The Brainerd Lakes area according to state demographers is expected to be the top growth area in the state. Area counties such as Aitkin , Cass and Crow wing Counties are projected to grow by 65% between 2000 and 2030, which makes it the fastest growing pocket in the state. The counties which are North of the area are projected to grow by 55% in that same time frame. Following the recession, according to George Orning a community planner, it will take about 5 to 10 years to catch up and our lakes area will have more competition with other urban centers which offer similar amenities such as: trees, water and hills.
The time to buy property in the Brainerd Lakes area is now. With our great selection of properties at every price range and our natural resources, this is a great place to consider for a primary or vacation property. There are many lower priced homes available on smaller lakes and very high end homes on the Whitefish Chain, Mille Lacs and Pelican along with others.
We are centrally located in the State of Minnesota with good roads leading into the area. Something is always happening here regardless of the season. This is far more than a summer get away. Our Fall season with the gorgeous color displays are breathtakingly beautiful. Winter brings a Wonderland with Cross Country Trails and downhill ski thrills. Spring is just the start for a summer of fun on our lakes and rivers or award winning golf courses. Many movie stars, successful business people and high profile sports figures spend their relaxation time here in the Lakes. Do they know something, you don't.
For a property in the Brainerd Lakes area contact: Kathleen Lordbock, Top Brainerd Agent, with Keller Wiliams Realty Brainerd Lakes - your area expert.
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
How to Re-purpose Your Real Estate Blog's Content To Grow Your Email List in 5 Simple Steps
If you are blogging 3-5 times/week as part of your marketing strategy you should use your published original blog content to your advantage. Re-purposing the content from your published blog posts allows you an additional vehicle to brand your business and promote your services online.
One easy way to re-purpose your content is to to create an ezine from the content contained in your published blog posts. An Ezine is similar to a newsletter and is published in a PDF format which makes it easy for your readers to access, save, refer to, and share your content and information.
Ezines are an easy way for you to distribute your content and to grow your contact database.
Here are 5 Simple Steps to re-purpose your real estate blog's content to grow your email list
1. Decide Which Real Estate Blog Posts You Will Use as Content for your Real Estate Ezine
Before you create your ezine you will need to decide which of your real estate blog posts you will be using to create the publication.
Here are some recommendations of topics for your Real Estate Ezine:
Real Estate Market Reports- You could take 3 months worth of real estate market reports and create a quarterly ezine.
Home Maintenance and Repair- You could group by seasonal repairs/improvements or by type of repair/improvement (e.g. kitchen, living room, outdoor landscape)
Home buyer checklists
Home Seller checklists
Short sales 101
First time home buyer information
Relocation information
Any of your real estate blog posts that you have in a series
Once you have decided which blog posts you will use in your ezine, list the names of the blog posts on a document ( I use Google Docs) and the order in which you want them to appear in the Ezine.
2. Create your Real Estate Ezine
Go to Zinepal.com and take 2 minutes to fill out a form and create an account. It's free. Once you have an account an Zinepal you will log in and start creating your ezine. The first step is to enter the url of your blog or your blog's rss feed. Once you have done this the zinepal.com application will pull a list of your blog posts. You simply check the ones you want included in your ezine and zinepal.com will add them to a dashboard for you.
Check to make sure that you have the right blog posts for your Ezine in your dashboard and click the customize and create my ezine button.
3. Edit your Real Estate Ezine
Once you are in the Ezine Editor it will ask you to:
Enter your keywords and an introduction for your ezine.
Choose your logo for the header of the ezine, font type and font size.
Upload an image for advertising on your ezine (I'll discuss this later).
Save your ezine as a template for future ezines.
Editing your Ezine will take you about 5-10 minutes maximum. Once you are done you can preview your real estate ezine or hit create to publish and save your ezine.
4. Your ROI Is Dependent On How You Market your Real Estate Ezine
You will get a PDF copy of your ezine which you can download onto your computer and save in your documents. You will also receive a profile page on zinepal.com that will become a library for your Ezines. You can choose to keep this ezine profile page public or private. If you allow your profile page to be public visitors can subscribe by RSS to your ezine feed.
