Are You Thinking About A Career Change?

Real estate is a fun career option for people who loves sales, customer service, and freedom! You must have a positive attitude, a desire for constant learning, and be a problem solver.
You must have a plan before getting your license. Save enough money so that you can live for a few months without an income. Research the industry and write down the pros and cons of getting into the business. Understand the risks and rewards of real estate before you get your license. Talk to a real estate agent who is open to sharing their experiences (feel free to e-mail me at allisondeal@kw.com with any questions).
Once you get your real estate license you will need to meet with different brokerages and find the one that is the best fit for you. Each one has a different feel and culture. The brokerage that
you pick to hold your license will have a big impact on your success so pick the one that will give you the best education and then take advantage of every learning opportunity that is available to you.
Real estate is a fun and interesting business. Once you get into the real estate industry, a whole new world of opportunity presents itself. There is hourly jobs, salary jobs, and commission jobs. You can do more than just buy/sell homes. You can get into administrative work, marketing, investing, flipping, renting, and more!
Contact me for more information at allisondeal@kw.com or call me at 763-257-3436. Allison Deal

Maple Grove's Story

Once a city comprised largely of farm fields and a gravel pit, thousands of homes, condos and townhomes have been built.  While a few condos have been built, most multifamily dwelling construction has been in the townhome market with one story, two story and three story options available with prices for current townhomes for sale from the $100k’s to $400k+.

Single family homes for sale also start in the $100,000′s for some of the older, smaller homes and go over $1,000.000 for the newest and biggest.  While much of Maple Grove is now built out, there are several large plats of land that have yet to be developed as well as some “in-fill” housing that could be built as well so expect to see new construction options for many years to come.
One of the fastest-growing cities in Minnesota, the population in Maple Grove is up 3 percent since 2008 and 32 percent since 2000. Between 1990 and 2005, the population grew from less than 40,000 to more than 55,000.
The city is also growing financially. According to city-data.com,. the median household income grew from $76,000 to more than $92,000 between 2000 and 2009. That 2009 figure was nearly 70 percent higher than the state average.
Located in the northwest corner of the Twin Cities, Maple Grove offers easy access to Minneapolis and St. Paul via I-94 and to the southwest suburbs via I-494. It’s 20 minutes from downtown Minneapolis and 30 minutes from downtown St. Paul.
Based on data from 2010, Maple Grove test scores were 31.2 percent higher than the state average in reading and 32.4 percent higher than the state average in math. The city is served by 17 elementary schools, four junior high schools and three high schools.
The city offers nearly 1,000 acres of parkland and 35 miles of trails, as well as the 15-acre Maple Grove Arboretum.
If you are interested in viewing the available homes in Maple Grove, please contact me for free showings allisondeal@kw.com OR call me @763-257-3436 (Allison Deal Keller Williams)

8 Steps to Flipping a House

1. Figure out your financing. Are you going to use cash to buy and fix up the house? Are you going to use cash from an investor? How much cash do you have available?
2. Determine the type of house you want to flip based off of the amount of money you have to both purchase and flip. If you have less money to flip focus on an affordable condo or townhouse. If you have more money to flip a single family home could be the better option.
3. Are you just going to flip the house and sell it? Are you going to flip the house and rent it out? Know what you are going to do before purchasing and fixing up the house. If you are just flipping it you will want to do affordable fixes and if you are going to rent it out you want to do fixes that will stand the test of time.
4. Time is of the essence! Have helpers for your flip before you purchase the house. You want to get started working on the home the day of closing. Have a plan and order for what items need to be fixed and in what order.
5. Know your hourly rate! After you do a few flips you will know what your hourly rate is and don't do any work that is under your pay grade. Always hire out for affordable and time consuming projects so you can get the work done as quickly as possible.
6. Always network to find the best people to help with your flip projects so that you are never left desperate for helpers.
7. Work with a realtor who knows the market and can quickly find you an awesome deal on a house. Realtors know how to write an offer that will get accepted and can tell you what types of upgrades to do to the home to maximize your return on investment. They can also estimate what the home will sell for in todays market which is very helpful information to any investor.
8. After you close on the house, get to work quickly and stick to your plan. Two weeks before the home is completed have a realtor do a walk through and make suggestions. They should do another market analysis, do the listing paperwork, determine a listing price to sell it quickly and for the most amount of money, and give staging advice. A realtor can pre-list the home and network with other agents to possibly get it sold before it even hits the MLS. The other benefit to pre-listing is the agent can gauge the market and if there is nobody that is interested or everyone says its over-priced then you can adjust the price before officially listing it.

