Mary Jo Quay's (mjquay) Blog

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Real Estate Agent - H360homes.com
RECENT BLOG POSTS
Surprise is usually a bad word in real estate. Before any investor buys a home, they do a thorough inspection to plan the project and estimate expenses. The budget will have a little wiggle room for surprises that no one anticipates. The first phase depends on the time of year. In Minnesota, the ...
12/09/2017
I always love to listen to Dr. Ted C. Jones, Stewart Title’s national economist who served as chief economist at Texas A&M because he puts the “why?’ in big data. He was here December 6 for his annual ‘By the Numbers” chat. Before he started the speech I asked if we should be freaking out over th...
12/08/2017
The word REMODELED can mean many things. Some investors slap on a coat of paint and add some new appliances. Very few will take a property down to the studs, replace all utilities, and reconfigure the floor plan. I’d like to tell you the story of how it really happens, not the HGTV version that w...
11/16/2017
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When you walk into a new home, you’ll fall in love with the design, the decor, the open floor plan and giant windows. You won’t immediately fall in love with Energy Ratings, NFRC, BTUs, or engineered materials. But without those, you would be buying grandma’s house. The Jetson’s are back. The Jet...
11/09/2017
How are you going to pay for this baby?New construction is different than buying a traditional home. Before you get too excited shopping for a home you want interview a lender. You might not know that you have options, or how far your hard earned dollars go.If you go through a national builder wh...
11/03/2017
Bumps can happen. Anyone planning home is expecting their dream house to be perfect. They imagine that everything happens just like HGTV without the pauses for commercial breaks. What could possibly go wrong? The truth is a number of things could go off the rails. I'm writing this series precisel...
10/31/2017
St. Paul's historical district prides itself on gorgeous pre 20th Century mansions. Most are kept in impeccable condition, the original owners who built them would be proud. No two are alike, some were built by lumber barons, some brewers, but each home was custom built for the personality of the...
10/30/2017
A window to the world of the miracle of new windows.I have an older home, a Tudor built in 1941. It needs new windows. When the thermostat says 72 degrees, it feels like 65. I’m cold all winter long, and wear layers of sweaters. For a long time I thought it was charming, true to the architectural...
10/26/2017
This is always a buyer’s first question. You need to know what you are buying for your dollars. Pricing is based on list of upgrades and codes different than existing homes.   First is the land. New construction is scarce in urban neighborhoods because there aren’t many vacant lots, builders buy ...
10/24/2017
Well, what could possibly go wrong with new construction? It’s new right? So it should be perfect. Everyone wants a new home to be as perfect as possible. There are bumps that can happen along the way. The builder hires contractors to work under him. That would be the plumber, electrician, HVAC, ...
10/20/2017
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Mary Jo Quay

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