About McLeod County, MN

The November/December issue of "The Residential Specialist" arrived in our office today. We are proud to have one of our marketing ideas featured in the article titled "The Bright Side."

If you would like a copy of this article, just e-mail me and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Isn't it just great having the speculation of a new stimulus incentive for everyone? Now I am starting to hear buyers say, "Well I'm going to just wait to buy a home in Hutchinson, MN because there is an even better stimulus package that will be available to all home buyers coming soon." Well, if the people who think that the $8,000 tax credit has inflated prices in some markets, imagine what a $15,000 tax credit will do! Is it any wonder why this market has been so crazy? Maybe it's time to just let the housing market correct itself without all of this.

Last year I had a past client who contacted me and said that she wanted to sell her home here in Hutchinson, MN and get into a townhome. She had only owned the home for about 1 1/2 years and after looking at the market, I suggested to her that she wait until the real estate market had a chance to improve. She took my advice and about a month ago we reconnected. She put her home up for sale at an asking price $12,000 below what she had paid for it. Within a couple of weeks she had an acceptable offer on it and was able to purchase the townhome she had found. She needed to bring about $15,000 to closing in order to sell her current home and purchase the new one, but she was well prepared to do so. She has thanked me many times for advising her to wait because it would have cost her much more had she tried to make the move last year. I know that it is difficult to be brutally honest with our clients, but it is essential and they will appreciate you even more.

Now is the time for all real estate people to wake up and realize that nothing is going to replace the face-to-face contact that we have with customers and clients. I keep seeing all the agents going goo-goo over the newest technology and I have to wonder, "why are these people in the real estate business?" They are tripping over themselves to put technology in place that eliminates their having to have face-to-face contact with their buyers and sellers. The best example of this is the "showing" technology where an agent sets up their appointments to show a home via the Internet. Then after the showing there is a "showing response" form filled out by the showing agent. Most listing agents simply forward these comments to their sellers via e-mail. What happened to the good dialog that a listing agent and their sellers used to have over the showing comments. Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful things that technology can do for us in our day to day activities, but let's not lose sight of the importance of face-to-face dialog.

What a beautiful weekend we had and it looks like the rest of the week is going to be very mild as well. We survived winter! There were a few weeks that I wasn't so sure why we chose to make Hutchinson our hometown, but then I remembered. The Hutchinson Leader's editorial last week said it all when they reminded all of us in Hutchinson, MN of all the good things that are happening in our community that will positively affect our economy here. I hosted an open house this afternoon at one of the homes that Hometown Realty has for sale, and there were people coming through the home the entire time. That is an excellent indication that the real estate market here in Hutchinson, MN is alive and well. One of the interesting things that I have observed is that not one single potential buyer that I have talked with in the last while has mentioned the stimulus package that is out there. Why aren't buyers more excited about it? I suspect that one of the reasons is that there has been so much confusion with the $7,500 tax incentive that was in place before the new $8,000 one was passed. Well, I have to tell all potential buyers that one of our clients who purchased a home this year has already had their money deposited into their account! It is real and it is a great benefit for purchasing a home in today's real estate market where the prices are down and the interest rates on home mortgages are very low. If you want more information about this $8,000 tax credit, please call my office or any mortgage company to see how you can take advantage of it. And... I would be amiss if I forgot to wish all of you a Happy St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday!