Contest Winners!

We had 311 entries in this year’s Oak Holiday Coloring Contest! Take a look at our lobby on deadline day!

After voting for the most creative colorings in 3 age categories, 1st and 2nd place awards were given. Here are the winners!

Category: Age 0-4
1st Place! New Sled!
Henry Elsenpeter (Age 3) of Maple Lake

Category: Age 0-4
2nd Place! Movie Tickets!
Erin Uecker (Age 4) of Annandale

Category: Age 5-8
1st Place! New Sled!
Cole Smith (Age 7) of Annandale

Category: Age 5-8
2nd Place! Movie Tickets!
Ashley Carlson (Age 8) of Maple Lake

Category: Age 9-12
1st Place! New Sled!
Olivia Wolff-Herda (Age 12) of Buffalo

Category: Age 9-12
2nd Place! Movie Tickets!
Madison Nelson (Age 12) of Maple Lake

’till next year! Happy Holidays, from all of us at Oak Realty!

Show Your Thanks

Monuments at Annandale Memorial Park | Photo by Mary Christen

We are remembering our veterans and service men and women today!

Be there for military families by visiting www.thanksforbeingthere.com and sharing a heartfelt thank you. During this week, from Nov. 8-14th, State Farm will donate $1 to Fisher House for every thank you sent.

“Fisher House is a military support organization that is there for military families whose loved ones are undergoing treatment at military or Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers throughout the country and overseas in Germany. They will receive a donation of up to $50,000.

The goal of Fisher House Foundation is to ensure families of wounded service men and women have a “home away from home” on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers, enabling family members to be close when their loved one is hospitalized for an unexpected illness, disease or injury. There are 43 Fisher Houses located on 18 military installations and 13 VA medical centers in the United States, and all homes are operated and maintained by the Army, Navy, Air Force or Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2008 alone, these comfort homes saved military families more than $12 million in lodging expenses.”

Homebuyer Tax Credit Incentive Expanding

Horray Buyers! An extension and expansion of the Homebuyer Tax Credit is iminent. Both the House and Senate passed the bill with overwhelming majorities and it is anticipated that President Obama will sign the bill today.

The links below will provide you some information on how it has changed and answer some common questions!

If you have further questions, give our office a call and talk with your Realtor®!

Tax Credit Changes FAQ

Tax Credit Changes Overview

Passing Storm on Pleasant Lake

If you were in the area last night, and watching out the window as a line of storms passed through around 8:30 pm, perhaps you caught a glimpse of this gorgeous rainbow…

It only appeared for a few minutes, and as the wall of clouds rolled East and the sun broke out behind it, it disappeared. But wow, was it an awesome sight!

Going Green By Building Green

You’ve heard a lot about “going green” in the past year and may be adjusting your lifestyle to reduce your own carbon foot print. Well, one of the best things to do in the Real Estate business is to build or buy ”green.” We had the privilege of hearing a presentation by Jim Green of Lumber One in Cold Spring about the “green” homes that he has built, and the many benefits of doing so.

First of all, did you know that Minnesota is a leader in green building? Number 3 to be exact, and working our way to number 1. Some of the features of a green built home include:

*95% efficient natural gas furnaces, sealed duct work, all light fixtures have CFL(compact flourescent) bulbs, advanced wall framing, insulated hot water lines, carpet that can be recylced into new carpet, low VOC paints and primers and Energy Star appliances. They also use as many solar tubes in the home as they can to let in natural light during the day time hours. Dual Flush toilets that save on average 6,000 gallons of water per year, are also standard in a green built home. If everyone was to use these toilets, think of the improvements it would create! The most suprising green feature to us was the use of drought tolerant plants in the yard to cut on watering costs. With the dry times around here, that would not only cut back on water usage, but the frustration of having your landscaping ruined by drought.

In order for a home to be considered “green built,” builders must adhere to the requirements on the MN Greenstar New Home Checklist. They are awarded points for every requirement that they meet. In order to be a certified green home, they need to accumulate 276 points. There are also two higher levels to attain; Silver and Gold. To be classified as those, you need 419 and 554 points respectively. The elements that go into the house should not only be efficient, but come from within a 500 mile radius of the home to cut back on car emissions.

Jim Green belongs to the National Association of Home Builders and spends much of his time educating people on the benefits of building green. There are many statistics explaining why building green or buying a green built home is more efficient than buying a used home. This is the best way for home owners to reduce their carbon foot print, and save themselves money in the end. For more information on going green, call Jim Green at 320-980-4761!

St. Patty’s Day 2009

Oak Realty was again part of the annual Maple Lake St. Patty’s Day parade on Saturday March 14th! The weather was beautiful, the candy was flying, and we managed to capture some great photos with our new sky camera. This is a camera that can extend up to 60 ft. and takes amazing aerial pictures. Maple Lake puts on a great parade every year and this year was no exception!

The Oak Team coming down mainstreet.

Oak Team members who helped at the parade.

We at Oak are very fortunate to have great friends who allowed us to use their vehicles for the parade. Included in the line-up was:

1950 Chevrolet ton truck owned by Tim & Laurie Risbrudt

The Bruggeman's having fun in the parade.

1946 Ford truck owned by Tom & Denise Blizil

Charlene Wurm of the Maple Lake office throwing candy. Dean Hoglund also of ML office driving the truck.

1969 Plymouth GTX owned by Tom & Denise Blizil

Owner & driver Tom Blizil.

1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS owned by Chris & Mary Elfmann

Owner & driver Chris Elfmann

Charlene making those kids very happy!

So, last year in the parade we thought we had plenty of candy and ran out half way through. This year we decided to double our candy amount and ended up with roughly 44,000 pieces and still ran short! Watch out next year and bring your big bags because we will have 44,000 more pieces!

