Storm Lake Iowa Homes - Georgia Weaver's RE Blog

Handscraped Solid Hardwood Flooring - Any Recommendations on Products

2008-09-03T15:34:56Z

All remodelers and everyone who has had wood flooring put in:

If you read my blog, you know we sold our home in a Alta Iowa (4 miles west of Storm Lake) and bought an acreage, the main floor of the existing home will be completely gutted and redone. We are planning to put in hand scraped hardwood floors - probably 5 inch solid planks. If anyone has experience with this type of flooring please let me know if you like it, if you think one product is better than another. We have narrowed it down to products from Anderson and Homerwood.

Thank you

Husqvaran's Robotic Lawn Mower - Can you make one to mow 4.3A?

2008-09-03T15:17:39Z

Robotic floor sweepers, vacumers and moppers (is that a word?), now a robotic lawn mower. I love the idea, we have 4.3 acres and I hate to mow. I emailed Husqvarna and asked if they made an industrial size robotic mower, I haven't heard back yet. I am ever hopeful!

Next it would be nice if someone would develop a robotic dog walker/runner, I have a 4lb chihuahua named Spike and we live in Iowa. He is a racing Chihuahua, so he likes to go really fast, I don't keep up too well but maybe a robot dog walker ....... who knows what will come out next.

Check out the link to a video on this cool new mower

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/pac_ctnt/text/0,2595,HPRO_20196_62157,00.html?c=1868&videoid=0104024&nl=HGPro_v181c_h1_mow

Storm Lake Iowa 360 Tour - A Great Place to Live

2008-09-03T11:46:12Z

Thinking of visiting or moving to Storm Lake Iowa; check out the virtual tour of the town by clicking on the title of this blog. The site is a really cool tool for anyone looking for something in Storm Lake, Iowa. Check out the downtown, eateries, shops, stores, lake, AWAYSIS project, city buildings and a lot more. See if you can find me, I'm located at 106 W Railtroad Street in Storm Lake. This site can also be used to plan a home finding trip, decide what area you think you would like to live in and check it out on-line. Be sure to go to the lake,to King's Pointe, and the water park. Any questions or think you may want a personal tour of the homes available for sale; give me a call at 712-574-5426 to set up a meeting.

Can you say SOLD - I think I may need therapy

2008-08-13T16:21:11Z

Yes,

Our home is entering the end stretch and should close in less than 30 days. I have not been the ideal client, I have been moody, particular, not very negotiable, and quite sad. I tell my clients they have to get to where "this is not your HOME anymore, it is just a property. Hum, I didn't adjust to that idea too good or fast. I think I am getting there, but I relapse occasionally and have to go to DQ to comfort myself with a Blizzard. At this rate I could weigh 200 pounds before we are able to get our new home designed let alone remodeled.

Oh Well, it is an acreage, I can always lose a little helping to mow, dig thistles, shovel dirt into the new raised beds, side the old garage, help with the new concrete, deconstruct the main floor..... naw.

This experience has really been an eye opener for me, I am much more in tune with the stress and yes even mourning they go through when they sell a home.

New Listing in Alta, Iowa - 410 Buena Vista

2008-08-13T15:58:53Z

Nicely remodeled older home, new kitchen with tile and oak, new bath with laundry on main. Great open front porch for that morning cup of coffee or for enjoying some lemonade with friends. Come by and take a look at this home, new siding so exterior upkeep is at a minimum and taxes are low, low, low. Patio in back, nice yard and a single car over-sized garage finish out this property. Call Georgia at 712-574-5426 to see this home.

At this price it is a great investment property too!

Buying a Home Without a Realtor Will Probably Cost You Big Bucks

2008-08-07T14:32:29Z

Are you considering buying a self represented property (For Sale by Owner)? Would you do surgery on yourself? No, Would you represent yourself in a law suit? No But, you think going into a huge financial transaction without the knowledge and skills of an expert could be a good idea???!!!

