Madeline Island Real Estate Blog

How SMS Text Messaging Kept me in Touch With a Real Estate Prospect

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:03:14 -0500

Yesterday evening, I received a cellphone call from a fellow who wanted information on one of our listings. He was calling me from Madeline Island, using a Blackberry with Verizon service.

He was having obvious trouble getting a decent cellular phone signal in downtown LaPointe. We were able to chat for about ten or fifteen seconds and then his phone would drop the call.

With his phone number displayed on my Caller ID, I figured it was worth a try to see if he could receive text messages. And it worked! We were able to exchange email addresses and I sent him the information he needed.

Text messaging has turned out to be a boon for us in our real estate practice. One of the biggest advantages is the fact that text messaging uses far less bandwidth than a cellphone call. So when your cellular signal fails you and drops calls, or even if you don't have enough signal to connect with the person you're attempting to call, it's worth trying to make contact by sending a text message.

I've read that text messaging worked when all other forms of communication failed during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005.

If you find yourself showing property in an area with low population density, text messaging can keep you in touch with office or clients, even when the available cell signal is so poor that calls are difficult to place. And if you are momentarily in a "dead zone" (zero signal area), most cellphones will store your SMS message so you can hit "re-send" at a later time and you'll have a better chance of getting your message on its way.

I've found text messaging especially useful in northern Wisconsin and in parts of rural Minnesota or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where the cellular service is poor. It even works quite well on the seventy-mile stretch of Highway 13 that runs between Superior, Wisconsin and Ashland, an area that is notorious for dropped calls.

Our Madeline Island EMTs and other emergency personnel would be wise to offer a text messaging number that could be used to obtain fire, ambulance or police assistance. Last year I witnessed a tourist accident on Big Bay where a first responder was trying to render first aid and no one nearby could get enough cell signal to call the LaPointe EMT (landline) number.

You can read more about my experiences with cellular phone service on Madeline Island here:

Cellphone Secrets - How to Get a Cellular Phone Signal on Madeline Island

Now I remind my clients "If you're having trouble reaching me by cellphone, text me at 612-670-2539".

Cellphone Secrets - How to Get a Cellular Phone Signal on Madeline Island

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:05:13 -0500

This evening, I was delighted to receive a call from a fellow who was interested in purchasing one of our listings. Unfortunately, he was attempting to call from a cellphone from downtown LaPointe, on Madeline Island.

Our Island has poor cellular service that is almost legendary. Unless you have Alltel local service (from Chequamegon Telephone Cooperative on the nearby mainland) or your cellular carrier is AT & T, you can expect to have problems using your cellphone on Madeline Island.

I have a Blackberry World Edition phone (with Verizon service), however in this part of the world, it doesn't work very well). On Main Street, in front of our office, I get one or two signal bars, occasionally three at best. In various parts of town, I get zero signal bars. I can receive incoming calls but if I dial out, the call is usually dropped shortly after the recipient answers. Clients and friends who subscribe to a Verizon plan tell me that they've had the same problem up here. I've also heard that Sprint and T-Mobile work poorly on the Island, if at all.

Apparently "3G" stands for "going, going, gone" when you try to place a call in the Apostle Islands.

For those of you who don't plan to terminate your Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile plan early (and pay a penalty for doing so), there are a few options.

Firstly, get as close to the water's edge as you can when placing a call. Lines of sight are important when you make a cellular call in a remote area. I've found that I can get a decent signal sometimes by standing on the Ferry Dock in downtown LaPointe. The dock shared by the Beach Club and our Madeline Island Realty office is a fairly good place to get a signal as well.

Perhaps the best and clearest signal location I've identified in LaPointe is the beachfront area next to the Pub Restaurant and Rendezvous Center for The Inn on Madeline Island. I usually get three or four signal bars there, at least when weather conditions are clear.

Another good signal location can be found within a few yards of the Marine antenna behind the Madeline Island Yacht Club. The MIYC antenna tower and its Yagi antenna may be a place where you can "hitch a ride" and pick up a signal that's a little stronger.

