Joslyn Panka Solomon - Mora Minnesota - Minnesota's One Way Ticket to SOLD!

Did you know that there are 259 homes priced at $100,000 or less in the area I work in right now? That's incredible!

If you visit www.servingkanabeccounty.com today, you can do a search for just what you are looking for! There are so many options - big homes, small homes, acreage, in town... find that perfect house and have affordable payments!

Plus, now is a great time to buy. Take advantage of the first time homebuyer $8,000 tax credit. You can move in and buy new appliances, flooring, or do the updates you really want to make your new house yours!

So log on today and search Mille Lacs, Kanabec, Isanti, and Pine counties for your perfect home. You can quickly and easily sign up for automatic listing alerts, so you know right away when a new listing comes on the market, and have that competitive edge you need for some of the best priced properties on the market.

If you have any questions about purchasing a home, feel free to call me at 612-850-3153, or e-mail me anytime at Joslyn@JoslynSells.com.

Start your search now on my website, and I hope to hear from you soon!

I have a cute little house in Mora. It's just under 1,600 square feet, has a 2 car garage, and it's on a corner lot in town. It needs updated electric, and a little work, but mostly love.

No lie, I have at least one person a day call me and tell me that they want to love this house. They want to live in it, and they'll take such good care of it.

Can it please be sold on a contract for deed or rent to own?

Every time I say no, I feel like crying. People are losing houses left and right, and it's not always their fault. Financing is becoming harder to obtain, and banks are choosier than Jif moms.

So I'm looking for a knight on a noble steed to come barging into my real estate office and say "I will make everything better!"

Okay, I know it's not possible to purchase enough houses to place everyone in a home, nor is everyone prepared to buy a home, even on a C/D. But I can dream, right?

I don't envy those desperately looking for somewhere to live. Hoping and praying that one of the houses on the market - any affordable one, really - is willing to sell on a contract for deed. Rental prices are climbing, and the competition is fierce. We have a ton of homes on the market, a ton of people that are homeless, and no way to put them together!

So if you're an investor, or thinking about investing, I encourage you to take a look at the Mora area. We've got tons of great properties cheap, and I'm more than happy to spend time with you showing you values, sold comparables, and help you determine what needs to be done to make some of these houses into a home for someone and an income for you!

photo courtesy of Evans.M on flickr.com

Any of you in Minnesota know how loverly the weather has been. We got dumped on. The next day the plows came through, and I don't know about other parts of the state, but Kanabec and Isanti counties still have messy, icy roads.

I got a BPO order Friday afternoon. I didn't go immediately. Saturday we went Christmas shopping, and it began to snow and drizzle. Home we went, where I've been since. Until today.

This lovely interior BPO was due today. In Cambridge, roughly 40 miles from my house. Now, that's not a distance to those of us who live in the middle of nowhere, but when crummy roads, it's a different story.

Photo courtesy of *clairity*

So once nap time for the teething baby came around (who spent the whole morning screaming his head off. Remember those days, parents?), I packed him up, super blanketed and covered him, let my car warm up for fifteen minutes, and loaded up, ready to go.

Since baby only takes one nap a day, and that is generally around 1:30-ish, and he's teething, I left home around 2. I begin the slow, treacherous trek towards Mora.

The roads in my "neighborhood" were plowed once, and the gravel has become, seemingly overnight, a packed snow strip. If not for the washboards underneath, I would have gone back home and had more success maneuvering them with my cross country skis.

The paved roads leading to town are "better", but not better for driving. Instead of snow, they are now packed down to the extent that they are glassy, but still white. Gives false confidence. Until you go in the ditch.

Luckily, I didn't.

Once on the main highway, life was a little better, and I was a little calmer. (Plus baby fell asleep! Woo hoo! Mission #1 accomplished!) Downtown Cambridge was a little more stressful, with random slush and ice spots, but I made it through, and began to head towards my newest BPO "victim".

Of course, the BPO is off a main road, and it's home road was deserving of the worst of the day award. The snow was packed so tight it didn't even squeak, and had become what appeared to be at least an inch and a half of solid ice. I creep slowly up the road, and watch mailbox numbers. I reach a stretch where there is only one house for quite a distance.

