About Beltrami County, MN

Have you been to Northern Minnesota?

Our lakes and Lakeshore is fantastic. The State of Minnesota has over 10,000 lakes and is an excellent place to visit and spend your vacation time.

When it comes to Real Estate, North-Central Minnesota is an exciting area withhundreds of Lakes, State forests, state parks and numerous outdoor activities through out the year! We have Skiing, Hunting, Fishing, Boating, along with business and Adventure! Our Real Estate market is far enough away from the turbulent areas of the South, East and West, so that our High's aren't as High, and our Low's aren't as Low. We have been blessed with moderate fluctuations. This does not mean we haven't seen our share of Foreclosures and short sales... We have them too!

If you have ever dreamed of owning Lakeshore property or living by the waters edge, I encourage you to consider Northern Minnesota. There are many great buys when it comes to lake front properties. You can search the local listings at www.firstrealtybemidji.com

The City of Bemidji and the surrounding area is very scenic. Our area is growing, thanks in part to the wonderful staff at the City and County levels. A new addition to the area is the Bemidji Regional Event Center or BREC. We will have a new sporting event center and concert venue. This is under construction and will be finished for the 2010-2011 school Year! For more information on Northern Minnesota, click Here for the City/Tourism Website and Here for the Beltrami County Website.

Here is a couple pictures of a current listing of mine. If someone is going to list properties like this, it might as well be me. I truly enjoy discovering properties like this.

It is amazing to see some truely wild places, show them to prospective clients and see their own 'Discovery'

If your dream of owning lake shore seems out of the question. The reality, may be that it's a great time to buy. When considering a lake property, do not forget about Northern Minnesota. We have plenty of lakes to offer.

"PICK YOUR OWN NEIGHBOR" Campaign

Thats right... I go around the neighborhood where I have a New Listing and ask if they would like to "PICK" their new Neighbors. It sounds kind of funny, but they always ask what I'm talking about. I then go on and explain to them, that a house in their neighborhood is for sale, Give them a flyer of the 'New Listing' and a Handout, then proceed to ask them for any leads or referrals they may know of.

I also get a few precisous moments to ask them about their Family and Friends. I say something like "Do you have any Friends or Family that would like to live close to you?" or "Haven't any of your friends mentioned that they like your neighborhood?" This leads the conversation to other members of the family and friends group that are considering moving... and MORE PROSPECTS!!!

This is a Great Tactic and gets my name and flyers into the hands of the neighborhood. It works not only on your listings but 'New listings" from other agents in the area...

I forgot to mention, the Handout... The Handout, is simply an "Offical" looking form created by me. It simply has my logo and contact info along with blank lines for the Neighbor to fill in with the names of any potential contacts who may be interested in the neighborhood.

You have to give this a try... It's Simple, inexpensive and Fun

Enjoy the Great Weather, Sincerely

Phil

I recently attended a class put on by the Bemidji Chamber of commerce on keeping above others in this slow and challenging market. The class was called "Survive or Thrive". It was a "Dale Carnegie Trainer" class put on by Rick Cole. The class was "How to position your business for success". This was marketed to Realtors and other business owners in the Bemidji area.

The class was pretty interesting. It basically boiled down to how you look and the current situation, react to how things are going and actually get out and tackle your own daily activities. We certainly have sellers in the area that want to sell their home and we also have buyers who want to buy. Our job is to find these people, help them find the right home and bring it to closing. I know it is tougher to do it but it is still happening every day. Now is the time to find our strong suites and get back to the basics. Talk to people, walk them through their fears and bring it to closing.

I see and hear a lot of people getting out of the real estate business because of the way the market is. I believe most get out because they do not know how to react to the market conditions. I believe that most think that this should be a very easy job and when it is not, it is time to get out. Some that are still chugging along are cutting way back on advertising and other means of getting the information out to people. My opinion on that is if you cut back with certain forms of advertising, publications or how ever you try to market buyers and sellers when the market is down. You most likely didn't need that form of advertising in the first place. If you are not finding buyers and sellers with your forms of media when things are slow, you may not have been getting your buyers and sellers from these forms when the market was good. You may have only thought you were getting clients from these.

Now is the time to sit down and revisit your budgets, marketing and especially how you spend your time in 2009.

Doug Hoover e-pro
www.BemidjiHomeSearch.com