Hi.  This is Steve Westmark of Counselor Realty.  Thanks so much for watching my video blog this week.  I’m really excited to announce that I was able to add onto my website seven specific consumer videos that were done by David Knox [00:14].  They’re all free for you as a consumer to go and look at.  And in the coming weeks, I’m going to have you meet with David Knox and know what he gives as far as an overview of each one of those.  But let me just give you what the seven videos are.

One is how to price your house to sell.  It’s an excellent video on helping people determine how to price their house right.  The second one is preparing your house to sell.  In preparing your house to sell, we’ve said in our marketplace here, it’s a price war and a beauty contest, and learning how to stage your house is a way to help sell it better.  Third one is a short sale option, and we’ve talked about short sales in the past, but he does a great job in talking about what short sales are all about. 

The fourth one is selling your house for sale by owner.  Some people want to do that type of thing and it does explain to you how you can do it by owner, and sometimes about 20% of sellers are able to do that and you can learn how you could do that.  The fifth one is expired listing, and it explains to people who have had their home on the market and didn’t sell how do you experience success your next time around so it doesn’t expire.  Then the next one is selecting your real estate agent, and it shares with you how do you go through in choosing a real estate agent that’s best going to work for you in the situation that you’re in. 

And the last one is the eight steps to buying a home, and this is especially good for the first-time homebuyer helping them understand what goes into the process of purchasing a house.  Take the time to look at the link that I put on this website here or on my blog and you’ll be able to go and see those.  And if you’d like to see a preview of any one of them, you can look at it; put your name, e-mail address, and phone number in; and you can watch any of them for free.  Well, make it a great day, and thanks for watching.

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark of Counselor Realty.  Thanks so much for watching my video blog this week.  Well, this is Christmas week and as we go all the way through to the next Monday, we will have celebrated Christmas on Sunday.  And I just wanted to wish you and your family a very, very Merry Christmas.  Make it a blessed time.  Make sure that you enjoyed your family and how ever you celebrate these holidays, just make the time to bless them, spend time loving and caring for them. 

And for me and my family, we will be celebrating the birth of Christ, and we’re so grateful for that gift that came to this world.  And I just wish you a very, very good Christmas week and thanks for watching.  Bye now.

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark.  Thanks so much for watching my video blog this week.  This week, I brought in a gentleman who has been doing winterization of houses for over 30 years, and it’s Don Houlding of United Real Estate Services.

DON:  Good morning.

STEVE:  Don, I’m going to ask you questions about winterizing of a home because homes with plumbing can have problems.  Why should a person have a home winterized as they leave for a period of time?

DON:  Steve, I’ve learned over the years as a licensed plumber that homes can freeze up in Minnesota’s cold weather without ever even having the heat fail.  I do recommend to my customers even when they call and say, “You’re not going to do the job” have somebody winterize the property.  They need to be protected in case that damage occurs because when a pipe bursts in a home and the water’s on, the damage can be catastrophic.

STEVE:  Houses that aren’t winterized and have a problem like that, sometimes you’ve told me that people should really check their houses for insurance.  What are the things that they look for in their insurance or they need to ask their insurance agent?

DON:  Absolutely, it’s critical to call an insurance agent and find out if the home is vacant for more than 30 days will their homeowner’s insurance remain in force.  If the home is vacated for more than 30 days, it’s very common that the homeowner’s insurance actually cancels, and there’s no advance notice of that.  So people leave thinking that even if there is a problem they’re covered when in fact, they’re not.

STEVE:  So Don, I know you’ve run into some problems in the past where a house wasn’t winterized.  What have you found as far as some of the costs that have happened and the downsides that could occur?

DON:  Well, Steve, in the 30 years I’ve been doing this, the most difficult thing I still run into is to walk into a home where the pipes have broken and the water was left on.  The damage can be to hardwood floors, to carpeting, to floor joists.  Sheetrock becomes soaked.  I’ve seen it fall off of basement ceilings.  Windows become frozen solid, and it takes weeks, sometimes months to dry the home out.  The expenses run into the tens of thousands of dollars to put all of that back together again.  And then it’s difficult to say that everything is back 100%.

