Tweaks to City Lakes Blog Roll

New Links: 'Behind the Mortgage,' 'St. Paul Real Estate'

For the uninitiated, a "Blog Roll" is where each blogger can add links to other Blogs or Web sites that they're fans of.

In my own case, it's: a) based purely on who I regularly read personally (vs. quid pro quo's or commercial considerations); and b) a short enough list to actually be meaningful.

So, I've limited my blog roll to about a dozen links.

For the first time in over a year, I'm shuffling that group.

The additions are Alex Stenback's Behind the Mortgage, and Teresa Boardman's St. Paul Real Estate.

Alex is a plugged-in local mortgage broker who consistently is on top of the latest trends and issues affecting borrowers.

Teresa Boardman is . . . a character.

She's also a professional calibre photographer who happens to be a (very good) Realtor, judging by her blog.

Be sure to check out their blogs regularly -- I do!

Blog Rankings

The Twin Cities' 40th Best RE Blog? Really??

Run a Google search on "Twin Cities' best real estate blog" and what do you find?

Not this blog.

At least, not in the top 25 hits ("City Lakes Real Estate" was actually 40th as of this morning -- at least before this post pushed it up several notches).

Instead, you'll find a (mostly) motley collection of stale blogs, non-blogs, and completely inactive blogs.

Case in point: according to Google, the 19th-highest rated Twin Cities real estate blog is something called "Broker Eric Kodner's Twin Cities Real Estate Blog."

Last post (out of less than ten total)? February, 2009. That's how many fresh, topical posts (if I say so myself) there have been on this blog in the last week.

Dear Reader: Any Suggestions?

Nothing against Mr. Kodner, but it's hard to compare his blog with one that's been mentioned or quoted in The New York Times, realclearmarkets.com, Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, etc. numerous times the last year.

[Sorry, had to get that off my chest -- can you say, "Google" and "pay-for-play"??]

P.S.: to be fair, included in the top Google hits are some excellent local real estate blogs, including Teresa Boardman's St. Paul Real Estate blog and Alex Stenback's Behind the Mortgage.

P.P.S.: if you regularly read this blog, and have a suggestion on how to remedy this problem -- at least one that doesn't involve my paying buckets of money to Google -- please feel free to call (612-925-7701) or email me at rosskaplan@edinarealty.com. Thanks!

"Cotton Balls, Kleenex's, and Wet/Dry Vac's"

Absorption Rates: Window to R/E Trends

It's easy to get swamped by real estate statistics, which is why a catch-all like the "absorption rate" is so popular.

In one, broad number -- measured in months -- it tells you how long it would take to absorb the current inventory on the market. Four months or less is generally considered a Seller's market; eighth months or more is considered a Buyer's Market.

Depending on how broadly you define the Twin Cities market, the absorption rate peaked at more than 11 months, and has now dropped to around 8 months.

Teresa Boardman, who writes The St. Paul Real Estate Blog, has a nice shorthand for the various types of markets (the imagery is Teresa's, the corresponding market labels are my gloss):

Wet/Dry Vac: Buyer's Market-strong
Paper Towel: Buyer's Market-weak
Kleenex: Balanced
Cotton Balls: Seller's Market-weak
Q-Tips: Seller's Market-strong

Lost in the terrible news lately about the broader economy, and drowned out by foreclosures and (falling) housing prices, is the fact that aborption rates in many markets are now improving.

I'd go even further: within a larger, urban market like the Twin Cities, the absorption rates in more than a few neighborhoods are quite healthy.