Avoid These 3 Mistakes When Selling in Brainerd

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Are you having trouble selling your home in the current Brainerd market? The one thing you have to keep in mind when you sell your home is that you have to outshine 90% of the listings on the marketplace. For that reason, staging is critical. In today's market, buyers will make a decision on whether or not they like your home within 20 seconds.

The second crucial aspect when it comes to shining in the Brainerd real estate market is aggressive marketing. There are a lot of homes for sale in the area, and the old way of selling when the market was so strong back in 2006 was to put a sign in the yard and put it on the MLS, and pray that another agent sells it. In today's environment, it takes an extensive marketing plan to get the homes the maximum amount of exposure.

I'm proud to say that my team spends just over $35,000 a month advertising our listings, so we can ensure our sellers get the maximum exposure to sell their homes. We also have a full-time professional photographer on staff for high-quality photos of our listings.

Lastly, the pricing is so important. Many sellers think they can list their home above market value and leave themselves some "wiggle room," but in today's market, we're seeing that if homes are priced correctly, you shouldn't have to drop the price at all. We're able to negotiate and hold firm to our asking prices.

Have you or someone you know struggled to sell your home in this market? Maybe you're on the fence about selling, or just have questions about real estate in general. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you have. Let's talk soon!

How Brexit Affected the Brainerd Lakes Market

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Britain leaving the European Union is having an impact on real estate here in the United States, and that includes the Brainerd market.

In the short term, we've actually seen interest rates drop. Last year we saw that rate for a 15-year mortgage fall to 2.5%, and the rate for a 30-year mortgage dipped below 3.5%, which is unheard of. In the long term, a lot of the so-called experts say they anticipate interest rates to increase because of Britain leaving the EU. Obviously, that's not the case right now in the short term.

With rates this low, a lot of buyers who have been on the fence are locking in their interest rates. I mean, a 2.5% interest rate is simply unheard of! So we're seeing a lot of buyers enter the market who were on the fence, and especially lake home buyers looking for a second home here in the Brainerd Lakes area.

If you've been thinking about buying, now might be the best time to lock in your 30-year rate at an extremely low percentage. For any additional information, I'd be happy to speak with you. Don't hesitate to reach out to me with questions. Let's talk soon.

The Election’s Effect on the Minnesota Real Estate Market

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A recent topic that’s been coming up with a lot of my clients is how this election will affect the real estate market. Typically, what we see during an election year is a market slowdown. The market doesn’t like uncertainty. Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, not knowing who’s going to be president greatly affects consumer confidence.

That being said, this year’s been a different cycle because interest rates are so low and the Fed has stated that they will raise these interest rates after the election. This has spurned a lot of buyer activity that normally would’ve been dormant to get back into the market and purchase their homes and get those 30-year fixed rates.

In our real estate market, what we’re seeing is that inventory levels are down 19% and sales are up 8%. This has shifted the market firmly into the seller’s favor. If you’re thinking of selling, now would be the ideal time to take advantage of these low rates.

If you have any questions about the real estate market or the trends we’re seeing, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or reply to this email.