Twin Cities Homeowners Turn To Icon
The Star Tribune reports on another trend that appears when homes don’t sell. “Super Bowl Sunday, is often considered a kickoff to the spring real estate market. Agents say activity so far suggests the market could be as busy as last year’s near-record pace. But sales of the St Joseph statues suggest that sellers aren’t quite so optimistic.”
“St. Joseph has become an icon to nervous homesellers who believe, or want to believe, that burying his statue on the property will bring the saint’s intercession, and a sale. Purchases of the saint’s statues, including one packaged in a $6.95 homeseller’s kit complete with prayers and instructions, have surged in recent months, according to Tim Doran, president of three Twin Cities-area religious supply stores.”
“Doran said monthly sales of the kits have increased on average 33 percent, adding that sales of a less-expensive statue ($1.95) are up even more. Those increases coincide with a steep rise in the number of unsold houses in the Twin Cities area.”
“For the week ending Jan. 21, new listings in the 13-county metro area were up 26 percent over the same period a year ago, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. For buyers, this is one of the best markets in years. Buyers have the luxury of shopping around and doing a little tire-kicking without the multiple-offer worries they faced last year.”
“In December, for example, 7.15 houses were on the market for every buyer, up from 4.32 at the same time last year.”
“Bob Pacieznik, a sales agent in Chanhassen, was something of a skeptic, until he landed a couple of hard-to-sell listings. ‘I walked in and said to the woman: ‘I have to sell a house,’ and she said, ‘You need St. Joseph.’ And they have one with St. Joseph standing next to a For Sale sign.’”
“After their $540,000 house in Prior Lake had been on the market for three slow months, Holly and Sean Ploeger were willing to do anything to sell it. So in December, they pulled up soil at the base of their For Sale sign and buried a little statue of St. Joseph in a plastic bag upside down and looking away from the house (the direction they want to go).”
“‘At this point, nothing can hurt,’ Holly Ploeger said. ‘It gives us something to hope for because nothing else was working.’”
“‘”It shows the desperateness of some sellers,’ said Bruce Erickson, sales agent. ‘I think sellers can use everything they’ve got right now.’”
Thanks to the reader who sent this in.
“After their $540,000 house in Prior Lake” -
Who’s to say its a $540,000 house. I say it is most likely a $380,000 house.
Twin Cities area data
“‘At this point, nothing can hurt,’ Holly Ploeger said. ‘It gives us something to hope for because nothing else was working.’”
Lowering the price might work.
This is off topic, but how do you find out ‘days on market’ for a house??
Thanks!
Now thats funny! Say a prayer ’cause you’ll need it.
LOL! That makes my day. Evil ‘buyers’ will suggest even more off the frothy top. Like 15% off…
BAHHAWAAA!!!!
“Vanity, its my favorite sin!”
from Al Pacino playing Satan in Devils Advocate
Here’s another Twin Cities Item posted by a reader over at Housing Panic:
” I caught this little blurb in the local paper just last Saturday:
Your dream house in St. Paul just got a little harder to find.
Prompted by complaints, the city has started confiscating some temporary real-estate signs that point prospective buyers to homes for sale.
Though common, the signs — usually found on boulevards between sidewalks and roads — violate city code. Temporary “open house” signs still will be allowed, as long as they’re removed the same day. Real-estate signs in homeowners’ yards are not affected.
Patrick Ruble, government affairs director for the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors, said his group has been working with the city to fix the problem.
Realtors can pick up their signs at the city’s Dale Street yard, where they will be held for 30 days.”
What cracks me up is this is the second time in less than a week I’ve seen homeowners, obviously rattled by the increasing number of “FOR SALE” signs in their neighborhood, use the law to have them removed. I don’t remember this happening last year.
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18675105&postID=113915281607307370
“Who’s to say its a $540,000 house. I say it is most likely a $380,000 house. ”
Hard to say in PL… if its on the lake it could easily be ‘worth’ $540K… if not $380K might even be a stretch. We used to live on water as a kid and even then the difference in valuation was staggering… it is more severe now. But it drives outsiders crazy… seeing a smaller, older home on water sell for twice or more what theirs does a just a block off the lake.
