The document provides an overview of real estate industry news and events from a monthly journal. It includes an article analyzing how strong home affordability could lead to record home sales in 2011. It also includes a legislative Q&A discussing proposed regulations around fire sprinklers in homes and fees charged by condo associations. Finally, it recognizes real estate agents for their recent listing and closing successes.

1. ISSUE 2-3
Highlights:
How the Market will Set Records 1
Legislative Q & A 2
Insights 4
Monthly Journal on the Business of Real Estate Editor-in Chief: Karen Tobler
How the Market will Set Records - a message from Frank D’Angelo
ban growth rates. The rental vacancies have plunged by 6 to 7.5% in
A recent review of the 2010 Twin Cities Housing Market provides just
the two urban centers supporting the fact that there are likely large
enough evidence to support both optimism and doubt moving forward
numbers of credit worthy consumers wondering what to do in the
in 2011 if you only deal with raw housing data and media speculation.
area of home ownership.
However, there are indicators showing the potential for a record set-
ting second half of 2011.
REALTORS® need to focus on the consumer's perspective of making
safe and sound investment decisions versus the most over-used state-
With the 55 year low mortgage rates and the highest home afforda-
ments such as, ‘It's a great time to Buy!' REALTORS® have been saying
bility index on record, it can be clearly stated that the timing is right
‘It's a great time to buy' for too many years and that statement may
for purchasing real estate. The facts are clear with respect to afforda-
have created a sense of urgency at the top of the market; however, it
bility, yet the media and consumer doubt lies among factors associ-
is literally meaningless at the bottom of the market. Selling from the
ated with the potential release of vast numbers of Real Estate Owned
bottom of the market is completely different than selling from the
(REO's) properties from banks holding past redeemed assets. There
top. Consumers have
are no clear facts associated with how banks will release their assets
been pistol-whipped by
and how that inventory may impact the perceived soft bottom' of the
the media over this his-
local real estate marketplace.
toric real estate market
Minnesota is not at all near the top of the list of States with highest decline and are a bit ‘gun-
Foreclosure Rates. Nevada tops the nations foreclosure rates for the shy' to review whether it's
th
4 consecutive year at 9% or simply put 1 in 11 homes were foreclo- a good time to buy, sell or
sures in 2010. Arizona second highest foreclosure rate for a second both. Neighboring com-
year in a row at 5.73% or 1 in 17 homes, followed by: Florida at 5.51%, munities in the Twin Cities
California at 4.08%, Utah at 3.44%, Georgia at 3.25%, Michigan at have very large differences in median sales prices in 2010 versus any
3.0%, Indiana at 2.87% and Colorado at 2.51%. 2010 was both a other year in the past. That information supports the pro-market evi-
‘boom' and ‘bust' year in sales overall with the first quarter Tax Credit dence that some municipalities are becoming pro-active with local
blitz that created a second half ‘hangover' in sales coupled with the REALTOR® associations, lenders and even a few builders and develop-
typical second half drought in sales that encompass less than 35% of ers are getting back into the market pro-actively. REALTORS® should
annual sales. All local homeowners and those contemplating home- be focusing on ensuring consumer confidence regarding their real es-
ownership should look at the additional factors beyond housing statis- tate investments versus creating a sense of urgency. As more and
tics, mortgage interest rates, foreclosure rates and speculation regard- more consumers feel confident interest rates have stabilized to 55
ing the decision to sell your existing property or purchase more real year lows and pricing has also stabilized and the housing affordability
estate in this Marketplace. Additional factors include a robust growth index at it's peak; more selling and buying will occur and likely set
in Minnesota's' Employment during this recovery period, a 51.6% in- new records for the Twin Cities Market
crease in housing unit authorizations in the last 12 months and a
promising early forecast for 2011.Population growth rates are on the
Comments? Email Frank at dangelo@exitrealtynexus.com
rise in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul urban areas with stable subur-

2. Legislative Q&A
with Patti Ann Kasper
Calendar of Events
Patti Ann Kasper is currently serving
on the Government Affairs Committee March 27
at North Metro/St. Paul Board. Her Happy Birthday Gordon Oleson
past legislative experience took her to April 2
the world of volunteer lobbying over
Happy Birthday Jenna Paulzine
the course of safety and installation of fire sprin-
klers. Could you tell us about it? April 4
7 years.
With 6 years A: On March 7th, House of Repre-
Happy Birthday Brian Linné
in the busi- sentatives file #HF460 (SF0297 in
ness, Patti the Senate) which would prevent a April 18
Ann has been mandate requiring that all new Johnny Loewy—Mason City, IA
awarded the single family homes have fire sprin-
Graduate klers installed. Some of the con-
REALTOR cerns in making fire sprinklers man- April 20
Institute Des- datory include: they substantially WCR Spring Fling Gala & Fundraiser
ignation and the Short Sale Foreclo- increases the cost of building a With Keynote Address by Tami Bonnell
sure Resource Designation. house, most homeowners would
Braemar Golf Club
Q: There has been some talk about not be able to maintain the sys-
11:00—2:00 pm
new regulations in regards to fire tems themselves and would have
to hire a plumber to do the an-
nual maintenance. Fire sprin-
klers present logistical prob- NexusPro Apprentice Program
lems for homes that use pri- Mondays at 6:30 pm
RSVP: Sheldon@exitrealtynexus.com
vate wells. In addition, there
are concerns that our cold Min- Join us every Tuesday at 10 am for our
nesota winters may cause the PRO Development Nexus in Coon Rap-
ids and at 1 pm in Burnsville.
lines to freeze and burst, thus
flooding the home in the mid- And, Wednesdays at 10 am for our
dle of winter. Surprisingly, ac- NEXUS Brunch and Learn
cording to studies reviewed by *All sessions are open to agents wish-
our state association, they ing to learn more about real estate.
Please call 763-548-1400 to reserve a
have not been shown to sub-
seat*
stantially improve personal
safety. Right now, this bill is
not considered favorable to
homeowners.
Continued on next page…..