Here is how I recommend you market your Real Estate Ezines:
Decide which ezines you are willing to give away without requiring Internet visitors to fill out a form and which ezines you require visitors to fill out a form before allowing them to download.
Embed this form on your website, email, blog, social networks and other places online where your advertise your real estate services online. After they complete the form it will take them to the URL where your private ezine(s) are located for them to download.
Expose your public ezines by leaving them public on your profile on a document storage and collaboration website. This will allow visitors to download and share your ezines by email, facebook, twitter, Digg and more. It will also allow the search engines to index your profile page thereby increasing the visibility of these public documents.
Use the RSS feed you are given from zinepal.com and embed it on your blog or website. Even though you may leave some of your ezines public, you can still use the RSS feed to gain subscribers and grow your email list).
5. Take the Marketing of your Real Estate Ezine to the Next Level
The simple repurposing of content from your real estate blog into real estate ezines can provide a wealth of viral branding avenues for you to explore and create new business opportunities. Taking the marketing of your ezine to the next level means marketing your ezine in both offline and online venues.
Here's how you can take the marketing of your real estate ezine to the next level:
Use the advertising space when you are creating your ezine to promote your business, another real estate vendor or local business (possible paid opportunity- add disclaimer), an upcoming home buyer's seminar you are giving, or a charity you support.
Advertise your ezine in newsletters you send to your farm or in expired postcard and letter campaigns.
Offer your ezines as printed publications in local businesses that you network and partner with and/or on their websites.
Contact your local libraryif your ezines are of educational value on local or newsworthy issues and offer to allow them to be distributed in printed format and/or electronic format on their website.
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
This home in Brainerd,MN is everything you could want in a starter/family home. The backyard is entirely fenced with sparkling white tall PVC panels that are attractive and functional. Let the kids and/ or pets roam freely. The two car garage with paved driveway has plenty of room for a car plus toys or two cars, if you please. A full bathroom on the main and a 3/4 in the basement, along with the utility room. A home theater/game room is ready for family fun and movie nights. How about the big game?
The main level is open and light filled - isn't that exactly what you want?
How about a price of $114,000 with a new furnace in 2006?
Contact Kathleen Lordbock REALTOR/Staging & Short Sale Specialist
218-831-8001
Licensed in MN
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
October’s big Real Estate story will be the expiration of the $8,000 tax credit on November 30th for eligible first time homebuyers. Since most transactions are taking a minimum of 30 – 45 days to close after an offer is made, buyers who need financing will need to sign a purchase agreement by the end of October 2009 in order to close their loan by the Nov. 30 deadline. Buyers who are hoping to utilize the $8,000 tax credit should be only making offers on properties that are able to close quickly and do not require bank approval. We do not know whether an extension on the tax credit will take place – or what that opportunity might look like – we only know how things are right now.
Buyers do not delay; you may be gambling away $8,000. We are also in a rare period of low interest rates, low prices, abundant inventory and down payment assistance programs – there's no better time to buy in our area of Minnesota. If you are looking in the Brainerd Lakes area of Minnesota, I have properties in all price ranges from county to city to lake. Many more are coming on the market so if you didn’t find what you wanted before, do give me a call. I will find your dream home for you. 80 acres of Hunting land adjoining State land and a 15- 25 acre rural parcel will soon be listed along with a 5 bedroom, 2 bath, 3 car just a few miles North of Baxter. A 3 bedroom on 7.5 acres and a 2 bedroom/2bath/ 2 car in town also are upcoming.
If your home is not selling and you want to try something different - give me a call at Keller Williams Realty Brainerd Lakes. I will help you get your home show room ready, priced for this market and sold. The home that shows the best, is heavily marketed and priced correctly will sell first.
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." - Stephen Covey: Author, organizational, leadership, and family expert.
Try this out for a month-just a month, you can do it.
Copy the above quote and print it out.Tape it to your bathroom mirror, your car dash, your computer monitor, your exercise bicycle, and your refrigerator. Read it and think about what is most important to you = your big why.Reflecting on this quote every day for a month will help your realize what you get up to do and why you are doing it.The small things, the bumps in the road, the elbow scrapes, the client who is not so cooperative – will become smaller as you focus on what is truly important to you.
