saint paul: Madeline Island – How to Get Here
- 01/15/12 03:49 PM
Madeline Island – How to Get Here
I have lots of real estate friends all over the United States (and a few overseas) who periodically write me and say “love your photos of Madeline Island. Where exactly is this place?”
So I figured the best way to explain where our northwest Wisconsin office is located would be to blog about it.
The location of Madeline Island is pinpointed by a red arrow on the map below, which includes most of the continental U.S. Our Island is located on the south shore of Lake Superior in the Apostle Islands, close … (0 comments)
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saint paul: More Reasons Why Choosing the Right MLS Can be Crucial if you Want your Madeline Island Home to Sell
- 12/25/11 03:17 PM
More Reasons Why Choosing the Right MLS Can be Crucial if you Want your Madeline Island Home to Sell
[Household income and median home price figures provided below come from the most recent United States Census data. MLS participation numbers from NAR Realtors Property Resource website.]
Hennepin County (where NorthstarMLS originates) median household income: $61,651
Median home price in Hennepin County (MN): $248,600
Hennepin County, Minnesota(NorthstarMLS) participant members: 13,500
Now let's compare the NorthstarMLS primary service area with that of SAAR..
Douglas County Wisconsin (where SAAR originates) median Household income: $42,656
That's 69% of the median income for Hennepin County, Minnesota
… (0 comments)
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saint paul: Top Posts of 2011 - Wayzata Lakes Realty - Minneapolis and Saint Paul Metro Area Real Estate Blog
- 12/18/11 07:09 AM
Top Posts of 2011 - Wayzata Lakes Realty - Minneapolis and Saint Paul Metro Area Real Estate Blog
Now that December is nearly over, it's time to take a brief look back at the year 2011. I decided to assemble a brief list of our favorite (and most read) posts from the Wayzata Lakes Realty Minneapolis and Saint Paul Metro Area Real Estate Blog.
As many of my readers are aware, I maintain two ActiveRain blogs, one for my Wisconsin company (Madeline Island Real Estate Blog) and the other for my Minneapolis and Saint Paul area company (Wayzata Lakes Realty). … (0 comments)
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saint paul: A Ray of Economic Hope from Across the Border - Minnesota Jobless Rate Drops in October
- 11/20/11 03:47 PM
A Ray of Economic Hope from Across the Border - Minnesota Jobless Rate Drops in October
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Thursday that the jobless rate in Minnesota fell .5% in October, from 6.9% to 6.4%.
Why is this good news for home sellers on Madeline Island?
Because over three-fourths of prospective buyers in our zip code (54850) come from the State of Minnesota. A significant majority of Madeline Island second home owners come from the Minneapolis - Saint Paul metro area.
It won't bring immediate relief, but good economic news from a neighboring state can mean more buyers, particularly in … (2 comments)
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saint paul: The Market May Be Bottoming Out, but Not All Sellers Have Gotten the Message
- 10/29/11 04:58 AM
The Market May Be Bottoming Out, but Not All Sellers Have Gotten the Message
I read a local newspaper article the other day which speculates that "a market bottom has formed" in the Madeline Island Real Estate market. If one examines closed sales, that may be a valid conclusion, but the vast majority of sellers probably haven't figured that out yet.
List prices have dropped over the past year, but the transition to better pricing has been fairly recent. There still seems to be a lot of seller unreality about pricing.
Just a couple years ago, I remember a heated discussion … (3 comments)
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saint paul: Real Estate Broker and Instructor Eric Kodner to teach the NAR "At Home With Diversity" Course in Minneapolis, October 13, 2011
- 09/10/11 06:25 PM
Real Estate Broker and Instructor Eric Kodner to teach the NAR "At Home With Diversity" Course in Minneapolis, October 13, 2011
Wisconsin and Minnesota Real Estate Broker Eric Kodner will present the National Association of Realtors "At Home With Diversity" course in the Minneapolis - Saint Paul area on October 13, 2011.
Kodner has been an instructor for the NAR-approved AHWD course since early 2010. He presented the course twice in 2010 at the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA) in Madison. He is the Managing Broker and owner of Madeline Island Realty in La Pointe, Wisconsin.
The October 13 course will be … (0 comments)
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saint paul: Another Home SOLD by Broker Eric Kodner - 5230 Circle Down, Golden Valley, Minnesota 55416
- 08/05/11 04:17 PM
Another Home SOLD by Broker Eric Kodner - 5230 Circle Down, Golden Valley, Minnesota 55416
Two closings in two weeks! This four bedroom, three bath home closed on July 22nd and on August 2nd, we closed the purchase of 3342 Big Bay Road, LaPointe, Wisconsin 54850.
