Woodbury MN Sold Home Price Statistics for 2010  - Durham Executive Group This blog reflects the average sale price along with the total number of of homes sold by percentage in Woodbury MN's zip code (55125) for 2010 compared against the same Woodbury MN zip code in 2009.  What our research discovered was that in the 55125 zip code there was a -6.31% reduction in the average sales price in 2010 from the same time period in 2009. Also, our research shows that there were -15.89 fewer homes sold in 55125 during 2010 than 2009. The above statistics for 55125 also did not compare favorably against the other Woodbury MN zip code (55129), which will be addressed in another blog. John and Becky are real estate agents with backgrounds and work experiences that set us apart from our competition.... 03/07/2011

Woodbury MN Real Estate Agents - Durham Executive Group      For a buyer or seller today there are unlimited ways to go about finding Woodbury MN real estate agents in order to find the right one to work with. Over the past 10-years the internet provides sellers and buyers immediate access to Google searches, as well as to so many different real estate websites when searching for agents and homes in Woodbury. Websites such as RE/MAX Results, Edina's, Coldwell Banker's, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Homes and so forth. Because of such easy access to searching for agents and homes we often find real estate consumers struggling as they start quickly out of the gate only to find they often are not prepared when it comes to the selling or buying process simply because they didn't take the nec... 03/03/2011

Oakdale MN Real Estate Agents - Durham Executive Group   For a buyer or seller today there are unlimited ways to go about finding Oakdale MN real estate agents in order to find the right one to work with. Over the past 10-years the internet provides sellers and buyers immediate access to Google searches, as well as to so many different real estate websites when searching for agents and homes in Oakdale. Websites such as RE/MAX Results, Edina's, Coldwell Banker's, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Homes and so forth. Because of such easy access to searching for agents and homes we often find real estate consumers struggling as they start quickly out of the gate only to find they often are not prepared when it comes to the selling or buying process simply because they didn't take the necessary... 03/03/2011

Woodbury MN Real Estate Agents - Durham Executive Group   When looking for an agent to work with in buying a new home in Woodbury MN there are a variety of avenues for a buyer to start the home buying process. However, the first and most important thing a home buyer should do is find and identify a Woodbury MN real estate agent who is knowledgeable of the community to represent him/her throughout the transaction. A good Woodbury MN real estate agent will be extremely knowledgeable and subsequently can simplify the home buying process. He/she will provide you with a wealth of information and a list of high quality vendors such as loan officers, title closers, home inspectors, etc. The benefits of a ‘good real estate agent' are immeasurable but without question will make the home buying p... 03/02/2011

I recently had a featured post here on AR about invasive testing vs infrared scanning on stucco homes, where I concluded that invasive moisture testing is the only reliable test method for stucco homes in Minnesota.  Russel Ray, a San Diego home inspector, wrote an opposing post which was also featured.  His post was titled Invasive "testing"?  Are you kidding?.  In his thought-provoking post, Russel Ray opines that invasive moisture testing is outdated. Today I'm going to explain why invasive moisture testing is not outdated, as it's the only reliable option in Minnesota, and I'm also going to discuss the differences between interior and exterior moisture testing.  But not in that order. To gather information about this blog, I spoke with moisture testing experts from four of the larg... 02/28/2011

Relocating to Woodbury MN - Durham Executive Group     The Durham Executive Group (John & Becky Durham) are experienced and award winning RE/MAX Results relocation agents in Woodbury MN whose work experiences and successes set us apart from our competition.  We put the emphasis on ‘EXECUTIVE LEVEL' service regardless of the size of the transaction. We spend a considerable amount of time identifying our clients' needs, interests, and lifestyle desires to assist them find the perfect property and the perfect location. Whether it is in the selling of their existing home, or in the purchasing of their new home we provide executive-level real estate services throughout the relationship. We intimately know the Woodbury MN housing market whether it is the townhome, condo, or single family home... 02/28/2011

Buying a Woodbury MN Home - Durham Executive Group   The very most important thing a buyer should do upon deciding to buying a Woodbury MN home is to find a top selling and experienced real estate agent to work with.  Finding and working with a good real estate agent who is familiar with the Woodbury MN housing market is vital if the home buyer wants to make the home purchase transaction as seamless as possible. There are many high quality real estate agents that work in the Woodbury area. The key is finding that one agent who listens to your needs, and who you feel you can trust and forge a great working relationship with. A quality real estate agent is going to first perform an assessment of what you are looking for in a home that will include things such as your purchase price range,... 02/24/2011