3. Legislative Q&A with Patti Ann Kasper Continued Technology Solutions
Q: There has been a lot of talk on Condo email. As a consumer, ask your REAL-
Q: QR Codes….Huh??
Associations charging high prices for cop- TOR® for additional information on cur- We are starting to see these funny black
ies of documents. What is going on at the rent legislations that might affect you and white boxes all over! QR codes are
legislature to deal with this issue? and your home ownership. Many topics really a like a finger print or bar code to get
come around more than once, like the you quickly to information linked to the
Yes, there is a bill introduced that will help
code.
eliminate price gouging by Townhome Mortgage Interest Deduction Elimination
and Condo Associations for the docu- and the property tax deductions. It’s Most smart phones have a way to read the
ments needed to close a real estate trans- important to have a REALTOR® on your code. All you need is an application like
side to help you stay informed. NeoReader or QuickMark.
action. In the past, some associations
have charged as much Got the app? Point your application in the
as $400 for the docu- direction of the QR Code and let the app
do the work!
ments and, when a
Seller is faced with a You can also create you own on bit.ly and
short sale, this can be a other sites on the web for free!
severe hardship. Asso-
ciations will be limited
to charging only 25¢ for
each page copied, the
actual costs of electroni-
cally transmitting the
copies, and for the em-
ployee’s time searching
for and retrieving re-
cords including time for
responding to the request. This is great
news which should eliminate the exorbi-
Questions or Comments?
tant fees some associations have been
Contact Patti Ann Kasper at
charging for these required documents.
pakasper@exitrealtynexus.com
Q: What do you recommend for both
REALTORS® and consumers to do when
they hear of something?
A: You can certainly visit http://
www.leg.state.mn.us to look up the con-
tact information for your Senator
and Representative or to track bills
and committee members. When
contacting a representative, let
them know you are a constituent.
This is important to them. Often
times, handwritten notes that are
faxed and mailed make a bigger
impact than a phone call or an

4. Insights with Karen Tobler
e-Listings : EYE ON IT
A marketing powerhouse Current Industry Trends
With over 90% of consumers choosing to go online for
much of their real estate information, it is absolutely
critical to be a player in the game of technology. Not just
a player, we are talking MVP.
Luckily, EXIT has e-Listings.
This robust system give agents the best tools to reach
that MVP status for each of their listings and gets the
information to the consumer in the way they are search-
ing for it, via social media and other internet sites.
Virtual tours, website, automatic syndication, online
magazines and customized movie clips are a few of the
key benefits e-listings offers to maximize online expo-
sure .
Further, e-Listings showcases property photos easily and
effectively. 86% of buyers consider photos as the top
qualifier in deciding whether or not to view a property.
In addition, it’s 1-800 numbers, text messaging and
Smartphone technology is second to none. In the era of
“I need it now” information, can anyone afford not to
have this virtual advocate on their team? AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET: 181 (Mar 2011)
Comments? E-mail Karen at ktobler@exitrealtynexus.com MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY: 7.7
PERCENT OF LIST PRICE RECEIVED AT SALE: 88.6 % (March
2010)
Information available through Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®, Inc

5. Professional Development
EXIT REALTY NEXUS is more than just a
real estate office. It is a place where
each agent is surrounded by a group of
connected professionals who are com-
mitted to helping each other find
continued success.
If you are searching for more than just
a real estate office, for more than just a
commission job, our NEXUS is a gold
mine.
Our training and support are second to
none. Our technology can outflank
any competitor. Our marketing strat-
Congratulations on Your Listings & Closings egy is EXACTLY what your clients are
begging for. Add to that our impressive
Tanya Jones Residual Income which has now
reached over $200 Million in single –
Shaun Ahmad level residuals paid out to our own
agents in North America and you will
Amber Lange find we are a true phenomenon.
Doesn’t your great choice to be a real
Frank D’Angelo (multiple) estate professional deserve a great
company?
Sheldon Berquist (multiple)
Regan Massee
Mindy Shears (multiple)
Donavon DesMarais (multiple)
Chris Kornberg
Bill Pankonin
Travis Johnson ((multiple)
Robin Schneider
Brian Linne
SPECIAL CONGRATS TO 2143 Northdale Blvd NW
Minneapolis, MN 55433
AGENT OF THE YEAR FOR 2010 & Bronze Award
763.548.1400 ph
Recipient 763.548.1401 fax
DONAVON DESMARAIS WWW.EXITREALTYNEXUS.COM