Do you know what to ask a FSBO, what to look for in the property, where to get the property records, what other similar properties have sold for in the last 12 months, do you know what documents a seller needs to provide to you and when? How did the FSBO decide on the price for the home, hard facts or "it seems like it would be worth ______, or I'm moving to _________ and that's what I need to get out of it to be able to buy there, or so and so's across town sold for _________ and ours is nicer?

A Realtor is your representation, your analyst of real estate data, assurance that the legal paperwork is completed and is completed correctly, the one who follows up with the flow of the process to closing. Not to mention your negotiator.

In the last month I have had the sad experience of having to tell 2 sellers who need to sell they paid too much they both bought from FSBO sellers. Now they will both take a loss to be able to sell their properties. I know this isn't uncommon in the large metro areas where the foreclosure epidemic is hitting but it is very uncommon in our area.

One of the properties didn't appraise for the bank loan to purchase, the contract didn't stipulate it had to appraise and the buyers "Just wanted it", so they paid the difference. Great for the sellers - big problem for the buyers. The buyers have negative equity on both.

Would this have happened if they had paid a Realtor to represent them- not likley, a professional licensed Realtor has training in property pricing, legal issues in real estate, complete property disclosures, lead based disclosures and they will do a CMA (competitive market analysis) this will show the properties that are most like the one you are interested in and what they have sold for in the last 12 months, and last but not least your Realtor is your negotiator. The Realtor's goal is to get you the property you want at the best terms possible when dealing with an unrepresented seller.

Take home - you will end up paying a Realtor to represent you in the purchase of a FSBO but it is money well spent. On the 2 properties above the money spent to have a Realtor represent the buyers would have saved the them over $27,000 in less than 3 years, that's a 37% return on investment.

Housing bill bail out - some aspects you may not know, be part of the solution

2008-07-30T11:41:21Z

Follow the link to read more about some interesting aspects of this bail out for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This article is by Gail Russell Chaddock and she addresses sub prime loans, minorities and block grants that will be included in the bail out.

I have been reading all I can find on this topic, this situation is the result of a partial ethics problem with Buyers and Realtors, and a total ethics problem with financial institutions, in a word GREED. For several years I have been telling everyone in this area including bankers, buyers, sellers, Realtors etc. that most sub prime loans are not a good thing. Several years ago I had another Realtor get disgusted and tell me that helping buyers who couldn't qualify for a regular mortgage get a sub prime was a good thing! This Realtor's point was that at least they were going to have some equity in their property - HUH??? How??? Zero down, Seller paying closing costs, ARM, interest only loan, in debt up to their elbows, shaky inclome and still spending - where's the equity?

Fortunately, in the area I practice we didn't see a huge number of sub prime mortgages. We are seeing an increase in foreclosures and you can almost bet when you read the papers they will not be listing a local lending institution, they will have some out of state weird financial company you have never heard of. Personally, if one of my buyers can't qualify for a conventional mortgage I advise them to wait until they improve their credit, pay down their bills and save at least some money for a down payment - say 3%. This advice is not usually taken well but it will save them thousands, potentially tens of thousands of dollars.

That advice didn't help my business but it did help me sleep at night. I take the responsibility to my clients very seriously, I assist them in getting the best mortgage available for their specific circumstances. Sometimes, that means their good faith estimate is faxed to a number of other lending institutions, remember financial institutions do not have to give the best terms available on a loan.

I believe a buyer should negotiate their mortgage terms at least as hard as they negotiated their purchase price.

