Suzanne McLaughlin

Beautiful three-bedroom, four bath home with light airy feel on a corner lot tucked away in the Nature's Edge Addition in Becker Minnesota. Fantastic spaces, cozy feel. Please stop by today! Under $300,000 with over 1838 fsf.

Dave Klutch has been a trusted member of Sabinske & Associates before we WERE Sabinske & Associates. Dave is a go-to guy. He is thorough, meticulous and is interested in his clients' best interests.

He is outstanding with new buyers, seasoned sellers and is knowledgeable about home construction, renovation and site work. I have only missed one inspection for my buyers and I was able to rest easy in the fact that Dave would do his usual outstanding job of explaining EVERYTHING and answer any an all questions. I did a follow-up with him and the client afterward and everything was covered.

Dave handles home in inspections all over the area. He has assisted my clients in dozens of inspections and makes my life easier.

I am so pleased to be honored to introduce him to the Active Rain community. He has the highest business ethics, and his work is outstanding. He has a loyal following in his client base because of his conscienctious attention to detail.

Please stop by and welcome him to our community. And, check in later this week when he has a few posts to read. Thanks.

The SAGE program by the Minnesota Department of Health provides free breast and cervical cancer screening follow-up services to uninsured and underinsured women who meet all three criteria: Age 40 or older with exceptions; have no insurance or are underinsured; income within our guidelines.

I just found out about this last fall when I spoke with some of the personnel at the Alllina Clinic in St. Michael during an exam and was very pleased to be able to bring it to the attention of hundreds of women in and around Wright and Sherburne Counties. They supplied me with dozens of brochures to share with people at my open houses. The Allina Clinic is just west of the St. Michael - Albertville School just off Wright County Road 19.

If you would like more information, visit the SAGE website at the Minnesota Department of Health at www.mnsage.com, or call 1-888-6-HEALTH (1-888-643-2584) to make an appointment if you are eligible.

Wright County participating clinics include: Allina Medical Clinic/Buffalo (763-682-5225), Buffalo Clinic, P.A. (763-682-1313), Allina Medical Clinic/Cokato (320-286-2123), Ridgeview Howard Lake Clinic (320-543-2591), Monticello Clinic (763-295-2921, ask for Judy), and Allina Medical Clinic in St. Michael (763-744-4000).

In addition, National Breast Cancer Awareness month, nbcam.org is sponsoring The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer which is the only U.S. marathon dedicated solely to raising funds to end breast cancer. 100% of registration fees and raised funds will go to breast cancer research at Mayo Clinic and to women living with breast cancer.

It's unlikely that you will be able to participate this year, if you haven't already made plans to do so. But, just think about next year. When its cold here in St. Michael or anywhere in Wright County, wouldn't it be great to head to Florida for a marathon in February?

Researching short sales in St. Michael, Minnesota today, I was stunned. There were 36 active listings, 3 temporarily not available for showing, 3 pending, and in the last year, 27 cancelled and 22 expired. Thirty were sold. Average days on market for the cancelled were 212, and for the expireds, 151.

When you have missed a payment, or sometimes are even just a few days late, the lending institution says you are in default. A missed payment or two or three hurts your credit rating much more than a short sale or foreclosure. In fact, you can take a hit on a short sale and recover much more quickly (usually) than with missed mortgage payments.

If you look at the short sale numbers again for St. Michael, it shows a definite trend. Two-thirds of the listings of the non-active listings were cancelled or expired. That translates into the thought process that someone didn't know what they were doing. Only 1/3 of the non-active listings were sold.

If this was your house, would you want a realtor or brokerage that could only score 1 out of 3 times at bat for you? This is your financial future. The long-term impact of a short sale is much less than a foreclosure. And, if you trust someone to list, market and sell your house, it is even more important that that person knows how to do that in addition to working with lending institutions to get a short sale approved.

If your realtor has not had experience with short sales, do you want to be their lab experiment? Well, if you like to rent, perhaps. This is no place for your cousin who just got his license, or Aunt Marie who likes to stage property. This is a job for a seasoned, hard-nosed veteran who knows how the banks work. I work with Chase, Citi, Wells-Fargo, Bank of America, NationStar and dozens of other financial institutions to get the home-owners out of a bad situation.

Banks each have their processes to work short sales. I am a short-sale superstar, and I belong to various groups who share their information and expertise on a daily, and sometimes, hourly basis, giving me up-to-the-minute status reports.

Wouldn't you really rather have someone driving the bus who knows the route and how to get you to your destination?

If you have a home that you can no longer afford in the St. Michael, Minnesota area, please call me for a consultation. You will be glad you did.

I live in St. Michael, Minnesota, but I work primarily in Albertville, Minnesota Next week, I'll spotlight Albertvile since the two cities share many amenities and a school system.

Today the spotlight is on St. Michael. As of the census of 2000, there were 9,099 people in St. Michael. Imagine...one more birth recorded! There were 3,058 housing units in the City. The majority of the people are under 44 with 78.6 percent and 16% from 45 to 64. The median age is 31. For an old established town, it has a very young population.

But, that is about to change, St. Michael is undergoing some major renovations to its "Town Center".

There is construction on the new library, senior citizen center and city hall. Drive by the Marketplace Food Center and you will see all the girders and ground work being installed. The City received a $400,000 library grant from the state department of Education. And, the City has been setting aside funds for the past ten years to pay for the new City Hall.

There are several clinics in St. Michael, the new library, parks, open space and a new senior housing development that will add to the diversity of the town.

The school system is shared with Albertville as St. Michael-Albertville Independent School District #885. It consists of nine schools or academies with the High School, St. Michael-Albertville High School (Grades 9-12), St. Michael-Albertville Middle School East (Grades 5-8), St. Michael-Albertville Middle School West (Grades 5-8), St. Michael Elementary School (Grades 1-4), Fieldstone Elementary School (Grades 1-4), Big Woods Elementary School (Grades 1-4), and Albertville Primary School (Kindergarten). The two academies are the Page Academy (Middle School alternative) and the Knights' Academy (High School alternative). There is also a private Catholic School for grades K-6 in St. Michael.

A new high school was opened for this school year and the dedication took place on September 20, 2009. The previous high school was converted into a new middle school (Middle School West). The current middle school has been renamed to Middle School East.

Entertainment can be found in many local restaurants and bars, but we also have a great new theatre located at the edge of town with SXHD, its a Cinemagic theatre and has first run features with great prices. With 15 screens, you are sure to find something to see. Plus, make a night of it with food and drink (wine, beer or soft drinks)!

St. Michael is moving to the future, what was once a sleepy little town on the edge of the gateway between the Twin Cities and the St. Cloud area is fast becoming a destination location on its own. With excellent education opportunities, a renovated city center, and housing for all incomes, it won't be called sleepy anytime again.

St. Michael also has a fan page on Facebook. If you would like, you can nominate St. Michael for Google Internet Service here:

http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options

We are so proud of what has been accomplished over the last ten years, and we can't wait for you to come visit, check us out and maybe stay for the second act of what is sure to become a Broadway hit!!

And, when you want to buy, be sure to call me! I am nearly a native!! We want you to come and stay!