Get used to it - its Minnesota.
pretty soon they’ll be burying the screwed homeowners next to the For Sale sign in plastic bags pointing skyward when they stop making their adjusted mortgage payments. Financial comedy at its climax!
Perhaps you could bury David Lehrer in the front yard!
“After their $540,000 house in Prior Lake had been on the market for three slow months, Holly and Sean Ploeger were willing to do anything to sell it. So in December, they pulled up soil at the base of their For Sale sign and buried a little statue of St. Joseph in a plastic bag upside down and looking away from the house (the direction they want to go).”
Are we going to see a bubble for voodoo dolls?
PHX_renter: in order to determine an accurate days on market number, you really need to find access to the local realtor MLS. The reason is because realtors intentionally manipulate this number to ensure their listing pops up when other realtors conduct inventory searches. I understand the marketing angle of this technique, but in my mind it’s unethical because it provides a false impression of the current state of the market. If you are able to gain access to the MLS, just take a look at the histories for several properties. My guess is you will find some that have actually been on the market for several weeks, and in some cases, several months. Realtors will take something off MLS and then relist under a new number, setting days on market back to zero. Add up each listing though, and the picture is much different. Anytime you hear the media or realtors quoting days on market, please just disregard it, for it is as accurate/honest as the CPI.
“pretty soon they’ll be burying the screwed homeowners next to the For Sale sign in plastic bags pointing skyward when they stop making their adjusted mortgage payments. Financial comedy at its climax!”
Shouldn’t they be buried upside down?
“Agents say”
Gimmeabreak!!! Just one stinking break.
“burying his statue on the property will bring the saint’s intercession”
LMAO, they are resorting to black magic and voodo to sell. Isn’t it black magic (evil RE types) and voodo (dark lending) that got them into this mess.
I’m not religous at all, but isn’t it supposed to be dangerous to ask the
Devil for favors? Or gods, spirits, demons, whatever….
After one mans voodo is anothers saintly intervention.
Isn’t it kind of wrong for the moralistic and faithful to ask for divine intervention at the cost of others (their desired buyer for their cursed home =)..
“Lowering the price might work.”
My thought exactly. The line in the newspaper story actually should read: “After their $540,000 house in Prior Lake had been on the market for three slow months, Holly and Sean Ploeger were willing to do anything to sell it AT $540,000.”
Forgive me, but what a bunch of morons! Such testimonials, and the ignorance they betray, scare me silly.
Now I’m going to go pray for all of us.
This one made my day! LOL
Desperation must be really setting in when these greedy morons are resorting to burying statues to sell their overpriced houses.
Have they ever considered just lowering the price?
Has anyone ever seen national stats on HOA, Melo Roos, and other such fees?
Those bogus local fees that go as a subsidy to all kinds of folks at your expense, not including property taxes.
The reason I ask is that in Southern California $500 per month is complete common and people do even flinch at paying an extra $500 per month!
I just looked at a $500K condo with $700 per month in HOA fees!
It seems completly insane to me because that is 1/2 of a rental payment in California and $700 a month buys you a second home in many parts of the country!
Alexander
I just looked at a $500K condo with $700 per month in HOA fees!
It seems completly insane to me because that is 1/2 of a rental payment in California and $700 a month buys you a second home in many parts of the country!
The HOA fee is what?!? $700 per month? Is the pool gold-plated or something? What the heck does that go towards!!!? And it will never stop either… it’s like buying an overlypriced condo and paying rent on top of that!
My rent is $750 per month…
Curt,
Hilarious.
I got a visual!
Alex,
$700 HOA is high but it does suppose to include utilities such as water, garbage disposals, sewage, structural insurance, and yard maintenances. $300 HOA should be about right.
this icon worked for me, my home was on the market for over 90 days with no offer.my wife bought the statue and buried it the next week we has an almost full price offer,and now i am a happy renter with lots of equity,waiting for the crash….. oh yeah, after the first 90 days was up i fired the realtor and relisted with another,but i am sure it was the statue…not
I just looked at a $500K condo with $700 per month in HOA fees!
