MASTERWERKS LLC BUILDING SERVICES Custom Home Building, Transformations, Renovations
INFORMED OBSERVATIONS ON CURRENT HOUSING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Welcome! We’re guessing people like you—who investigate these themes, circle back, and reflect on the insights presented—are open-minded, down-to-earth, and a bit analytical about the financial realities of home ownership or reinvestment. Frankly, that makes you a rare breed.
Experience shows that many homeowners fail to come to grips with a basic premise: It’s easy to put money into a property—but it’s often hard to get it out. At MasterWerks, we believe that when you invest your money, you should count on getting it back. The best way to ensure a return is by managing your housing investment like other investment vehicles, based on solid, accurate information.
Knowledge is power, and you’ll find hard-won, empowering knowledge in these posts that can’t be found anywhere else, because it’s based on our unique qualifications, proprietary research and singular approach. We’re committed to providing the best possible advice to our customers. We build only when—and if—it gives you a decided advantage. That’s the MasterWerks edge: shrewd guidance, smart construction and superb outcomes.
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Thoughtful Analysis & Measured Advice
February 2024
Enhancing Curb Appeal:
A Highly Cost-Effective Strategy in Image-Conscious Communities
Through Exterior Transformation, It’s Possible to Elevate a Home to the Top of Its Price Category
There’s a classic mistake that many homeowners make when deciding to remodel: They over-focus on the interior, spending significant amounts of money on areas such as the kitchen or bathrooms, without giving due consideration to the exterior façade or street presence. ... Read More
September 2023
The Pursuit of Relevance:
The Smarter Strategy for Combating Today’s Fiscal Challenges
As we previously discussed, macro-economic trends in housing must be examined through a hyper-local lens to provide any real guidance to homeowners. What the current data tells us about Edina and desirable adjacent neighborhoods can be summarized as: Lack of housing inventory is causing prices to remain high, inflation has significantly raised the costs of new construction, and interest rate hikes have aggravated the entire situation. The result ... Read More
March 20, 2023
The Housing Market Disconnect:
Macro Forecasts versus
Micro Realities
Lately, it’s been hard to miss the drumbeat of news about the housing market, with plenty of doleful predictions about price declines and interest rate hikes. While the forecasts seem compelling, it’s important to remember that the data behind them is general at best, typically reflecting regional or national macroeconomic trends.
The reality is that housing actually consists of micro markets. Desirability and demand vary depending on... Read More
April 22, 2022
Strategizing in an Unpredictable Housing Market
As you’re no doubt aware, interest rates are on the rise, as the Fed reacts aggressively to curb surging inflation. More increases are in the offing, but how far and how fast the acceleration will move is anyone’s guess. ... Read More
October 6, 2021
Construction Challenges: Whys, Wherefores, and Ramifications of Today’s New Reality
You may have heard the ironic curse: “May you live in interesting times!” Most of us would agree the present moment qualifies. The fault lines in an overwhelmingly complex, interdependent global economy are laid bare by the ... Read More
January 30, 2021
Planning, Patience, and Perseverance:
3 Keys to Pandemic House Projects
As Covid-19 continues to run its course, we see plenty of press about how people are adapting, often through lifestyle alterations and modifications to their living environments. Whether these changes prove to be real and lasting—or just temporary workarounds—is a matter of speculation. ... Read More
March 4, 2020
Site Value vs Structure Value: The Primary Metric for Project Evaluation
If you’re thinking about retrofitting, transforming, or replacing an existing home, the first thing to consider is not the design plan or finding a contractor. It’s the value of the site underneath the house. So, let’s talk about what’s happening to land in the Twin Cities metro ... Read More
October 8, 2019
Rising New Construction Costs Shift Market to Transformation and Remodeling
Fasten your seat belts. Here’s a high-speed account of what has happened to housing prices in Edina over the past decade and how price migration has affected the behavior of many builders and buyers, with overall consequences for the market. ... Read More
August 12, 2019
Knowledge is Power
In home revitalization–as with everything else in life,—knowledge is power, while ignorance and arrogance set the stage for disaster. So, our goal in this Perspective series is to combat ignorance and relax arrogance, by imparting useful knowledge that helps you avoid financial loss and navigate your way to smart equity growth. ... Read More
July 11, 2019
The Truth About The Mythic Million+ Dollar Home
Do you think you own a home—or contemplate buying or improving a home—that is likely to be worth over $1 million? Homeowners’ perception of how many houses actually sell for that amount tend to far exceed the reality. Let’s consider the numbers, starting with recent data on single-family home sales in the Twin Cities 13-county metro in general, then Edina in particular. ... Read More
It takes know-how to work your way through the maze of residential variables.
July 11, 2019
Navigating the New Rules In Metro Real Estate
Game-changing forces are dynamically reshaping our communities, roiling the value of our homes, and rewriting the rules of how we traditionally think about investing in residential real estate in the Twin Cities metro area. The trend—the revitalization of settled, desirable communities and neighborhoods—is largely organic and has its roots in our DNA as Americans. ... Read More