Better Late than Never

Sorry about the long delay since my last post. October was such a dreary, rainy, cool month up north that I just didn't have it in me to write an uplifting column, and these days I try to stay away from writing negative ones. On top of that, turning the clock back an hour only added to the misery. And when you feel like going to bed at 6:00 because it has already been dark for awhile, that really cuts down on production.

But the worst of the ugliness is almost over. Soon the snow will be falling and give reason to be outside shoveling or plowing, and a good blanket of white stuff seems to brighten everything up for a little while. At least until we get sick of it in early February, and long for ugliness again until the greenery of May...or June!

But you are probably more interested in real estate than weather reports if you have tuned into this website. So here is my report -- and prediction -- for this year and next:

As I said earlier this year, the bottom hit a while back. That doesn't mean that everything popped up in price, or that there was a huge increase in lakeshore buyers all of a sudden. Things like that take some time, but I think that the momentum is picking up even now during this typically slow time of year.

From all the agents I've talked to across Minnesota and Wisconsin, they all seem the believe the last half of 2009 was a whole lot stronger than the first half. We are still seeing a good number of buyers calling to look at lake properties even as December looms, and that is not the typical waterfront real estate climate for this time of year. Normally, most of the phone calls during these later months are from a contingent of well trained and hard-skinned inquisitors who ask how much the seller will take before any questions relating to the property itself.

I think the momentum will continue and increase throughout 2010. There is no doubt that people are still losing jobs, but others seem to be finding them. It could be we are just in a "cleaning out" phase of certain industries; others may be starting to show an upswing.

With the incredibly low interest rates, huge corrections in prices, and investments sitting under mattresses or in cds not doing all that well, real estate -- and especially waterfront real estate -- may be the next big thing. And besides the great value, it may just add a little pleasure to your life.

Of course, you could pick up a gold bar for a mere $445,000 that also might go up in price. They are quite a bit easier to maintain, but I heard they are really hard to ride on behind the boat.