John Murphy’s Sunday Tour of Homes

Sunday, September 7, 2008 Tour Details

THESE HOMES ARE ALL BANKED OWNED PROPERTIES!

View 6 bank owned properties in 2 hours this Sunday!  If you’re looking for a great deal on a house, purchasing bank owned property is an excellent way to do it.  Please note that each bank owned/distress sale varies considerably with regard to the condition of the property.

1:00 - 1:15pm  14300 48th Ave N., Plymouth: $309,900 4BR/2BA 2370 TFSF 1995 Blt.

1:25 - 1:40pm  14004 52nd Ave. N. Plymouth: $259,900 3BR/3BA 1916 TFSF 2003 Blt.

1:55 - 2:10pm  805 Lanewood Lane N., Plymouth: $250,000  4BR/3BA 2122 TFSF 1950 Blt.

2:20 - 2:35pm  18320 31st Ave. N., Plymouth: $239,900  4/BR 2/BA 1702 TFSF 1977 Blt.

2:40 - 2:55pm  3410 Holly Lane N., Plymouth: $400,000  4/BR 4/BA 3268 TFSF 1993 Blt.

3:00 - 3:15pm  17331 County Road 24, Plymouth: $549,900  5/BR 3/BA 3380 TFSF 2005 Blt.

Feel free to join us for the entire tour or you can show up to which ever home(s) you’d like to see.  We won’t have much time at each property, but you’ll be able to get a good sense of them.  If you’d like to see the property again, we can schedule a private showing for a future date.  If you need to reach me during the tour, my contact information is below:

John Murphy
RE/MAX Results
C: 763-443-9821
E: John@JohnMurphyHomes.com

Tour Map

There is lots of news about distress sales in the media lately.  In some parts of the country distress sales are currently representing 30-40% of the transaction activity.

In Plymouth, MN for 2008, distress sales have represented 14.5% of all closed residential transactions - 76 out of 525 total as of August 24, 2008 and based upon my methodology below.  (I run a custom search in the “Agent Remarks” field in order to pick up various terms.  It’s by no means perfect, but it’s quite good.  Once in a while I pick up what we call in the business, a “normal” seller).

*short sale*,*shortsale*,*bank*,*REO*,*corporate own*,*corp own*,*corp. own*,*3rd party*,*approval*,*foreclosure*,*forclosure*,*pre foreclosure*,*preforeclosure*,*pre-foreclosure*,*as is*,*as-is*,*subject*,*HUD*,*redemption*

This search allows my buyers immediate access to some of the best deals in the market when they subscribe to this service.

Recently the City of Plymouth, MN was named “Best Small City” by CNN Money (CNN, Fortune and Money Magazine) in its annual review of places to live.  The article is filled with lots of interesting data points.

There are currently 66 distress sales in Plymouth right now.  That’s 11.5% of the total inventory for sale.

The MLS started allowing agents to check a box on the MLS if the property is in foreclosure or is lender owned.  I know there are many who have signed up to receive listings on Edina Realty.com, Coldwell Banker.com and Re/Max.com etc.  If you are, you are getting an extremely limited view of the distress sales available in the market.

For example, I ran a search this morning on EdinaRealty.com and came up with 19 properties for sale in Plymouth, MN that are in foreclosure or are lender owned.  My custom search turned up 66!

If you want access to this kind of information on an automated basis, just sign up at my web site.  I can customize it to only deliver the specific cities, price ranges and kinds of housing your might be interest in.

There are presently 50 homes for sale in Plymouth, MN that are listed at $700,000 or higher.

During each of the past two years, 8 homes were sold over $700,000 during the first four months of the year (Jan. 1st through April 30th- 2007 Sales and 2008 Sales for this period). So, for the past two years, the market has been absorbing about 2 of these homes in this category per month. With 50 homes for sale, that means the months supply is 25 for homes priced over $700,000.
The other factor here is that Lennar is now a player in this market segment more so than they have been in the past. During the first four months of 2007, only one Lennar home showed up in the sales with their Taryn Hills development near Vicksburg and County Road 47/Hackamore. During the same period in 2008, two showed up. They WILL have a bigger impact on share of homes sold in this segment for the next couple of years and that means there will be an even bigger impact on individual homeowners who are trying to sell their $700,000+ home in Plymouth - competition is very, very steep.

