10/31/2008

Lynn Johnson | Coldwell Banker Home Connection | 507-451-8080 1245 Sunnydale Place, Owatonna, MN Delightful, very attractive 4 bedroom 2 bath home on a cul-de-sac with fenced yard, 3 car garage, deck & patio 4BR/2BA Single Family House offered at $198,500 Year Built 2004 Sq Footage 2,314 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size .25 acres HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Terrific home just waiting for new owners. You'll love the cul-de-sac location, fenced yard, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, spacious family room, 3 car garage, beautiful kitchen, nice decor and the deck & patio. Don't miss out! see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES Central A/C Central heat High/Vaulted ceiling Walk-in closet Family room Living room Office/Den Dining room Dishwasher R... 09/18/2008

  The fun-filled fairis coming to Owatonna in Steele County!  Local residents look forward to the fair all year long.  Some people like the midway rides and the thrills that brings, everyone enjoys the food and each has their favorite.  There are art, floral, food, clothing, 4H, craft, beer/wine, displays galore with entertainment at every turn. The beer garden is the spot for music, renewing friendships and festivities.  There will be numerous bands that play during the fair with music sure to please all tastes.  There are several stages throughout the fair that showcase local talents of all ages, from dancers and singers to polka bands and the latest high school garage bands. The 4-H kids get to show off the animals they've taken care of and raised all year to demonstrate their handli... 08/06/2008

 Summer is heating up and so is our real estate market.  We've seen good activity with showings, buyers and offers.   We're still noticing a strong presence of first time home buyers, along with buyers relocating into Owatonna for their jobs.  According to my lending expert Kriss Meier of Countrywide Mortgage (through Profinium Bank in Owatonna) she is taking applications from those two buyer niches, although it seems that 1 out of 4 mortgage applicants have some credit issues.  Property issues are becoming more of a challenge with the increase in foreclosed properties, many of which have deferred maintenance issues to contend with.  If you have any financing questions you can contact Kriss at 507-446-4289.  Her expertise will get you moving in the right direction.  According to the Sou... 07/02/2008

Lynn Johnson | Coldwell Banker Home Connection | 507-451-8080 1051 10th Avenue NE, Owatonna, MN Delightfully charming 4 bedroom 2 bath Cape Cod with hardwood floors, deck, permanent siding & much more 4BR/2BA Single Family House offered at $154,900 Year Built 1962 Sq Footage 2,240 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 3 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size 10,164 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Charming, attractive and extremely neat and clean, this 4 bedroom, 2 bath Cape Cod offers character and quality with hardwood floors, updated kitchen with tile floor and backsplash, roomy family room, newer windows, spacious yard, terrific deck all at an affordable price! see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES Central A/C Central heat Walk-in closet Hardwood floor Tile floor Fami... 06/16/2008

For those of you in Minnesota, you understand the delayed Spring we've experienced with cooler temps and plenty of rain.  This is graduation weekend in Owatonna, with plenty of parties in every neighborhood as families celebrate their high school graduate's accomplishments.  The weather has been pretty unsettled, and I hope that it'll stay clear (or at least tornado-free) for the duration of the weekend. Anyway, just to reinforce in my own mind that Spring is actually here I scouted a few areas that showed the evidence that the warmer season had, in fact, arrived.  I love the flowering trees that show that sure sign of the change of seasons.  The air is filled with such fragrance when I'm out on my walks or bike rides.  I also have 2 lilac trees right outside my front door and I'll stan... 06/07/2008

Interest Rates have climbed a bit this week to finish at 6.00% for a 30 year fixed on Friday June 6, 2008. I'm hearing rumors that interest rates are going to continue to climb. This is what we predicted a few months ago. As the market begins to show signs of recovery and properties are selling more quickly, lenders no longer have as much incentive to lower rates and many will be trying to recoup some of the losses they have experienced through higher interest rates. If you have been sitting back waiting, now is the time to move. We don't believe that rates are going to drop much, if at all. Current real estate listing inventory - 212 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has climbed again over the last two weeks. The market activity has continued to be stro... 06/06/2008

