THIS HOME IS NOW SOLD!Stunning Walkout 2 Story Upgraded Throughout! 5BR/4BA/3Car Rambler on 1/2 Acre Culdesac LotPrivate Backyard Koi Pond & More8943 138th Street CtApple Valley, MNThis exceptional two-story, loaded with curb appeal, is even more impressive beyond the front door! The well designed open floor plan is both functional and appealing. Located on a half-acre, cul-de-sac lot that backs up to Sunset Park, the home features a gourmet eat-in kitchen, formal dining & living rooms, main floor family room & laundry. 5 BR (3 on one level), master suite and finished walkout lower level with guest suite. Walk to playground, fishing/kayak access to Alimagnet Lake and executive 9 hole golf course. Easy commute to shopping, entertainment, restaurants, Burnsville Center, Mall of America,... 01/24/2018

This home is now SOLD!   Need additional information on how to buy a beautiful home like this one? Contact Teri Eckholm REALTOR® /Boardman Realty. I have helped many families buy and sell homes throughout the Minneapolis St Paul area. Contact me today for a FREE Home Buying Guide or Home Selling Guide.   01/13/2018

4 Bedroom, 3 Bath 1900+ finished square feet on a Culdesac!Fresh, New, and READY to sell....Open Floor Plan Split with soaring Vault, lots of recent renovations in Kitchen, Bedrooms, Bathrooms, and more! 2 Fireplaces, Quiet Culdesac Location, less than a mile from 35E and just two miles from Burnsville Center!Click here for Virtual Tour      Stieg Strand Broker/Realtor, RE/MAX ResultsTel: 952.942.4750 | Mobile: 612.490.2121 stieg@results.net | www.mnhomereports.com       Fast way to find out how much ANY home is really worth? 06/04/2015

Apple Valley Home Prices Apple Valley Market Conditions 05/07/2014

Apple Valley Minnesota Housing Market Conditions (March 2014). See where your home stands at http://PriceMyTwinCitiesHome.com 04/13/2014

2 Bedroom Apple Valley Townhome for Sale - 15649 Eagleview Way Beautiful Apple Valley Minnesota Townhome for Sale in Cobblestone Lake neighborhood...near shopping, dining and only minutes from downtown and the Mall of Americahttp://minnesotapropertyforsale.com/10929-2/#PropertyID=72483129 01/07/2014

The Affordable Care Act hinges its success potential on the requirement that everyone must have health insurance.  The logic behind a broad risk pool is clear.  All Americans, rich, poor, healthy, unhealthy, young and old, must be part of the pool to eventually see more affordable health care costs.  We can argue the way the act was constructed and forced into existence, but the fact remains that there are some foreseeable benefits. Going a step further, there are other perceived "injustices" in the insurance industry that negatively impact the lives of Americans.  Some specific perils such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, avalanches, etc. can be extremely expensive for some homeowners to insure.  Why is flood insurance so expensive?  Simply because only residents of buildings most l... 10/29/2013

In April, I wrote about my experience trying to connect with various contractors at the Apple Valley annual Home and Garden show.  We have several projects in mind and wanted to hire someone to complete them.  Although we left contact information with about a dozen vendors, nobody had responded as of the time of writing that post. Finally, a concrete contractor called.  Well, he actually responded to my several calls, but the initial contact was at the show.  He showed up after rescheduling his initial appointment.  He pulled into our driveway, and I asked him to move his pickup a little to the right so my wife could get into the garage.  She was due home any minute.  He proceeded to move over with the truck a couple feet off the side of the driveway.  That was not an issue, but he also... 08/06/2013

One of the local communities has an annual home and garden show every April, and walking through the exhibits is usually an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I can't say that that day was not enjoyable, but I was there on a mission which seems to have failed. We have four projects planned for this year, and they all will require writing fairly substantial checks.  There will be a major kitchen remodel, hardwood flooring installation, landscape work including re-grading and a paver or stamped concrete patio, and a triple concrete driveway.  Our purpose in going to the home and garden show was to try to do some pre-screening of contractors and ask them to contact us to schedule a sales appointment.  We asked about a dozen exhibitors to contact us.  And, now the results: After ... 04/22/2013

There are a lot of folks who feel that the best possible investment right now is single family rental property.  Not only are individuals pursuing low cost homes to own and rent out for income, but there are a fair number of corporations doing likewise.  The corporations are buying where the prices are most depressed, and where the upside opportunities seem greatest over the longer term.  Investment buyers have probably contributed significantly to the recent home price increases and lower overall inventory. When compared to other investments, is real estate really that good?  It's hard to say because, like buying cars, buyers of investment real estate often believe that they have the "secret sauce" that makes them and their purchases way above the curve, and that they can make much mor... 04/12/2013

My morning stock market overview landed on the Yahoo Finance page for Apple.  Looking through the data I found that the third highest individual holder of Apple stock is the inventor of the internet himself, Albert Gore Jr.  The man must be some kind of genius, because he bought 59,000 shares of Apple stock on January 15 for the price of $7.48 a share.  This transaction was an option that he exercised as a director.  Even though the stock is down over $100 in the last few weeks, seven and a half bucks sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Undoubtedly, as the inventor of the internet, Gore has contributed much to Apple's success.  He can also take comfort in knowing that Apple stock can drop another four hundred bucks, and he will still be able to show a substantial profit on the purchas... 01/25/2013