I'm hoping some enterprising person will decide to open a cellphone rental service on the Island. In the meantime, I wish we could get a cellphone tower on Madeline Island that would be compatible with the digital service available from most major nationwide providers.

Michael Edlund and Eric Kodner deliver social networking presentation at the Seventh Annual LuxuryRealEstate.com Spring Retreat in Las Vegas

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:21:24 -0500

Last week at the Seventh Annual LuxuryRealEstate.com "Spring Retreat" in Las Vegas, I had the pleasure of participating in a lecture/panel discussion with Michael Edlund, LRE's Director of Technoloy. Our presentation was entitled "The Luxury Lounge: All You Will Ever Need To Know About Using Luxury Real Estate's Online Gated Community".

Our panel was part of the four-day conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, which took place April 26-29. Attendees were offered a series of presentations at the Spring Retreat, including:

"The Power of Social Networking: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn" (moderated by Victor Lund of The WAV Group)

"Dream Big, Risk Big, Taking Over the World One Stroke at a Time" (with featured speaker 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Mary Whipple)

"Turning Unsold Listings Into Revenue" (presented by William May)

"Short Sales: Don't be the Ostrich with your Head in the Sand" (led by Colleen Olson and Janos Farkas)

"Memorabilia: An Opportunity to Meet Some of the Greatest Minds in the Industry" (led by Ann Chiasson)

"Integrating Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate and LuxuryRealEstate,com Into Your Business" (led by Meghan Barry)

"The Fearless Broker" (led by Penny Evans Carruth), and

"Heart-Centered Real Estate" (with featured speaker Peter Tongue).

Michael Edlund and Eric Kodner prepare to deliver a presentation on the LuxuryRealEstate.com "Luxury Lounge" at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.

Michael and I took turns speaking to attendees about the features and benefits of the Luxury Lounge. LRE's Luxury Lounge community has grown hugely, particularly during the past six months.

One of the most memorable events of the conference was a Black Tie dinner and presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to Broker Shari Chase. Shari is one of only three LuxuryRealEstate.com members to have been named to LRE's "Billionaire's Club".

We had quite a stellar list of attendees at this year's Spring Retreat, including my friend Jim Walberg (Caribbean Islands Realty), Jon Larrance (Perry & Company, Denver), Bruce Hiatt (Luxury Realty Group LLC, Las Vegas), Colleen Olson (Arizona Best Real Estate), Robert Kenney (Turnquist Partners, Austin, Texas), fellow Rainer Dave Abernathy (Ocean 30 Group, Jupiter, Florida), Ralph Gray (Honolulu, Hawaii), Larry Lawrence (Olympic Valley, California), Elise Kalles (Toronto), John & Gail Krolick (Incline Village, Nevada), Elad Bushari & Mara Tamaroff (Boston), Tricia Fox (Gold Coast Residences, Chicago), Janice McNeal (Luxury Homes Tacoma, Washington), Morgan Carey (British Columbia), Lianne Read (Salt Spring Island, British Columbia), Ann Chiasson (Sea to Sky Properties, Whistler, British Columbia), Amber Jones (Sea to Sky, Whistler, BC), Carol Ihli (Denver), Julie Jones (Premier Estate Properties, Fort Lauderdale), Jeff Bretherton (Hamilton, Montana), Stuart Wright (Boulder, Colorado), Victor Lund (Arroyo Grande, California), Andreas Dimitriou (Athens, Greece), Diana Bull (Santa Barbara, California), Darryl Baskin (Tulsa, Oklahoma), William May (Seattle), Shari Chase (Chase International, Lake Tahoe), Patricia & Cedric Choi (Choi International, Honolulu), Ohan Antebian (Irvine, California), Ilya Moshenskiy (Redmond, WA) and Chiara Gajar (Olympic Valley, CA) among many others.

My apologies if I have omitted anyone!

This year's "Spring Retreat" was a fabulous event and I particularly enjoyed participating as a panelist and speaker.

