Was This House Flooded?Oh no Sir, not THIS house...Minot, N.D., flooded from the Souris River in June 2011" by Clay Church of the U.S. Army Corps of EngineersBelieve it or not you could buy a home in this neighborhood and be told it was not flooded... with the blessing of the MLS.How could this be? If one of the homes in this picture were torn down and a new house constructed, or if someone built a home on one the empty lots you see than the MLS says the house was not flooded.OK, maybe that structure was not flooded but the lot was. The devil is in the details. The pain will be when you are required to purchase flood insurance on your new home that was never flooded.Even though the Minot MLS says it's perfectly acceptable to say that the house was not flooded I don't think it's acceptab... 04/07/2015

Minot Real Estate 101, Plumbing in North Dakota As you can see from the picture above there are many kinds of plumbing materials used in this (my) house. About the only thing not in this picture is a lead pipe or cast iron. What you do see is PVC, copper, PEX, and galvanized pipe, In my home there is also cast iron but almost all of that is below ground.   Not all plumbing materials, including some in this picture, are well suited for our ND climate. If your home heating source would fail during winter and the problem were not rectified you could have a heck of a mess in a matter of hours. Realistically if your home were fairly sealed up you would have about 24 hours before serious damage would occur. Most new construction in Minot homes utilizes PEX for fresh water  and PVC for sewer ... 04/05/2015

COLD TEARS I had to run up to the office after our Son Rise Easter worship service and on the way it started to snow these HUGE snow flakes. It brought to mind the old saying when it's raining it's the tears of the angels. I'm going to assume these are frozen tears of joy in celebration that he is alive and in their presence today (as he is also in our presence today and hopefully many human tears of joy are being shed today as we realize what he has done for each of us individually). Here is hoping that where ever you are you are not dealing with frozen tears as we are today.     04/05/2015

Timing, Timing, Timing Everyone is familiar with location, location, location but in some areas of the country Timing, Timing, Timing is almost as important. In Minot ND nearly 50% of the homes sold sell in the 4 months of May, June, July, and August.   Obviously this is important to Buyers as well as Sellers. Sellers, if you are going to list do it NOW, if you wait til September you just may continue to own it til next spring. Buyers need to know this because it obviously means you and everyone else is waiting for spring to move so if you find a house you love don't drag your feet, it's going to get sold!   Tis the SEASON for Sellers to fix-up and clean up so your house will stand up to the competition. More homes are listed in this time period as well.   Tis the SEASON for Buyers to ... 04/03/2015

Minot Real Estate 101, A Buyers Basic Check List   If you are a 1st time home buyer I’m sure you have been given ton’s of advice from friends, relatives, and strangers. I’m guessing that little of what you have been told has really prepared you for purchasing your 1st home.   Many of the steps in the following list may be completed on your own without the help of a Realtor but a good Realtor, like National Marketing Realtors, will be glad to help you with every one of these steps including personally introducing you to the other professionals you will meet in this process.   #1) Check on financing. This is #1, the most important step. I recommend you visit with one banker, one credit union, and one mortgage broker. I am happy to introduce you to people in these positions in person.   #... 04/01/2015

MINOT REAL ESTATE 101 The Market on 03/03/2015 Spring listings are piling up! They are coming in pretty fast and furious. At this rate we can expect to see listing prices drop due to competition. If you are going to list this spring now is the time to make your home look better to the Buyers than the other homes on the market. Do your Spring Cleaning and kick your hubby in the butt to get those projects done! Buyers don't buy the line "we are going to have thar fixed real soon".   03/30/2015

Minot ND Real Estate 101, Where To Vote Minot ND has 4 polling (voting) places. Like my earliest map on lesson 1 of Minot ND Real Estate 101 the City is divided into fourths, NW, NE, SW and SE. If you have any questions please call the City at 857-4784. Your place to vote may not be the most convenient but please vote, this is now YOUR City.   03/27/2015