Owatonna, MN Real Estate Market Update We currently have 211 homes on the market in Owatonna, MN.  The average list price for those homes is $192,346 and they have been on the market for an average length of 151 days.  Year to date 99 homes have sold and those have an average sale price of $157,849 and have taken an average of 142 days to sell.   The average list to sold price ratio is 97.4% which includes any concessions built into the price (like buyer's closing costs).  Houses on average are seeing a 5% drop in their original list price to the final list price before they sell.  There are currently 125 homes pending sale - meaning that sellers and buyers have agreed upon contracts and contingencies have been removed. We've seen an increase in buyer activity and I've recently seen com... 05/27/2008

Interest Rates have fallen twice this week and are currently at 5.75% for a 30 year fixed on Wednesday May 7, 2008. Current real estate listing inventory - 196 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has dropped again this week. We haven't been this low in the Active listing count since the end of December 2006. This has been a great couple of weeks for real estate. We have about 20 more listings to go before we reach what has traditionally been a balanced market in Owatonna. That number has usually been in the 170-180 active listing range.The number of pending listings has climbed again to 50 homes. This is one of the best pending counts we have had in quite a while.There have been 81 properties Closed so far in 2008. Closed activity has remained static this ... 05/07/2008

Interest Rates have fallen twice this week and are currently at 5.50% for a 30 year fixed on Thursday May 1, 2008. Current real estate listing inventory - 205 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has dropped again this week. There have been a few properties expire but mainly the number dropped because there were homes selling quickly this past week.The number of pending listings has remained solid at 43 homes. There have been 81 properties Closed so far in 2008. Brisk closing activity again this week, the count jumped up 8 for the closed and the pendings remained firm. Best 2 week span of activity activity we have seen in almost a year.. Have we possibly seen the bottom? We aren't sure, only time will tell, but the increased activity is reassuring. Have you... 05/01/2008

I want one of these! !!! I saw one of these in person this morning and I want one. I have never had this kind of feeling about a car before. It is really strange to be feeling this way at my age, I don't know why I love it so much. I first saw one of these in the movie "A Good Year" ( a very good movie by way) when Russell Crowe is driving one and I thought it was kind of fun looking. Now that I've seen one up close and personal as it were. I want one really bad. I don't understand why. I'm far from being a small or tiny person but to me this car has such a high cool factor that I am lusting after it. It is not at all practical given what we do for a living or that we frequently are driving our grandchildren to/from somewhere. We would not be able to drive our clients around to see hou... 04/26/2008

It SNOWED here last night!!!!!!! Can you believe it? It is the 26th of April and we actually have snow on the ground. AAAHHHHHHHHH! Our dock and boatlift were put back into the water last weekend by the local ski club and were thinking about getting the boat out of storage on Sunday and putting it into the water and crusing the lake for fun. Our granddaughter (she is 4) is ready to go tubing and boating. Well maybe her life jacket will fit over her snowsuit. Susan & I were looking at all of the perrinnials coming up in the flower gardens at home on Wednesday night and she remarked on how we had lost some to a late frost last spring. I looked at her and said " but honey it wasn't 70 degrees last spring like it is now, we'll be fine this year". Well now I have to try to get my size 11 sh... 04/26/2008

Interest Rates have bounced up and down this week but finished right where they started at 5.875% for a 30 year fixed on Friday April 25th, 2008. Current real estate listing inventory - 213 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has dropped this week. There have been a few properties expire but mainly the number dropped because there were homes selling quickly this past week.The number of pending listings popped up to 43 homes. There have been 73 properties Closed so far in 2008. Awesome closing activity this week, the count jumped up 11 for the closed and the pendings climber up 6. Best activity we have seen in months.There are still a significant number of homes on the market that are priced way too high for the current real estate market here in Owatonna. ... 04/25/2008

