3 Homes in Brainerd and Baxter, MN

Right now is a great time to buy a house around the Brainerd Lakes Area. It is really a fun area, with endless activities in the summer it’s no wonder so many people vacation here. I usually don’t write these kinds of posts but I just have to relay this information on to you. Have you seen the prices that homes are going for around here? Since the average price in Brainerd MN is around $200,000 we will look at a few houses around that price point. Here is an example of three listings on the market right now in Brainerd/Baxter between $200,000 - $225,000.

1# - $219,900 -

This property (MLS 184922) is on 2.7 acre’s, 4 bedroom, heated garage, it’s a lot of house for the money and in a beautiful area of Brainerd. Nokay and Clearwater both are excellent fishing and recreational lakes.

#2 - $224,000 -

is a great Brainerd home (MLS 183479) overlooks South Long lake it’s loaded too!! This is really a great location too. South long lake has excellent fishing too!

#3 - $219,900-

This home (MLS 181568) is in Baxter over looking the mighty Mississippi.Excellent location close to both Brainerd and Baxter comes fully applianced, sheetrocked, insulated garage, landscaped, sprinkler system, jetted tub, granite counter tops, jen-air stove, large storage shed, dog kennel and heated garage, everything!

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index is a composite of single-family home price indices for the nine U.S. Census divisions. It is updated quarterly.
For three years Case-Shiller has been reporting negatives, until now. Some say we have truly rounded the corner here. Home sales are up, new permits are up, new housing start ups, lastly home prices are moving up. June 2009,  Case-Shiller index reported an increase in price in 14 of the 20 cities they watch. How the data is interpreted can depend on which real estate website you are looking at. Here are a couple of viewpoints,

from Kenneth Harney,

“The message should send a loud message to consumers: we’re past the low point of the cycle on prices: If you were waiting to buy at the bottom, well - we’ve passed that point. So don’t sit on the sidelines if you’re serious about buying a house this year.”

Cleveland +4%, Dallas +2, San Fran, DC, and Chicago home prices were up by about one percent.  Believe it or not, new home building has started again in some areas. California had building permits up 17 percent in May, in San Fran it was up 20 percent! Florida had sales of existing homes rise by 28% and the average price was up by two and a half percent. Distressed homes is down and interest rates are low, thirty year fixed interest rates averaged 5.4 percent, 15 year loans went for4.8.

This is definitely good news. Harney’s article may be a bit too optimistic if you were to ask Robert Shiller. Today’s story notes how Robert Shiller, a Yale economist, who started the index with Karl Case, Shiller expects home prices to remain at current levels, before bouncing back, over the next five years.

It’s difficult to predict the market activity, what’s more difficult is predicting it for a national level. The real estate market fluctuates from state to state, city to city, and even down the the neighborhoods. Some cities are doing great and others not so well. Not every market is doing as well as the Brainerd Lakes Area. Take a look at our local real estate numbers for yourself, Brainerd Minnesota Real Estate Trends With so many opinion’s out there it’s hard to know who to believe. Judging for yourself is always a good idea.

Original Post

Here is another reason to look at any property before buying anything. Nigerian’s are looking on MLS systems, taking the images and info from the listing, and creating a housing rental ad on Craigslist. They are basically turning the MLS listing into a craigslist ad with their contact info. Here is the FBI press release,

Homeowners list their homes for sale with real estate agents, who will list the homes for sale in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and also with public search websites, which allow individuals to query homes for sale via the Internet. Nigerian scammers find homes listed for sale on these public search sites, copy the pictures and listings verbatim, and then post the information onto Craigslist under available housing rentals, without the consent or knowledge of Craigslist, who has been notified.

After the posting is listed, unsuspecting individuals contact the poster, who is Nigerian, for more information on the “rental.” The Nigerian scammer will state that they had to leave the country very quickly to do missionary or contract work in Africa and were unable to rent their house before leaving, therefore they have to take care of this remotely. The “homeowner” sends the prospective renter an application and tells them to send them first and last month’s rent to the Nigerian scammer via Western Union. The prospective renter is further told If they “qualify,” they will send them the keys for their house. Once the money is wired to the scammer, they show up at the house, see the home is actually for sale, are unable to access the property, and their money is gone.

This exact scam happened back in September 2008 in California. Sacramento Police say 28-year-old Michael Blair pled guilty to theft by false pretense after advertising a rental in North Natomas for rent on Craigslist. He didn’t own it and was actually being evicted.The number of scams on Craigslist has been increasing. Preying on Craigslist customers will really begin effect how they display Real Estate listings. Perhaps they should have some sort of verification process whenever a listing is entered. All of the blame can not be placed on Craigslist, you need to be an informed buyer. It is a good idea to inspect the property before agreeing to anything. Also, make sure you contact the owner by means other than email before issuing payment. If you have any questions send us an email and we will be glad to help.

Brainerd, Mn.  - August 2009

Actually the track is already buzzing with media, event staff, and a few others. The racing will begin with qualifying races on Thursday. Elimination races will be held on Friday and Saturday, pre-event activities will be held on Sunday. BIR’s new 2.5-mile, 13-turn Competition Road Course, which was christened last fall, provides more track availability because it separates the new road course from the drag strip, allowing both to be used simultaneously Jed Copham, the Brainerd International Raceway owner offered this, “We’re committed to offering our race fans a wide variety of world-class racing, and adding the new track is the first step in doing that.”

A comprehensive calendar is available on Brainerd International Raceway’s new Web site and on the NHRA site You can view live timing results and an audiocast from NHRA.com and the event will be televised on ESPN2. If you haven’t experienced a race weekend in the Brainerd Lakes Area before you are in for a treat. I suggest buying a ticket and checking out the race. There is nothing like it, 8,000 horsepower cars flying down the track at 300 mph. Don’t forget your earplugs!

This is the Big One, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Top drivers in top fuel, funny car, pro stock and motorcycle earn points leading to 2009 season. The Brainerd race event has had names like John Force, Tony Schumacher, Brandon Bernstein, Larry Dixon and Minnesotans Greg Anderson and Jason Line participate. This is going to be a great weekend!
In town for the weekend? Look at this!

Remember this past winter the world record for longest jump on a snowmobile was broke by Paul Thacker -  Check it out!