Both buyers were procured by Broker Eric Kodner (612.670.2539) with Wayzata Lakes Realty and Madeline Island Realty.
5230 Circle Down is a large four bedroom, three bath home in a prime location, close to downtown Minneapolis and just off Highway 100 in Golden Valley. Large secluded yard with flower garden, patio and mature … (2 comments)
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saint paul: Will Your Agent Drive 250 Miles to Write Your Offer On a Madeline Island Home?
- 07/19/11 04:12 AM
WILL YOUR AGENT DRIVE 250 MILES TO WRITE YOUR OFFER ON A MADELINE ISLAND HOME?
We do this all the time. Last week, I drove four and a half hours, from Madeline Island to Minneapolis, to write an offer on a Madeline Island home.
Sure, this could have been done over the phone or by email, or by fax. But the crafting of an offer that accurately reflects a buyer's wishes takes time and is best done in person.
So I caught a 4:30 pm ferry from La Pointe to Bayfield, Wisconsin and finally rolled into downtown Minneapolis around … (2 comments)
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saint paul: Rest in Peace: When Your Business Laptop Bites the Dust!
- 07/28/10 10:03 PM
If you were one of the unfortunates who purchased the same model Hewlett-Packard Pavillion Entertainment PC laptop as I did three and a half years ago, my condolences.
On Sunday morning, I discovered that my HP laptop with the big, bright screen wouldn't boot up. It would display the HP logo, then the Microsoft Windows boot screen, and then the whole screen went dark. I was then treated to a "light show", with linear streaks of blue, yellow, red and green streaking across the screen, both vertically and horizontally.
I tried booting up in "Safe Mode" and made an effort to revert the hard drive … (13 comments)
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saint paul: Skip the Bong & Blatnik bridges in Duluth - taking the Highway 39 bridge route via Oliver to Superior, Wisconsin and beyond
- 05/31/08 02:46 PM
If you're headed north on Interstate 35 from Minneapolis - Saint Paul toward Duluth and plan to cross over into Wisconsin, here are alternate routes you may want to try over the congested Fourth of July weekend.
[NOTE: I drive back and forth to and from Madeline Island from the Twin Cities quite a bit, and scenic routes like these can really make the trip more serene and fun!]
Instead of taking the Bong Bridge (Interstate Highway 2) into Wisconsin, take the Minnesota 210 exit near Black Bear Casino and head east through Carlton, Minnesota. This route takes you past the Thomson Hydroelectric Dam site and … (0 comments)
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saint paul: Wisconsin "Epic Vacations" Commercial Features Apostle Islands & Lambeau Field!
- 04/30/08 04:54 AM
This morning, on the CBS affiliate television station in Minneapolis & Saint Paul (WCCO Channel 4), I noticed a thirty-second commercial for "Wisconsin Epic Vacations" that opened with video footage of the Michigan Island lighthouse, located just off the northern tip of Madeline Island!
[Michigan Island Lighthouse in the Apostle Islands, Ashland County, Wisconsin]
It turns out that the commercial was intended to promote tourism on behalf of Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers football team.
In addition to all the photos of Lambeau Field and the Packer Hall of Fame Museum, plus photos of "keeper-size" fish jumping next to a boat, the … (2 comments)
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saint paul: Trouble in Paradise - Second Home Owners' Complaints About Property Taxes on the Rise
- 04/12/08 03:55 PM
In the past two months, I've been receiving an unusual volume of calls from past clients and other property owners in Ashland County, complaining about their assessed valuation figures. Most of the calls I receive on this subject are from out-of-state landowners or second homeowners who absolutely flipped when they opened their most recent property tax bill!
The typical call involves a landowner who calls to say "there's no way I could possibly sell my property for this figure, so how in heck did the Assessor come up with a valuation that exceeds the current market"?
These days, complaints about assessed valuation are no surprise. … (6 comments)
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saint paul: Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua Guitar Artist Don Pavel Dies
- 02/01/08 12:05 PM
Wisconsin celebrity bandleader and guitarist Don Pavel died Wednesday of an apparent heart condition. Don was just sixty years old.
Don Pavel was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1947. He was a veteran who served in Vietnam for six years. Don began partnering with Warren Nelson in the mid-1970s and helped found the Lost Nation String Band and the Big Top Chautauqua Blue Canvas Orchestra. Don frequently appeared with Chequamegon Bay celebrity Ric Gillman and the two performed jointly on the popular "Nothin to It" CD, which features music that will be familiar to Big Top fans.
Fans will remember Don's broad smile, his lightning … (2 comments)
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saint paul: What On Earth Are BPO Companies Thinking?