This is a challenge to all Realtors out there, If you don't already help Buyers with their mortgages start. You deal with mortgage terms everyday, your Buyers deal with mortgages what, every 4-7 years?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0722/p01s04-uspo.html

Video - How to Prepare Your Home for Sale by Elizabeth Weintraub

2008-07-22T12:28:16Z

Check out this short sweet video by Elizabeth Weintraub on how to prepare your home to sell. Elizabeth has a lot of very good points and she is one of my favorite bloggers. After seeing the video check out her other topics, her site is a great resource for all things real estate. For a detailed system of preparing to list your home and how to efficiently pack give me a call at 712-574-5426. This system works for all types of moves and I recently used it myself when we moved to our acerage. Click on the link below.

http://video.about.com/homebuying/Prepare-House-for-a-Sale.htm

Bad Pictures Online = High Days on the Market

2008-07-21T12:37:41Z

With over 82% of all prospective home buyers looking at homes online before they contact a Realtor your pictures are vital to get people interested in touring your house. An old saying about curb appeal also applies to web picture appeal - Buyers have to stop at the house before you can get them in the house, it is the same with your property on line. If you have no inside pictures, clutter every where, a picture of the bathroom showing an open toilet and a shower curtain, a kitchen with dirty dishes in the sink, pictures with all the curtains/blinds closed (no one wants to buy a dark house) you are batting zero! If your home is listed get online www.stormlakemls.com and look at the pictures and the descriptions of the pictures - what there are no descriptions? Make a phone call and get that fixed asap.
When you are deciding to list your home some things are a lot more important than others when choosing a realtor to represent and sell your property. You are not hiring a Realtor to list your property, you are hiring them to SELL your property and great pictures are an absolute must!

First Time Home Buyer Grant Available - $5000

2008-07-18T10:49:29Z

I got a call and then an email from a local banker yesterday informing me they have $5,000 grants available for first time home buyers who qualify. The funds are limited and are available for only a short time. If you are a first time home buyer please contact me, I would love to help you find your first home. We have a lot of properties to choose from in Storm Lake, Alta, Early and Aurelia. To view them go to the Storm Lake mls site - www.Stormlakemls.com and put in the criteria of the home you are looking for or come in and see me at 106 W. Railroad Street in Storm Lake and we can search together for your first home.

Any recommendations on video editing software?

2008-07-18T10:34:17Z

I am planning on making video's of my listings, I like them much better than the picture tours. Videos also give me another chance to talk about the attributes of the property. I have several products that I can edit them with but if anyone has one they really love please let me know. I am really into ease of use and professional end product! I purchased Adobe PhotoShop Elements 6 for my picture editing and really like it - although it hasn't been the easiest to learn. I am not a manual reader, I like to jump right in but, I have had to go back and do some manual reading and tutorial viewing.

Rental Property Problem Other Realtor's Input Requested - Update - Saga Continues

2008-07-18T09:54:57Z

An update on the posts http://activerain.com/blogsview/324536/Rental-Property-Problem-Need, http://activerain.com/blogsview/339595/Up-Date-on-Rental http://activerain.com/blogsview/352730/Rental-Property-Problem-Need.

The story has taken a very serious turn for the worse, the staircase in question (it is actually physically in the first building - owned by the investors) is owned by the adjacent building owner (the one with the apartment at the top of the stairs).

As unbelievable as it seems, according to the abstract in 1898 the staircase was sold to the neighboring building's owner for $50. This was discovered when the owners of the rental property had their attorney contact the owners of the adjacent building and inform them they were about to complete the apartments upstairs and they would be bricking up the opening from the adjacent building.

Very shortly, the adjacent owner's attorney contacted the investors attorney and told him the staircase was owned by his clients and they would be bricking up the investors 2 apartment doorways!

Holy Cow! A staircase inside one building is owned by the adjacent building???? The title opinion missed it, the previous owners were not aware they didn't own the staircase, the listing person was not aware, and the current owners would never have purchased the property had they known about the staircase. There appears to be an easement for the original owners of the staircase to continue to use it. According to the attorney representing the rental building's owners there is nothing they can do legally to recover the substantial loss they have incurred. I guess we are back to "Let the buyer beware". All of this doesn't include the firecode problem of having a number of building open to each other.

The 2 attorneys are trying to come to some agreement but this is a very bad situation. One option the owners of the rental building have is to put in another staircase behind the original one, but that will reduce the rentable space upstairs.

Anyone ever heard of anything like this, and if you have how was it resolved? Also, how would title insurance affected this or would it? In Iowa we have title opinions done by an attorney in place of title insurance.

