Minot ND Housing Report for the week ending 01/19/2016Please note the line directly above this one. In the limited category shown in the chart there were 7 homes sold this week with the most expensive having sold for $330,000 with 237 days on the market. The least expensive home to sell last week was $148,000 with 71 day on the market. Average days on market was 182 days. 01/16/2016

A Good Home Has Good Bones, Minot Real Estate 101  If you are looking for a new home it's great if you can check out the "bones" before they get covered with insulation, sheet-rock, texture, and paint. This Tivoli Custom home is in the perfect time frame for a good "bone" inspection.You will see on this home that 2 X 8's are used for all exterior walls as well as the wall between the garage and the home. All studs are 18" on center not 24" like most competitors. 9' walls on the main floor and vaulted ceilings through out the entire 2nd story.The garage door is 7' high and the garage will be insulated, heated, sheet-rocked, textured, and painted.A high efficiency furnace and the best of windows will keep your dream home cozy and the heating bills minimal.If you want to see this home in i... 01/12/2016

As of today there are 31 Mobile Homes available in Minot ND with the inclusion of 3 in Ruthville, an unincorporated community between Minot and The Minot Air Force Base.The least expensive MH available is listed at $15,000. The most expensive is listed at $119,900. The average is $52,429. The average days on the market is 132. Current lot rents are:(as stated in the listings used) Dakota Park South $400.00Edgeview $450.00Holiday Village $395.00Jefferson $414.00Northland $315.00North Star $330.00Parkview $380.00Robindale $380.00Ruthville $400.00Western Village $420.00Woodridge $440.00 NotesMost parks offer a discount for renting two lots.Dakota Park South requires those who place a home in their park to erect a double garage. Dakota Park’s contract also states that all sales must be appr... 01/10/2016

Minot ND Condo Report 01/10/2016This is my First Condo Report so feel free to let me know if I missed something important to you.Condominiums for sale, Minot ND, 01/10/2016 Report32 Units for salePrice Range $89,900. To $335,000.Average $174,628.Average days on market 99Condo fees range from $50.00 month to $402.50On my next report I may combine Condominium and Town Houses into the same report. Your comments are welcome and appreciated.  01/10/2016

 No Ghost Stories in North Dakota... Unless You Ask  Going back to my very 1st year (2008) of posting I noticed one I wrote about the fact that in North Dakota an agent does NOT have to disclose paranormal activity in a home they are selling or showing.Just so happens that my office assistant and I were talking about this just in the past week. I was telling Oden that I have sold two homes that were reportedly haunted. One of them I think I told everyone who entered the "Ghost Story" as told to me by the owner. In that case, according to the owner, the ghost moved out. I never encountered the ghost but I always had a mild case of the "willies" when I was there.The second home was a little different. There was actually a renter in the house that asked me if any paranormal activity had be... 01/09/2016

Minot ND Real Estate Market Report 01/09/2016 Please note the line directly above this one. I will be working on reports for each of the individual categories mentioned above as well as commercial.In the limited category shown in the chart there were 11 homes sold this week with the most expensive having sold for $310,000 with 52 days on the market. The least expensive home to sell last week was $175,00 with 116 days on the market. 01/08/2016

North Dakota, A Tropical ParadiseI ran across this YouTube video a couple of years ago by Beth Hurt. I thought it was fantastic and I showed it to many friends and colleagues, then I lost track of it. But here it is! Enjoy! I say why visit Minot when you can live here!  01/08/2016

Hanging in Minot North Dakota An inversion table is a great tool to keep your back straight. I found that owning one cut my trips to the Chiropractor form every two weeks to about every two years… or less. It’s kind of a shame as I found a GREAT chiropractor when I moved to Minot, her name is Amy Borgen and you can reach her at 701-852-0596. Amy is a Chiropractic Physician and is also Acupuncture certified.While hanging upside down is good for your physical health, hanging upside down financially is not good at all.When you want a physical checkup do you go to the internet for a Dr’s diagnosis? Why would you go on line for a financial diagnosis? Local Minot lenders are all about “hands on” Minot. Local lenders know the local market. A local lender will let you know if you are making a w... 01/07/2016

Getting The Best Isn't Always The BestMinot Real Estate 101 Getting the best isn't always BEST for YOU!In all my years of Real Estate I've found it very rare that a home Buyer not take out the maximum loan offered them from the bank.Banking regulations dictate to the bank, via carefully researched statistics, how much money you can afford to pay back without defaulting (going bankrupt) on the loan.The bank/lender wants to loan you the maximum amount of money they can because the more money you borrow the more money they make.While bank foreclosures are down because of new banking laws we still all see foreclosures every day. So what's happening?I like to think back to the first home that I purchased when I was 18 years old. I purchased as much home as I could just like most people do bu... 01/04/2016

 HOW'S IT HANGING?By A String.I walk by this icicle every time I enter or leave my home and for awhile I was wondering... hows it hanging there. I kept thinking that it was so narrow at the top and why doesn't it weight cause it to fall off of the Christmas decoration it is clinging to. Upon closer inspection if you take a look, the icicle has formed around a thread/string and that is 'HOW IT'S HANGING!Working with National Marketing Realtors of Minot ND we will NOT leave you hanging by a string. We believe in "The Golden Rule" and keep you informed through out the transaction of Buying or Selling a home. Call, text, or email us today for warm friendly service that won't leave you cold and hanging.  01/03/2016

