Folks have asked me why I joined with Keller Williams Realty. The short answer is the culture was a perfect fit for me! I felt an energy that had faded over the years. It was a new beginning - working with enthusiastic people and state-of-the-art technology. I am more productive, my administrative responsibilities have been simplified - allowing more time for what is most important: Serving my clients and customers.

Reaffirming by confidence - check out the following article!!:

Keller Williams Realty, Inc. Ranked in America’s Top 10 Workplaces

AUSTIN, TEXAS (May 16, 2012) - Keller Williams Realty, Inc. announced today it has been recognized as one of America’s Top 10 Workplaces, according to the first annual National Top Workplaces list compiled by Workplace Dynamics.

 

“Our culture is our strongest asset and the reason that so many people want to be with us," Mary Tennant, COO of Keller Williams Realty shares. “Imagine what it would be like to work in a culture every day with people that you feel love, kindness, caring and humor with. Imagine working in an environment where there is a passion for every single person to succeed at the highest level."

 

“If this award proves anything, it’s that we only succeed when our associates do," added Mark Willis, CEO. “We are proud to be in business with the best who are lifting us up each day and proud to be fulfilling our mission of building careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living."

 

The list of National Top Workplaces is based solely on employee feedback surveyed from 805 companies of more than 1,000 employees, which included over half a million survey responses. According to survey results, Keller Williams’ ranking was based on its overall culture and high levels of organizational health including training, benefits, compensation, and work-life balance. “Put simply, the most successful companies appear to be the ones that employees believe in," said Doug Claffey, CEO at WorkplaceDynamics.

 

For more information and the full list of the Workplace Dynamics Nation’s Top Workplaces, please visit http://topworkplaces.com/stories/americas-top10-workplaces.php

 

 

 Part of the Keller Williams Team - Living the Dream!! Rock on, KW!!

Jon Drews with Keller Williams Realty Professionals in Fergus Falls MN

Keller Williams Opens New Office in Fergus Falls

Check out this article published on February 6, 2012 at FergusFallsJournal.com: Keller Williams Opens in Fergus Falls

I am so incredibly thrilled to be part of this team! Allow me to set my modesty aside for one moment . . . WE'RE GONNA ROCK!!! . . . Wow, that felt good!!

Check us out - we are located at 1110 N Union Ave. in Fergus Falls.

Hope to see you there!!

Jon Drews with Keller Williams Realty Professionals
Fergus Falls Real Estate

A Question for Sellers in Today's Housing Market

Here is the question: Is today's housing market best described as a price war zone or - a beauty contest? It is both! We still have a strong supply of inventory and, unfortunately, some of that inventory falls into the bank owned/short sale* category. Enter the price war zone!

* Just a quick explanation of the terms: a 'bank owned' property is a property that has gone through the foreclosure process - the bank 'gets the house back'. The problem with this is banks don't want to own houses and will drop and drop and drop the price until the house is sold. Good for buyers but bad for competing sellers. 'Short sales' are still owned by the individual but the individual has made appeal to the bank and the bank agrees to let the property sell for less than the existing mortgage balance. This is also great for buyers but tough on competing sellers.

What is a seller to do? Stage, repair problems, stage, clean until everything sparkles, stage, de-clutter and stage. Seriously!! And to do that I strongly recommend utilizing the services of a professional or team of professionals including painters, handymen, and staging experts.

When I'm working with a new seller I almost always have a staging expert review the property to make suggestions. Some recommendations are as simple as re-arranging furniture or opening the view to a window or clearing a counter top of extra items. Sometimes we might suggest re-painting a room, cleaning or replacing floor covering, or replacing a cracked or fogged window unit. Very often we can transform a wallflower into an absolute beauty queen for just a few hundred dollars. That is money well spent when your house sells faster - and for more money.

The goal is to transform the property to show its absolute best!

Let's face it, we live in our homes - we get used to things being where they are - we put up with the dingy paint or the piles of clutter. It is our 'home' - it is comfortable - let the new buyers take care of that stuff after the sale. Right? . . . WRONG!

If you are committed to selling your residence, you need to SELL your residence! It has to look its absolute best - more importantly, it has to look better than everything else - you are in a beauty contest!

Cracks, blemishes, nicks and chips need to addressed. Fogged window units need to be replaced. Clutter needs to be eliminated. Even the air in your house - it needs to be fresh and inviting!

Everything about your house needs to scream out, 'Look at me!' Sellers will pass in a heartbeat on a house that looks like work, feels messy, or smells grungy. The house has to welcome the prospective buyer from the moment they pull up to the curb - and it has to continue to invite! The house must be in top form - competing with every other house on the market - until something magical happens. The buyers need to feel that house becoming something very special - a home - but not just any home, their home!

Jon Drews, Associate Broker with Century 21 Vista, Inc. - selling Fergus Falls Real Estate smarter and faster for YOU!

Understanding the Fergus Falls Real Estate market: a Seller's Perspective

It is only fair that I provide equal time and guidance for property sellers in today's real estate market. My last post related to buyer opportunities. This time we will focus on opportunities available to sellers.

To put it another way, let's leverage our strengths as sellers to kick the 'Hee Haw' out of the market seesaw. Seller's need to flex their property attributes to balance the seesaw market. Instead of having prospective buyers 'holding sellers up', let's look at what sellers can do to restore a balanced and level playing field.

But before I speak on specific strategies for sellers, we need to be certain we understand our local market and debunk some myths - a.k.a. 'obviate the rubric'.

We have all heard the latest national real estate news. It reminds me of that refrain from the late '60's 'Hee Haw' show with Roy Clark and Buck Owens: 'Gloom, despair, and agony on me.' National housing market news trends often focus on worse-case scenarios, and averages at best. Here is what we need to keep in mind: Local economies and markets may bear no similarity to national trends. In fact, the local market might be far healthier. What sellers need to overcome is the national media mindset that has been embraced by prospective buyers.