Interest Rates have climbed a bit this week and are at 5.875% for a 30 year fixed on Sunday April 20th, 2008. The rates climbed in the latter 1/2 of the week. We will have to watch and see what is going to happen next, predictions were for rates to drop last week and they rose instead. Current real estate listing inventory - 220 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has grown again since last week. This has been the biggest one week jump we have seen so far this year.The number of pending listings slid up to 37 homes. There have been 62 properties Closed so far in 2008. Some nice closing activity this week, look for the numbers to climb as we approach the end of the month.It is interesting that we have seen the number of active listings climb as much as they... 04/20/2008

Interest Rates have remained stable and are at 5.625% for a 30 year fixed on Saturday April 12th, 2008. Actually rates bounced up and down this week but finished at the same placed they ended last week. Current real estate listing inventory - 212 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has climbed again since last week. This has been the biggest one week jump we have seen so far this year.The number of pending listings crept up one to 35 homes. There have been 57 properties Closed so far in 2008. Not a lot of closed activity this week, but anything is better than nothing. The comparison charts continue to provide an insight into what is happening in the real estate market here in Owatonna. Active Comparison Chart - Pending Comparison Chart - Closed Comparison ... 04/12/2008

Yesterday was a great day!  Spring is here in Owatonna, it was 60 degrees, the sun was shining and we saw the first Robin of the season!  Our Irises are are breaking through the ground as well as a few of the other early perennials.  It is so nice to walk outside without a coat on, as well as a hat, gloves, boots and thermal underwear.  Our grandson was running around barefoot in the back yard and our granddaughter was in the hot tub after dinner last night.  I LOVE SPRING!Oh, and to top it off, we had a floor call from a potential buyer.  Went out to show the house and the buyer WROTE AN OFFER.  Wow yesterday was a great spring day.I Love Spring. 04/06/2008

Interest Rates have remained stable and are at 5.625% for a 30 year fixed on Friday April 4th, 2008. Rates were fairly stable last week. Current real estate listing inventory - 202 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has dropped again since last week. This is the lowest we have seen since January of 2007, we are hoping to continue to see this count countinue to drop. 175-180 listings would be ideal.The number of pending listings is steady at 35 homes. There have been 54 properties Closed so far in 2008. Nice little rise since last week. We wern't expecting to see the closed count climb at all because it is the beginning of the month.Have you take a look at the comparison charts? Active Comparison Chart - Pending Comparison Chart - Closed Comparison Chart . ... 04/06/2008

Interest Rates have remained stable and are at 5.50% for a 30 year fixed on Monday March 31, 2008. Rates were fairly stable last week. Current real estate listing inventory - 208 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has dropped slightly since last week. The number of pending listings is up 4 from from last week to 35 homes. There have been 49 properties Closed so far in 2008. Small jump since last week. Good news is that even though some listings closed last week, the pending listing count has continued to rise. The closed count will most likely be fairly stable for the next two weeks.Have you take a look at the comparison charts. Active Comparison Chart - Pending Comparison Chart - Closed Comparison Chart . Our main web site continues to show record numbers... 03/31/2008

Interest Rates have remained stable and are at 5.75% for a 30 year fixed on Monday March 24, 2008. Rates were fairly stable last week. It is still a wait and see game with mortgage rates.Good news today, home sales up slighty in February. Is it possible we have reached bottom? Time will tell. Buyers remember, as the market begins to pick up momemtum, sellers will be less likely to negotiate home prices.Current real estate listing inventory - 210 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has remained fairly stable since last week. The number of pending listings is only down one from last week to 31 homes. There have been 45 properties Closed so far in 2008. Big jump since last week and should be more this week. Good news is that even though a bunch of listings clo... 03/24/2008

Interest Rates have remained stable and are at 5.875% for a 30 year fixed on Monday March 17, 2008. Rates were fairly stable last week with very few increases & decreases. The FED cut the discount rate .25% overnight and is expected to cut rates tomorrow the 18th of March, we will have to wait and see what that will do to the mortgage market. The expected cut is .50% to .75%Current real estate listing inventory - 212 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has dropped back down since the end of last week. The number of pending listings is stable at 32 homes. There have been 37 properties Closed so far in 2008. Just slight activity since last week but that that should begin to climb as we approach the end of the month. There comparison charts continue to have in... 03/17/2008