Minot High School Baseball Affects My Real Estate Directly across the street from my home is the beautiful little historic Corbett Field baseball stadium. This old stadium goes back to the old Negro Leagues and White Shoes Jackson even played here. I have been looking forward to hearing "The Crack Of The Bat" for a couple of months now and TOMORROW is the day. Minot High School has their first game of the season and will be hosting Fargo South at 4:00Pm for the first game of a double header. I will be following this one. My home town (Moorhead MN) is a sister City to Fargo and Fargo South was our High Schools biggest rival. It will be like old times. Go Minot!!!     03/26/2015

MINOT REAL ESTATE 101    Welcome to Bob Timm’s, National Marketing Realtors, Minot North Dakota Real Estate 101, lesson 13, Heating Systems.    The purpose of this ongoing course is not to teach anyone to be a Real Estate genius but to simply help you know the absolute basics about Minot North Dakota.   Being many of the people/families coming to Minot come from much warmer climates I decided to address the heating systems you will find in Minot.   Depending upon the age of the home you may find something you had never seen back home, such as the “Octopus” below.   photograph by Lauren Zerbey The old octopus system was very prevalent here in the early 1900’s. They were built to last and you will still find a few around today. I believe their efficiency rating would be 50 to 60%. Some o... 03/23/2015

MINOT REAL ESTATE 101 Souris River as of 03/20/2015 The chart above is from the USGS website and detail may be viewed here. I don't pretend to know what all the website is telling me but it's easy to see that the river level had been falling but in the last few days it headed back up. Can't say I've noticed it's rise as I've driven over it in the past few days. In fact much of the river still has ice on it. If you click on the link above you will see there is all kinds of information if you are concerned. Even though my home was destroyed in the flood of 2011 we rebuilt in the same spot and I can tell you that I'm not concerned. Two reasons why: 1) The "old timers" in the area say this is going to be a drought year (and I respect my elders). 2) I still believe (convinced by the excelle... 03/20/2015

Minot North Dakota Real Estate Report   The question I am asked most often when I introduce myself as a Real Estate Broker is: What is the market in Minot ND now? Today's answer (3/19/2015) is that is steady but nervous. Even with the plummet in crude oil prices from over $100. a barrel to $43. a barrel the average home price on the MLS hangs out around $325,000. That average has actually crept up steadily even during this time of uncertainty. There are some oddities in the market worth pointing out as well. Selling homes in the valley area that flooded 4 years ago is still VERY tough. Even homes that are "bargain" priced on a square foot bases in the valley are not moving. The average days on market is slowly dropping from a high of 90 days this winter to 78 days today. The lowest pri... 03/19/2015

Minot North Dakota, Host of The North Dakota State Fair This years fair will run from July 17th - 25th. The entertainment line up for the 2015 ND State Fair has been announced! Aerosmith will be here Saturday July 25th at 8:00 PM. Country Western stars include Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Chase Rice, Kellie Pickler, and Kip Moore. There is one more Rock act to be announced. The fair is always a good time and if you are not from the area but have wanted to come this way to see the big oil boom in ND why not combine the two into one trip?   03/18/2015

Minot ND Thrift Stores     I think the most popular post I’ve ever made was one about eight years ago about the Thrift Stores in Minot ND. At the time we had six or seven thrift stores. Now we have only four. Those four, in alphabetical order, are:   Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch Thrift Store located at 1206 South Broadway. It is my opinion that they have the nicest, cleanest stuff but they are the most expensive, It is evident that they have a relationship with Target as they receive many returned or slightly damaged items from that store. I like their cause, as the name implies they work with young people that have struggles in their lives. They have a very nice school, a chapel, and a horse ranch. The church is largely supported by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. https://www.dakot... 03/16/2015

THEY'RE UGLY.... That's All.  Boxelder beatles, or Boxelder Bugs, are just ugly. They do not cause significant damage to anything I'm aware of and are not agricultural pests.   They may form large aggregations while sunning themselves in areas like this picture of them in a sunny nook on my house. However, their congregation habits and dumpings can annoy people; thus most people hate to see them. This is especially a problem during the cooler months, when they sometimes invade houses and other man-made structures seeking a place to warm up. They remain inactive inside the walls (and behind siding) while the weather is cold. Sometimes the heating systems revive them and you find them crawling around your house in the dead of winter. In the spring, the bugs come back out in mass. Just ab... 03/15/2015