STEVE:  So in a nutshell, Don, what happens when you go to winterize a house?  What are the things that you do that helps the house get winterized?

DON:  Well, the first thing we do is turn the water off at the source.  If there’s a water heater, we remove it.  If there’s a well, we turn the power off to it.  All of the plumbing is drained down, hot and cold water.  We do add non-toxic antifreeze into places where water would collect, usually things like toilet bowls, traps, drains, dishwashers.  That way there’s a little bit of water left, but they do have antifreeze in it, so it won’t freeze if the heat does fail.

I do install a temperature alarm in the houses that I winterize so if the heat fails, we still want to get in there and get it fixed even though the plumbing’s protected.  It’s structurally hard on a home to let it freeze.  So we need to get out there and take care of that furnace and get it going, and we don’t frost on the walls and ceiling.  That’s pretty much in a nutshell it.

STEVE:  Well, thanks so much, Don, for coming in today.  And what’s the best way for them to get a hold of you to get work done?

DON:  I can be reached in my office.  Phone 651-452-5261 or I’m happy to be e-mailed at urescodon@aol.com.

STEVE:  Great.  Thanks, Don.

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark.  Thanks so much for watching my video blog this week.  I’m going to kind of update you on what’s happening in the real estate market with the statistics that have come in through the end of October and what’s going on in our marketplace in the Twin Cities.  As you look at the pending sales that have gone on over the last 90 days, you’ll see that in fact our sales are up by about 35% over last year.

So as you look at this graph, it’ll show with the bolder line on top how many sales have been going on compared to last year at this time when it was a much weaker market.  And we’ll continue to see a stronger market because of the strength of our marketplace going into 2012.  The second chart that I’m going to show you is showing what’s going on in the inventory of homes.  And the inventory of homes also has a positive thing going on in our marketplace in that our inventory is about 16 to 18% less than where it was last year.

So there’s fewer sellers having to compete as the buyers have begun to increase.  The next chart that you’re going to see is where it shows the makeup of the percentage of the sales and how it’s affected our marketplace.  That in fact, over the last three years, 60% of the sellers are traditional type sellers; 30% are bank-owned sellers or foreclosure; and 10% are short sale.  And until we start seeing a change in that, we won’t start seeing the changes in the area of prices firming up.

So the last two graphs I’m going to show you are what has gone on in the median sale price and what’s gone on in the price per square foot market.  And what you’ll see in the property types is that in single-family homes we’ve had about an 8% drop in the last year; in townhouses, about a 14% drop; and in condominiums, about an 18% drop in the median sale price.

The next chart that you’ll see if the chart that shows the price per square foot where in the single-family it is about a 9% drop; in the townhouse and twin home, about a 13% drop; and in the condominiums, about a 12% drop.  So we need to see a stronger market.  The stronger market will come about by having a lower inventory, which we’ve already seen and also seeing a little bit of the health coming back in more buyers in the marketplace. 

I look forward to giving you a survey coming into January of what happened in the whole real estate market in 2011, but have a very good day and thanks for watching this update.  Have a great day.  Bye.

http://www.twincitiesusa.com/video/Real-Estate-Market-Update-for-the-Twin-Cities-October-2011

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark, Counselor Realty.  Thanks for watching my video blog this week.  I’m going to give an update after statistics have come in through the month of September and kind of show you what’s going on in our Twin Cities real estate market, also adding some new charts that will give you some new concepts in how we can look at the real estate market.

The first one I’m going to show you is what’s called Closed Sales Chart.  And you’ll see compared to last year in 2010 we had 2,800 sales in September, and this year we had 3,500.  Now remember part of the reason why the sales were lower last year was because of the tax credit ending in April.  So when you look at year to date compared to last year, we’re up about 4%.

