ahead.  After that date, their offer would be dead, and all this time spent waiting for this house would be lost....for nothing.  Thanksgiving came and went, with still no word from the bank.  On Monday, December 6, they felt all hope was lost, but pulling their offer at that point made no sense either. 

It was a good thing they didn't.

On December 8, Sebastian and Teri got word that agreement was reached with the second mortgage holder and their offer was accepted....HOWEVER...they needed to close in 5 days.   We had a short-sale contingency in place, protecting them from having to deposit earnest money or spend dollars on an inspection until bank approval was reached.  So, with inspections, appraisal and underwriting, we had a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time.   As we lined up these projects, the bank notified us that it wanted the closing bumped up to 3 days instead of 5.  Now it was crunch time. 

Inspections and appraisals were completed.  Then the blizzard of the century hit the midwest.  The appraisal came back requiring some work orders be addressed.  Among them was the roof, which needed patching after some shingles fell off in the storm over the summer.  Getting it repaired within a  few short hours, with a blizzards' worth of snow now sitting atop the roof seemed daunting.   The unbelieveable savior:  Sebastian just so happens to be a roofer.    

The morning of closing, Sebastian was on the roof patching the shingles and completing other tasks that the bank left us no time to arrange with vendors.  Teri, meanwhile, was taking care of the financing.  And we were working with our title company on obtaining a certificate of redemption, which US Bank was refusing to promise to issue before the 15th .   Finally, the hour of closing came.  Sebastian and Teri waited while our title company spent two hours attempting to communicate with US Bank, which ultimately refused to issue a certificate of redemption, and ultimately got in touch with the foreclosure attorney who offered to help, despite being in the middle of awaiting the birth of his first grandchild.  He got the job done.

Some short sale transactions run more smoothly - particularly those with one local lender.  Most buyers might consider this story a nightmare.  True, it was a long wait and a turbulent journey for Sebastian and Teri.   It is also a more-than-typical scenario that buyers encounter when trying to purchase a short sale with two mortgages, both large-scale lenders.  Many buyers eventually walk away, their patience worn thin by the long waits, lack of communication, and the endless hoops, all ordered without notice.   But not all do.  And there is hope for sellers and buyers alike.

This tale had a happy ending....one that resulted in a family getting into a long-dreamed-of single-family home, in an area they loved, in a school district they needed, and in the nick of time.

 

 

 

 

VIRTUOUS or VICIOUS? 2011 Residential Housing Recovery

Here is an interesting article from the January issue of our REALTOR Magazine. It discusses the 2011 residential housing market, its recovery, what has already improved, and what our market is still waiting on. A good (and easy) read!

You can print the article by clicking on the PRINTER ICON in the PDF frame in the upper left-hand corner below. 

 

Weekly Market Activity Update - for the Week of Jan. 3

Our local REALTOR Association reports:

Buyer activity for the week ending December 25 was fairly even with last year – down only 3.3 percent to 379 purchase agreements signed. The lowest weekly sales volume on record is 235 and it occurred during the final week of 2007. Weekly sales volumes have lingered between 400 and 700 units since the beginning of May 2010.

Sellers were outwardly optimistic about future purchase activity as they listed 657 new homes on the market, up a substantial 47.3 percent from the same week in 2009. That's the largest year-over-year gain in seller activity since mid-April 2010.

Inventory levels are still on their seasonal uphill climb, and this won't change until the snow starts melting. At this rate, that could be May! In all seriousness, there are currently 21,161 Twin Cities properties being actively marketed. That's 11.5 percent more than the same week last year. This is nothing extraordinary and is in line with the usual seasonal changes.

As 2010 limps into the history books, we happily bid it adieu as the outlook for the latter half of 2011 continues to look up.

The climbing inventory might be true for the metro, but West Savage is not there yet, with 16 homes on the market (and three of them being listed as of the first of November.)   Our market should begin its steady climb of inventory as we move into February.   Keep watching for more updates. 

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