So you have scoured the internet for the perfect home and you found it! But it is tens of thousands overpriced compared to similar homes. Is there an art to submitting a lowball offer in this changed real estate market? Where do you start? 10% less? 20% less? 50% less? And is it the percentage less than the original list price or the current asking price? Welcome to the reality of the real estate market today! There is no one-size-fits-all answer on this one. It really depends. As a REALTOR® working in the north and east Twin Cities metro for several years, I have seen my share of sellers who were insulted by a buyer’s offer. And not just in a market where buyers have the upper hand either. A decade ago, anything but a full priced offer was insulting. Buyers were afraid to request a few... 08/11/2011

The City of Ham Lake has a rich history. Incorporated in 1974, Ham Lake became a city after over a hundred years of humble but steady growth. The area was first settled in 1855 by a group of Scottish men on the southwest side of Ham Lake. Though, I can only assume that the lake itself got its name due to its unusual “ham hock” shape, the community started out with a different name. The original name of the community was Glen Carey, which is the Scottish translation of “beautiful valley”. Following a prairie fire in 1857, the first settlers moved but the community was resettled again. The new Scandinavian settlers had a hard time with the pronunciation of Glen Carey and soon the fledging community was known as Ham Lake. Anoka County officially was recognized it as a township in 1871. In... 08/10/2011

The seller’s disclosure form for residential real estate in Minnesota is currently nine pages long. It may seem like a lot of pages, but if your home was built after 1978 and has city water and sewer, there are more. If a home was built prior to 1978, the seller must fill out the two page federal disclosure regarding lead based paint. If a home has a septic system, the seller needs to complete a three page disclosure for subsurface sewage treatment systems. And if a home has ever had a well for water, there is a specific three page disclosure for wells. This must be completed whether the well is sealed or not. (There is an additional disclosure form if a home has ever been used for the production of methamphetamine, but thankfully, most home sellers do not have to complete that one.) A... 06/12/2011

  In Minnesota we have a choice with our hibiscus plants, bring them indoors and hope they survive the eight months of less-than-ideal weather for tropical plants or rebuy them in the spring from Linder's or Bachman's. Up until last year, we chose the latter. But last fall we decide to take the plants in off our Ham Lake front porch and they survived,..though a bit ragged as our cat enjoyed chewing on the foliage. This was the first flower in late April after months in our somewhat cold sunroom. The conditions were not perfect but the plants survived. This is a bit of a real estate analogy too...Conditions are less than ideal in the Minneapolis/St Paul real estate market but it will survive. The market in the Twin Cities has yet to rebloom but it is still alive and with proper care and... 06/08/2011

If your oak trees require trimming, it’s best you wait until winter to prevent the spread of oak wilt. Oak wilt is devastating as massive oaks are destroyed when this disease spreads. Smart landscaping and maintenance requires you trim oaks in the winter months—before April in Minnesota. Oak trees should be trimmed in the late fall or winter months. If you have overgrown oak trees, it is important to now wait until after the first hard freeze of fall to avoid exposure to this tree-killing disease! A few years ago I shared photos of a property in our Ham Lake neighborhood where the owners had dealt with oak wilt for a couple of years…Or in reality chose not to deal with it. In one summer alone, this property lost nearly a dozen trees. (Read Oak Wilt—A Minnesota Tragedy) While the beauti... 04/05/2011

After this particularly brutal winter in Anoka County, we felt a bit sorry for the squirrels living on our Ham Lake acreage. Even with several large oaks in our yard, the acorns were tough to dig out after several inches of snow. Our cat enjoys watching them play from the window so we set out food to attract them. Luckily, only the gray squirrels found it as the red ones have been known to eat cedar so we don't really want them on our front porch.   03/23/2011

This past year homes sold at a similar pace as in 2009 in Ham Lake, Minnesota an area well known for it’s acreage properties. In this eastern Anoka County city, home sales were up slightly by just over ½ a percent in 2010. The first time homebuyer credit may have got sales moving in 2009 so it is good that sales were level after the credit expired. New listings were down just a bit (2.2%) less than in the previous year showing continued improvement and a move toward a more balanced market. The average days on the market dropped by over 10% this year, from 175 to 157, which is another sign of a more level playing field between buyers and sellers. The average price of a home sold did drop this year but not significantly. It is only 2% lower than in 2009, which is significantly better tha... 02/12/2011