Please contact me at allisondeal@kw.com if you have any questions or are interested in flipping a home in the twin cities area.
Allison Deal
Realtor
Keller Williams Realty Integrity
763-257-3436

Top 10 Things a Real Estate Agent Does During The Day

1. Lead Generate- We are always looking for buyers and sellers. Without clients- we are unemployed!
2. View Homes- We view homes in all price ranges. We look at homes that are similar to homes we will be listing to check out the competition. We attend broker opens to network with other agents in the area. We check out homes  that might be a good fit for our buyers in order to save our buyer's time by excluding homes that are not a right fit or highlighting homes that they need to see ASAP.
3. Find/Schedule Showings- We search the MLS for listings that may be a good fit for our buyers. We send those listing to our buyers and answer any questions the buyers may have. We coordinate schedules between the buyers and sellers and schedule a showing.
4. Market Analysis- We help out sellers determine what their home will sell for by researching the market. This comprises of looking at similar homes in the same location and condition to determine what our seller's home will sell for. This is a complicated and time consuming process because every home is unique, every lot is different, and every home varies in condition and upgrades.
5. Make offers- We write offers and make sure our clients understand what they are agreeing to in the contract. Offers are complicated and each line of the contract has an impact on both the buyer and the seller.
6. Negotiate- We negotiate to get out client the best deal. If we represent the seller we negotiate to get the highest possible price without the buyer walking away. If we represent the buyer we negotiate to get the lowest possible price without losing out on the deal.
7. Close the Gap- Sellers want more for their home and buyers don't want to overpay. Real estate agents need to close the gap so that the seller can sell and the buyer can buy. The price the home actually sells for is the market value.
8. Mediate- We not only mediate between buyer and seller, but we also mediate between husbands and wives or a first-time home buyer and their parent. Buying/selling a home is a big decision and everyone involved has an opinion. Emotions often run high during a real estate transaction and the real estate agent must be level headed and listen/interpret the deeper level concerns.
9. Problem Solve- Almost all transactions will fall apart without a knowledgeable advocate to save the transaction. Usually the problems occur on the buyer side (buyer changes job, takes out a new loan, quits job, gets laid off, doesn't get their documents to the loan officer in time). Sometimes problems occur on the seller side (problems with a vacant house ie: the furnace goes out or carbon monoxide leaks into the home, flooding, fire, storm damage). Real estate agents must address these issues quickly in order to keep the deal moving forward.
10. Follow-up- We follow-up with past clients and build relationships so we can get referrals from clients who know and respect us.

Allison Deal
Keller Williams Realty Integrity
763-257-3436
allisondeal@kw.com

What is dotloop and why should buyers care?

Dotloop is an awesome tool that I use and its incredibly valuable to my clients! Dotloop is the technology that I use to get electronic signatures from my clients. Its good for the environment because I don't need to use paper (but if my clients are old school and like to use paper I can always print paper for those specific clients).
In addition to helping the environment, it also saves my clients time and money! After I write an offer, I can get the offer to my clients to sign via e-mail and over to the listing agent in a matter of seconds! When I show a property that is under market value (AKA an amazing deal) I want my client's offer in ASAP. Dotloop helps me get my offer in before other agents which means this awesome technology helped me get an accepted offer before other agents even had time to submit their offer. Multiple offers drives the price of the home up so avoiding multiple offers means I saved my buyers thousands of dollars and several days worth of negotiations! Whew! Agents that don't use the latest and greatest technology are missing out for their clients.
Thank you Dotloop!
Allison Deal
Keller Williams Realty Integrity
allisondeal@kw.com