So we’re pretty much about the same kind of real estate market as 2010.  The next chart I’m going to show you is called the Median Sale Chart, and you can see here what’s gone on in the differing areas.  The median sale price for single-family homes a year ago were at $185,000 and now are at $172,000.  In the townhouses, the median price was at $140,000 last year, and now it’s $120,000.  And condominiums last year were at $124,000 versus $102,000 this year.

But then the next chart that you’ll look at will show you the different types of construction status.  You’ll note that the traditional home sales still have dropped slightly by 9%, but new construction has gone from a median sale price of $239,000 up to $280,000, a 17% increase.  The next chart I want to show you is where you look at dollar per square foot.  And as you look at the screen, you’ll see here there’s a variation in each one in dollar per square foot, both in single family being down by 9.2%, townhouses by 12.9%, and condominiums by 12.4%.

So we continue to see the downward pressure in the marketplace even though these interest rates continue to be so strong and low in the marketplace.  The next chart I’ve shown you in the past is Housing Affordability, and that is a mixture of both interest rate and price range of houses.  As you saw from the most recent charts, you’ll see that the prices have dropped maybe 8% to 10% in the Twin Cities over the last year, but now we’re looking at interest rates at 3.5% to 4% for a 30-year fixed mortgage.

And that’s why you’ll see in 2009 we were at 199 housing affordability.  We increased by 9% in 2010.  And then in 2011, we’re at 237 for housing affordability, which means the buyers with their median income, that they can buy more house for their dollar in today’s marketplace.  The last chart I’m going to show you is a new chart that just came out showing the makeup and percentages of the types of sales that are going on in the marketplace.  The first chart shows the traditional sale.

Now that’s a type of owner who is not underwater, is just selling his house as a traditional sale, and you can see that over the last three years we’ve been hovering about 60% of traditional sales.  Now normally in the 2004-2006 market, it was more like 90%.  And so we need to see the traditional market become stronger.  What you’ll notice in the lender-owned market is that over the last three years 28% in 2009, 30% in 2010, and back to 28% in 2011.

So that has remained as bank-owned properties about the same percentage.  And that last one of makeup of sales is what is called the short sale, which I’ve talked about in the past.  And that’s where owners have gone and put their homes on the market, sold them to a buyer, and then approached their bank to approve of doing a short sale and forgiving them a portion of their mortgage that they owe.  And you can see that it’s gone up slightly from 8.5% up to about 11.3% in this year’s makeup of sales.

That kind of gives you an update on what’s going on in the market.  It’s going to continue to be a good market with great rates, great prices, and for buyers a wonderful time to take opportunity in purchasing a home in the Twin Cities.  Make it a great day.  Bye.

http://www.twincitiesusa.com/video/Steve-Westmarks-Thanksgiving-wish-to-you-for-2011

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark.  Thanks so much for watching my video blog.  Generally, on my video blogs, I’m talking about real estate.  And the only thing I’m going to be talking about in real estate today is about your house that you’re going to be spending your Thanksgiving in.  This last Sunday, the church I attend did a service called a Blessing Service where they had people come forward if you wanted to and be blessed 

 And as I sat and contemplated in that service, I thought about this Thanksgiving time that we’re going to be coming up on, and the time when you have family around you and the dinner table and the time that you could be thankful, but also give a blessing to your family.  Whether it be your children, your grandchildren, blessing your parent, blessing your spouse, take this time to make a great Thanksgiving to your family, but also, reach out and bless them by just looking at them and telling them how much you appreciate what they are and what they mean to you with no expectations on them other than just loving them and blessing them. 

Have a great Thanksgiving, and thanks for watching.  Have a great day.

http://www.twincitiesusa.com/video/Real-estate-report-for-the-Twin-Cities-Fall-2011

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark.  Thanks for watching my video blog this week.  What I’d like to talk about is a fall/winter market and what to be able to expect as both a home seller and a home buyer.  In the fall market, you’ll find that the total number of unit sales happening November through the month of January is usually about 20% less in the number of buyers that purchase compared to the top months of April, May, and June.