Tiff getting ready to launch a handful of candy!

Thanks to the owners of the vehicles for allowing us to use them for the parade. We had a blast in Maple Lake and look forward to attending in 2010!

Have you noticed the billboard?

In 1925 Allen Odell gave his two sons Leonard, and Allan, $200 to purchase some scrap lumber to construct one of the most creative advertising promotions in the history of advertising. He had them make signs 8 inches by 36 inches filled with humorous, whimsical, homespun wisdom, and positioned them at intervals along major highways. For about 40 years these signs were a part of the American landscape until the cars started moving too fast for any one to read them, and the original Burma Shave company was purchased by a large conglomerate that suspended this marketing idea. Yet, most of you that remember this era, also remember the name Burma Shave.

In the last year, or so, Oak Realty started there own Burma Shave ads on the bottom part of its billboard in front of its national headquarters in Annandale. The words of wisdom, and whimsical sayings have changed with the times, but for the countless commuters that drive by and read the sign on a regular basis, it gives them something to ponder as they venture to work in the morning and when they return again in the evening. For others it’s when they drive up on the weekend and return again the following weekend.

People have commented about the sign and say it makes them chuckle, or think for a moment before they say “Oh. I get it.” Sometimes they said they couldn’t read in the first pass so they paid more attention on the return trip. Some are too focused on the hood of their car, or their cup of coffee to even notice where they are at, much less to have the time to look around and read a billboard.

The theme on the billboard changes by a list of “The Top Ten” that is created on a random seasonal pattern. And the entire list of the top ten cannot always be posted because of a lack of space on the billboard. How many times has the sign changed? We’re not even sure of the number. We’ve tried to keep it changing every week or two, depending on the weather, and Steve’s state of mind.

Note: (You see Steve is the one that has the laborious duty to drag the ladder out to the sign and change the lettering.) My job is to just keep a list of Top Ten coming, on regular basis, so there is always something new to post.

Mike

Winners!

Our lobby last week

Thanks to everyone who helped a child participate in our first Holiday Coloring Contest! We had 273 entries (including one from North Dakota!) Wow! Judging was difficult, but the winners stood out in creativity, exceptional detail and originality! Winners will be notified by phone today, so they can arrange to stop in soon to pick up their prize!

Here they are! Congratulations Winners!

Age Category: 0-4

First Place ~ Josie Niemiec, Howard Lake, Age 4

Second Place ~ Breanna Blizil, Maple Lake, Age 4

Age Category: 5-8

First Place ~ Kathy Johnson, South Haven, Age 8

Second Place ~ Jena Glunz, Annandale, Age 6

Age Category: 9-12

First Place ~ Amanda Colbert, Maple Lake, Age 12

Second Place ~ Brandy Seth, Annandale, Age 11

Take Advantage of the Season

Maybe you haven’t heard this, or someone else has told you the exact opposite…but this is a GREAT time of year to put or keep your home on the market. Yes, in Minnesota… yes, even with the cold and snow! It is true that the winter months are slower, but people buy homes for many different reasons… a change in jobs, a change in the family, a change that happens unexpectedly. The buyers that are out there right now aren’t window-shopping. Many say that only “serious buyers” are looking this time of year. Who would you most like to look at your home? With fewer homes on the market, the environment is significantly less competitive for you as a seller. These are great odds. Don’t miss out!

For Watt It’s Worth

Here are some tips from article outlining 10 simple ways to Save you Green! It’s EASY, and does make a DIFFERENCE. So why not?

1. Shed Some Light! Swap your standard bulbs for compact fluorescent. Changing 10 bulbs can save you $50 a year. If every Minnesotan swapped one bulb, it would save enough energy to power all St. Paul homes for 6 months.
2. Captain Obvious: Regular maintenance on your furnace, air conditioner and air-source heat pump can help them run more efficiently.
3. Unplug the Leeches! Every little green or red light you see on a home electronic item are sucking energy. They usually indicate the products are in stand-by mode, and this still consumes 40% of the energy it takes to run them. Unplug them completely, or use a power strip!
4. One Good Turn: Programmable thermostats are common, but often not used to their full potential. For every one degree you turn your thermostat up or down, you’ll save 1 percent on your utility bill over 8 hours. Water heaters can also be cranked back.
5. Freeze Your Assets! Replacing an outdated appliance with an Energy Star-rated one can save up to 15%. A 1980’s fridge in your garage can cost as much as $200 a year.
6. Get the Remote Control: Volunteer energy-saving programs allow utilities to remotely turn air conditioners and electric water heaters on and off for brief periods during peak demand times.
7. Tech Support: Some cooperatives and online businesses offer kilowatt-hour meters that show how much energy your home consumes, and tells which appliances are the worst offenders. Connexus Energy, a cooperative of Great River Energy, is testing an in-home monitor that shows when energy is at its lowest and highest prices, allowing the consumer to avoid peak demand times.
8. Quick & Nerdy. There are many technologies on the market to help businesses, manufacturers and farmers conserve energy – energy-efficient motor startups, variable speed drives and refrigeration units to name a few.
9. Love Your Auditor! Many utilities offer low-cost energy audits where an expert visits your home or business to review heating and cooling systems, insulation, doors and windows for potential energy savings. Commercial consultations are available for new construction and remodeling projects. Payoffs for simply eliminating drafts from homes are 5-30%!
10. Vow to Renew: Many consumers are beginning to supplement their energy needs through geothermal heating systems, solar panels, and wind turbines. Today, they’re the exception. In the future, they may be the rule!

www.energystar.gov has more conservation tips and cool feature to compare your energy bill to the local average. Click on “Home Energy Audit” and type in your ZIP code.

Source article: Initiative Quarterly, Fall 2008