That will differ for all of us so I am not going to give you a list.You can come up with your own. Then as the days go on in your month, you will be more aware and more focused – letting the trivial things go and marching on to achieve your goals, hopes and dreams.
Just a month - you can do it!
Kathleen Lordbock
Keller Williams Realty Brainerd Lakes
Minnesota
REALTOR-STAGING & SHORT SALE SPECIALIST
House not selling?
Need to move soon?
Falling behind on payments?
Want to sell your home for the most money and in the least amount of time?
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
Portland Home Stager, Pangaea, shares how the broker, the seller, and the home stager teamed up to get this Portland, Oregon Home SOLD in ONE DAY to the first person who saw it!
I would just love to take all of the credit for this, but as I have said before, it takes a team to successfully sell a home. With properties languishing on the market for months and months at a time, it seems like a miracle that a home could sell so fast. So, here is what each person did.
The Broker:
Counseled the seller regarding the importance of condition and presentation of the home.
Expertly assessed the right pricing for the property
Referred the seller to the Home Stager
Hired a professional photographer to take great photos for the listing
The Home Stager:
Started by asking the broker for any special concerns or negatives about the property - master bedroom not on the main floor was an issue.The bedroom on the main floor looked very crowded & wall color was dark.
Scheduled and performed a thorough "Walk & Talk" consultation for the seller with specifics about what needed to be done and why.
Empowered the seller to know that she couid accomplish everything by prioritizing and showing specific examples to take out any guesswork.
Provided additional furnishings / art / accessories and returned to do the final staging.
The Seller:
Trusted her professionals and committed to doing everything recommended by her broker and home stager.
Rolled up her sleeves and worked hard!
Now here's the success story that shows that all three pieces are what sold this home ---
Two weeks prior to going on the market, the broker put out a "pre-listing" notice so people would know it was coming up. She connected with another broker who had a buyer ready to buy! They went to see the house, contract in hand ready to write an offer, before the painting and staging work had been done. As soon as the buyer saw that the "master" bedroom was downstairs, they changed their mind and passed on the house.
So, to prepare the home, I had the seller remove clutter & older, unattractive furniture. Also had her paint the kitchen in a warm sand color and paint the cabinets white, plus update the hardware. The main floor bedroom had a futon in it. Because of the arms on the futon, when it was folded down to be a bed, the arms protruded into the space enough to make it very tight and to "scream" that it was a guest room. Although I had recommeded painting a lighter color in the bedroom, time & money made us decide to go with the existing color. The seller's white bedding made the dark walls seem even darker. So I used darker bedding more befitting of a "master" bedroom, and added art & throw pillows that tied in with the green but in lighter shades.
So, after the property was staged, professional photos were taken that day and put online asap! An open house was held the next day. According to the broker, the very first person who walked in bought the home. Happy Ending!!
Here are before & after photos for you to enjoy. "After Photos" courtesy of Rachel Weinstein rachelweinstein@comcast.net
Portland based, Pangaea Interior Design, offers home staging, interior design, and redesign services in the greater metropolitan area. If you value professionalism, a collaborative approach and results, then please call or email for an appointment to get your listing ready for the market! 503.816.4394 design@pangaea-id.com Pangaea Interior Design
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
When I call you - to give you a referral - answer your phone or get back to me within a day or email or.................................I will find someone else!
I took two new listings this week from brand new clients. I always like to ask how they found me and why they decided to go with me vs. any of the other thousands of real estate agents active in Boise, Idaho? In doing so I've discovered, re-discovered, and confirmed the largest return on investment of all the things I do to generate new clients.
The answer to the first part of the question is somewhat predictable, they found me on the internet, usually Google. That's to be expected, it means what I'm doing online with my websites and Active Rain is working.
The second part always surprises me. When asked why did you pick me? The overwhelming response is "you answered your phone." I know for a fact that in one instance I was the third agent they had called. It's sad but true that one of the easiest ways to differentiate yourself in the market place is to make yourself accessible.