Those are our three biggest months.  So many sellers feel with less buyers out looking in the marketplace to take their properties off the market.  And so that does happen with the holidays.  And we do find that the amount of properties on the market compared to that same time is 20% to 25% lower.  So the mix mainly stays about the same.  But what I do find in the marketplace is because there’s fewer buyers out looking by 20% and the sellers that are out there that really must sell, the seller works very, very hard at finding their price position for the buyers that are in the marketplace.

And so we find some of our best pricing in real estate over a year period of time in that November, December, January period of time.  So as  buyer in the next three months, if a couple of things remain the same, number one interest rates remain at this excellent rate of 3.5% to 4%, and sellers work to position their properties at some of the best prices, you’ll find your greatest affordability in the next three months.

I hope that gives you a little bit of an insight into what a fall/early winter real estate market is like.  Make it a great day, and thanks for watching.  Bye.

http://www.twincitiesusa.com/video/Steve-Westmark-discusses-the-potential-risks-in-buying-or-selling-a-home-with-stucco

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark.  Thanks for watching my video blog this week.  This week, I want to talk a little bit about stucco and the problems that can happen with stucco.  As I meet with sellers who own a home with stucco, we have to deal with the situation has there been problems or are there currently problems with the home with stucco.  Now homes have been built through the years going back way before the 1900s where they had the stucco exteriors and really had no problems with stucco up until recently.

And some time in the 70s, early 80s they started changing how we insulated and did things on homes and how we sealed up the walls.  And as the walls got sealed up with stucco on the outside, the houses didn’t air out the way they used to coming through the walls.  And so you started getting moisture inside the walls.  And so what I recommend to sellers and to buyers who are buying a home with stucco that’s built from 1980 or after is they get a stucco inspection.

And in future weeks I’ll have a stucco inspector come in and talk at what they look at.  But what they’re looking for—and then they’ll get into the specifics—is moisture that are in the walls.  And if there is moisture there, has it created mold or has it caused rotting in wood or different types of things like that?  From that point, if we find that those things need to be corrected, when I meet with a seller, I suggest that before we even put the property on the market that we bring a mold mitigator or a stucco mitigator in to deal with the moisture problems.

And sometimes, it has to deal with changing of insulation, correcting of wood problems, correcting of window problems that happened from that.  And I’ll also have a stucco mitigator in the coming weeks come and talk about how they go through mitigation.  The sad part in some of the stuff with stucco is that if it was done improperly, especially in the 90s there were problems with it in the codes that were put out by the state of Minnesota, there have been things to have to correct the stucco that have run from $50,000 to over a half a million on some of the larger homes.

But many times, these stucco problems can be dealt with on homes with less than $10,000; $20,000; or $30,000.  But they do have to be dealt with and it does have to be corrected.  Hopefully, this has given you a little bit of insight into problems with stucco.  Watch in our coming weeks as we talk about having stucco inspections and then stucco mitigation.  Thanks for watching this week.  Make it a great day.  

http://www.twincitiesusa.com/video/Brad-Nyberg-from-Quality-Radon-answers-your-radon-questions

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark, Counselor Realty.  Thanks for watching my video blog this week.  This week, I’m bringing in Brad Nyberg with Quality Radon to talk about radon and how to deal with it.  Welcome, Brad.

BRAD:  Thank you.

STEVE:  Many times, I have buyers who want to have a radon test done with their inspection, and what is that inspector looking for and what does it mean once they’ve done a radon test and it comes back with whatever readings it has?

BRAD:  Well, initially, the inspector is going to place a radon test device most often electronic in nature and so it’s a data-gathering machine.  It gathers radon data hour by hour and minute by minute and will present the inspector with a graph, a table and an average of radon levels throughout the test.  What the inspector is trying to ascertain is what are the levels of radon gas on the property; are they excessive; are they moderate; are they low; and should action be taken.

