real estate agent: Buying Homeowners Insurance for your Roseville, MN Home - 07/19/11 05:25 PM
Buying a home in Roseville, Minnesota is an exhilerating, complicated process. One of the many details you need to sort through is homeowners insurance. Where do you find it? How much coverage do you need? What does it cover and not cover? Particularly for a first-time home buyer, these questions can seem daunting. Here is some good information to get you started down the road to getting a good policy:
1. Start with what you already have. It’s quite likely that if you’re happy with the company you use for your auto insurance, you’ve already found your homeowners insurance company. Many … (1 comments)

real estate agent: Removing the Rose Colored Glasses to Buy or Sell in Hugo, MN - 07/18/11 06:54 PM
Whether you’re buying or selling a home in Hugo, MN, you may find yourself wearing a beautiful pair of rose colored glasses. Buying or selling a home can be an emotional process, and sellers and buyers have different blind spots that they are susceptible to in a sale or purchase. This article outlines a few of the ways that you can prepare yourself for a successful transaction by taking off the glasses.
As a seller, you have an emotional attachment to the house you’re selling, particularly if you’ve had it for many years or if you’ve raised a family in it. … (3 comments)

real estate agent: Getting the Money Right to Buy a White Bear Lake, MN Home - 07/07/11 12:52 PM
Looking for a new home in White Bear Lake, MN? Once you've made the decision that it's the right time to buy, it's so tempting to just get out and start looking. But there is some very important financial groundwork that you should lay before even stepping inside a house for sale.
This CNNMoney article gives some very good tips on what you should know and do before you start the process of buying (or even looking at) a house:
Start with your credit It's never been more important to have good credit when buying a home. Lenders are much more … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Tips for Summer House Hunting in Stillwater, MN - 07/07/11 12:50 PM
We're mid-way through the summer, and you may be wondering if you've missed your best chance at finding a home in Stillwater, Minnesota. The answer is "no"! It's true that many home owners list their homes for sale in the spring, because many buyers want to be moved into their new homes well before school begins.
But there are other advantages to finding homes for sale later in the summer!
Good deals on the "leftovers" If you're looking at "old" (i.e. initially listed in April or May) listings, it's very probable that the price on the homes are finally at the … (1 comments)

real estate agent: Boost the Value of your Forest Lake Home's Garage - 07/07/11 11:33 AM
As you prepare your Forest Lake home for sale, don't neglect the garage! It's easy to allow garages to become (or remain) catch-all holding tanks for your possessions, especially as you prepare to move. It's a mistake, however, to treat the garage any differently than you treat the rest of your house as you clean and stage it. Garages are huge selling points to many people, and seeing one in disrepair or completely filthy has a proportionally inverse effect on many buyers' desire to live in your house.
Here are a few good tips to prepare your garage for sale:
1. … (1 comments)

real estate agent: Selling Your Woodbury, MN House? Give it a Bath. - 07/07/11 11:28 AM
If you're working on getting your Woodbury, MN home ready to sell, you're probably getting sick of the phrase "curb appeal". You want to do everything you can to make your property attractive to potential buyers, but it can be overwhelming to think about all the possibly ways you could spend money sprucing up your house and yard.
One simple, time-efficient and cost-effective thing that you can do to immediately boost the look of your house and yard is to pressure wash it! This is particularly good for stucco homes, but will produce positive results on any kind of siding. For … (1 comments)

real estate agent: Ten Tips for Getting a Good Price on a Home in Center City, MN - 07/06/11 10:39 AM
If you're fortunate enough to be looking for a home in Center City, MN, you have many advantages on your side: housing prices are low, mortgage rates are at record lows, and inventory is high. But does that mean that you will automatically get a home for a good price? This article gives good tips on how to evaluate the investment value of any house:
Research Recently Sold, Comparable Properties Your real estate agent is your best ally in helping you determine whether any given house is priced to high or suspiciously too low.
Check Out Comparable Properties Currently on the … (1 comments)