Attention All CRS Chapter Officers -- Just a few days left to apply for 2009 Diversity Grants!

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:53:57 -0500

The Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) is informing state CRS Chapters that there are seven remaining 2009 Diversity grants still available, but the application deadline is March 15, 2009, just a few days away!

These monies are set aside for the purpose of encouraging programs and events which promote diversity in real estate. Each chapter grant will be in the amount of five hundred dollars.

If your state CRS chapter is interested in applying for one of these grants, contact Toni Sherman (CRS Director of Business Relations) via email, at toni@tonisherman.com.

"Big Ice Golf" Tournament on Madeline Island, February 21

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:55:31 -0600

Madeline Island will be hosting the fifth annual "Big Ice Golf" Tournament in LaPointe, Wisconsin, on February 21.

The event will take place from Noon to 4 p.m. on the 21st. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the La Pointe Volunteer Fire Department. Local businesses have chipped in to sponsor the nine-hole course on the Lake Superior ice. The tournament site offers a beautiful view of the lake and the Bayfield mainland.

There'll be no sand traps, no water hazards and no lugging golf clubs in the hot sun. If you've never played golf on the ice, here's your chance to experience some unique midwinter fun!

Trying to find "LaPointe, Wisconsin" on Google Earth? It's All About How you Type the word "LaPointe"

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 10:34:09 -0600

Google Earth is a fun and useful utility, but it's far from perfect.

I found myself searching for the town of LaPointe, Wisconsin on Google Earth yesterday evening. And depending on how you type the town's name, you get entirely different results.

LaPointe is the commercial zone on Madeline Island, located at the southwestern tip of the Island. LaPointe Township includes the entire island. Madeline Island is one of the twenty-two Apostle Islands in western Lake Superior, situated about seventy-five miles east of the Duluth-Superior metropolitan area.

There seems to be a sort of eternal debate among Islanders (and summer residents) about whether there should be a space between "La" and "Pointe". It seems to make a difference on the Web when you're searching for our town. I have seen some search engines generate results based upon two separate words, rather than upon the town's complete name, when the space is utilized.

Anyway, Google Earth shows two very different locations for the town of LaPointe (or La Pointe):

Under "Search" and "Fly to", if you type in "La Pointe", you get a location on Oak Island, in the Apostle Islands region of Lake Superior. Oak Island is part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, miles from the town of LaPointe.
If you type in "LaPointe", you will see multiple results for LaPointe businesses, including our company, Madeline Island Realty.

In Google Maps, you can submit a correction by visiting TeleAtlas.com. TeleAtlas feeds corrections in map locations to Google Maps on a regular basis, although it may take some time for the change to appear on the Web.

I haven't yet figured out how to get Google Earth to recognize that the town of LaPointe is NOT located on Oak Island.

Maybe it would be a good idea if we could all arrive at some uniformity about whether to use "La Pointe" or "LaPointe" on the Web.

I've Been Invited to Join a WRA Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:47:17 -0600

Today, I was delighted to learn that I've been appointed to the Wisconsin REALTORS Association (WRA) Equal Housing Opportunity Committee!

The purpose of our state's EOC is to monitor and evaluate "legislative, legal and regulatory trends with respect to equal opportunity in housing". The EOC works with our WRA Public Policy Committee to help craft or influence pending or proposed legislation dealing with Fair Housing issues.

I feel honored to be invited to join this WRA committee. I believe that service on association committees and boards is more than an obligation. It's important for real estate professionals to "walk the talk" when it comes to Fair Housing and ethics issues. And service on a committee such as this one is, for me, part of that effort.

Wisconsin CRS Leaders Meet at "Designation Week" Hosted by WRA, February 2-5, 2009

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:04:00 -0600

Today I attended the Wisconsin CRS Chapter luncheon at the Radisson Hotel and Convention Center, in Green Bay. The CRS luncheon was part of the event schedule for WRA's "Designation Week" which opened yesterday and continues through Friday, February 5.