HEY! THEY TOOK THE CURTAINS! Minot Real Estate 101The terms Real Property and Personal Property can be confusing if you are buying your first home. Most simply put Real Property is all land, structures, FIRMLY attached and intergrated equipment (like the homes plumbing and wiring) as well as anything growing on the land.Note that it doesn't mention rugs, lamps, clothes washer or dryer, mower, or snowblower. Keep in mind those words FIRMLY attached. I've seen yard sheds disappear over that wording.Lines 9, 10, 11 and 12 on the standard Offer To Purchase we use in Minot ND look like this:Also keep in mind that they may also type in the contract that they are keeping some of the window coverings... you would not want little Johnny to leave the Thomas The Train Engine curtains that matched ... 01/02/2016

What's The Market Look Like In Minot, Bob?These are the numbers today! Looking into my crystal ball of past experience I'm going to say we will continue to see a very gradual decrease in home prices until spring rolls around. Last year around this time the average home price was around or even above $300,000, today $267,731. that's better than a 10% drop in the average. I think maybe we will see it go down to a 12% drop before April. Come April I think the prices will rebound 8 to 10%. If the oil market tightens up we could see prices surpass last years highs. BUT I do not foresee oil prices rebounding (I think it will take about $50.00 a barell) to a point we will see sharp growth until late Fall, say September 2016. That's just my opinion.  01/01/2016

When Did You Discover That You Are An Entrepreneur?This morning in the Question and Answer section of Active Rain I asked about your News Paper reading habits. I mentioned to Roger D. Mucci that I sold Grit News Paper when I was a kid (back in the late 1800's).That got me reminiscing about the awaking of the entrepreneur spirit with-in me and believe it or not I remember it very clearly.I was attending Riverside Grade School in Moorhead MN when some folks were causing quite a stir after school showing kids some really neat toys and stuff they called "Prizes". You could win these prize's just by asking your parents and neighbors if they would like to sign up for The Fargo Fourm News Paper.There was some really neat stuff. What caught my eye was a banana seat and high-rise handlebars for ... 12/31/2015

Putting The Pieces TogetherOur whole family has been working on this 1,000 piece puzzle over the holiday. It's a weird puzzle, kind of a mix between outer space and something you would see under a microscope. It's the toughest puzzle I've ever helped with and I've always been good with puzzles.Real Estate is a very difficult puzzle too. I work with a family: my secretary, my assistant, a professional lender, a home inspector, a title company and the list goes on and on. Between all of us we probably have 100 years of more experience.Real Estate is not something anyone should do alone as a Buyer or a Seller. Buying and Selling Real Estate is allot like a jigsaw puzzle, it's very complicated, and it's best to have a family there to help you.National Marketing Realtors would like to be the... 12/31/2015

Minot Regional Explorer Post 9472 A GREAT ProgramThe Explorer program is a program that introduces teens and young adults to career fields like law enforcement.My daughter Tina became involved in it just this year and loves it. See was actually invited by a friend who I think was in danger of being on the wrong side of the law but now, due to this program and ROTC Tina's friend is on very good ground.Explorers is a national program run by Scouting (or Boy Scouts) Of America. You can read more about the Minot Explorer program here.  12/29/2015

2nd Annual Pay It Forward AR ChallengeSertoma International (Minot)Christmas In The ParkIt's NOT to late to get in on this fun little sites of Christmas tour through Oak Park in Minot ND. Just $5.00 per car load with your donations going to the worthy causes listed below. I was going to take a video for you but then you may have skipped seeing it in person.We went through yesterday, Christmas Eve, and I highly recommend it even if you have seen it in the past. Many of these displays were ruined in the flood of 2011 and have been rebuilt. There are several new ones as well. Either way you only see them once a year and the money goes to some very good local causes.Speaking of paying it "Forward" there is somewhat of an odd but fun twist to it with the Sertoma Christmas in the Park show of... 12/24/2015

Children Really Make ChristmasAnd we are all Children at Christmas.I just came from the Our Saviors Lutheran Church (LC-MS) Christmas program and it was wonderful. This church is so blessed musically and with a great balance of young and old. I could not resist taking a couple of pics of the kids, especially the one right in front of me.Best seat in the house.I've risen!When the teacher asked who brought Jesus presents one little girl blerted out SANTA CLAUS!  12/24/2015

Christmas Video Tour of National Marketing RealtorsFeel free to stop in for coffee and treats. We will keep the decorations up till January 8th. National Marketing Realtors is proud to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Christ, Lord and Savior not only at Christmas time but we proudly proclaim Jesus year around.    12/24/2015

Missing The ObviousHere is another clip art cartoon I found with lots of possible meanings.Obviously the man behind the desk isn't even aware of what's in front of him, he has to read it off the page. I think this is the Realtor many clients tell me about. They tell me: "We were with Tom and we told him what we wanted but he kept showing us this crap and that crap... it was like he didn't hear a word we said".Then there is the client with Big Hair. She could cut it short and blend in with everyone else but she knows she will stand out with Big Hair. She wants to be noticed. I'm here! See ME! Pay attention to ME! We all like to be noticed, some more than others.If you are looking for housing in the Minot area and you want a Real Estate Agent to pay attention to your needs than give Natio... 12/23/2015

Merry Christmas, My VideoI wanted to make a short, hopefully sweet Christmas greeting card for you, hopefully this gets the message across that I am definately in the Christmas Spirit.I don't think I've ever been more content during the Christmas Season as an adult. Business has been good, my health (and the health of my family) has been good, and we will be celebrating with family and friends right here at our home in Minot ND. 12/22/2015