Brainerd Lakes Real Estate News

For those of you who live in warm climates - Minnesotans walk on water! Not only do we walk on it, we drive on it, have races on it & fish on it.  Well, not exactly on it  in the winter,  but more like through it. That is a very popular thing to do up North and very beneficial for our area charities.  The Brainerd Jaycees have just made their annual announcement of how much money was raised in the Ice Fishing Extravaganza  - $211,528.  That amount will be divided and distributed to more that 65 area charities.  That made the year of 2007 in the top five contests all-time. 

People from around the world have been out there freezing and fishing in the contest for 17 years.  To carry out this foolishness it takes 450 volunteers helping 10,500 anglers.  January is traditionally a slow season tourist -wise for the Brainerd Lakes area .  But if you are planning to come to our next one I'd suggest you make plans and reservations early. Make sure to mark January 26, 2008 on your long term planner.  We will see you at  the $150,00 Ice Fishing Extravaganza. I'll be dressed warmly and sipping hot coffee.

As our 80 acres were very hard hit in the 2001 tornado, we have lots of piles of dead trees and brush as we continuously attempt to clean up from the aftermath  When we get another pile ready to go and have gotten enough sleep for the week - we burn. Since it is restricted to being a  night time activity for our area, we need to stay up and monitor the fire and have a little fun with marshmallows, too.

However all that will come to an end on Monday, April 2nd . The restrictions for burning permits are expected to continue for four to six weeks, unless the area gets enough sunlight and water to green up sooner.

 DNR agencies are expecting an increase in fire activity. Data indicates most spring wildfires originate from the burning of yard debris, according to Olin Phillips, DNR fire protection manager.

Historically, 80 percent of all wildfires in Minnesota occur during April and May. Since the inception of annual permit restrictions, the number of spring woodland fires has been reduced

We would probably qualify for economic hardship as defined by no feasible alternative, but we can wait.  Spring will come & we will continue to rebuild, clean up and burn.  Any good wood we burn as firewood in our outdoor wood furnace and some of the larger logs we were able to  save and saw out with our band saw to rebuild the barn. After all, with an estimated 140,00 trees down - this could take awhile. 

Oh yah, we don't have a permanent roof on our house yet either!         Think happy thoughts, Kathleen

www.dnr.state.mn.us 

Last Friday evening my hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota hosted The Pequot Lakes vs. Crosby-Ironton section 7AA basketball game at our local Brainerd High School. These two teams had enjoyed an intense rivalry throughout the 2006-2007 basketball season. The teams had meet three times in this years season and each game was a thrill to behold. The atmosphere was electric, the fans noisy and enthusiastic and the games hard -fought to the end. The Pequot Lakes Patriot prevailed in this meeting sending them on to the state tournament with a 27-2 record.  The state tournament is held at the Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

Although these teams were strong rivals after C-I's loss, there were no riots, no cars set on fire, no property damaged - just maybe a few tears of sorrow and tears of joy.  They did themselves proud , their parents were proud and the athletic directors knew that this was as it should  be!

To quote Matt Urbank , Brainerd High School basketball coach,"It was a great pleasure for Brainerd to host this event.  Both teams played very hard and exhibited a great deal of sportsmanship.  The fans of both schools supported their team with enthusiasm and represented their communities with class and dignity ." 

Yes, that is how it should be! 

In my area of the Greater Brainerd Lakes in Minnesota the population is steadily increasing. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau population estimate only Mille Lacs county has experienced greater growth for 2006. Mille Lacs is at 17.2% and Crow Wing at 10.7%. Nearby counties include Cass at 6.9%, Aitkin at 5.5%, Morrison at 3.8%,  Todd with a -0.2% and Wadena in at -2.0%.

The housing boom is quite evident  in Brainerd Lakes as you see previous farmland sectioned off and rezoned for residential. On the lakes of any size there are new houses going in at an amazing rate. Yet, as you drive around there are a large number of houses for sale.  Not only are they for sale but they have been for sale for quite some time.

In checking into these rezoned area, there is maybe a house or two actually built and they are"For Sale".  Have we over anticipated our housing needs or are the people moving into the area only interested in new large lake mansions? No wait, a good deal of those built as spec lake homes are still for sale! 

As a home stager who is endeavoring to educate the local population and Realtors on what  that encompasses -I know that unless the home owners are self staging, there just isn't a lot being done here. With no local Chain furniture rental store anything that is vacant is shown vacant. Are my services as a home stager needed -yes.  If all these homes were staged would they immediately sell - probably not.  There are many factors besides price, location, etc and that would all need to be factored in.  But would home staging enable many of these homes to show better, photograph for MLS photos better and thus bring in the buyers - of course! When there is such an abundance of homes to choose from, your's needs to stand out in a positive and memorable manner.