2009 CRS Wisconsin Chapter members (left to right), Chapter President Pat Dollins, Eric Kodner, Jo Baldridge

Close to fifty Wisconsin CRS Chapter members attended today's networking luncheon, chaired by President Pat Dollins. Following the event, I spent a pleasant couple of hours staffing the CRS booth at the Convention Center, along with Pat Dollins and Jo Baldridge.

And this evening, our CRS Chapter hosted a hospitality suite at the Radisson, with a guest list that included CRS instructors Chuck Bode and LeRoy Houser, as well as 2008 WRA Chairman Mike Spranger.

The Council of Residential Specialists will be hosting their 2009 National "Sell-a-bration" in San Francisco, February 5-7.

Bayfield Wisconsin Ice Caves are Open!

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:21:14 -0600

According to information provided by some friends (and verified on the Web), the ice caves at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore are now open and accessible.

Park rangers have reportedly cored the ice between the caves and Meyers Beach, and have found the ice thick enough to accomodate tourist traffic.

The ice caves are awesome and beautiful! You'll need a parking permit or 2009 seasonal pass in order to bring your vehicle into the Meyers Beach lot. You can call the Visitor Center at (715) 779-3398 x399 to verify if the lot is open for parking and to obtain price information.

Bring a camera or two and dress warmly..it can be extremely cold this time of year in the Apostle Islands! You'll have to walk approximately a mile across the frozen beach and lake ice to reach the Mawikwe caves.

I guarantee it's worth the trip and the effort.

LuxuryRealEstate.com "Luxury Lounge" Growing Rapidly

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:04:40 -0600

LuxuryRealEstate.com created its "Luxury Lounge" just a few months ago and membership in the Lounge has grown dramatically.

A creation of Publisher John Brian Losh (who also pubishes "Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate") and his team at LuxuryRealEstate.com, the Luxury Lounge is a community of luxury property brokers and agents with impressive credentials. Members from all over the globe are now joining the Lounge and networking with colleagues.

In addition to Losh, the creation of the Luxury Lounge site may be credited to many members of the talented LuxuryRealEstate.com staff, including Meghan Barry, Bente Madtsen, Michael Edlund, Courtney Jackson, Brian Langhorst, Jaime Sanders, Betta Peterson, Sunmi Song and Lacey McGarry.

My friend and ActiveRain colleague Liane Read is a regular contributor to the Luxury Lounge. Lianne is a member of the Board of Regents of LuxuryRealEstate.com.

I hope to see other ActiveRain members who also belong to the LuxuryRealEstate.com network joining the Luxury Lounge community in the near future!

Madeline Island Ice Road Plowed Last Thursday

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:39:36 -0600

Here's an update on the current condition of the ice road between Bayfield, Wisconsin and Madeline Island.

According to the ice road "Hotline", the road was plowed last Thursday. I'm told the ice is now safe for cars and light trucks and the ice thickness will increase now that some of the snow has been removed from the ice surface.

Accumulating snow may have the effect of insulating the ice from the cold air above it, slowing the increase in ice thickness. The folks who maintain the ice road make an effort to keep the ice plowed once it has grown thick enough to support vehicles.

I plan to drive the ice road this coming week and I plan to upload a Flip video of that trip!

It Looks Like the Madeline Island Ice Road is Finally Open!

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:25:36 -0600

I spoke with my friend Steve McHugh (owner of the new Bell Street Gallery) around Noon today and he informed me that the "ice road" between Bayfield, Wisconsin and Madeline Island opened this morning.

Steve said the ice road is currently open to "cars and light trucks".

Aft view of the windsled "Ice Angel IV" near Madeline Island

A midday call to the Windsled Transportation Hotline (715-747-5400) didn't announce the ice road opening, but the recorded message is supposed to be updated later today.

I'd strongly suggest re-checking the Windsled Hotline number before you schedule a trip across the ice in your vehicle. You may also want to call Arnie Nelson (Nelson Construction in LaPointe) at 715-747-3300.

