Feel The VIBE

While we still seem to be stuck between winter and spring, the sunshine, green grass and warmer weather will be in full-swing before we know it! And, with the warmer temps comes an abundance of spring activities around the Twin Cities. We compiled a comprehensive list of some of our favorite spring events - check them out below!

Art in Bloom 2022

 Art in Bloom, the annual celebration of art and flowers, presented by the Friends of the Institute, will take place April 28 - May 1, 2022. This year’s event will be held in person and is free and open to the public! Art in Bloom exhibits imaginative floral interpretations of selected works of art from MIA’s permanent collection, created by more than 100 individual and commercial florists. 

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We Minnesotan’s all know that feeling of that first summer breeze that hits your face and lets you know that warmer days lie ahead. Isn't it great? Well summer is back, just look outside. What's that you say? All you see is mud and sleet? Oh my, you didn't think I was talking about the weather, did you? Oh gosh no, I'm talking about the real estate market of course, because we're back to summer-like numbers, and more extreme "temps'' than we've ever seen. Let's take a look!

When you look at the average Days on Market for homes in the Twin Cities, you can see it's been climbing steadily since last July. Normally a sign that things would be balancing out a bit in the market, Realtors welcomed longer selling times with open arms. Now, just take a look at…

Earth Day is coming up at the end of this month, so we wanted to share some home energy efficiency tips and helpful resources!

Quick and easy energy saving tips:

• Use smart devices when you can! Installing a smart thermostat and putting your home’s temperature on a set schedule can dramatically help with energy costs. On average an Energy Star® rated smart thermostat can save homeowners approximately 8% annually on heating and cooling bills (Energystar.gov).

• Swap out all incandescent light bulbs for LED light bulbs.

• Regularly service your furnace/boiler or air conditioner to make sure they are clean and running without any issues.

• As the seasons change, change the direction of your ceiling fans. During…

Not to be confused with West Side Saint Paul, the city of West Saint Paul actually looks pretty south when viewing it on a map, but hey, it’s a worthy area to cover none-the-less. The city's misleading name comes in part from the fact that it lies on the west bank of the predominantly north-to-south Mississippi River. Robert Street is the main drag in this area with some great spots to check out. And you know, since we’re covering it on our neighborhood series, we’ve compiled a list below. 

Crumbl Cookies

If you haven’t had a Crumbl cookie yet, are you really living? These giant freshly baked cookies are the bee’s knees. The best part? They rotate between super creative flavors every week so you never get tired of them. Yeah, it’s dangerous. And…

Spring is sort of in the air and with spring typically comes the hottest time of the year to sell your home! As REALTORS® we see all types of different situations when it comes to getting your home ready to make its debut on the market, and of course when you go to list your home everyone seems to have an opinion about who to work with, what your home is worth, and much more. No fear! We are here to debunk some common misconceptions when listing your home.

Myth: Get in touch with a REALTOR® a week or two before listing your home.

Fact: This is actually the exact opposite of what we recommend doing, but we do understand sometimes you have to move quickly! If you aren’t under any extreme time constraints, our advice is to get in touch with your…

Just as the season starts to show promise of warmer weather and longer days here in Minnesota, every March we get that reality check of having to lose that precious hour brought on by Daylight Saving Time. It sort of feels like we earned that hour, doesn't it?

Well, it's not all bad. There is still more sunlight throughout the day, which should bring some renewed energy to get started on that spring cleaning list we've all been putting off! You know, that one you started on your phone but put down to watch the Winter Olympics.

So what's on your list to get done this spring? As Realtors, we know all sorts of quirky things about home maintenance. Check out a few of our recommended tips you may not have had on your list in previous years:

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Well, hello again. Back for more, I see? That's good, because I have more riveting real estate market info for you as we break down what February was like here in the Twin Cities. When we left off last month, we were desperately looking toward spring to bring us some welcome balance in this very unique market. So is spring here yet? Err...kind of...I guess...not really...hopefully soon? Let's just take a look.

The biggest helper would have likely been a big increase to the overall housing inventory, but I am a bit bummed to report that we didn't see a big boost. Total Units Available landed at 4,106. While that number is up a bit from January, it's still over 1,200 less than where we were a year ago. New Listing inventory was actually closer to last…

We’re excited to begin covering suburbs in our neighborhood series! First on the list — St. Louis Park. This neighboring suburb just minutes west of downtown Minneapolis offers a convenient location and small-town charm. It’s the perfect setting for experiencing the metro region without all the hustle and bustle. With no shortages of places to eat or things to do, we’ve covered some of the best of St. Louis Park below.

Punch Bowl Social

You won’t find a more entertaining spot than Punch Bowl Social. Introducing an excellent line-up of activities from bowling, karaoke, bonzini, foosball, giant Scrabble and Jenga, ping pong, or vintage arcade games — this spot quite literally has it all. Their menu isn’t lacking either. Grab some classic breakfast…

Last year’s article from our very own Susan Bonne was so good we're pressing the repeat button. The real estate market is even more competitive than this time last year, we knew we had to reshare these helpful and even more relevant insights! If you’re in the middle of buying a home right now, or are thinking about getting the process started - this one's for you! 

You’ve likely been hearing, from every rooftop, that we are in the hottest seller’s market in a generation. That listings are scarcer than hen’s teeth. And that buyers have to pay thousands over asking, and throw in homemade cookies, a puppy and maybe a Tesla to be the winning bid and secure a new home. Yes, it’s more than a typical real estate frenzy, and multiple offers on desirable…

And we're off! 

New year, new Twin Cities real estate market. Last year brought us so many highs and lows. 2022, can we count on you to chill out a bit and help us keep our sanity? Speaking of chill, that's definitely been the theme so far with an eight year January low of 10.4 degrees. Is the market frozen, too? Or just heating up? Let's take a look.

Let's start off on a positive note. The New Listing inventory was trending downward at a scary rate, but we saw January kick up sharply to 3,366 homes hitting the market - way up from December. Last year, we also faced some large obstacles with how low the Average Days on Market got (less than a week at times), but that has now gone up by two days for seven consecutive months, landing at 20. Finally,…