Increased Inventory, Advanced Technology and Better Guarantees Help Buyers and Sellers

Did I seriously just feel sweat on my neck while putting the final touches on one of our first listings of the spring? Directly across the road, fishermen on ATVs spun through icy slush on top of Shamineau Lake in search for early spring crappies. The temperature had just topped 70 degrees for the first time this year in Central Minnesota, yet people were still ice fishing. Surreal.

But springtime is a seasonably un-photogenic listing backdrop in this state. Picture giant piles of graham-cracker pudding in every yard — formed by months of road salt, sand and snow mixture. Gingerly walk on top of the snowmelt and regularly sink knee deep. My socks are wet just thinking about it. Trees are bare. Everything feels like it’s brown, but pattering meltwater and a chorus of red-winged blackbirds creates a favorable mood. It is quite a pleasant time of year, and like clockwork, home buyers and sellers again have “the itch.”

We anticipate an active spring and summer with many in-house listings coming on the market. We have several properties that will be available in the next few weeks, and potentially many more after that, including some that were temporarily off the market. The charming, little red cabin at Aztec Road across from Shamineau is now on the market in “coming soon” status. This is a fantastic first-time buyer opportunity or vacation home that was built in 2003. A separate access basement/garage includes an overhead door for storing a boat, which is great because the public landing is mere steps across the road.

Future Tech and Strong Offers Help Buyers and Sellers

Furthermore, we will soon add another feature to some of our select listings: 3D interactive scans. These 270-megapixel scans let viewers click and navigate through the house at their own will, so they can view all angles or even “walk” out to the backyard dock in some instances. We will have the ability to blur out personal belongings and add infographics, measurements and clickable links within the tour. Each tour will also include a separate floor plan drawing. Stay tuned for this super-cool feature on many of our future listings.

We continue to bolster our performance guarantees as well. While inventory is increasing as it normally does in the spring, we know that some buyers will struggle to compete. Others will hesitate to sell for fear of not finding another home. That’s why we dig deep, even bringing off-market homes that might be available to our buyers, and offering the “Buy this Home and I’ll Buy Yours” trade program to sellers. Sellers can confidently list their homes with a guarantee that it will sell, or we’ll buy it. Buy or sell with confidence. Don’t wait.