Madeline Islanders Cheer Early Freeze-Up

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:03:11 -0600

Winter has arrived in a big way on Madeline Island.

Approach to the ice road on Madeline Island

On New Year's Day, the Madeline Island Ferry Line made its last trip before freeze-up, slogging through the slushy passageway which threaded through the forming ice between Bayfield and La Pointe, Wisconsin. The much-anticipated ice road is now forming across the two miles of Lake Superior that connects the mainland with the Island. And Islanders are thrilled about it. They see the ice road as a bonus, something that saves them from the expense of ferry (and windsled) fees.

Within the past few days, the Island has received over a foot of snow. And over the New Year's holiday, nighttime temperatures were as low as -10 F. Now, shrouded in white, Madeline Island is settling into its winter routine.

Until this season's ice road oficially opens, Islanders will be choosing between snowmobiles and the windsled for transportation options. But this year's transition between ferry service and the ice road could be one of the shortest in recent memory.

One of my Islander friends told me he's predicting that the ice road will be in by the tenth of January. A few others are saying it will be more like mid-month, but that is still considerably earlier than last year when it took nearly until the middle of February for the ice road to open to cars and light trucks.

Stay tuned and we'll keep you up-to-date on the opening of the 2009 ice road!

Is Lake Superior Ice Formation Being Affected by Global Warming?

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:12:55 -0600

A recent University of Minnesota Duluth study claims that Lake Superior is a prime example of global warming and its effects.

The "ice road" to Madeline Island begins to break up in Spring of each year.

According to a recent article in the Duluth News-Tribune, the Lake Superior winter ice cover has, in general, diminished over the last thirty years, with a corresponding rise in average lake water temperature. And another study by a local Bayfield resident who researched weather data back to 1857 claims that today we are seeing an average of forty-five fewer ice-covered days in our area of Chequamegon Bay than there were in the mid-1800s.

The article goes on to send a warning about the future of the winter ice cover between Bayfield and LaPointe, suggesting (if the purported trend continues) that by around 2040 there will be virtually no days of solid ice cover between the mainland and Madeline Island.

Is is a bit premature to sound the alarm about diminishing Lake Superior ice?

You might not put a lot of stock in either of these studies based on the ice situation last year and this year. At the beginning of March 2008, we had nearly thirty inches of ice in some spots between Bayfield and Madeline Island.

This season, we're experiencing a rather early freeze-up. The Madeline Island Ferry Line shut down operations on New Year's Day and it looks like we'll have an ice road soon.

At stake is the future of the "ice road" between Bayfield and Madeline Island. In many ways, winter ice thick enough to support cars and light trucks is a huge economic benefit to Islanders and visitors. It provides local residents with a brief holiday from paying ferry fees. And it also offers the freedom to come and go around the clock, rather than being tied to a transportation schedule, provided that the ice is thick enough and in good shape.

Is the reduced number of ice-covered days a long-term trend or merely a cyclic event? The thirty-year study seems to me to be an inadequate time period in order to establish a definite pattern. More research is likely needed to determine if the Chequamegon Bay ice situation is as serious as these studies suggest.

LuxuryRealEstate.com Introduces its "Luxury Lounge" in Beta

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:18:46 -0600

John Brian Losh and the creative staff at LuxuryRealEstate.com have recently developed and introduced the Luxury Lounge, an online community for luxury real estate professionals. At present, participation is limited to members of the LuxuryRealEstate.com network.

The Luxury Lounge is still in closed Beta version. Participants connect with fellow LRE.com members and have the opportunity to post their own blogs. The site creators advertise the Lounge as an "online gated community".

Members post a profile with a link to their personal website. One of the best things about this site is the fact that it presents numerous opportunities for members to network with other members and to form referral affiliations.

I urge all members of LuxuryRealEstate,com on ActiveRain to visit the Luxury Lounge and to join & participate!