And it's the one.

I pull up, and am just about to turn, when I notice that tell tale ridge, that beautiful pile that is created when a plow goes by.

Oh yeah, and no plow has gone IN.

The driveway is a good 6 inches deep in snow, and the trees are still covered in icicles that formed when the rain froze before the precipitation turned into snow. I know very well that the driveway is solid ice underneath.

Even better, it's a downhill slope to the tuck-under garage. Can't stop? Gonna need a new garage door. Get stuck? Not digging yourself out of that mess.

I think "okay, no problem. I'll park on the road."

I look again. I'm on a hill, and if someone were to come over that hill, my car would definitely get hit. There's no shoulder, and it's not very wide at all. There are no nearby driveways, no nearby flat roads to park on. I could park 3/4 a mile away, but quickly nix that idea with the negative temperatures and a 4 month old in my backseat.

I sat there, staring at the house, waiting for the obvious idea to hit me. The idea that would allow me to run in with a car seat and 20 pound baby, snap pictures of all damage and every room, while the sun is quickly fading. I debate the odds that electricity is on, considering this agent didn't even set up plowing for the property. If no electric, there is no heat. It's COLD, and I have a very crabby, very young child in my backseat. If I could pull right up to the house, I would feel so much better about the whole situation, but walking an extensive length on slippery roads and through knee-deep snow in some places with a car seat full of a 20 pounder... yeah, right.

I slowly drove away. Too many risks, I told myself. If it were just me, I'd hike through and get the pictures, turn my heat all the way up in my car and try to reheat myself on the way home.

So for now, the BPO has been delayed. I will attack it again later this week. I feel bad, but really, sometimes the little pay we get for these BPO's just isn't enough to cover the risks. What would you have done?

Image courtesy of Per Ola Wiberg (Powi)..busy busy busy..

No, I'm not going to convince you to go to real estate school. (Although if you do want to go, but don't want to go alone, call me. I can go for free, and I'd be willing to go back, if for no other reason just to marvel at how much they cram in your head that you never use.)

Anoka Ramsey Community College, with campuses in Coon Rapids and Cambridge (Not Anoka OR Ramsey, surprisingly!) is now offering 50% tuition for the unemployed.

Being unemployed in this market can be terrifying. Perhaps your line of work is something that is being phased out. You've worked the same job for years and aren't confident you can "do anything else". Or maybe you just have the time that you have always wanted to spend on furthering your educational goals.

Now is that time. Tuition costs go from $119.87 a credit to $59.94 a credit! Currently it is just being tested for spring of 2009, but may be expanded into a longer term. You can still qualify for financial aid, or set up payment plans for the tuition.

There are many certificate and degree options, and both classes on campus and online are eligible.

To find out more, visit either campus, or call to register for a Workforce Retraining Express session by calling 763.433.1410.

Photo courtesy of scui3asteveo on flickr.

Everyone knows the market has changed, but how about some actual numbers to give you an idea of what's going on in Mora, MN and surrounding areas?

From January 1st to March 31st, 34 homes were sold in Kanabec County. The average list price was $113,506, and the average number of days on market was 193.8. The average sale price was $106,230. 17 of the 34 sold were $100,000 and less.

From April 1st to June 30th, 35 homes sold in Kanabec County. The average list price was $116,714, and the average number of days on market was 160.5. The average sale price was $109,414. Once again, 17 of the 35 sold were $100,000 and less.

From July 1st to September 30th, 43 homes sold in Kanabec County. The average list price was $146,542 and the average number of days on market was 195.8. The average sale price was $139,473. 20 of the 43 homes sold were $100,000 and less.

From September 30th to December 15th, 16 homes have sold in Kanabec County. The average list price was $96,331 and the average number of days on market was 197.3. The average sale price was $92,850. 10 of the 16 homes sold so far in this quarter were $100,000 and less.

As you can see, the late summer/early fall season was the best season this year, with an average sale price of $139,473. As winter closes in, sales go down. Who wants to move in the snow?

I am anxious to see what 2009 brings to home sales in Mora, Minnesota and the surrounding area!