Recently, home values have gone crazy, and many people are curious about what their homes may be worth, whether they are looking to sell or are just curious. How do you find out the value of your home in today’s market?

Home appraisals can be very expensive. If you hired an appraiser, you could spend anywhere from $500 to $1,000 to have someone appraise your property here in the Rochester area. While it is very valuable information, many sellers just want an idea of what their property is worth from an expert without a full-blown appraisal.

This is where your real estate agent can come in. If you contact us, we would be happy to set up a time to evaluate your property. It is very simple; in fact, oftentimes we can do it without seeing all of the details of your home.

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Many sellers just want an idea of what their property is worth from an expert without a full-blown appraisal.

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We can set you up with the information if you send us an email. Or, you can get a computerized value by going to http://www.housevaluesrochester.com/. This uses algorithms to draw data about your home from public tax records, so it's not as accurate as the home evaluation we can do for you for free.

If you would like us to put together an actual home evaluation, please feel free to call or email. I would be happy to speak with you.

Buyers and sellers face a lot of different challenges in this market. One area, in particular, has been seeing a lot more challenges than others: appraisals.

The reality is that the state of supply and demand in our market is creating higher sale prices. This is good news for sellers, but it’s also causing some problems. The main issue is the disconnect between some of the sale prices we are seeing the market bear and what appraisers are valuing homes at. Appraisal issues are more common now than ever, and they can ruin transactions. So, what happens when you don’t agree with an appraisal?

You have a few different options. One is disputing the appraisal and potentially asking and paying for a second opinion. You may also be able to renegotiate with the seller or meet them halfway to make up the difference from where the appraisal is and where the sale price was agreed at. You also have the option to walk away as a buyer. We write appraisal contingencies into all of our contracts.

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You always have the option to walk away as a buyer.

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Pricing your home appropriately with a pricing strategy that takes into consideration the potential appraised value of your home. With a good agent, you can help avoid a lot of these kinds of issues.

If you have any questions for us or are curious about buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Since Donald Trump was elected on November 8th, our real estate market has changed a lot, for better and for worse.

Let’s start with the bad news first. Since the election, interest rates on mortgages have increased across the board. They are up over 4% now. Buyers who would have been able to purchase before the election might not be able to now. However, a 4% rate is still phenomenal when you compare it to the rates we’ve seen in the past that were well in the double digits. 

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There does seem to be a renewed sense of optimism out there.

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Now for the good news. There does seem to be a renewed sense of optimism in the real estate market, especially here in Rochester. Just the talk of lowering taxes, whether it happens or not, has increased optimism and home values.

If you have any questions or want more details about the Trump administration's effects on the market, give me a call or send me an email.

Buying a home comes with a lot of different costs. One of the things I get asked most often by homebuyers is to clear up confusion between things like down payments, closing costs, and earnest money.

To start, the down payment is the deposit you put down on a property. If you buy a $200,000 home, for example, and you put 10% down that would total to a deposit of $20,000. Then, the remaining $180,000 would become the total of your mortgage.

Different loan programs do have different levels of down payments associated with them. A rural development loan or a VA loan will be 0% down.

You may have a more conventional loan, though, with a minimum of 5% down. In these scenarios, the payment could be as much as 20% down.

Next we should think about closing costs. Closing costs are the general costs of buying a home. With this, there are three types of cost: the lender cost, titling costs, and governmental costs like taxes.

For example, a mortgage registration tax is $3.30 for every $1,000 of the home you buy. Other closing costs include a lender’s origination fee, appraisal, and others.

These closing costs should really be thought of as an addition to the original price, but in some circumstances you can negotiate having the seller pay them for you.

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In some circumstances, you can negotiate for the seller to pay the closing costs for you.

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Finally, there is the cost of earnest money. Earnest money is essentially money put down in good faith to let the seller know you are serious. 

This money actually goes toward your down payment as opposed to being an additional cost once you proceed with closing.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

You are invited to our summer fun event!

Bring your friends and family to the Honkers game on July 22nd. We’ll pay for your food and your tickets!

It will be a super fun night and a great way to celebrate summer. We will also celebrate a veteran and his family on the field before the game starts.

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Let us know how many tickets you will need!

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Get to the stadium between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. to pick up your tickets and your food voucher. We will celebrate the veteran on the field around 6:30, and the first pitch is thrown at 7:05.

Just RSVP to let us know how many tickets you will need! Go to HandyAndySummerFun.com or call our office at 507-258-5850 to let us know if you can make it!

In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any real estate questions. We look forward to seeing you!