Ferry Service Between LaPointe & Bayfield Shut Down on New Year's Day

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:06:36 -0600

Yesterday, the Madeline Island Ferry Line shut down service between Madeline Island and the Bayfield mainland.

Cars and trucks on the Lake Superior ice, just off the Bayfield, Wisconsin shoreline

This weekend, there will be "limited" windsled service across the two miles of Chequamegon Bay ice, with Saturday trips departing the Island at 9 am, 11:30 and 4 pm. Saturday windsled runs will depart Bayfield at 9:15, 12:15 and 4:15 daily, for the time being [schedule subject to change].

On Sundays, the planned windsled schedule is as follows: Trips depart La Pointe at 9, Noon and 4 pm. Trips depart Bayfield at 9:15, 12:15 and 4:15.

A good, solid ice road is perhaps a week to ten days away, weather permitting. Stay tuned and we'll try to keep you updated on the availability of ice road travel.

The Windsled Schedule Hot Line has a recorded message which may be accessed at 715-747-5400.

2009 Wisconsin CRS Chapter Leadership Team Hits the Ground Running!

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:54:54 -0600

Our 2009 Wisconsin CRS Chapter (with newly-elected President Pat Dollins picking up the gavel) is embarking on a new year of activities on behalf of Wisconsin CRS designees.

This year's Wisconsin CRS Chapter Officers include: Pat Dollins (President-Elect), Kathy Allison-Zimmermann, Jeannie Doyle, Jo Baldridge, Gayle Galston, Judy Gull (2008 President), Eric Kodner, Brenda Lothe, Belle Luhman, Sona Olson, Mike Raber, Della Rancourt, Dawn Sinclair, Pat Tasker, Cindy Ulsrud, Roberta Vellucci, Kris Villars, Anita Wilde and Mike Zurfluh.

Our first leadership meeting of the New Year will take place on January 6th, so you can see that Pat is wasting no time getting things off to a brisk start!

I'm honored and eager to begin serving as an Officer on the Wisconsin CRS Chapter leadership team this year!

Minneapolis Photographer Steve McHugh Creates New Bell Street Art Gallery on Madeline Island

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:42:38 -0600

The summer of 2009 will bring the opening of a new art gallery on Madeline Island.

The Bell Street Gallery is the creation of Steve McHugh, a well-known professional photographer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Steve has been a Madeline Island summer resident for nearly two years now.

Steve saw one of our commercial listings, located at 807 Bell Street, this past summer. He was able to look beyond the rustic facade and the bright red paint job that adorned the building. Steve and his wife Mary fell in love with the location and the property's commercial potential, so they purchased the property in October of 2008.

Steve has created the Bell Street Gallery Blog so that his fans may track the progress of the building remodel and his preparations for the opening of the Gallery in the summer of 2009.

I'm confident that Steve McHugh's Bell Street Gallery in the town of LaPointe, Wisconsin will be a huge addition to the cultural scene on Madeline Island and I'm eager to see him succeed!

The Ice Road Cometh!

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:08:15 -0600

Rumor has it that the Madeline Island Ferry Line may be shutting down in the next few days, in preparation for the formation of an ice road.

Lake Superior at dawn, Canal Park, Duluth, Minnesota

As of this evening, the Ferry Line recorded message informs Islanders that they should move vehicles over to the Bayfield side before Tuesday, December 30.

This could be the earliest and best ice road we've seen in a couple of decades. And the impact of the ice road on the LaPointe community is huge.

During ice road season, Islanders and visitors save quite a bit on ferry fees. Goods and people travel pretty much round the clock between the Bayfield mainland and the Island. There's no waiting for boats or for the windsled. Life is good!

Of course, the windsled will be running during the period between ferry shutdown and the opening of the ice road to traffic.

If you're looking for information on when precisely the ferries will stop running, call the Madeline Island Ferry Line, at 715-747-2051.

Social Networking - Do Real Estate Agents Get It??

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:15:13 -0600

Apparently some do not. The incident below has left me somewhat baffled!