- 01/08/08 11:09 AM
Our office received a phone call from a BPO company in Florida early today. The young lady requested that we do a drive-by BPO on a home in rural Wisconsin, about three hours from our office in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul area and about an hour and fifteen minutes from our Wisconsin office in Ashland County.
She was in a bit of a panic. She told us the BPO was needed for an approval that had to be ready by the end of the day today. She was totally unfamiliar with rural northwestern Wisconsin. She didn't know anything about distances, location, much of … (18 comments)
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saint paul: It's Official ! I've Been Re-elected to the Board of Directors of the Twin Cities Musicians' Union
- 12/08/07 08:41 AM
The phone call came in about forty-five minutes ago from Tom Baskerville, Secretary of the Twin Cities Musicians' Union. Ballots were counted today and I'm told I have been re-elected to a fourth term as a member of the TCMU Board. We are an AFL-CIO Union local, members of the American Federation of Musicians.
The Twin Cities Musicians' Union (Local 30-73, AFL-CIO) serves the greater Minneapolis and Saint Paul metropolitan area, including a portion of western Wisconsin close to the Minnesota border. Our officers and board members assist with contract negotiations on behalf of musicians in organizations such as the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul … (22 comments)
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saint paul: I Spent My Afternoon & Evening With Marie Osmond Yesterday!
- 11/30/07 02:46 AM
Marie Osmond, recently featured on ABC television's "Dancing With The Stars", was in Minnesota yesterday, appearing in a Christmas show at Grand Casino Mille Lacs, in Onamia, Minnesota.
It was my privilege to be part of her back-up orchestra for the show, which provided me with a mini-vacation from the real estate business for a day! Band leader/trumpet player Bernie Edstrom (who hires some of the best show orchestras in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area), called me a month ago and asked if I'd be available to play French horn for Marie's show. Bernie and I used to work together at the Guthrie Theater in … (19 comments)
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saint paul: "Wild Rice" Restaurant in Bayfield, Wisconsin Hosts its Annual "Tired of Turkey" Dinner on November 24th
- 11/21/07 03:10 AM
This weekend, turkey-weary tourists and locals alike in the Chequamegon Bay area will be able to take refuge at the popular Wild Rice restaurant, located on Old San Road, just south of Bayfield, Wisconsin. Wild Rice will be hosting its annual "Tired of Turkey" multi-course prime rib dinner on Saturday, November 24, at 6:30 p.m.
Wild Rice is renowned for its extraordinarily beautiful setting (as the website says, "Near the water, in the woods, on Lake Superior"), its huge wine cellar, and critically-acclaimed cuisine. The restaurant building is an architectural masterpiece by architect David Salmela, with huge windows and a Scandinavian flair. … (16 comments)
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saint paul: New Facilities Planned for Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Door County, Wisconsin
- 11/21/07 02:22 AM
In 1976, James and Fran Dutton created the Birch Creek Farm Music Festival in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. At the center of the music festival campus was an old hand-hewn barn that the Duttons painstakingly fashioned into a concert hall, with stage and seating for perhaps 150 people.
The barn and concert stage is still there. And in its fourth decade, the facility, now known as Birch Creek Music Performance Center, has grown in stature and scope to become one of Door County's most popular performing arts sites, as well as a nationally-known summer music camp. As Birch Creek has expanded its … (4 comments)
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saint paul: Madeline Island Music Camp In LaPointe, Wisconsin
- 11/11/07 02:30 PM
The Madeline Island Music Camp was founded in 1985 as a two-week learning experience for young chamber musicians. In the past twenty-two years, the Music Camp has grown to a four-week season, with nearly fifty string and piano students in attendance.
Between mid-June and the end of July, the Music Camp is a beehive of artistic activity. The majority of concerts take place on Saturdays, but there are occasional Wednesday and Thursday performances as well.
The Music Camp facilities in LaPointe, Wisconsin have expanded along with the length of the festival. MIMC owns a ten-acre site with practice facilities and student housing. There is … (0 comments)
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saint paul: Couldn't Avoid the Dreaded MeMe!
- 10/28/07 10:51 AM
Actually, I asked for this. My friend Mike Jones caught me at an unguarded moment and inquired if I'd ever been meme'd. Me and my big mouth..
Mike's post that started this rolling can be found here:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/247193/AR-s-Eric-Kodner
Okay, let's get this over with! My understanding is that I'm supposed to come up with five things that most of you don't know about me. Here goes..
Below is a photo of me at the piano keyboard, at age seven.
I was a symphony musician and conductor for twenty-five years before switching careers and venturing into real estate. Most of my family members were in the arts in some … (37 comments)
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