real estate agent: Help Sell Your Lindstrom House With a Gorgeous Lawn - 07/06/11 04:03 AM
To sell your house in Lindstrom, MN, you need good curb and web appeal. Most potential buyers will be viewing your house online before coming in person for a showing. A beautiful lawn is key to presenting your house in the best light, and achieving it is not as difficult as you might think. Here are some simple steps to getting a gorgeous green lawn to attract buyers:
Soil - your lawn may become compacted, which will hinder growth. Having it aerated will allow water to seep into the group and soften the soil. Testing your soil's pH balance is also … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Tips for Buying a Home in Chisago City, MN - 07/05/11 05:06 PM
Looking for a home in Chisago City, MN? Follow the timeless advice of getting your financial paperwork together and finding a good real estate agent who knows the area well, like us! After that, here are five tips to put you on good house-hunting ground: 1. Don’t Take a “Good Location” for Granted You may have a preconceived idea of where the “good” neighborhoods to buy in are located in Chisago City. You might be right…or you might be wrong. Areas that were good five years ago may be currently full of foreclosures, which leads to decreased home values for the … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Avoid These Landscaping Mistakes to Sell your North Branch, MN House - 07/05/11 04:57 PM
If you're working toward selling your house in North Branch, MN, you may be looking around your yard and considering ways to improve your curb appeal. You're wise to do so - Smart Money magazine indicated that consumers value a landscaped home up to 11.3 percent higher than its base price, and a study by Aspen Environmental Companies found that a landscaping investment is nearly always recovered and can help reduce time on the market.
But as you determine where to spend your landscaping dollars, keep in mind a few common landscape and patio mistakes that homeowners often make, as outlined … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Short Sale or Foreclosure for your Highland Park Home? - 07/05/11 06:57 AM
If you are facing the reality of a potential foreclosure on your home in Highland Park, St. Paul, MN, you’re probably considering the option of a short sale. It can be a very confusing process, and one that you shouldn’t attempt without experienced professionals helping you through it – both legal help and real estate help.
But is a short sale better for your credit in the long run than a foreclosure? There has been some confusing information put out in the past few months, but the bottom line is still the same: yes. A foreclosure is always the worst option … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Why Use a Realtor to Buy a Minneapolis Townhouse? - 07/04/11 08:27 AM
If you want to buy a townhouse in Minneapolis, chances are you’re looking at every possible angle to make sure you’re getting a good deal and making a good investment. Let me take a few moments to tell you why working with a realtor is the smartest way to go. There are over a dozen good reasons given here, but I’d like to highlight four:
Your REALTOR® can assist you in the selection process by providing objective information about each property.Someone who is a trained realtor has knowledge, experience and resources to help you find the right home. The amount of … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Top Things to Know About Buying a Home in St. Paul, MN - 07/02/11 04:22 AM
Ready to buy a home in St. Paul, MN? There are all kinds of things you’re likely thinking about. What kind of house do you want? Which neighborhoods are you most interested in? Before you get really invested in thinking through a lot of these kinds of issues, however, you want to have some fundamentals together. CNNMoney gives a good “Top Things to Know” list for buying a home:
1. Don’t buy if you can’t stay put. I think this is a lesson that most buyers understand these days. Selling is currently much harder than buying, so investing in real estate … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Staging Your Shoreview, MN House to Sell - 06/28/11 02:32 AM
If you’re thinking about selling your Shoreview, MN house, one of the most important things you need to do is something you can’t do: view your house from a detatched, unbiased perspective. Your real estate agent is someone who can help you make important decisions about the price of your home, and a stager is someone who can help you make good decisions about how to present it.
Just as you can sell your house without a real estate agent, you can present it to buyers without the aid of a professional stager. But the numbers don’t lie: you will sell … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Mortgage Tips for Buying a Home in Lake Elmo, MN - 06/24/11 08:59 AM
Should you be in the market for a home in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, you might be facing a chicken or egg conundrum: do you find the house you want first, or first get approved for a mortgage? Increasingly the answer is the latter. “It used to be, if you wanted a house, you went out, found a house and then spoke to a mortgage broker or went to a bank to get a loan and it was fairly easy,” says Ross Weinstein of Exclusive Capital. “Today, you really need to get on the mortgage game early and find your mortgage first, … (1 comments)

real estate agent: Five Things That Can Help Sell Your Blaine, MN Home - 06/22/11 06:22 AM
Interested in selling your home in Blaine, Minnesota? You likely know the importance of pricing your home correctly for the market and your area, and have taken care of major repairs and decluttering. But some other surprising factors can help sell your home, as mentioned in this article:
1. Neighbors We all know that bad neighbors can be bad news for selling a house; their unkept landscaping and old rusted lawnmower in the yard can be a turn-off to potential buyers. But conversely, they can be a huge asset as you sell. Your neighbors have personal motivation to secure good neighbors. … (0 comments)

real estate agent: What to Know Before Buying a Maplewood, MN Foreclosure - 06/21/11 10:23 AM
If you’re considering purchasing a foreclosure in Maplewood, MN, you should be prepared for the fact that the process will be very little like a standard home purchase. Even if you’ve purchased a house in the past, this article lists some differences that are helpful to know about buying a foreclosure.
First off, foreclosures have gotten a bad reputation as being the unkempt, run-down homes in the neighborhood. And this reputation is not entirely undeserved – many foreclosures are in less than ideal condition due to their owners leaving them and proper maintenance not being done. However, a large percentage of … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Buying a Townhouse You Can Afford in White Bear Lake, MN - 06/17/11 10:00 AM
If you’re looking for the perfect townhouse in White Bear Lake, MN, you no doubt have a list – physical or mental – of all the things you’re looking for in your new home. But have you made a list of steps to take to ensure that you find a townhouse that you can really afford? This article gives seven helpful steps to get you down the path to responsible home ownership:
#1 – Get your credit in as good shape as possible Many people have no idea what their credit score is, and while you don’t want to check it … (0 comments)

real estate agent: Remodel Your Kitchen to Sell Your Hugo, MN House - 06/16/11 04:53 AM
Selling your Hugo, MN house can seem like a daunting task, and you have certainly considered the question “What do I need to do to my house to sell it?”.
There are a few places where you can spend remodeling money and be almost assured of a 100%+ return on your money, and the kitchen is the #1 spot. However, this doesn’t mean that you should just spend crazy amounts of money on the very finest appliances and features. As realtor Elizabeth Weintraub states in this article, “The high-end kitchens don’t return as much as the mid-range or minor kitchen remodels. Most … (0 comments)

real estate agent: It’s Home Selling Season in Forest Lake, MN! - 06/14/11 03:28 AM
It’s June – the birds are singing, the grass is green, there are long lines at Dairy Queen, and it’s time for your Forest Lake house to sell! May – July are generally the hottest (no pun intended) months for home sales, and you want to be sure that your home is positioned to be seen by families who want to move in the summer and be settled before the kids go back to school.
As you work with your realtor to take advantage of these summer months in a tough real estate climate, here are some good tips to think … (1 comments)

 
Barb Goerss, Helping You With All 14 Moves You'll Make

Barb Goerss

Helping You With All 14 Moves You'll Make

Forest Lake, MN

More about me…

Address: 1398 Lake Street South, Suite 100, Forest Lake, MN, 55025

Office: (651) 464-1179

Fax: (651) 379-1555



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