Welcome to this wonderful two-story home in Lake Camelot Estates. This home has been beautifully finished, updated and improved. Situated on a .37 acre lot with gorgeous pine trees and located at the base of a cul-de-sac in high demand Lake Camelot Estates, this home is ready to move in to.

From the moment you walk in to 14215 60th Place, you notice the warm and inviting environment this home offers. The spacious entry allows for a sense of space in the home. The main level offers a beautifully remodeled kitchen with cherry cabinetry, granite countertops, Center Island and stainless steel appliances. There is room for family dinners in the informal dining area. Both of these rooms are open to the large main floor family room with a wood burning fireplace.

On the main level you’ll also find elegant formal space for entertaining in the living room and dining room. There is a mud room and laundry located just off the garage door entrance and once spring and summer comes around, you’ll love sitting in the screened porch overlooking the nicely landscaped backyard.

Upstairs are four bedrooms – private master bedroom and bath as well as three other bedrooms with a full bath in the main hallway. The private master suite offers a wonderful retreat with a spacious bedroom and private bath which includes a separate shower, whirlpool tub and large vanity with his/her sinks. These rooms, like the rest of the home, have been nicely updated to the current trends in interior design.

The lower level offers a family room with a newly built entertainment center and bar area as well as a fifth bedroom, an exercise room, a ¾ bath and lots of storage!

Many items have been improved and replaced in this home from the roof to the furnace to the air conditioner to the driveway etc. Please see the home features/improvements sheet for a complete list of those items.

With 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, 3 car garage and over 3,100 finished square feet, this two-story home in Lake Camelot Estates offers today’s family space, a feeling of luxury and a great value in a wonderful neighborhood!

Click here for the MLS listing (MLS # 3506224) and here for the picture tour.

According to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, the City of Plymouth is off 15% in overall real estate sales volume so far YTD for 2008.  I came up with some different numbers than they did, but I won’t publish those until I hear back from the association.

Click here for The 100 Report for Plymouth, MN.

I run a customized MLS search looking for what I would flag as “distressed” housing for investment purposes.  I can search for agent comments in the MLS by using the following string of terms:

*short sale*,*bank*,*REO*,*corporate own*,*3rd party*,*approval*,*foreclosure*,*pre foreclosure*,*preforeclosure*,*pre-foreclosure*,*as is*,*as-is*

Today there are 491 properties for sale in the City of Plymouth.  52 of them came up in my “distressed” search which means that fully 10% of the homes for sale could be considered distressed.  Many of these properties are indeed on the lower end of the market.  The distribution of homes for sale based upon my “distressed” search are as follows:

0-$100,000                     3

$100,000 - $200,000:     17

$200,000 - $300,000:     16

$300,000 - $400,000:     10

$400,000 - $500,000:      5

$500,000 - $600,000       1

CDOM or Cumulative Days on Market for these homes is 113 days and the average asking price is $254,234.  The lowest price “distressed” property is $82,500 and the highest is $549,900.

Generally speaking, the public does not have the ability to search for these kinds of properties.  Only agents can do these specialized word searches as those comments are not sent to public web sites.  The ability to be able to do highly customized searches like this within the MLS is only one of many reasons why you should strongly consider working with a professional real estate agent if you’re thinking of buying.

Pricing pressure will continue in the market as more and more of these “distressed” properties come up for sale.  I’ll comment in a future post about the role the banks are playing in the market and the detrimental effect they are having across the metro.

As reported in the Lakeshore Weekly News, Erickson Retirement Communities withdrew their proposal to build over 1,700 units where the Elm Creek golf course currently exists on Highway 55 in western Plymouth.  It appears the developers will regroup and likely approach the City of Plymouth at a later date with a new plan. Click here for the location of the Elm Creek golf course.
The City of Plymouth has seen a few senior housing projects developed recently including the 400+ unit development by Trillium Woods as well as Vicksburg Crossing located at Highway 55 and Vicksburg near Lowe’s.

The City of Plymouth, MN just published their draft of the 2030 comprehensive plan.