Will a Short Sale Ruin My Credit - in one word Yes

2008-06-10T11:11:40Z

I came across this excellent article from one of the blogs I frequent - By Elizabeth Weintraub, on About.com. It spells out how financial organizations see a short sale and gives some really good advice when you end up working with one of these homes. Even after reading this article tread very carefully, this could be a potential mine field legally. We are not seeing a huge amount of these but the number of foreclosures is rising slowly.

Elizabeth's article http://homebuying.about.com/b/2008/06/02/will-a-short-sale-ruin-my-credit.htm

New Listing in Alta Iowa Unbelievable Price for this home

2008-06-06T20:01:07Z

Presenting

502 Peterson Street - Priced at $139,900

Elegant home that's move in ready. Large updated eat-in kitchen with granite counter tops, a new down draft cooktop, built-in microwave and oven, and a 2 year old stainless frig. A unique built-in oak buffet with curved glass is featured in the formal dining room. A bright airy front porch that is enclosed and has windows on 3 sides is a peaceful place for a cup of coffee or to sit with friends and chat over iced tea. This home is in great condition with updates including: new central heat and air (2 systems each for higher efficiency),updated windows, updated kitchen, both bathrooms are updated, all new carpet, 220 in the garage, hardwood refinished on front porch, new landscaping with granite chips and landscaping stones, hot water heater, roof, and the raised bed-garden is already planted! Location is also great, just 2 blocks from the Alta high school. Call Georgia today at 712-574-5426 to see this home. Don't miss out on this one! This home is owned by an Iowa Realtor.

Pictures

Attached oversized 2 vehicle garage with a storage loft, raised bed garden that's already planted, roses, peonies, crab apple trees, hosta's, ferns, iris, lillies, beautiful and on a corner lot.

New Listing - 114 N. Cherokee St, Alta - solid and homey!

2008-04-28T12:04:23Z

This is a great little home, it has 2 bedrooms, one on main and the whole upstairs is the second one. The upstairs could be made into 2 bedrooms if you are a little handy! This house qualified for a grant several years ago and the grant helped pay for new siding, windows, electric, plumbing, roof, furnace, hot water heater and a lot more. Check it out, if you would like to see it in person call me today, Georgia Weaver 712-574-5426.

Street view shows the large shop/gardening shed to the south. There is also a garage and large back yard to enjoy the Alta sunsets.

This home has a large back yard and a nice patio to enjoy the warm summer evenings.

The back yard has a lot of space for a garden and the lot has a large shop or garden shed.

Very nice eat in kitchen

Cozy living room with a ceiling fan looking into the kitchen

This home also has a full basement and the laundry on main. Check out the storm lake mls for more pictures and information. www.stormlakemls.com and type in the address.

New Listings - 420 Otsego, Storm Lake - Nearly 2000 sqft and a Media Suite

2008-04-28T11:49:39Z

Elegant home with a formal dining room, hardwood floors, large kitchen, close to the university, office and media suite. All this with 3 bedrooms and 1 - full and 2- 3/4 baths.

Kitchen has an eat at bar, lots of cabinets and storage and a walk-in pantry, all appliances stay - stove, frig, dishwasher, washer and dryer

Den - hardwood floors and built in shelving

Formal Dining room

Bedroom 1 - check out the shine on those great hardwood floors, this room also has a 3/4 bath

View from the dining room into the living-room

Bedroom 2, walk-in closet and bathroom

Knotty Pine Media Suite, has kitchen, bath just off and separate entrance See the book case - is is on hinges and swings open like a door to get into the remainder of the basement - too cool!

Office or guest suite

Full bath off office/guest suite and media suite

TO see this unique home call me, Georgia Weaver at 712-574-5426.

Upper Midwest Finally Seeing Spring and Having Some Lemonade!

2008-04-24T11:39:08Z

This has been a long, cold, dark winter for us in Iowa and in the Midwest. Spring and the warmth it brings is still about a month behind on temperatures but birds are chirping, some farmers are trying to get out into the fields and I am seeing some shoots on my roses - a sure sign warmer weather is on the way.