The Donothing Alliance, AKA Minnesota State Legislature, has been in a state of not-so-dynamic tension for generations.  The folks on either side of the aisle take turns preventing the other side from proceeding.  I'm sure that's the situation in many other states too. Now there may be something accomplished, sort of.  The Republican side has come up with a constitutional amendment that is apparently a "defense of marriage" to be decided in November.  The amendment defines marriage in a way that limits who can and cannot be married in the state.  So marriage is going to be defended by not allowing some folks to be married. What I don't understand is, if the Republican side of the Donothing Alliance really wants to defend marriage, why don't they introduce an amendment to make divorce il... 10/20/2012

In terms of politics, we hear the "four years ago" question a lot these days.  I'm not sure if trading the 2008 brink of economic collapse for a 2012 modestly high unemployment rate is better or worse.  That's something for you and the hate commercials coming soon to a TV channel near you to evaluate. For you folks who were renters in 2008, and are still renting, how are things going for you?  Has your rent payment gone down?  Is your landlord kinder and gentler than four years ago?  Have you paid enough taxes without the help of a couple more deductions?  Do all your walls still match the color of vanilla pudding?  Is your dog still only imaginary?  Do you really love your neighbor -- you know, the one on the other side of the wall? Time goes by rapidly, and it may be a good idea to me... 09/04/2012

Buyers often wonder and frequently ask me if they will be able to sell their home in a few years for more than they paid.  The correct answer to this question is, "I don't know."  Home prises rise and fall with the market, and there is no way to accurately predict what will happen.  There are some demographic trends that suggest certain long term direction in demand for housing.  Problem is that even population growth can't be used as a completely accurate indicator of housing demand trends. Although we can predict population growth with fair accuracy, we have a harder time projecting population numbers into household numbers.  A more or less vibrant economy will influence the number of multi-generation households, as we are experiencing today.  What we do know is that economic trends h... 05/17/2012

Occasionally my buying clients see a home that is full of junk, cluttered to the extreme.  They sometimes express surprise that a seller would not get rid of their stuff before trying to sell.  That's when I have to remind them that we covered this issue in our orientation. Clutter is often the glue that binds many sellers to their "for sale" homes for eternity.  To its extreme, the cluttered home is almost impossible to view objectively, and that is great for buyers with a little insight.  Why look for a home that needs work when you can find one needing nothing but a moving van?  When the home is sold, the sellers and all their stuff will leave before you move in.  Many, perhaps most buyers, will walk away from an extremely cluttered home in favor of a vacant lender owned home at the ... 05/16/2012

Home buyers have some great advantages today that were not available to them a dozen or so years ago.  With the advent of the internet and almost all active home listings visible to almost all house hunters, the search for the best home at the best advertised price is a snap.  It's possible to spend a few minutes searching for and finding the best deal in town.  Of course it's possible for everyone looking for a new home to do the same thing, and they all do the same thing. Often these homes, apparent loss leaders, will receive multiple offers and sell to the highest bidder over asking price.  Occasionally, a quick tour and a quicker decision to make an offer will land the buyer a real prize.  The point is that, in today's atmosphere of instant information, everyone can and will find th... 05/14/2012

Home buyers begin their journey to a lifestyle upgrade filled with enthusiasm and a little apprehension, and that is as it should be.  Your home purchase is usually the greatest financial commitment in your life, and it's hard to not worry that you're doing everything right.  Today we'll address the reason why you probably need to formally engage a buyer representative sooner, rather than later. You have gotten together with a loan officer and provided the needed information and documentation that is needed for you're prequalification for a home loan.  You have found an agent who seems like a good fit for you.  He/she is intimately familiar with the general area that you have decided to target for your new home, and you seem to get along with each other fairly well.  The agent is an Acc... 05/13/2012

Recently we went over the way buyer representatives get compensated.  We said that the agent's compensation was part of the seller's listing agreement, and that it is paid by the seller from the proceeds of the sale of their home, and that the listing broker compensates the buyer's broker with a part of that commission.  Yesterday we addressed one issue that sometimes arises early in buyers' journey from renting to owning.  We explained that it's a matter of personal preference whether you first find a loan originator or a buyer representative.  Now let's discuss one of the thoughts on many new buyer's minds upon first meeting a real estate agent.  Why is he/she talking about all this boring stuff?  All I want to do is buy a house. The state of Minnesota has enacted many laws that prote... 05/13/2012

...and buyer agents are eggs, or at least similar to eggs.  What comes first???   The question has been asked so often for so long that it has long ago achieved cliche status.  Should a first time buyer first find a real estate finance specialist, or should they first find a buyer representative? Like the chicken and egg, there may not be a definitive answer, but we all have an opinion.  A loan originator can advise you about the amount of financial commitment you will be able to make based on your qualifications and your individual comfort level.  Armed with accurate personal finance and qualification information, you'll have a clearer picture of the destination when you begin sorting out neighborhoods and individual homes for sale. If you begin your lifestyle upgrade journey by findin... 05/11/2012

Apple Valley, MN is progressing nicely in its return to housing market stabilization.  According to information provided by the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, there are currently 212 homes listed for sale in Apple Valley.  In the first four months, 225 homes have been sold with another 112 with accepted offers in the process of going to closing.  The sold home total compares favorably to the year to date totals for the same period in 2011, when 189 homes were reported sold.  That's about a 19% improvement year over year. If you're thinking about making 2012 the year of the fired landlord, it's better to begin your search for an Apple Valley home sooner rather than later.  The number of active listings compared to the number of homes sold over a period of time can be cal... 05/02/2012