Home Buying Process, Woodbury MN - Durham Executive Group   Working with Woodbury MN home buyer's often provide us (The Durham Executive Group) with our greatest satisfaction in real estate because of the excitement and enthusiasm a buyer has during the home search for their perfect home. However, it is our belief there could be much more information available about the home buying process in Woodbury MN for buyers based on our experience over the years. Subsequently, we have outlined a simple home buying process for buyer's to use as they go about preparing their search for their dream home. a. Searching and finding an experienced and top selling Woodbury MN real estate agent. b. Counseling and qualifying interview with mortgage loan officer for pre-approval process. c. Identifying the... 02/24/2011

Buying a Home after a Short Sale or Foreclosure, Woodbury MN - Durham Executive Group   We know a home foreclosure can be a traumatic experience and leave many wonderful families with the feeling they have no chance of owning a home again. This does not have to be the case. The economy has taken its toll on many and losing a home is something most people never planned on.  Many times the reason for the short sale or foreclosure was something that could not be predicted or prevented.  Even after a short sale or foreclosure there is no reason to let this prevent you from starting over and achieving the "American Dream" of home ownership. It was with this thought that the topic of Woodbury, MN home owners who lost their home due to a short sale or foreclosure in 2007-2009 would again be el... 02/23/2011

What Woodbury MN Home Buyer's Should Know - Durham Executive Group      There are many things a home buyer in Woodbury MN should know upon purchasing a home, but one of the most important things a home buyer should consider is purchasing a home warranty following the inspection, and prior to the closing. The importance of a home warranty has never been more important when the cost of repairing, and/or replacing mechanical equipment or an appliance keeps skyrocketing. Then throw in the importance when a buyer today purchases a short sale or foreclosure home and the property is being  ‘Sold As Is'.  The cost of a home warranty for a multi-family unit to a single family home can range somewhere between $400 and $500. The replacement cost for a central A/C unit can cost over $4,000, and the... 02/22/2011

  I’ve heard of home inspectors in Minnesota offering infrared scans on stucco homes as an attractive non-invasive alternative to standard invasive moisture testing.  Here at Structure Tech, we recently started offering infrared inspections, but stucco scans are something we will never offer. First, some info on stucco.Stucco homes in Minnesota built since the late 80′s or so have had a nasty history of catastrophic failures.  These stucco homes are more likely to have moisture instrusion problems than other types of homes, and the damage is usually far more serious. The City of Woodbury has an excellent position paper about Stucco in Residential Construction, which should be required reading for anyone buying a stucco home built during this time period.  In many cases, there are absolu... 02/21/2011

Woodbury MN Home Buying Process, Woodbury MN - Durham Executive Group   The Durham Executive Group, John and Becky Durham provide the following glossary of home buying terms as a benefit to Woodbury MN home buyer's.   Addenda These are supplemental documents that are part of a purchase agreement.  Adjustable Rate Mortgage, ARM A loan where the interest rate adjusts to current rates during the duration of the loan.  Annual Percentage Rate, APR The cost of the loan, including the interest rate, points, origination fee and other charges.  Assessments When a city makes improvements to city property, homeowners must pay for these improvements through their city taxes.  Association Dues Payments condominium and townhouse owners make for upkeep and management of shared property.  Assumable A ... 02/21/2011

Best Woodbury MN Real Estate Website - Durham Executive Group     Periodically we have seller's asking what is the best website for placing a property on a real estate website for Woodbury MN homes for sale? There are many national and local real estate websites available for listing homes for sale as everyone knows, but without question the best website to list a home in Woodbury MN in our opinion is Results.net. Why? Because it is easily the best local real estate website for listing agents, sellers and buyers. Besides the convenience and ease of use Results.net website it is the one website where a listing agent can go in behind the scenes and add (a) up to 50 photos for a property where most websites have 4 to 10 photos maximum (b) can have high quality photos up to 10 mega pixels a... 02/19/2011