Many changes have happened in the real estate industry, in our country and for us here in the northern Midwest it seemed like the changes have been a little more negative because of the long bitter cold winter. Hopefully, we will see some positive changes with the warmer weather. We are beginning to list more properties, and more buyers are venturing out to see homes but it is much harder to get qualified for a loan that last spring. It will continue to get even harder for a while, until some of the foreclosure problems are resolved. In our area we don't have the number of foreclosures many areas have, I am very thankful for that. A recent CRS class in Minneapolis showed the huge impact foreclosures are having there - many, many for sale signs.

For an investor this is an awesome time, in an area like Minneapolis or one experiencing a high foreclosure rate. Many Realtors are very capable of helping investors complete short sales with financial institutions. The properties can be fixed up if needed, rented and held until the market rebounds. One Realtor I know in an area with high foreclosures is doing just that, making lemonade!

Pay your mortgage 30 days late and the result is a drop of 30 points from your credit score!

2008-04-24T11:22:39Z

I was recently in an mls meeting and one of the bankers said that a lot of people are paying bills other than their mortgage. Wow, that blew me away! Cell phone, credit card, somewhere to live... it seems pretty obvious what the choice should be. Another thing that surprised me was what impact paying a mortgage 30 days late had on a credit score - a drop of 30 points for each payment 30 days late. It isn't hard math to figure out that you can't do that many times before you totally wreak your credit profile.

I know a lot of people are upside down on their mortgages and it is discouraging to pay for something that isn't worth what you bought it for and you may not ever get your money back out of it. But, how is that different from a vehicle, the day you drive it off the lot is isn't worth what you paid for it, it is very unusual that you get what you owe on one in a trade. There is a lot of help out there for good honest people who are struggling with an adjustable mortgage. Don't lose hope, talk to your bank they can help.

One thing I am praying that comes out of this mortgage disaster is a better awareness of how money works, how mortgages work and many, many more questions about financing from my clients.

New Listing in Albert City, Iowa -- SOLD!

2008-04-14T09:41:39Z

Just wanted to let you know 310 3rd Street South in Albert City is SOLD, let me know if you are interested in this area, there are a few more that are thinking about listing. Sold in 16 days, unheard of in this area, if you want this kind of results give me a call, "I only make promises I can Keep".

The market is picking up in our area, this area has a lot of buyers and we don't have enough homes listed. If you are thinking of selling, I personally believe the market is doing very well.

The Alta market is probably at its peak, with the planned housing development/s I expect to see a dramatic increase in the home supply and as a consequence of the increase in supply a decline in the Alta market as the demand is satisfied. My husband and I are taking this market very seriously, in fact, our personal home will listed in May to take advantage of the market condition.

Got a real estate question; give me a call. My goal is to amaze, amuse and delight every single one of my clients!

New Listing - Albert City Iowa

2008-04-11T10:44:24Z

Beautiful lovingly restored home, woodwork, open staircase, 2 sets of pocket doors, 4 bedrooms (could be 5) 1 and 3/4 bath. Attached 2+ car garage, large corner lot, very nice work shop, roses, enclosed heated front porch with a bay window. New windows, new flooring downstairs, including hardwood, carpet and vinyl, main floor laundry, formal dining room, eat at bar in Kitchen. Too much to say, take a look at the pictures!

bump out is part of the formal dining room

Wonderful open stairs

Eat at bar over looking the formal dining room

Formal Dining room

Den off formal dining-room or could be used for a main level bedroom

Kitchen

This home has an abundance of storage - all bedrooms have large walk-in closets, the Den also has a large closet.

Call me today, this won't be on the market long at $81,500!

New listing - Great price, Great Home, Early Iowa

2008-04-11T10:27:12Z

Check out this new listing in Early Iowa. It is a 3 bedroom 1 and a half bath home with a full dry basement, on a corner lot that has been recently remodeled. The remodel includes a new kitchen, appliances, all flooring, windows upstairs, central heat and air, hot water heater and new paint.