Now that is just so ridiculous. I live in the Bay Area, but own a townhouse in VA (almost 7 years now). The HOA is $59.50…it used to be $55! It was increased last year, but it is STILL a reasonable cost. Asking for almost an additional $1K is totally obscene.
BayQT~
PHX_renter:
Zip Realty lists the numbers of days on the market. You need to open a free account to get access to the “details” portion of the list.
I am normally very leary of opening these accounts but, as there was no other way I could see to get DOM and Price Reduction info, I bit the bullet and opened an account.
I am very glad that I did.
With all the “there’s no bubble” talk in Seattle, this place has been one hard nut to crack for finding true info as to what’s actually happening- that is until I found the Zip listings! Voila! DOM’s of almost a year , numerous price drops, etc etc.
Even our local “Seattle Bubble ” site will not come out and clearly state there’s a bubble! (We are “undecided” and “watching”)
Having this info has really lifted my spirits.
This article is a fantastic expose on how surreal everything has become- praying to the saints and gods to please please please sell my over-priced house.
Wow, Americans have gone on a major disconnect with RE in the past several years and burying saints in the front yard near the “For Sale” sign is (hopefully) the last straw before the dam breaks and reality crushes back in.
Exactly, How appropriate…
An upside down Icon… patron saint of the truly clueless.
St. Bankruptcy
A builder told me once that the profits on building homes in his subdivisons are nothing compared to the profit he makes on long-term landscaping and street maintenance from the business he sets up after the home sales are complete. While he has control of the majority of properties (as the builder) he signs a ten-year exclusive maintenance agreement with his other business (the maintenance company). The HOA is bound to less than competative terms for a long time. The city tolerates this agreement because the HOA relieves them of some infrastructure liabilities. Good for everybody but the homeowner. Frankly, I wouldn’t buy a home in an area with a HOA. They’re like little governments run by people with big egos.
everyone knows that a stupid little statue won’t do a thing. if you really want to move that house you gotta sacrifice a pidgeon and place the feathers along the walkway.
“I just looked at a $500K condo with $700 per month in HOA fees!”
In San Francisco $700 HOA for a one-bedroom condo is common. The biggest driver of high common fees is having a 24-hr doorman. Some common fees are as high as $3000 per month.
Sometimes high HOA fees are a red flag. If it’s an older condo they may have under-reserved for maintenance items. If it’s a newer condo there may be construction issues that affect the entire complex. Also if they’re having trouble selling all the units that could drive up the common fees.
This is the biggest reason I rent. HOA plus property tax is very close to what I pay for rent, never mind the mortgage!!!
$3,000 per month common fees in San Francisco = ouch!
Is this a west coast thing or even just a California thing?
I asked a friend of mine in a beautifull gated, high maintence house community in Scottsdale and she pays $149 per month?
I sure would like to see a comparision of this common fees across the country and the effect it will have on real estate when / if prices go down.
Alex,
HOA fees varies greatly. The HOA for the gated house community in Scottsdale probably does not cover the water, garbage, sewage monthly expenses.
As Mad_Tiger said, some HOA are under-reserved.
For standard condo and townhomes, the HOA is responsible for the structures and roof in addition to water, garbage and sewage. As for the gated community, the owner is most like responsible for his/her own structure repairs. Hence HOA for condo/townhomes are normally higher than gated community homes.
Also, one other determining factor is the number of units.
I currently pay $328/month for my townhome HOA which includes water, garbage, sewage, yard maintenance, extra towards reserves for future repair, structural insurance. We only pay for electric bill (no gas in our building). Of course, each unit is also responsible for their own cable and phones.
seattle price drop &tank-it,
Thanks for the advice. I will try out ziprealty and see how it is.
RICH SAYS:
I’m not religous at all, but isn’t it supposed to be dangerous to ask the
Devil for favors? Or gods, spirits, demons, whatever….
I SAY:
Well, I DO believe in GOD… but it’s going to take more than a plastic Jesus to help home sellers in this quickly deteriorating national real estate market!!!! It’s getting FUNKY, reeeeaaallly fast.
Cereal, that was so damn funny I just spit my captain crunch all over my monitor!