We decided to take a look at home prices throughout Hennepin County for 2010 to see where the most expensive homes are in the west metro.  Not suprising, the most expensive homes for 2010 were in the Lake Minnetonka area.  Lake Minnetonka has been home to the most expensive real estate in the Twin Cities for years and 2010 was no exception.  Woodland, Minnetonka Beach, Wayzata, Tonka Bay, Orono and Greenwood were the most expensive cities on Lake Minnetonka last year.  If your budget allows for something in the $1,000,000 price range, you'll find a number of fantastic deals on Lake Minnetonka property this spring.     

There has been a lot of buzz lately about short sales throughout Minnesota, especially in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.  For many home owners the thought of trying to negotiate a short sale with their bank is scary and they would rather wait for the real estate market in Minneapolis and St. Paul to improve.  Before deciding to wait out the market, consider that Minneapolis home prices are down around 30% from their highs a few years ago and that prices are still dropping, by some estimates they may continue to drop for another two or three years before stabilizing.  You might have to wait 8 - 10 years before you reach a break-even-point on your Minnesota house!  Wouldn't it be better to start fresh right now? 

If your house is "upside down", you're not alone.  Some Minnesotan's are hesitant to attempt a short sale because they feel like there is a social stigma attached to it.  Well, we want to set the record strait, there are literally thousands of people just like you, including your Minneapolis and St. Paul area neighbors, who have made the decision to sell short and they have successfully negotiated short sales deals with their mortgage companies.  We pulled the sales data from the Minneapolis area MLS for Anoka County, Carver County, Dakota County, Hennepin County and Ramsey County for the period of 1/1/2010 through 2/28/2011 to see how many of your Minnesota neighbors in the Twin Cities have been selling their homes short.  Would you believe there were over 2300 home sales that were designated in the MLS as potential short sales?  It's likely that there were even more, because during the first part of 2010, most real estate agents weren't designating in the MLS that homes were potential short sales.   

Negotiating a short sale requires an experienced Minnesota short sale REALTOR®. 

There are a number of techniques Minnesota homeowners can use to market and sell their house.  The best Minnesota REALTOR® use many of these strategies when selling homes for their clients, but if you prefer to try selling your house for sale by owner (FSBO), many of these strategies will work well for you as well.  These techniques range from free methods to highlight the benefits of a particular property to expensive marketing plans developed by consulting firms. Each with its own benefits and drawbacks, but the joint message is that you must identify your target market and your message in order for any marketing plan to work effectively.

Having a clear message in your marketing is a key element to promoting your Minnesota real estate.  Typically in the case of selling a property, the message is that the property is For Sale. It does not matter how great the property is; if people don't know that it is for sale.  Some real estate companies overlook this key aspect when they place signage. There are for sale signs that have numerous riders and large print contact information but a teeny tiny for sale or for rent message.  The same goes for open house and yard sale signs. Often we see signs at the corner and don't bother to drive around the block because it is not clear if the sign is for an open house or a yard sale. Other messages you may want to consider when marketing real estate in Minnesota are: Reduced Price, Short Sales, New Listing, Property Features, Buyer Incentives or, Special Financing Offers. Remember though, one message per marketing piece. Now that you have a clear message, make sure that it applies to your target market.

Identifying your target market is just as important as your clear message. You can send your message out to thousands even millions of people, but if they are not the type of buyer who would be interested in your property the chances of your marketing message resulting in a qualified Minnesota buyer are slim. Sending out a property flyer for a 5 bedroom family house into a neighbourhood designed for executive couples makes about as much sense as marketing a rib fest in a vegetarian establishment. Now if you sent that same marketing flyer into a family oriented neighbourhood where the typical house has 3 or 4 bedrooms, the chances of your attracting a family that is looking for a larger house greatly improve. Now that you know the importance of targeting your market, let's look at some of the free marketing methods that can be used to highlight the benefits of your Minnesota real estate.

