Isaac Contreras

11/04/2026

Builders are often the most motivated sellers, especially with inventory sitting on their books. Instead of focusing only on the list price, negotiate for rate buy-downs, closing costs, and upgrades. Always bring your own representation to the table before that first visit. The price on the sign is just the start.

11/04/2026

The most motivated seller in today’s market may not be a homeowner. It may be the builder.

A homeowner who does not like the offers coming in can take the house off the market and wait.
A builder carrying completed homes does not have that same luxury.

Nationally, 65% of builders offered buyer incentives in October, 43% reduced prices, and the average reduction was 6%.
That trend holds up here: Twin Cities single-family permits fell 15% from last October, and local builders are advertising reduced prices and below-market financing.

That does not make every new home a bargain. It means the price on the sign is only the beginning of the conversation.

Do not ask only, “What is the price?” Ask what the builder can do to lower the total cost of owning the home. A permanent rate buydown, closing-cost assistance, upgrade credits, or a discount on a completed home may be worth more than a small price reduction.

If you are using VA financing, make sure the advertised incentive works with your loan—or ask whether those dollars can be structured differently.

And remember: the person sitting in the model home represents the builder. Bring your own representation before that first visit, because the best deal is rarely the first one printed on the flyer.

11/02/2026

Most of the people who think they can't qualify (for a mortgage) have never applied, so nobody has actually told them no.

- Hector Amendola, President, SimplyPMG

10/29/2026

10/29/2026

A home can be worth more than it was last year—and still be harder to sell today.

That is the Twin Cities market right now.
The September median sales price rose 1.3% to $395,000, yet pending sales recently dropped 19.2% while inventory climbed 12.7%.
Homes are taking longer to sell, buyers are paying an average of 97.7% of the original asking price, and the national 30-year mortgage rate reached 7.32%.

Buyers have not disappeared. They are simply doing the math—and becoming much harder to impress.

For sellers, last spring’s neighborhood sale is not a pricing strategy.
In this market, the first price is not a number you throw out there to see what happens. It sets the direction for everything that follows.

For buyers, less competition can create room to negotiate the price, repairs, closing costs, or a rate buydown. But leverage only matters if the full payment—including taxes, insurance, and maintenance—still fits your life.

The Twin Cities market has not stopped moving. It has just stopped rewarding guesswork.

10/23/2026

Part 2 of 2
Your mortgage payment may be predictable. Homeownership is not.

The payment gets you into the house, but everything that comes afterward determines whether you can afford to stay there.

A recent national survey found that 63.2% of homeowners feel stressed by the cost of owning their homes. Property taxes have increased nearly 30% nationally since 2019, while homeowners insurance premiums rose 24% between 2021 and 2024.

Here in the Twin Cities, that pressure is not theoretical.

Minneapolis has approved a property-tax levy increase of 11.87%, St. Paul has proposed 6.8%, and all seven metro counties are considering levy increases of at least 7.9%. Those percentages will not translate directly into the same increase on every homeowner’s tax bill, but they tell us which direction ownership costs are moving.

That is why I want buyers looking beyond the mortgage payment. How old are the roof, furnace, air conditioner, and appliances? What will insurance actually cost?

And don’t forget about that diseased tree in the front yard. Either Mother Nature will tell you when it is time to take it down—or the insurance company will.

With all that being said, homeownership can still be one of the strongest ways to build long-term wealth, but only if the house leaves you enough room to live while you own it.

Getting the keys is one goal. Being able to keep them without the house controlling every other financial decision is the bigger one.

10/22/2026

Your preapproval amount is changing as we speak.

10/22/2026

Part 1 of 2:
A $600,000 preapproval is permission—not instructions to spend $600,000.

When a lender is considering lending you $300,000, $400,000, or $600,000, the question is pretty simple: Can you pay the money back—and will they have to chase you to get it?

Your income, debt, credit history, assets, and the house itself all help them answer that question. The preapproval tells you what the lender believes you can repay. It does not tell you what you should spend.

That second decision belongs to you. Take a hard look at what the monthly payment would actually be and what would be left after paying it. Can you still save, travel, handle an emergency, help your family, and enjoy your life? Or will nearly every available dollar be going toward the house?

I like ramen noodles too—just not every night.

The lender’s job is to decide whether the loan is a reasonable risk. Your job is to decide whether the payment fits the life you want to live.

Tomorrow, in Part 2: why the mortgage payment is only part of the real cost of owning a home.

10/14/2026

The housing market being reported today is not necessarily the market you are walking into today.

National headlines say existing-home sales increased 1.5% in September.
That is true—but those closings largely reflect contracts written weeks earlier, when mortgage rates were considerably lower.

Here in the Twin Cities, the more current numbers tell a different story: pending sales fell 21% from a year ago during the week ending October 3, while inventory increased 13.1%.

A closed sale tells us where the market was.
A pending sale gives us a better look at where it may be going.

That difference matters whether you are buying or selling. Sellers cannot build today’s pricing strategy around yesterday’s competition, and buyers should not assume that a national increase in sales means their negotiating room has disappeared. Homes are still selling and prices have not collapsed, but the market has changed quickly enough that old assumptions can become expensive.

A headline can be completely accurate and still arrive too late to guide your next decision.

10/09/2026

You’ve outgrown your house. But you’re staying for the mortgage rate.

Sound familiar?

A lot of Twin Cities homeowners want to move but can’t stomach giving up that low rate.

Before you rule it out, what could your home equity do? Could selling help you pay off debt, fund your next home, and give you more breathing room—even with a higher mortgage rate?

Maybe. But you need to compare the whole monthly budget to find out.

Watch this before you decide to stay, rent, or buy.

What’s keeping you in your current home: you love it—or you love the rate?