Sharlene Hensrud's (shensrud) Blog

Housing supply is best measured when comparing the number of homes for sale to the number of sales, which is how we get months supply of inventory. This is the number of months it would take for all the properties to be sold if no new listingscame on the market and properties continued to sell at...

Friday is the most popular day for closings and I am off to one this morning. I am representing the seller so all she needs is her driver’s license or some other government-issued photo ID such as a passport or a state-issued ID card. The buyer needs to bring funds for closing as well as photo ID...

Visitors at recent open houses reminded me of why open houses can be more beneficial than many people think… for the seller and current buyers… as well as for potential buyers and sellers.The benefit of an open house to the seller should be pretty obvious… to sell the house!While most properties ...

When you purchase a home you are buying much more than a dwelling. You are also buying into a neighborhood and the lifestyle that comes with that neighborhood. The old adage that the three most important things in real estate are location, location and location could never be more true. You can c...

Wall Street Journal recently ranked Minneapolis #4 on its international top 10 list of “hot destinations for adventurous sophisticates, curious foodies and deep-pocketed beach bums”… the only one on the list that is in the United States!  The primary reason for this ranking is because of our ‘foo...

Thinking about doing some updates on your home and wondering what investments are most cost-effective when it comes time to resell? Remodeling’s annual Cost vs. Value Report is a great resource for estimates on both the cost and return of common remodeling projects. This year’s numbers show a mod...

I had a closing on a condo in Downtown Minneapolis this week for a woman who was downsizing and relocating from Iowa. Then the next day I met with a woman currently living in New Mexico who is thinking about buying a condo in downtown Minneapolis as a second home.The ultimate purchase is a person...

No, you down need a 20% down payment to buy a home… or a credit score of 780!Did you know that… 40% of millennials who purchased homes this year have put down less than 10% 76.4% of loan applications were approved last month The average credit score of approved loans was 724 in September 81.1% of...

Last week we celebrated our grandson’s 12th birthday… hard to believe how quickly they grow up, almost a teenager!RECIPE OF THE WEEKI have had this recipe for lemon blueberry bread from Taste of Home tucked away for months. This was finally the week to try it. I left out the nuts because I am abo...

As more family homes that haven’t been sold for 40-50 years are hitting the market we are seeing more homes with basement ‘bedrooms’ from years past without egress windows. That has prompted buyers to ask when they started requiring an egress window for a basement bedroom to be legal.I didn’t kno...