Michael Juliff - Real Estate Agent

Despite the media hype about the slow down in the real estate market, there are buyers in the Twin Cities area that are shopping for homes! Pricing strategy and key home updates are very important, especially this time of year as we enter a natural slow down from the spring/summer market in MN. If you or someone you know is thinking about a sale, I would love to help answer questions and get their home listed if they decide the time is right. Congrats to my clients in North Branch on their pending sale!

Abbe and Ben reached out to me in need of my help asap. They had found a home for sale in the neighborhood where they were renting that they immediately fell in love with. They weren’t even shopping for homes at the time, though Abbe will admit she’s always browsing real estate listings before bed 😂

They had no clue if they could afford the place but they knew they wanted to find out - and find out fast so that they didn’t miss out on the home. They connected with a lender about the costs of ownership and were pleasantly surprised that they were well qualified!

I quickly setup a tour time for the home. They had actually already walked through the home with the owners when they ran into them while walking their dogs but I wanted them to have the expertise of an agent that has walked through hundreds of homes to look for any potential issues.

Honestly, this was one of the cleanest and well taken care of homes I have seen, especially considering it was built over 75 years ago. It didn’t take me long to give my stamp of approval, submit an offer and get started with the purchase process.

The owners of the home were super friendly, honest and straightforward people. Abbe and Ben actually developed a great relationship with them and they even got each other gifts when the sale was completed! It was such an enjoyable experience working with everyone in this transfer of ownership.

Abbe and Ben are an amazing couple and I’m so glad they were able to stay in the neighborhood which they love - and buy a home that has been lovingly cared for and improved by the previous owners ❤️

More catch-up from the last month: I was able to help my Hmong brother Boume, his wife Bee and baby Arthur buy their first home! They are new residents of Brooklyn Center in a very spacious and updated home for Arthur to grow up in.

Boume and Bee are newly weds and hard working new parents that needed a place of their own to call home. I can empathize with what they were going through, trying to manage work and family life with a baby, very little sleep and planning for the future all at the same time. We set out to find them a place that would be perfect for them that wouldn’t be too far from family to help.

They were met with multiple offers on this home that they loved, but with my assistance we were able to navigate to be the best offer!

We had a thorough home inspection performed by Sachoua Vang, who gave them the peace of mind that this home was free of major issues. The local lender we worked with, Logan Hanson at Magnifi Financial, was able to get them a forgivable first time buyer grant to help with the downpayment and I made sure everything moved along smoothly until closing day.

Congrats and wishing you many happy years in your new home! 🏡

There is going to be a new owner of this lovingly built and cared for cabin on Big Island in Lake Minnetonka!

Catching up on some events from the last month!

I helped an amazing young couple and family of mine, Josh and Kathy, with the second most important event in their recent history (2nd to their engagement 🤩) which was buying their first home in Dayton, Mn!

We sat down together earlier this spring to discuss what they were looking to do and their priorities in a home. Space for a ping pong table was high on their list, plus having space for large family gatherings. They wanted to duel homeowners in a game of ping pong for the right to their home but I told them that isn’t quite how the market works 😂 JK.

They were patiently waiting for their current lease to come up for renewal to avoid overlap in rent/mortgage payments. In the meantime they got their finances situated with a preapproval from a local credit union.

When the time was right, we headed out to look at some homes and found one that stood apart from the rest. It had big open spaces to gather, plenty of bedrooms, a multi car garage and of course high ceilings with a large, open room for ping pong.

We crafted an offer that got them some cash from the seller because the home had been sitting for a few weeks, and we moved through a pretty smooth inspection and appraisal. Within a few weeks they were owners of their beautiful first home! Wishing them many years of enjoyment! 🏡

Thanks to my partners who helped make this a reality for them:

George Ury with StructureTech
Sarah Weaver & First American Title

Received a great offer on my clients home listed for sale in North Branch! They are looking forward to their big move out of state once we get the sale completed.

I just helped some good friends, Tim and Sheena purchase their first home!

They had been planning this endeavor for a while and had a lot of great questions before we started. We had a sit down meeting prior to looking at any homes to make sure they had all of their questions answered, to get them up to speed on the current market and to educate them on the process to buy a home.

With our purchase plan in place, we hit the road to find them their first home. They quickly found a place that they fell in love with based on the photos. However, after seeing it in person, they decided that it wasn’t the right home - and they learned an important lesson: real estate photos can be liars sometimes 😂 It is important to see homes in person because it can reveal things you may not be able to understand just based on photos.

We set out again and looked at several more homes, but none felt quite right…until they landed on a home with a lot of charm but in need of a little updating. They had the means, willingness and contacts to make the updates and so we moved forward with an offer!

There were a number of hurdles we had to successfully overcome in order to make this home theirs, starting with outbidding multiple offers on the home - without overpaying. We knocked that out of the park and proceeded to the inspection period. The home inspection revealed that there was some old k**b and tube electrical wiring in the attic of the home, which is a significant fire hazard as well as a major issue for obtaining reasonably priced home insurance.

We were able to successfully negotiate with the seller to have them pay to remove and replace the old wiring prior to closing so that Tim and Sheena could feel safe in their new home and have an insurance policy that was not 3x the typical yearly rate.

We made it through the appraisal with flying colors but there were a few more surprises waiting for us prior to closing - which we traversed successfully - and made this home theirs! I can’t wait to see the final product of their updating efforts and wish them many years of enjoyment in their new home!

I was able to help some out of state clients sell their condo quickly and for an ideal price!

Honestly it was a challenging sale, but the buyer's agent and I managed to get everyone to agree and all parties are happy with the outcome!

My clients used to live in Minnesota and while they were here they purchase several properties as rental units. They have since moved out of state and are now trying to sell their property here to use a 1031 Tax Exchange to take the proceeds of the sale and purchase property closer to where they live now.

It was exciting to be able to help someone use some of the tax laws that exist to benefit investment in real estate.

If you are someone that is curious about all of the benefits real estate can provide as an investment, Im more than happy to share my knowledge!