STEVE:  Well, I know there’s measurements that come out.  There’s something like a 4.0 whatever.  Why don’t you explain a little bit about what these measurements mean and what changes are going on in the marketplace with that.

BRAD:  Certainly.  Currently, the EPA’s action level is 4.0.  What that really means is an amount of radiation per liter or volume of air.  And at 4.0, the EPA has said that that is a level that’s not acceptable and 3.9  is really a passing grade.  Well, what it really comes down to is how much radiation to you want to be exposed to.  Now that standard has been in place for over 20 years, and it’ll be changed in the next couple years to be 2.7 or less.

And so ideally, you want your home to be as low as reasonable, as low as possible.  And so the 4.0 level came out to be what is achievable for a radon mitigation system.  And the World Health Organization has come out two years ago this month with a recommendation that all countries reduce their acceptable levels to 2.7 or less.  Now to give you an idea of what that really means to a person, what is the risk of cancer for example due to radon exposure?

Well, if you lived in a basement environment.  Minnesota.  Basement bedrooms are quite common.  Maybe you have a basement bedroom and you were downstairs let’s say for the sake of discussion purposes 24 hours a day at a reading of 3.9, that’s the relative equivalent of smoking 7.8 cigarettes per day, so darn near half-a-pack-a-day smoker.  Now Minnesota’s a high state.  They’re the fourth highest in the nation.  So the average home here has a reading of 5.4.

Well, at 24-hour exposure, that’s 10.8 cigarettes.  You really double the number to find out what your exposure equivalent risk of smoking would be to your lungs.  We find homes in Minnesota that are as high as 120 and average 5.4.  Some as low as 0.3, 0.4 without a radon system.  The good news is they all can be corrected.  So the highest reading we found recently is 120 in Stillwater, Minnesota, and that was a couple of months ago back in August.

And we brought that down to 0.5.  So what it really means is that a radon system is very successful at reducing radon gas in a home.  We talk to many buyers and consult the buyers and tell them if you like the house, that’s a house you want to buy, not to worry.  It can be fixed.

STEVE:  So generally, what happens is when I have an inspection the radon thing comes back at a higher than good level, I give Brad a call and I have Brad go out and do radon mitigation.  So Brad, when you do radon mitigation, what are you doing?

BRAD:  Well, Steve, what we’re doing is installing what’s referred to as a sub-slab depressurization system.  Quite literally, it is a vacuum system from the ground into the house.  So the inspector measures the issue.  The issue is radon gas in the air.  The real problem is there’s radon gas building up under the house, seeping into the house, and thereby exposing the owner, the occupants to radiation.  So what a radon system really is is quite literally a customized vacuum system for the ground under the house.

What happens is in most cases is we come in, we cut really a 5-inch hole through the concrete slab in the basement, normally in an unfinished area—utility room, laundry room, storage room—and ideally next to the attached garage.  So we cut this 5-inch hole through the slab, removing about a 5-gallon bucket or so of material.  So now we have a little pit we created under the slab.

We’ll insert a 3-inch PVC pipe into the opening, reseal the concrete so that it’s airtight around the pipe, then route that pipe up along the foundation wall, run through into the attached garage, run that pipe up along the garage wall to the attic of the garage, mount a very high-quality radon blower upon that pipe, then have that pipe exit out to the roof.  You’ll apply flashing and insulation materials and caulking and sealants.  And we also do a nice job of sealing cracks and openings in the slab of the basement floor and seal the sump cover.

So we power that system up.  The fan’s going to spin.  It creates a vacuum in the pit we created, and that vacuum causes the majority of ground gases—be it methane, moisture, radon, what have you—to that point of collection and it’s discharged outside where it quickly dissipates.

STEVE:  As you can tell, Brad is really knowledgeable on radon and helping people deal with this circumstance.  So what’s the best way for people to get a hold of you, Brad, to have radon mitigated on their home?