I spend a lot of time online working on websites and my blog and I've come to realize that if you're not accessible you can have all the visitors, inquires, and blog subscribers in the world, if you don't respond, they move on and in one instance this week very quickly.
Jokingly, when one of the buyer's agents on my team that I can never get hold of asks me where all the leads are, I simply hold up my phone and say "on the other end of this thing."
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
In reading a blog on the net , I came across the idea of the 50% Space to Stuff Ratio This was new to me but may be old stuff to some of you.
The concept is that you are to evaluate the floor space in your home. If it is almost completely covered, there is no room left for new opportunities to come in. Reduce what is on it by 50% and there will be room for movement and the ability to change out what you want for now and for the future. When you have an open house and there are a lot of people in the room - they need to be able to get around.
Then when you bring in something new, something old goes away - far away- permanently.
This will help considerably with your organizing, as there will be less to organize. Once your home is ready to be sold, you will not have all your stuff to deal with. What is left is what you really want to keep and/or need.
This may help in explaining things to clients about how much to remove before staging.
Once again, it is 50% available space to how much stuff is in that space, for some you may need to give a 75% figure. Men probably like this numbers concept better than most women, we go more by how it looks.
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
Here in the Brainerd Lakes of Minnesota, 2 special corn fields have been silently growing and planning for the Fall. Soon these innocent looking fields will be sculpted and designed into twisty labyrinths for the sole purpose of making you walk in circles. You can spend an afternoon winding your way through the towering stalks and the evening on a hayride drinking cider. There are special days for families with small children and appropriate age crafts. Several nights will be for those who like a little excitement with their confusion. Scary creatures will inhabit the maze ready to make it a screaming adventure.
"Our labyrinth of twists, turns, and dead ends, carved into a 14 foot high cornfield, offers an experience that is perfect for those searching for adventure.
Near Halloween, what was a dark, quiet, gentle maze becomes a field of screams, with ghosts and goblins added for your late night spooking pleasure!"
Support local farms in your area and enjoy our Autumn Season. To learn more about corn mazes visit Corn Maze Directory.
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
This week I was invited by Wells Fargo lenders to travel by covered wagon (coach bus) to Minneapolis. We left by 9:30 AM and I got home by almost 9 PM so it was a long but educational day. It is always fun to see old friends in the real estate business and to meet new ones. Hello, Brian Emerson! Our ride down was conversational and real estate was the topic of the morning. Wells provided us with delicious box lunches to eat on the way and we were ready to face the educational session.
Our speaker was Rich Casto and along with a good deal of coaching and tips, we got a few laughs from his stories and examples. As always, the listening part is the easiest and then the implementation another story entirely Although probably no one ran home and put into play everything that was suggested - we all learned and picked out a few things to do now and many to do later.
Sam (Stephanie) Hall from Wells Fargo Baxter, MN shared a few of her inventive ideas on the way home. If anyone is looking to invest and get a sure fire product patented and produced -Sam has one that women would buy. Absolutely necessary! She could probably arrange the loan for you as well.
Welcome from the Brainerd Lakes - where outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites abound. Looking to buy on one of our many lakes? Ready to move up or down? Having trouble selling your home? Falling behind on payments or already in the foreclosure process? I am a Certified Short Sale Specialist as well as a Home Staging Expert.
Information on the Brainerd Lakes area of Minnesota. Real Estate help for buyers and sellers. Home staging tips and help for owners who need to sell fast. Postponing foreclosure and short sale help.
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Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
amenities such as: trees, water and hills.
,000 with a new furnace in 2006?
009 in order to close their loan by the Nov. 30 deadline. Buyers who are hoping to utilize the $8,000 tax credit should be only making offers on properties that are able to close quickly and do not require bank approval. We do not know whether an extension on the tax credit will take place – or what that opportunity might look like – we only know how things are right now.
I took two new listings this week from brand new clients. I always like to ask how they found me and why they decided to go with me vs. any of the other thousands of real estate agents active in Boise, Idaho? In doing so I've discovered, re-discovered, and confirmed the largest return on investment of all the things I do to generate new clients. 
;)
;)
