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It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. The holiday season was a little rough at my house. We had a death in the family and then a week later our dog crossed the rainbow bridge. There is more but Fridays are for fun. . . .

There was one highlight for me over the holidays and that is when I went shopping on Christmas Eve and I liked it. I went to a Rosedale Mall. I’ll admit it has been a few years since I have shopped in a mall. It was fun to look in the shops and see things I have never seen before. I bought some jewelry, candy, and sweaters to give as gifts to my family and friends.

I also enjoyed the moose at the mall. There is just something about a giant moose, especially one that doesn’t poop.

I am not much of a shopper but today is small business Saturday and I will spend money in my own community. I’ll start the day by buying some donuts from a local bakery for my dad. Later I’ll grab a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop. Throughout the holiday season, I’ll choose small neighborhood restaurants.

Shop local because it is good for the community and most of the money you spend will stay in the community. I am a small business owner. Profits from my business get spent right in my neighborhood.

Don’t wait for small business Saturday. Buy local all year long.  Don’t spend your whole life working for someone else. Think about starting your own local business. Consider Boardman Realty for help buying or selling real estate. We are small and locally owned and woman-owned and operated.

It is Fridays and Fridays are for fun. Most people have heard of Black Friday but have you heard of Buy Nothing Day? The day after Thanksgiving is also International Buy Nothing Day. Buy nothing day has been around since 1992 but it doesn’t get much attention.

It is also Free Park Friday at all Minnesota State Parks. Our state parks are lovely places to go and buy nothing.

Black Friday should be epic this year. Unemployment is low and people seem to be generally optimistic about the economy. I can totally understand why people are out taking advantage of the Black Friday sales.

I’ll be celebrating buy nothing day because I can. I’ll spend part of the day planning how I’ll give gifts to family and friends this year without buying anything new.

When selling a home photography is more important than ever before because homebuyers and their agents shop for homes on the internet.

Amazing photography is rarely free. Someone has to pay for it. Often the real estate agent listing the home will pay for the photography. Many of us consider it an essential part of marketing a home and provide professional photography for each home we market.

Some agents ask the homeowner to pay for photography. Either way works. If your home is on the market and your agent used his/her iPhone to photograph it. Ask for professional photography. If you have to pay for it yourself it is worth every penny . . . assuming the pictures are commercial quality.

 

Moving isn’t as popular as it used to be.  I know that older people are less likely to move than younger people are and our population is aging. Younger people are not moving as often either mostly because not as many are moving for jobs.

I’ll admit I haven’t moved in almost 30 years.  I haven’t had a reason to move. We usually move because of some life event like getting married, or divorced or having children, becoming empty nesters, retiring, the death of a spouse or old age.

When I started in real estate I was told that on average people move once every seven years. Now it is once every ten years.

According to the U.S. census bureau moving is at a historic low.

[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

July is over. We had a busy month with new listings and new buyer clients too. It is all a blur to me. The numbers show that there are more homes on the market than there were at the beginning of July. In many most neighborhoods and in the city as a whole the average sale price in July was higher than the average listing price.

The average days on market were less than 25 in July without a lot of variation between lower priced homes and higher priced homes.

Prices, the number of new listings and the number of pending listings were lower in July than in June. Traditionally July prices and new listings are lower than they are in June so I’ll call it a seasonal variation.

The numbers used to make the chart above were extracted from the Northstar MLS and imported into an MS Excel spreadsheet where it is gently sorted and never stirred. The data is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. There are few guarantees in life and a lot of broken promises too.

If you would like to sell your home please contact me. I do have buyers looking for small homes and larger homes and condos too.