I was on Facebook this morning, browsing a couple of groups which consist mostly of fellow ActiveRain members. In my search, I came across an agent in the eastern United States whose service area caught my eye. And as it happens, one of my clients has mentioned to me during the past week that he may be relocating to that exact area.

Okay, my Facebook profile clearly states that I'm a real estate broker. It even includes my company websites and my real estate designations. And the east coast agent similarly advertises herself as a real estate professional, looking to "network" with other agents who may have referrals. She works for a well-known company, one with a good reputation, in her area. So, I contacted her.

About ten minutes later, I got a reply message from this agent which read "I don't know you".

Am I missing something here??

If the only people you plan to "network" with are folks you already know, how much business do you think that will bring you in 2009?

Real Estate Financing Scams Popping Up During Tough Economic Times

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:04:13 -0600

The Inspector General of the United States Treasury Department is alerting NAR and state REALTOR^® Associations to a series of recent home financing scams. The fraud involves the use of bogus sight drafts or "Bills of Exchange" to buy real estate.

According to the Treasury folks, a few purchasers have been using fraudulent paper "bonds" and promissory notes to purchase real estate and automobiles. The phony bonds are represented as either a "private offset bond" or "personal promissory note" and they bear the name of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

The phony documents bear a watermark and are printed with a colored background. They bear a phony ABA-type number at bottom and are labeled "Certified Draft" in the upper-left hand corner. The (claimed) payor is the "United States Treasury Department of Debt & Collection".

Transactions involving these spurious financial instruments have already been reported in Colorado and Arizona and many other state law enforcement agencies have reported the circulation of such notes, which have been presented by scammers "in an attempt to pay for everything from cars to child support".

Needless to say, if you encounter one of these, contact the U.S. Treasury Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The telephone hotline number for such complaints is 1-800-359-3898 and the email address is hotline@oig.treas.gov.

Autumn Comes to Madeline Island..A Few Days Ahead of Schedule

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:10:28 -0500

It's a bit chilly here tonight.

The temperature right now is 49 degrees. The sky is clear and a low of 37 to 42 is predicted for tonight.

Today it seemed like tourists switched suddenly from t-shirts and shorts to thick sweaters and fall jackets. A couple of guys walked into my real estate office this afternoon looking for firewood for their campsite at the State Park. We chatted briefly about real estate prices and they took a brochure and business card with them. I gave them a small bundle of split oak for their campfire and in return, they left me a couple bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale, a pretty fair trade.

Leaves are changing here already. It's perhaps more noticeable on the northwest side of Madeline Island, but you'll see trees aflame in red and orange along South Shore Road and Big Bay Road as well. There's a kind of luminous orange that appears at this time of year which has the curious property of bathing everything around it in color. Whether by reflection or refraction, you'll notice in the late afternoon and evening that these red-orange "flame trees" almost seem to give off their own light.

The reds, oranges, yellows appear sporadically as you drive around the Island, but they're more apparent on the nearby mainland. Drive west on Highway 13, beyond Herbster and Port Wing, and you'll see more widespread change in the overall color of the mixed hardwoods flanking the highway.

Our fall color season on Madeline Island tends to last longer than in other locales, primarily because the surrounding lake moderates our temperature, probably giving trees the false impression that it's warmer outside than the actual area temperature. The lake effect slows down the onset of frost and promotes more moderate air temperatures, because the water holds its thermal absorption and stays warmer than the air as late fall turns into winter.

Anyway, this weekend seems to be heralding the arrival of Fall. The Bayfield Apple Festival is two weeks away and we should see peak color by the time it opens.

The Isles are alive, with the sound of money

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:46:31 -0500

Thanks in part to the Wisconsin State Bureau of Aeronautics, Madeline Island is receiving nearly four million dollars worth of gravel.

The Madeline Island Ferry dock is a beehive of activity, with bargeloads full of gravel for road and sanitation and airport projects being delivered daily. Every time the crane swings from barge to the giant hopper on the ferry dock, you hear the sound of money being poured onto the Island.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle presented the Town of La Pointe with a check for $1.2 million on August 11. That portion came from the Bureau of Aeronautics, to pay for 21,500 tons of gravel needed for future airport projects.