Closed sales took a nosedive in Columbus, Minnesota during 2010. Only 12 homes were sold all of last year in this Anoka County community which is well known for its acreage properties. Columbus is just west of Forest Lake and in this area home sales dropped over 63% from 2009 to 2010. The average price of a home dropped also dropped 12.5% but only a fewer homes were listed on the market. The homes that did list sold quickly and sellers were able to keep more dollars in their pockets during negotiations with sellers receiving nearly 97% of their asking price which is much higher than in many neighboring communities. Average days on the market is down considerably for the straight year to under three months so it appears that buyers are making decisions quickly on acreage homes in Columb... 01/29/2011

Don't let the date fool you. This photo is from my archives. This year we have had record breaking snow in Ham Lake, Minnesota....Recordbreaking all over the Twin Cities metro in fact. Yet, our yard is snowman-free. The boys are now much older. This photo was taken when we first moved to our home on Anoka County acreage...before the front porch had a railing and hydrangeas in front. I am a native Minnesotan but really never got into skiing, snowmobiling or ice skating. I always liked snowmen however...and I real miss having them in our Ham Lake yard! 01/23/2011

The Ham Laker Newsletter arrived last week with some great news for our semi-rural community. We are not going to be facing the drastic tax increases that are plaguing many other communities in the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area. Ham Lake is a community without the expensive infrastructure of water and sewage utilities so our costs were down this year. In fact, Ham Lake boasts one of the lowest tax bases in Anoka County; second only by a small margin to the small community of Nowthen. But has that helped the sales and market values of Ham Lake homes? Let’s take a look.Though the sluggish real estate market has affected Ham Lake, MN and Anoka County in 2010, homes did sell. Homes did sell just a bit more quickly with an average Cumulative Days-on-Market (CDOM) of 175 days for homes durin... 01/03/2011

A few weeks ago, we explored why it is difficult to buy a Minnesota lake home in the winter. If you missed the post, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Buying a Minnesota Lakehome in the Winter, I explained how difficult it can be to assess lakeshore in the dead of winter when the lakes are frozen over by several feet of ice. But I also noted, if someone knows a lake well and wants to get a good deal, buying a lakeshore home in the winter does yield some tremendous opportunities! Well after the record breaking December snow, there is no doubt it would be hard to assess any shoreline of any lake in Anoka, Washington, Chisago or Ramsey County but there are hundreds of home with lakeshore currently on the market. AND in a quick perusing of the inventory, I spied several awesome deals on lake... 12/30/2010

A couple of weeks ago, a friend mentioned a new company had opened in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. He later realized it was just Fair Isaac now going by the new name, FICO. I was taken aback by the confusion because most people living in the Twin Cities north metro are aware the business analytics company, Fair Isaac Corporation, has been located in Shoreview for decades. What surprised me is that few outside the real estate and mortgage industry may have made the connection that FICO is an acronym for the Fair Isaac Corporation. Once again, I was a bit surprised that such a simple term I use everyday as a REALTOR® would be unknown to others. But then it got me thinking of all the times a glazed look came over a buyer’s eyes when I talked about escrow or earnest money. These can easi... 12/21/2010

Being a REALTOR® who specializes in Minnesota Lakeshore and acreage, you may have been expecting a frozen lake shot or field sculpted into drifts from the record-breaking, "snow-mageddon" Minnesota blizzard of last weekend. We clocked in with 16-20 inches across the Minneapolis/St Paul metro; in fifth place for the most snow in one storm. To be honest with you, those winter lake and open field shots can be boring as they are often nothing but white. However the wind did sculpt the first snowfall of the season into perfectly formed snow waves across our newly installed backyard landscaping. This was such a unique sight, I just had to capture it for posterity! Only Mother Nature could provide such a backyard treat! 12/19/2010