The price is $52,000 or $56,000 with a new roof. The roof does not leak but is older and there are several layers on it.

Kitchen is 2.5 years old

Downstairs full bath

Upstairs bath, room to be a full, has a huge walk in closetBedroom 2

Bedroom 3- Upstairs

Upstairs Landing

Staircase

Check back on Monday for more pictures, this home also has a nice open porch, 2 mature Red Maple trees in the front yard and a detached garage with a storage loft. The lot is large with lots of room for a garden, fruit trees or entertaining.

Help me put this sign in the front yard!!!!!

IVideo as close to instant video home tour as you can get

2008-04-10T19:00:43Z

I love this thing, I have used it on a number of new listings and I have several videos of the lake and area where I live. It is so easy and it also records audio! If you are thinking about getting started doing some video home tours I highly recommend the IVideo. It is so small I carry it in my pocket, I plan to video my buyers as they move in, my sellers at closing and get testimonials that can be heard and seen on my website.

I just need more hours in the day to implement all my ideas! Check back later for links to some of these videos!

New Gadget for Realtors

2008-03-18T12:59:22Z

I just bought an iVideo made by PureDigital, it is really cool. I walked through a house for buyers who could not make the tour because of time constraints. All I did was video, talk as I went, plug it into my computer and email it to them. One note of caution, I recently read that some electronic gadgets are coming form the stores with nasty little additions - namely viruses and bugs. So before you plug anything into your computer make sure your anti-virus software is current, scan the new gadget and get on a good backup schedule!

I found out about this tiny video camera in a CRS 210 class in Minneapolis last week with the amazing, amusing and delightful Churck Bode and his equally astonishing friend Mark Given. I plan to use it for listing video's, customer events, of course grand-baby Katie and Spike and anything else that catches my eye. All's fair when you have a video handy :). Once I figure out how to post to this blog you will see some of the results.

Building an exceptional Customer Service Referral Business - CRS 210

2008-03-13T19:50:28Z

WOW!!!!! I just finished this 2 day class, the material - fantastic, the instructors Chuck Bode and Mark Given out of this world. I can't tell you the energy, information, application, contacts and a whole lot more that I got in this class.

I can tell you one thing, this is the market your in and it is only as bad as you see it, look at it with fresh eyes. What can be done in this market is limited only by you, yea that's right YOU. Real estate has been very easy, too easy for a number of years, now is where the business people will be differentiated from the part-timers, hobbyists, those who aren't willing to work pro-actively, those who sit at a desk and wait for the phone to ring. If you fit that description, start looking for a job because that is how you see real estate - this isn't your business, it's your job.

I am a real estate investor and guess what; I met several other investors in this class. My market is hot, we are one of the few areas that hasn't over built, we will have a few foreclosures but for the most part our loans are with local banks and they aren't interest only or signature loans. I met investors in the cities who are buying, buying, buying - why, because it's cheap and it won't stay cheap long. If you want to survive, no if you want to thrive in any market, get to the CRS classes and learn how to make real estate your business and become a business owning professional instead of having a job. You don't take control, it will take control of you.

Go to www.CRS.com

Storm Lake Iowa Chamber of Commerce Info

2008-03-11T09:43:04Z

Want to learn more about our area; check out the Storm Lake Iowa Chamber of Commerce website. It is a great starting place to learn about what this area has to offer, what's going on and how to get involved. There are links to local businesses, events, organizations, the new destination park (king's Pointe), the water park, housing, government offices and officials, etc..........

Some of the most recent news in our area has included a large furniture and flooring company coming to town, the reinstatement of the land purchase option by the ethanol plant looking at the possibilities of building a plant between Alta (4 miles to the west) and Aurelia, the work on the AWAYSIS Project and the new condos. There is also a rumor that there are 2 large companies looking at Storm Lake as a site for manufacturing and as a site for offices. Check back often for updates on these topics.

http://www.stormlakechamber.com/index.htm