BRAD:  Well, the best way to call me is by phone, 612-521-3580 or actually, I love e-mail because then I have the information in front of me; I can respond quickly.  And so my e-mail address is Bradradonman@gmail.com.

STEVE:  Thanks.

http://www.twincitiesusa.com/video/Guy-Grussing-provides-valuable-Roofing-Info-for-both-buyers-and-sellers

STEVE:  Hi, this is Steve Westmark.  Thanks so much for watching my video blog this week.  I decided to bring in a roofer that knows lots about roofing with a company in Hopkins called Grussing Roofing.  And this is Guy Grussing.  Welcome, Guy.

 GUY:  Hi, Steve.  Thanks for inviting me.

STEVE:  Guy, people ask me when do you go ahead to replace a roof.  What are things that people need to look at or what do you have to look at to help them determine when they need to replace a roof on their house?

GUY:  That’s a good question, Steve.  Generally, as a rule of thumb, roofs generally last around 20 years.  If it’s around 20 years, telltale signs of the roof will be signs of aging.  You might be losing shingles; granules may be falling off.  Some of the shingles might be curling or cupping where they’re raised up and just looking old.  And that’s a good time to get your roof evaluated to see if it’s time to replace.

STEVE:  There must be good times and bad times to put new roofs on.  What are the best times to put a new roof on your house?

GUY:  Well, Steve, that’s a real good question, and there’s two different seasons.  You have a summer season and a winter season.  In the summer—generally it’s best to put it on spring and fall.  Sometimes in the summer when it gets really hot days, the shingles can get scuffed because the asphalt gets really soft from the temperatures and walking on it.  And as far as when it gets too late in the year, generally late November, December when the snow starts flying, shingles will get brittle.  If you walk on them, they can crack.

It’s hard to work with and it’s just the quality of the craftsmanship just isn’t there when the temperature drops and the people are working on the roof.

STEVE:  We have buyers that go out and look at properties and we see roofs that have a certain type of algae or some type of darkness on the roof.  What causes that and how can that be corrected?

GUY:  Steve, what causes that is algae growth that grows under shingles and it wasn’t a really big part of this area until about 10 years ago.  Since then, the shingle manufacturers, the new shingles, a lot of the designer shingles they’ve incorporated with granules, copper, and zinc that actually wash when it rains and kills the algae growth on it because it has become such a bunch of a problem. 

It’s more of a cosmetic problem, but if you do have it on your roof right now, there’s roof cleaners that have a bleach compound that you put on the roof.  You just spray it on, let it sit for five minutes.  Then you take a hose and rinse it off and that will kill the algae growth.

STEVE:  Of course, in Minnesota we have a lot of storms and with those we get hail.  How do you help people deciding how to deal with hail damage on their roofs?

GUY:  Steve, the best thing to do is when you first start with a roof is to look at soft metal.  Anything that’s aluminum is a good way to determine the size of the hail and the damage.  Before you even get on the roof, you can look at the gutters and downspouts and see if there’s denting in them.  And then if you have aluminum fascia, see if there’s any denting on that.  If there is any denting, there’s a good chance that there might be possible damage to the roof.

When you get on the roof, what you’re looking for are circles or kind of a round circle where the granules are actually removed where the hail has impacted the roof, knocked the granules loose, and you’ll see asphalt.  And determine whether they’re new or old.  If the asphalt is black, then it’s a newer hit and as it grays and gets dirty over the years, that means it’s an older hit.  And you look for that, and the insurance company will determine how many per square feet, usually anywhere between 5 and 15 before they will replace the roof.

And if you do see some damage like that, it’s good to have a roofing consultant come out and then call your adjuster to get the final approval for the roof replacement.

STEVE:  Well, Guy, thanks so much for coming in today.  He obviously has a lot of knowledge.  I know his dad was in roofing and he’s gained all the insight from him, but how’s the best way for you to be contacted to talk about getting a roof on someone’s home?

GUY:  I can either be contacted by phone at 952-935-0557 or Grussingroofing.com.