The internet is a great place to start.  The majority of buyers look online. Here are a few ways to strategize your marketing plan:

• Digital Pictures: Buyers like to see pictures! Even if the property is not in the best shape, pictures will allow the buyers to have an idea of what the property does offer.  If you had two properties with a similar price and one had pictures that showed some flaws such as peeling paint or outdated decorating and the other property only showed the outside of the house, wouldn't you wonder what the seller was trying to hide? Furthermore, if you did happen to attract a potential Minnesota buyer without posting additional pictures they would likely turn a run when they got inside the place and saw that it needed work.
• You Tube style video tours: This is the new trend.  FSBO sellers and Minnesota real estate companies alike are beginning to make free You Tube type virtual tours of the properties that they are trying to sell. Similar to pictures the video tours give the buyer an idea of the overall picture of the property. You can even add audio to your video and give it that little something extra.
• Blog-sites: In some cases you can set up a free blog-site that looks and acts just like a website. Wordpress.com offers some easy to use templates that allow users to upload videos, photos, links and other information.  You can even have more than blog-site that can be customized to highlight different properties.  Take it one step further and purchase an inexpensive domain name as outlined below.
• Email Campaigns: This is likely more applicable to real estate agents as they typically have at least a few contacts who are looking to buy at any given time. Email flyers and templates can be made up which include the information on the property.  Effective email campaigns are an inexpensive method to reach a number of pre-qualified buyers.

Print marketing although lessening in popularity with today's buyers may be suitable for certain properties or in certain market places.  Commercial magazines are still very popular in some markets and may be worth the price of placing an advertisement, if the above guidelines regarding clear messages and target marketing are applied.

Larger Minnesota real estate companies or specialized industrial property owners may consider utilizing large scale marketing techniques. A few examples are:

• Professionally shot video tours - these tours are often used to professionally highlight the numerous features of a particularly large or special use property.
• Dedicated websites - similar to the blog-sites mentioned above, dedicated web sites are designed specifically to provide information about the property.  This strategy involves a great deal of commitment, time and investment and is more suited for large and specialized properties that will take longer to sell.  
• Extensive Marketing Packages - an effective follow up technique used to provide interested and qualified buyers who have already responded to the initial marketing pieces. These packages generally include items such as estimates for repairs, information on repairs that have already been completed, property surveys, zoning information (where applicable), pre-listing home inspection reports and other property specific information.

In some markets it may be necessary to enlist the services of a consultation company.  This can occur in markets that do not have a real estate company who specialize in the type of property in question.  This typically applies to large and specialized industrial properties. They may use a number of the same techniques mentioned above and many will coordinate the entire marketing project.

When it comes time to market your Minnesota real estate there are a number of techniques that can be utilized by Minnesota REALTORS® and FSBO sellers alike. Knowing your target market and using a clear message in your marketing program can be applied to a variety of marketing techniques. These techniques rang from free online methods to highlight the benefits of a particular property to expensive marketing plans developed by consulting firms.

How do you know if you're using a great Minnesota REALTOR® or just an average one?  We've developed a system for identifying the best real estate agents for our clients.  If you're in the process of interviewing Minnesota REALTORS® and you're wondering how you can tell if the real estate agent you're thinking about hiring is great or just average, utilize our list to help you decide.  If you're struggling to find the best real estate agent, we're always available to help you decide.

Without further delay, here's the list: 

1. A great Minnesota REALTOR® has been licensed to sell real estate for at least five years
2. A great Minnesota REALTOR® is knowledgeable and experienced in the clients area
3. A great Minnesota REALTOR® makes time for all of his/her clients and makes each one feel important
4. A great Minnesota REALTOR® returns phone calls and/or emails in a timely manner
5. A great Minnesota REALTOR® is honest and ethical
6. A great Minnesota REALTOR® puts the interests of his/her client before his/her own
7. A great Minnesota REALTOR® is friendly, sincere and a joy to interact and do business with
8. A great Minnesota REALTOR® has sold at least 50 homes
9. A great Minnesota REALTOR® received positive feedback from his/her past client
10. A great Minnesota REALTOR® receives referrals from past clients and industry peers because of the great service they provide
11. A great Minnesota REALTOR® is always on time to meeting and appointments
12. A great Minnesota REALTOR® is a full time real estate agent