First Time Home Buyer Words of Wisdom

When you are new to the world of home ownership, you can never ask too many questions. It is very easy to make a mistake. The best way to avoid these pitfalls is educate yourself to them.

1. Commitment to the process. It is typically the largest and most important purchase you will make. Plan carefully, deal with financing and ownership issues and listen to the advice of a professional REALTOR®.

2. Choose a professional. By selecting a REALTOR®, you are choosing a professional who abides by a code ethics and standards of practice and will have your best interests in mind. A REALTOR® will explain the purchase contract, disclosures, and inspection process to you in detail.

3. Know your credit history. Your credit history should be as clean as possible. Fix any problems you discover.

4. Get financing pre-approval. When a home buyer makes an effort to get pre-approved they gain two things 1.) how much home is affordable and 2.) a good negotiating position. There are a variety of financing options available, including programs to assist those challenged by affordability or credit concerns.

5. Be realistic about needs and wants. Make a list of the items that are "needs" and "wants" items and give it to your real estate agent.

6. How to choose the right house. Take notes when touring homes. Record the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ and your overall impressions.

7. Make the right offer. Before making an offer, consider sales of similar homes in the last three to six months. Your REALTOR® can help you establish market values. A rule of thumb is that a low first offer usually results in the buyer either losing the home or puts the seller on the defensive.

8. Select a qualified home inspector. An expert in home construction building codes and safety can help determine if there are potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.

9. Avoid significant changes. Be aware that major purchases during the home buying process may jeopardize the buyer’s ability to close escrow.

10. Prepare for closing costs. Work with your loan officer and REALTOR® to determine what your closings costs will be so you know how much you need to save before the close of escrow.

Nation: 30-Year Mortgage Rates Fall To Lowest Point In More Than 2 Years

Rates fell sharply again last week, dropping to an average of 5.96 percent. That was down from 6.10 percent the previous week and was the lowest rate since September 2005when they averaged 5.91 percent. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for re-fi's, slid to 5.65 percent from 5.73 percent the previous week. The rates do not include add-on fees know as points. This is a great time to buy- low interest rates and great home pirces!

St. Paul: City Officials Wary Of Developer's Ambitious Skyscraper Plans

Dean D. Johnson, one of St. Paul's native sons, is one of the most enigmatic developers aiming to make his mark in St. Paul. Now a developer in Belgium, he has set his sights on at least four downtown properties,including the now-razed Wabasha Court complex. Johnson's proposed tower would stretch about 40 stores and combine a five-star hotel with condos, an arts venue and offices. All this on a parking lot where past development dreams have crumbled. St. Paul powers-that-be are wondering if Johnson is for real and are sniffing out his track record of his around-the-world projects. Johnson can argue passionately the merits of St. Paul's downtown and why it deserves cutting-edge architecture. "It feels more like TriBeCa and SoHo than anything in Minneapolis," he said

Hugo: Growing City Hopes To Retain Small-Town Charm

There are two sides to the city of Hugo, a northeast suburb 20 minutes from downtown St. Paul. The east side remains mainly rural with farms, single-family houses on large acreages, trails, lakes and streams. The west side is brimming with new housing, upscale restaurants and shops that were generated by a housing boom that started in 2000. there's a range of housing styles and prices ranging from $140,000 for townhouses to $1 million-plus for single-family homes. the average home sale price so far this year is $271,083 and there were 195 homes on the market in October. In redeveloping the downtown the city hopes to retain an old-fashioned charm with trails, sidewalks and green space