Best Woodbury MN Home Buyer Website - Durham Executive Group Quite frequently we have buyer's asking what is the best website for searching for Woodbury MN homes for sale? Some buyer's mistakenly think the website they are using to search for homes is the 'real' MLS when in fact it is only a local brokerage company who was allowed to have their website name with the MLS name grandfathered in. There are many national and local real estate websites available for home searches as everyone knows, but without question the best website to perform Woodbury MN homes for sale searches in our opinion is Results.net. Why? Because it is easily the best local real estate website for listing agents, sellers and buyers. Besides the convenience and ease of use Results.net website is the one website th... 02/19/2011

Buying a Home, Woodbury MN - Durham Executive Group     The purpose of this article is for buyers of a home in Woodbury, MN to consider the different costs that they will need to pay up front when buying a home. By knowing what kinds of costs a buyer will encounter they can start saving their hard earned money in anticipation of purchasing a wonderful home in Woodbury MN.  a. Earnest money - this is money that a buyer will have to put down up front when writing a purchase agreement on the Woodbury MN home. The amount can range on what is expected for an earnest check as it is a negotiable amount between seller and buyer. Typically one can expect that an earnest check amount of 1% of the sale price is standard. There are times one can put down less but again it is a negotiable amount be... 02/18/2011

Home Loan Qualification, Woodbury MN Homes for Sale - Durham Executive Group   The Durham Executive Group always recommend to our Woodbury MN buyer clients a couple of good loan officer choices to meet with to assist the buyer's determine who they'd like qualifying them for a pre-approval , and subsequently qualifying for a home mortgage. Determining whether you qualify for a home loan and for what dollar amount maximum is imperative. Until this information is determined an efficient home search is very difficult if not impossible. In the meantime, we always tell our home buyer clients that barring major debt that as a ‘general rule' most buyers can afford a home in Woodbury MN that costs about 2 ½ times their yearly income. As a buyer in Woodbury MN it is important to factor in other f... 02/17/2011

Affordabilty of Purchasing A Home In Woodbury MN - Durham Executive Group   When you decide to purchase a home in Woodbury MN it can be a very rewarding and exciting moment, but conversely it can become one of the most stressful moments in your life. Obviously with the financial aspect, the number of people involved in the transaction, combined with all the things that need to be done and the purchasing of a home can be simply...overwhelming for a home buyer. The smart thing for a potential home buyer to do when they first decide they want to purchase a home is to research a good knowledgeable Woodbury MN real estate agent and agree to work with them. With the real estate agents experience of handling hundreds of client transactions over the years similar to yours they will easily walk ... 02/16/2011

Purchasing Woodbury MN Homes - Durham Executive Group   For a buyer today there are many ways to go about finding and purchasing homes in Woodbury, MN.  Over the past 10-years the internet provides buyer's immediate access to so many different websites when searching for homes in Woodbury such as the RE/MAX Results website (http://www.results.net/john.durham), Edina's, Coldwell Banker's, Keller Williams, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Homes and so forth. Because of such easy access to searching for homes we often find buyer's struggling as they start quickly out of the gate only to find they often are not prepared when it comes to purchasing a home.     The first thing a buyer should do upon deciding to purchase a home in Woodbury is to find a top selling and experienced real estate agent... 02/15/2011

Minneapolis, Minnesota (February 11, 2011) - Pending sales increased 3.7 percent from January 2010 to land at 2,838 for January 2011. That's the first year-over-year increase since the tax-credit salad days of April 2010. Prices slid during January 2011, as the median sales price decreased a heavy 10.8 percent from January 2010 to $140,000. A larger share of homes sold this January were foreclosures and short sales compared to a year ago, which explains part of the decline. Traditional, nondistressed properties actually saw their Median Sales Price increase by 1.9 percent from a year ago to $201,500. "Distressed homes made up more than half of the homes sold locally in January," said Brad Fisher, President of the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®. "Buyers tend to shop for value ... 02/14/2011

The Home Selling Process, Searching For a Woodbury MN Listing Agent - Durham Executive Group   When looking to sell your Woodbury, MN home there are a lot of uncertainties for a home seller, particularly in today's housing market. The first and most important thing a home seller should do is find and identify a top selling Woodbury MN real estate agent to represent him/her throughout the entire transaction.  A home seller should never hire an agent simply because they know them, feel obligated, or  are a referral from a friend or family member.  After all your home represents a huge part of your financial portfolio and you want the best and strongest representation you can get, otherwise you stand a chance to lose countless thousands of dollars especially during a shifting market. A goo... 02/14/2011