3 Ways To Increase Your Homes Value

1. Keep up with home maintenance projects. Buyers want a move-in ready home and will pay more money for it! Take care of problems as they come up and do it the right way. I know home maintenance projects can be a pain, but leaving them on your to do list for too long could create even more costly problems before you know it.
2. Replace a beat-up garage door and/or front door. These two replacements are affordable and are proven to have over 100% return on investment! They increase your home's curb appeal and gives the home a fresh new look. Buyers value curb appeal and may not even realize it. I show A LOT of homes and I have had several buyers decide to not even enter a home because of poor curb appeal.
3. Invest in your kitchen and bathrooms! Buyers want a nice looking kitchen and bathrooms relative to the price of the home. If you have ever done a kitchen or bathroom remodel you know that these two types of rooms are the most expensive to change.
Many real estate agents, including myself, offer a FREE service to homeowners. I often visit home owners BEFORE they start a major kitchen/bathroom remodel. I research other homes in the area and look at what homes sold for in the neighborhood. I look at the homes with updated kitchens/bathrooms and see what kind up updating the sellers did to the home. I analyze everything and send a report to the home owner and visit the home to talk about my research and help the home owner decide what kind of updating to do.
Home owners appreciate this free service and feel more confident going into the home improvement project. I build relationships and offer valuable free services to homeowners because I know when they decide to sell in the coming years they will consider using a strong real estate agent that has offered years of good advice. I love creating win-win situations.

Home Improvement and Design Expo

October 17-18, 2015

Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55403 – Hall D

10ampm until 5pm Saturday | 10am until 5pm Sunday

Attention all home improvement enthusiasts! The Home Improvement and Design Expo returns to the Minneapolis Convention Center on October 17th and 18th for the premier fall home show in Minneapolis!
See up to 200 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and services to help you turn your dream home into a REALITY!
Bring your ideas and blueprints. This show features everything home improvement related, including: remodelers, landscapers, architects, interior designers, contractors, decks, kitchens, bathrooms, entertainment rooms, roofing, window, siding, financing, realtors and much more!
PLUS: Don’t miss the speaker stage! Local realtor, Allison Deal, will be speaking about smart home improvements that add real value to you home (11AM Sunday only!) Sellers and buyers can check out her booth and spin to win for an opportunity to win hundreds of dollars towards closing costs for FREE!
Admission is $6 at the door or FREE if you contact Allison Deal today with your name and address at allisondeal@kw.com.

Why You Should Get A Radon Test

In the simplest terms, radon is an odorless gas that lives in pockets in the ground. It enters the home through cracks in the basement and gets trapped in the home. As the gas builds up in the home it becomes more dangerous. Over time high levels of radon can cause lung cancer.
Testing for radon is an inexpensive way to ensure your safety. If your home has low levels (below a 4) you don't need to do anything. If your home has levels above 4 you will want to mitigate. A mitigation system is a few thousand dollars. This may sound high for many home owners. Think of it this way, at best the mitigation system may save your life by preventing lung cancer. At the worst, it costs you your vacation money for the year; however, when you sell your house in the future you will have gotten the benefits of living in a home with low levels of radon and you won't have to install a system when you sell.
Why would you install a radon mitigation system when you sell? Buyers today are learning about radon from their Realtors. They pay to have a radon test performed and the buyers will not buy the home unless the sellers install a radon mitigation system.
Either way home owners usually have to pay for a mitigation system- why not enjoy the benefits of the system while you still live in your home?
If you need a referral for a radon tester, feel free to contact me.

Why Buyers and Sellers Should Use a Full-time Realtor

Part-time VS Full-time

 

- Part-time agents may work a full-time job. They need to put their main focus on their real job. When an urgent matter comes up involving your transaction a part-time agent will have to wait until they get out of work to deal with the urgent matter. Real estate does not wait and you may lose out on a great house because your realtor was at work.

 

-Part-time agents don't have the time to attend the weekly education classes that full-time agents can attend. More education, dedication, and focus is better for buyers and sellers.

 

-Full-time agents can participate fully in the office on a daily basis. This is important if you know anything about synergy. When a full-time agent is trying to work through a problem its easier to turn to a bunch of other agents in the office with many years of experience and get a great answer than it is to sit at home after a long day of work and then try and figure out a complicated issue alone with limited experience.

 

-Full-time agents must sell your home because this in their ONLY income source.

 

When its time to choose an agent to help you buy or sell a home please do yourself a favor and always ask if the agent is full-time or part-time. A strong, dedicated, focused agent will save you thousands of dollars!