The Madeline Island Sanitary District will be using about 2,000 tons. That leaves nearly 65,000 tons to be used by the Town of La Pointe over the coming decade for road improvements and annual repairs to town roadways. And the total cost of the gravel will come to $3,651,600.

Ashland County is helping to pay for the gravel, contributing nearly 40% of the required funds. The County, in turn, received a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to rebuild Highway H on Madeline Island.

Upcoming road projects will include the re-paving of half of Main Street, Big Bay Road, Middle Road and Black's Shanty Road. Northwoods Paving of Ashland, Wisconsin, will be the general contractor for the gravel and blacktopping contracts.

If an agent can't show your property, they won't be able to sell it!

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:46:11 -0500

The title of this post sounds so very simple. Yet this is a concept that seems to elude some sellers.

Nearly two years ago, my office scheduled a visit with a qualified buyer and his family who came to our area to look at property. The buyers were looking at upper-bracket homes and they had definite ideas about what they were looking for.

I called the listing agent of one home they wanted to see. The agent rather sheepishly informed me that the seller hadn't given him a key yet and he couldn't provide access to the home's interior until the seller arrived the following week. I informed him that my buyers were here for a weekend and they wanted to view the home as soon as possible. The listing agent tried in vain, but he couldn't reach his client.

I told my buyers they would have to wait perhaps five or six days and maybe make another 300 mile trip back to Madeline Island to see the property. They were, to put it mildly, displeased. They walked away from that first home and bought another one just a few miles away, priced at over $750,000.

That day, the seller of the first home missed out on a huge opportunity. The seller waited nearly two years for a serious buyer to come along again. And that seller's home recently received an offer considerably lower than if the home had been made available for showing in the first place.

This wasn't the only time I've encountered such a situation. The story bears repeating. Make your property available for showing or don't bother to put it on the market. Buyers (and agents) find it irritating and frustrating when they cannot view a listing that is supposed to be available for purchase.

What works for sellers and what doesn't - Lessons learned from a real estate auction

Madeline Island Realty - Eric Kodner Sells Madeline Island — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:23:54 -0500

On Saturday, July 19th, I attended a real estate auction on Madeline Island. To my knowledge, this was the first time a Madeline Island residential property had ever been offered at public auction.

The auction of the Campbell estate on Equaysayway Lane seemed more like a social event than a real estate liquidation. There were approximately seventy people in attendance. Most turned out to be spectators rather than participants.

From the perspective of some who attended the auction, the result of the bidding was less than spectacular. The highest bid received for the estate home portion of the property (valued for taxes at $1.2 Million) was just over $600,000. A separate interior parcel brought a high bid of $72,000.

My understanding is that the family had earlier stipulated a reserve figure which was not met during bidding and therefore the prevailing high bid was not accepted.

There was a lot of public discussion in the town of La Pointe following the auction. The whole event probably did more to stimulate local dialogue about real estate than any marketing campaign could have achieved. And there were lessons learned from the auction experience.

The availability of this property was probably not as widely publicized as a traditional listing would have been, and that certainly may have limited the seller's chances of achieving their desired price. Without a listing presence on MLS and REALTOR.com, an interested party would have had to learn about the auction by actually visiting the area and noticing one of the signs advertising the upcoming auction, or perhaps by browsing the auction house website.
There were probably only six or seven bidders present, out of the dozens of folks who attended. Had the property been given appropriate time for market exposure, it seems likely that more prospective buyers would have stepped forward to express an interest.
More exposure usually generates more prospective buyers. More prospective buyers generally results in receiving a higher offering price.

I'm sure the auction house did its best to make the auction a success. But the less than stellar result seems to have sent a message to Island property owners that a real estate auction may not be the best answer for those hoping to sell a Madeline Island property, especially a high-end estate.