A fresh blanket of snow covers the landscape across the Twin Cities from Oakdale to Blaine and Ham Lake to White Bear Lake. There is a chill in the air...who am I kidding, the weather is biting cold this year. But winter is not a time to hide from the elements and wait until spring to make a home buying decision! Although making a move in a Minnesota winter’s snow and ice is not ideal, the timing could not be more perfect to buy a home and get a GREAT DEAL! Here are the Top Ten Reasons to Buy a Home THIS Winter! Reason 10—Holiday Décor. Visiting homes this time of year will really put you in the holiday spirit. Many homeowners use this opportunity to deck the halls with hopes that there will be a purchase agreement in their Christmas stocking! Reason 9—Check Window Efficiency. No that ... 12/08/2010

To get what you want in lfe sometimes you have to get your feet wet or in this case jump into the lake with both feet all paws! Though it is doubtful Muffin's submarine costume will help him to find fish in any lake, it would have been an aggressive move toward what he really wants in life! (Note: The cat was really stretched out on the couch just trying to wiggle his way out of the doggie Halloween costume his owners picked up on clearance to torture photograph him.) In this real estate market, you need to jump in with both feet to get you the home of your dreams. Minnesota's homes are affordable & plentiful again. And interest rates are unbelieveably low. There are numerous homes in the north and east Twin Cities metro for the first time buyer or a family wanting to move up to a larg... 11/21/2010

This guy ( or gal) got lucky...we don't hunt. But walking around in our Ham Lake yard days before a holiday that puts a turkey on almost every table in Anoka County, this bird does take his life into his own hands....I mean wings ( or would it be drumsticks?) This is just one of many as we have several dozen of wild turkeys roam through the wooded acreage around our home. Wild Turkeys are abundant throughout Columbus, Linwood, Andover, Lino Lakes and even Blaine.   11/17/2010

When I was contacted a few months ago by senior clients, Ang and Donna, about downsizing from their family home on a half acre lot in Anoka County to a townhome, I knew it would mean bring lots of changes. Downsizing can relieve a lot of stress for a senior couple. No more mowing or raking the huge lawn. No more snow blowing the driveway or shoveling off the steps. Sure there would be less space to store all the treasure and mementos of life…but then less to dust too. Yes, downsizing was a good option for this couple, but finding a new home for Tuffy was paramount. Tuffy was their little gray wire-haired, terrier-type dog who had the run of the place, if you know what I mean. Every townhome we looked at had to allow dogs in the association by-laws. Since Tuffy was not a large sized can... 11/09/2010

Summer is long over and with Halloween now come and gone it is time to pack up the pumpkins and fall decor too. Home sellers so excited this spring that this was THE year to downsize from their family home or upgrade to something larger are more concerned over the upcoming holidays than the extremely low interest rates that enticed them to list their home in the first place. Many are now wondering whether they should take a break from potential showings and just enjoy the upcoming holidays without concerns of whether the home is "showing perfect". So,what should a home seller do? At first inclination most sellers opt to withdraw their home from the market believing that the preoccupation with the holiday season puts few buyers in the market. While there is a bit of truth to this belief,... 11/01/2010

The City of Ham Lake has a rich history. Incorporated in 1974, Ham Lake became a city after over a hundred years of humble but steady growth. The area was first settled in 1855 by a group of Scottish men on the southwest side of Ham Lake. Though, I can only assume that the lake itself got its name due to its unusual “ham hock” shape, the community started out with a different name. The original name of the community was Glen Carey, which is the Scottish translation of “beautiful valley”. Following a prairie fire in 1857, the first settlers moved but the community was resettled again. The new Scandinavian settlers had a hard time with the pronunciation of Glen Carey and soon the fledging community was known as Ham Lake. Anoka County officially was recognized it as a township in 1871. In... 10/25/2010

I met with a potential client awhile back. He was interviewing real estate agents as he was going to be relisting his Anoka County acreage home that had been unsuccessfully under contract for a year. As part of my job as an acreage REALTOR®, I walked with the seller around the house, through the barn and looked out the barn’s backdoor at the 30+ acres of woods and wetland. Looking out the door, I asked if there was a path that goes through to the perimeter of the land so buyers could walk the property. He confirmed that there was but then said something else. “The previous agent never stepped one foot further beyond where you are standing now to see the land. I don’t think he wanted to get his shoes dirty.” Wow! I was flabbergasted! How do you sell a home on acreage without walking the... 10/21/2010