For the remainder of this post I am going to highlight some statistics specific to the Fergus Falls market. I believe this information will clearly show our local market is making improvements in key areas and, more importantly, potential sellers need not hang their heads as though they were on their way to the gallows.

This first graph shows a geographical comparison of foreclosure rates as of December 2011. The graph displays, a national rate, a rate for the state of Minnesota, an Otter Tail County Rate, and the rate for Fergus Falls. Please note the marked difference in rates from the National level to those of Otter Tail County and Fergus Falls. (Be sure to see more foreclosure information at my RealtyTrac page.

This second chart shows foreclosure activity and average mortgage rates for Fergus Falls as of December 2011. I'm hoping this information is alleviating some seller heartburn! As we Minnesotan's are prone to say, 'Things could be worse.' Again, this information is provided by RealtyTrac. More RealtyTrac information can be viewed at my RealtyTrac page.

Just a couple more numbers and I'm going to wrap this up. According to our local MLS data, 134 Fergus Falls homes were sold in the last six months of 2011. This compares to only 102 in the same period of 2010 reflecting a gain in unit sales of 31%! Wow!! Here is one catch: the average selling price dropped in 2011 compared to the same period for 2010. Bummer. But all is not lost! What this means is, although sale units were UP, the average selling price of the sold properties dropped. What we observed in this time frame is the bulk of homes sold were in the $60,000 to $115,000 price range.

I'll conclude this discussion for now to allow a little time to digest this information. Be sure to check out my next blog post: What can a seller do to maximize their return if there property is valued above the average range of sold properties? Stay tuned . . .

Jon Drews, Associate Broker with Century 21 Vista, Inc. in Fergus Falls MN.

Looking for a 'Screamin' Deal'?

Hi there! Today's topic: Screaming Deals. Real Estate buyers are always looking for the best value in property. So let's talk about value - specific to real estate.

In today's real estate market - generally speaking - buyers are receiving a great deal of value with their property purchases. This is because our real estate market has experienced decline over the last couple of years. When prices fall a buyer gets more 'bang for the buck' from their purchase = greater value = screaming deal. Nothing new here - all of us hear about the struggling real estate market in the news - day after day after day after . . . Remember: It is a buyer's market - and opportunities abound!

That brings us to back to screaming deals, and, foreclosures - their presence being a solid indicator all is not well with the housing market. However, purchasing a foreclosure is the greatest kernel of opportunity for a buyer looking to land a 'screaming deal'. Remember this: even though the presence of foreclosed properties in the market are an indication the market is not 100% healthy, foreclosed properties are absolutely 100% opportunity for the knowledgeable and ready buyer.

Unfortunately, not all foreclosures are created equal. To put it another way, a prospective buyer has to be very, very careful and well guided when considering a foreclosed property. Why, you ask? Two words: as is. Foreclosed properties (also called 'bank owned' properties are sold 'as is'. This means if a person purchases a foreclosed property with major plumbing issues, they are the buyer's major plumbing issues. Foundation issues - buyer's problem. If the roof leaks - the buyer owns the leaking roof. 'As is': two very small words that can pack a powerful punch!

To help alleviate some of the 'as is' risk I strongly recommend a potential buyer invest in a home inspection - a contingency to the purchase commitment. Have your target property inspected by a trained professional. If there are problems they need to be identified before a purchase price is finalized. Additionally, find a professional, experienced real estate agent to help guide the process.

Earlier I mentioned a buyer not only needs to be knowledgeable but also ready. A prospective buyer needs to be ready to act quickly when the target property is offered for sale. A prospective buyer should be pre-approved to make the purchase commitment if financing will be a consideration.

Make a plan to be the best prepared buyer in the market - as opportunities can evaporate quickly.

The final item I would like to mention is really exciting: I have joined the Realty Trac Agent Network! You can check out my Realty Trac search tool here.

Realty Trac is a nationally recognized resource for property foreclosures. They provide a powerful, up-to-date search engine that will give serious buyers of foreclosed properties an incredible advantage when trying to secure the somewhat elusive 'screaming deal'. Want to better improve your odds with a foreclosure opportunity? Check out my Realty Trac page now - or call me . . . now!

The clock is ticking - your dream property might be slipping under your nose at this very moment!

Sincerely -

Jon Drews - your real estate partner - and area foreclosure expert.

Market Watch for January

Greetings! Winter has arrived (sort of) in Minnesota. By that I mean it is colder than blazes! This is making the ice fishing fraternity very happy - but the snowmobiling crowd is still facing some pretty tough sledding (mainly because we have NO SNOW!). Crazy.

Of course we still have the Super Bowl to look forward to - and taxes don't need to be done for a while. All in all it is the PERFECT time to stay inside and start planning for a home upgrade, or downsizing, or the perfect lake spot! (Remember - those perfect lake spots can do wonders for ice fishing as well!!)

Granted, the market is calmer than it was a couple of years ago but nice properties are bringing a respectable price for sellers - and interest rates are ridiculously low for buyers!

And here is one more tidbit I want to share: I have been working hard on putting together a set of websites to serve both the Fergus Falls real estate market as well as the greater Otter Tail County area. In addition, I have a website designed to specifically serve the needs of those interested in lake properties!

Here are the sites: FergusFallsRealEstate.com, OtterTailHomes.com, and OtterTailLakes.com. Check them out. And, please, if you have any suggestions to better serve your needs just drop a line. I would love to hear from you!

In closing, yes, it is cold enough for me - you need not ask! Cheers!!