The Saint Paul Condo Blog

It was a scary night last night at the Pointe of Saint Paul.  There was a transformer malfunction in downtown, which caused a handful of buildings to lose power.  While this is not fun in its own right, the Pointe of Saint Pauls' backup generator also failed.  Normally under a loss of power, the buildings elevators continue to work, as do the lights in the common spaces.

When the generator failed, the elevators stopped in their tracks, the halls and staircases were pitch black, it was not a fun time at the Pointe.  Something like this is out of the hands of even most well managed building, so I guess what I am getting at is it is always smart to be ready for emergencies.

I think sometimes condo owners get a little to reliant on the building itself.  Since everything is always running well and almost always working right, people tend forget that things can go wrong.

If you live in a condo, it's a good time to make sure you have a good flash light, with extra batteries on hand.  Cell phones can come in handy too!

If the power does go completely out in your condo, your best bet is to stay put.  Navigating the stairs in complete darkness could end in injury.  If you are one of the unlucky few who are in the elevator when the power goes out, try to stay calm and know everyone is working their hardest to get the elevators back up and running.

This is not something you can expect to have happen if you buy a condo, but it is always smart to be prepared.  If fact, having a complete power failure, is VERY rare!!!

Foreclosures are up in our little condo market.  Some recent sales in both the Gallery Building and Market House have shown that banks do not like to hold on to properties.  One example is a condo over at Gallery; it sold for $85 a square foot!  On comparison, the Penfield at last check was nearly $350 a square foot.

From the way banks are off-loading their foreclosures, I think it's a safe bet they will start to change the programs they offer to buyers.  I would guess that the 100% financing will start to disappear and banks will once again require the borrower actually has some personal investment into the property.

I have a feeling we still have about 6 to 9 months of this type of market condition, where banks can't find buyers so they sell them at ridiculously low prices.

Sellers need to bring their "A Game" if they want to sell their condo without experiencing too much pain.  This may mean actually remodeling the condo completely before selling.  Inventory is too high for buyers wanting to take on project homes.  Only the very brave investor will buy homes now that need work, and when they do purchase, they sure are not paying the prices the sellers/banks would have liked.

Wondering what you would need to do prep your condo for sale?  We would be happy to sit down with you and discuss your options.  Bud can be reached at 651-270-9395, Leslie can be reached at 651-270-9394.

This article was in our recent Realtor Resource magazine, I thought it was such a great article, I called and asked them permission to use it in my blog.  I have felt strongly there is a huge difference in real estate agents for quite some time.  Article below...

Provide ‘Full Service’ and You Will Be Well Compensated

We hear a lot about the difference between full and discount service. For 23 years I have heard a lot about REALTOR® ethics and, like all other professions, most REALTORS® work hard to behave in accordance with treating customers ethically.

Well, the real estate industry now has a chance to prove that they mean what they say and say what they mean. As an industry we were angry about the bogus “pre-approval letters” that many lenders issued to borrowers over the past ten years. We said they were not worth the paper they were printed on and most of the time we were right.

Well, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. What exactly does the real estate business mean by “full service”? Currently, I would argue that most mean full-commission price (whatever the particular broker decides he needs to compete in her/his marketplace). But what the industry needs to do, particularly as a result of this soft market, is spend less time focused on compensation and more time defining the services that it provides to sellers and buyers.

Since a buyer’s market is defined by more inventory (supply) than buyers (demand), pricing, staging, negotiating and risk reduction (informed consent disclosure of material facts) are skills and services competent real estate professionals provide that distinguishes them from their less productive counterparts. Real estate sales, like all sales, will always have a heavy dose of relationship building associated with it. The most critical components of that relationship have shifted with the demographic shifts our society is currently undergoing from “soft relationship building” (sales), to hard, concrete relationships built on the foundation of services and skills provided that get the seller’s house sold and the buyer the house they want and can afford.

REALTORS® must break the “union mold” that all agents are equal. They are not. Some agents are more competent than others. Some are better negotiators, are more detail oriented, careful readers and explainers of complex forms, astute observers of human nature, great stagers, etc. We must distinguish our services based upon a careful and comprehensive examination of the complexity of steps and skills necessary to bring about a satisfying transaction for our represented sellers or represented buyers. 

Gen X and Gen Y have been raised on 200 station TV’s, iPods, the Internet, podcasts and blogs, all of which have created an expectation for immediacy in service. Get the house sold at a good price. Get me the house I want at the price I want to pay and I do not want to wait 6 months. Email me the paperwork and I will electronically sign everything and get the deal closed fast.