PRAIRIE WARRIOR AUCTION APRIL 11TH   The benefits of this long standing tradition go to morale and welfare issues on the Minot Air Force Base. The event is hosted by the Minot Chamber Of Commerce Military Affairs Committee. Anyone can give to the cause and anyone may attend the auction for an admission fee of $25.00. There will be both a live and a silent auction. This years event will be April 11th at The Holiday Inn Riverside in Minot.   03/13/2015

MINOT REAL ESTATE 101    Welcome to Bob Timm’s, National Marketing Realtors, Minot North Dakota Real Estate 101, lesson 12. Minot’s Market   There may be “trends” in Real Estate but keep in mind every Real Estate market is LOCAL. Your market back home is exactly that, the market back home.   When shopping for a home in Minot you need to know this: Minot has had a STRONG Sellers market for 20 years. This means that Sellers here have received a good price for the sale of their homes for 20 years. Sellers here are seldom interested in “creative” financing. Realtors are shunned by other Realtors for even mentioning terms such as Owner Financing, Rent to Own, Contract for Deed, because it’s a Sellers Market!!!! Sellers don’t need to take risks when they can command a premium price and usual... 03/12/2015

MINOT REAL ESTATE 101    Welcome to Bob Timm’s, National Marketing Realtors, Minot North Dakota Real Estate 101, lesson 11.  A Message To Sellers.    The purpose of this ongoing course is not to teach anyone to be a Real Estate genius but to simply help you know the absolute basics about Minot North Dakota Real Estate.   The hardest lesson Realtors have to teach Home Sellers is “Curb Appeal” and the fact that there is really no such thing as selling a home “As Is” unless you have a cash buyer.   Curb Appeal   Imagine this, you are looking for a newer used car for yourself or someone you love. In the newspaper want ads you see this: One year old car, perfect interior, 1/4 of book price, fantastic sound system, automatic everything, must see. You jump in the car to take a look. When you ... 03/11/2015

MINOT REAL ESTATE 101 #10    Gardening/Landscaping MINOT REAL ESTATE 101    Welcome to Bob Timm’s, National Marketing Realtors, Minot North Dakota Real Estate 101, lesson 10. Gardening & Landscaping.    The purpose of this ongoing course is not to teach anyone to be a Real Estate genius but to simply help you know the absolute basics about Minot North Dakota Real Estate.   The following map shows the location of Minot’s only community gardening center, Rainbow Gardens. We will also discuss landscaping and gardening in general. Landscaping can make a huge difference in the appearance and appeal of a property.   I have been familiar with the location of Rainbow Gardens since I moved to Minot as it is located where I seem to drive by it often. I knew little about how this community garden... 03/09/2015

HELLO WORLD! These are some Four-O-Clock seeds I planted 6 days ago. They are eager to grow and share their beauty with the World. Even though I will not be able to plant them in the yard for about 2 months I am thrilled to have some sign of Spring around. I did by several sizes of peat pots and a lot of potting soil so I hope when it's time to put them in my flower bed they will be big and strong. If you are new to Western ND and you are wondering about gardening let me leave you with this note: My birthday is in mid May and about 25% of the time it snows on my birthday.     03/08/2015

MINOT REAL ESTATE 101 Where To START Your Home Search.    Welcome to Bob Timm’s, National Marketing Realtors, Minot North Dakota Real Estate 101, lesson 9, where to start my home search.    The purpose of this ongoing course is not to teach anyone to be a Real Estate genius but to simply help you know the absolute basics about Minot North Dakota.   This is my hardest topic to date for Minot Real Estate 101 and may be near “advanced beginner” but it is such a vital basic Real Estate topic I’m including it in 101.   Minot Home Ownership,   Where to Start!   Where do you start when looking for a new home? Probably not where you would think. The first thing you need to know when looking for your new home is how much house you can afford. Many (the more responsible Realtors) will not show y... 03/06/2015