When it comes to working with professionals for your real estate needs there are a few differences between working with an individual agent versus a team.

Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, deciding between these two options requires you to look at the pros and cons of each.

For example, some people might prefer working with an individual agent because in that case you will be receiving one person’s undivided attention throughout the process. However, what you’ll find is that there aren’t many pros to using an individual agent beyond that point.

This is why we at Handy Andy Real Estate Experts utilize a team-based structure. We work as a cohesive unit to ensure that every client we work with is someone we are all responsible for helping. 

One of the benefits of this team-based structure is that you have multiple agents at your disposal in the event that, for example, one is out of town.

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Having a team divide the work amongst themselves means that the work being done for you is being done right.

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The good thing about having multiple agents is that you have increased manpower behind your real estate transaction.

Additionally, we have a closing coordinator on our team in charge of making sure that the closing process goes through smoothly. Their full-time job is to make sure we get to the closing table, whereas in the case of people working with single agents, many transactions can fall apart after a purchase agreement is signed.

The reality is that when a single agent tries to juggle all of the responsibilities of the process it can lead to mistakes. Having a team divide the work amongst themselves means that the work being done for you is being done right. Everyone is able to carry out their specific role and make sure it is handled perfectly so that you get the benefit of the best possible outcome. 

If you’d like to interview our team or if you have any other questions, feel free to contact us by sending an email or giving us a call. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Have you ever considered buying an acreage or a hobby farm? You need to consider these seven points to help you decide which one is right for you.

Have you ever thought about buying an acreage or a hobby farm here in southern Minnesota? There are seven things you need to consider before making the jump:

If you have any other questions about buying one of these types of properties or any other kind of property in the southern Minnesota area, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're always happy to help!

Our team was fortunate enough to be endorsed by Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts! We’re excited to show it to you today. Buying a Rochester home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling your Rochester home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation Recently, my team and I received a fantastic endorsement from Gary LeVox, lead singer of the Grammy award-winning country music group, Rascal Flatts. Gary is a respected artist who approaches his craft with the same heart and passion that my team and I have for each real estate transaction. Here is what Gary had to say: “ My team and I are passionate about each and every transaction. ” “When ‘I’m Moving On’ won the award for ACM song of the year, it struck a chord with folks who understand the challenges that come with life’s big changes. For many, that time comes when they sell their home. If you’re moving on, you want a real estate agent who will make selling your home easy and stress-free.” - Gary LeVox It is always our goal to make your transaction a smooth one. If we can’t sell your home, we will buy it. Please check out the video above for the full endorsement. If you have any real estate questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Anybody with a mortgage likely has an escrow account. What does this mean and why are you paying for one? Today I’d like to discuss everything you need to know about escrow accounts and why you have one.

I think that people tend to confuse escrow accounts with earnest money. Earnest money is good-faith money that you put down when you make an offer on a home to let the seller know that you’re serious about the purchase. This money, paid at closing, gets applied toward your down payment, so it’s not necessarily additional money.

Let’s say that you buy a home for $150,000 and you put $1,000 down in earnest money. This does not mean that you’re now paying $151,000; that $1,000 is going to the seller and the seller’s broker and is held until closing. At closing, that money is applied toward the rest of the purchase, so you would only bring $149,000 to the closing.

While earnest money is part of the offer process, at this point in the home buying process, you’ve closed on the property and you now have what is called an escrow account. The escrow account is set up with your lender to pay your taxes and homeowners insurance. It is an account into which you will deposit money so that the lender can pay these two things for you.

The reason for an escrow account is because the lender wants to make sure that if they are lending you $150,000 for a property, you have insurance on it and are keeping up with your taxes.

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An escrow account is different from an earnest money deposit.

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Why is the lender concerned about these two things? For one, the lender wants to make sure that your home will be able to be rebuilt in the event of a natural disaster like a tornado.

Secondly, the lender wants to make sure that you’re paying your taxes because the government has first-lien rights on your home. This means that if you were to stop making mortgage payments, the government is in line first to get their money back on your property before the bank. This puts the bank in a second-lien position, which they do not want to be in, so they build this into your escrow account.

Also, when you get pre-approved for a mortgage, your approval is based on PITI, or the principal and interest plus taxes and insurance. If you’re taking out a loan from one property to the next, even if you’re borrowing the same amount of money, your monthly payment can differ based on the taxes and insurance for each property.

Remember, what you see on TV about “opening escrow” is much different from how we handle escrow in the Midwest. If you have any other questions about escrow accounts or the home buying process, please reach out to us by phone or email. We’d be happy to help you!