This is the new world of real estate. We have never been through a “soft market” like this before. There are two distinguishing characteristics of this market that makes it different than any previous down market: (1) the Internet (immediate availability of a complex of information) — that needs to be translated into usable knowledge at the customer level (2) the current 1st time and 1st repeat-consumers of real estate are the products of this technological revolution. Sales techniques will only be successful with these “new consumers” if they are grounded in knowledge of forms, markets, economics (tax benefits), community knowledge, negotiating skills, etc., as well as an ability to clearly explain how a real estate professional’s compensation relates to the services performed and the individual skills used.

If brokers manage their agents and companies in the direction of carefully delineated quality services for buyers and sellers, they will do more to demonstrate professionalism to consumers than all the professional standards talk ever could. In the process, these broker REALTORS® would radically professionalize the business while adding to their bottom lines. This is no time for business as usual. Just ask the securities and travel businesses.
Reprinted with permission from the Minnesota Association of REALTORS®.

This is where I feel we (The Kleppe Group) excels, we specialize in the Saint Paul Market.  We don't chase buyers all over the metro, and we don't take listings that are out of our area of expertise.  Current market conditions dictate you have an agent is is extremely competent.  We feel we know what we are talking about for Saint Paul.  Looking outside of St Paul?  We have made many good contacts with other realtors who might be better suited for that market.

Only until the city of Saint Paul connects Temperance between 10th & 9th.

I think it should be named Lake Temperance.  Maybe I should submit it to Google Maps to see if they will add it ;)

I would imagine that the residents of Printers Row would love to have a street out front, but I am sure they are happy the chain link fence finally came down a couple weeks ago.

River Park Lofts decided against the norm and built a true community room.  With a pool table, dart boards, kitchenette, flat screen TV, and more, this really is a room you can build a community around!  All they need is a beer tap, and they have their own pub!

Speaking of which, that would be an interesting idea for condo associations; little private pubs for their residents.  Although, the tax on the profit would probably not make it worth the effort, but it would be a unique selling point.

I was talking to the association president of Great Northern Lofts today and he informed me they just acquired 23 parking spaces in their ramp.  When the developer built the ramp for Great Northern, they made a deal with the previous land owner, Goff & Howard. The deal allowed them to continue to park in the ramp for the next 99 years at a rate of $20 per month.  Associations are not-for-profit by nature, so this immediately created a problem for the association.  The developer had to cancel the lease for Goff & Howard which resulted in additional parking for Great Northern Lofts.

This makes Great Northern #1 for available guest parking.  With 53 lofts and 23 guest spaces, they end up with the highest percentage of parking per unit (43%).  Compare that against the Pointe with 290 condo and 19 guest parking, with a rate of 6% or the proposed Penfield (8%).

Most of the condos in downtown rely heavily on street parking for guests, making buildings with private, free guest parking very rare.

With nearly 200 people packing the sales center, it got a little warm, but the response was amazing!  Everyone from the Mayor to the growers of the St Paul Farmers Market showed their support for this great new addition to Lowertown.

Farmers Market Flats is now taking reservations.  Ground breaking to begin in June, with the first residents taking occupancy in Q4 of 2008.

Guests were treated with food items provided by the Growers Association, a taste of what is to come to the new residents of the Flats.

I will post pictures of the event in the coming days.  If you missed the party, don't fret; a new resident event is scheduled for March 29th.

Finally! Some closure for the assessment haunting the Airye Condos for over a year.  From talking with a resident, it goes to vote at their annual meeting April 2nd.  But from the likes of it, this is more symbolic.  The assessment has been figured at $2,900,000 - This assessment is for the replacement of the curtain glass wall system the building has and also to add a firewall break between the apartments and the condominiums (Airye sits on top of an apartment building).

Once the assessment has been levied, people start paying it, life and values should return to normal.

I talked to one couple who have lived there for nearly 6 years and it was tough to hear them talk about their nearly $30,000 assessment.  How it's stripped nearly all of the appreciation they had built up since they had moved in.  At least the end is in sight, and Airye can once again become a highly sough after building.

Come one, come all!  Save the date for the Grand Opening for Farmers Market Flats.  This is nearly four years in the making, when the indoor farmers market and 48 flats will finally become a reality.  Chris Coleman (the mayor of St Paul) will be there at 4:30pm to talk about this monumental occasion and what it means for the city.

The event will take place from 4:30pm to 7:00pm in the Farmers Market Flats sales center, located at 289 East 5th Street, Suite 101 - overlooking the Farmers Market.

Give us a call for more details - 651-442-8415

The Kleppe Group

During this entire snow storm we just got through, I couldn't help but think, I wish it would snow a little more.  I know, crazy talk, but from the 15th floor of the Pointe Condos, It really didn't look like that much snow.  That was until I had to walk to the office!  Downtown likely has the cleanest streets in Saint Paul when it comes to snow, since it's a major hub, but there are some land owners who ought to be ashamed of themselves!!  There is one block that still has not been cleaned from last weeks storm.  grrrrr!

Not sure what that had to do with real estate, but there ya go!