Teri and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Subzero MN Winter Day

In Minnesota this week we experienced a once (or twice) in a canine lifetime, finger-freezing, pipe-bursting, cold snap….or should I say ARCTIC BLAST? I know that half of America felt a bit chilly this week as that horrible, no-good jet stream swooped down from the Arctic into states as far south as Florida. But I frankly have no sympathy for someone suffering in 30 degree temperatures when ours are 30 degrees below zero. I think it is time to pack up the hateful flannel railroad pajamas and head to Australia!
There is no other way to describe subzero, bone-chilling weather…30 degrees below zero weather is NASTY with a capital N! The wind freezes the skin in a matter of seconds. Dress in layers takes on a new dimension as people, who never wear hats, gloves, boots or scarves, swaddle themselves in mismatched accessories and ugly holiday sweaters in order to walk out to warm up their cars…If the cars will start that is.

Thank goodness I didn’t have to show houses during the snap. As a Minnesota REALTOR®, it is cold enough when trying to show a winterized, heatless, and foreclosed home on a 30 degree day. In this weather, taking off your gloves to work a combination lock box can be a painful reminder of how quickly frostbite can overtake essential extremities…like fingers!

Our 17 year old dog, Tikki, played dead when I try to coax him out the door to take care of business. When I was finally able to push him out and down his dog ramp, he was too cold to do anything and he sat on his tail with his frozen paws in the air. I had to put on boots to go out and lift him back to his feet to get him inside. A few minutes later, we had an accident in the house.

School was delayed or even cancelled in many communities for fear that kids will freeze at bus stops or walk to school in their usual jacketless, bootless, gloveless and hatless state. I guess common sense still isn’t being taught at Minnesota schools…or maybe it is just that teenagers still don’t believe that minus 30 is COLD! Heck as a Minnesota teen, I chose style over warmth too no matter how low the temperature got.

Those who have to venture out in this weather have all the supplies…gloves, blankets, boots, hats and energy bars in their winter survival kits…Who am I kidding? It is advised to carry one of those kits in your car but I don’t know one Minnesotan that has one. I did see someone get one as a Christmas gift once but I’d bet the Hershey’s bars were eaten long before any possible incident where the car hit black ice and went into the ditch.

On days like this week brought us, if I have to go out, I make certain to wear boots and thick, woolly socks. Once your feet get cold in this weather, they never warm up!

There was some frigid weather fun…The news people froze a wet t-shirt into a pancake-flat work of art in a matter of minutes and overnight a banana hardened into a “bammer”…fruit so hard it could pound in a nail. Hot water thrown in the air creates an instant cloud and blown soap bubbles freeze and shatter like glass. Great times…Yeah right!

It was over 90 straight hours of below zero temps before we started to warm into the single digits…Next week it may be just warm enough to wash the thick, white crust of salt residue off the sides of my car. That groundhog better NOT see his shadow in a couple of weeks! It is SO time for spring! OR maybe a move to Australia!


If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional REALTOR®, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet or Homebuyers Success Packet. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.

Buying a Home? Check out my new HOME BUYER'S BLOG!

Copyright 2009 terieckholm.com

Unbelievable! Guess Who Wants an Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner?!

This one is too good not to share…Since living in Ham Lake we have had our encounters with wildlife but with less than two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, this is one for the books.
Moments ago, I was pulled away from answering emails and blogging on the computer in my home office due to a weird thumping noise. I was confused since it was just me and the pets at home. It wasn’t the dog with his thumping tail. He was next to me. I thought maybe the cat was playing with something in the bedroom. No…nothing upstairs. The noise was coming from the basement…maybe the cat had something downstairs…that can’t be good as in the country, we get mice from time to time.

Nope! It was this guy and he scared me out of my wits! He was tapping at the glass of our basement window. I had to get a photo to prove it to everyone.

This is my third encounter with wild turkeys in Ham Lake. The first one didn’t go so well and we are still cleaning miniscule shards of glass off the dashboard of the minivan. The second one was last year when one bird got trapped in the batting cage netting out back. But this one trying to get a free invite to Thanksgiving? Good thing I am not a hunter! :)



Featured homes in Ham Lake and Forest Lake:3608 Woodland Drive
20685 Georgia Ave N

If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional Realtor, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.

Copyright 2007 www.terieckholm.com

Hello Hollywood? I ‘m Ready for the Screen Test when you cast a Real Realtor ®!

Writers for the silver screen L-O-V-E real estate agents…How could they not? Real estate agents have flexible schedules, make tons of money, and are down right funny! We drive fancy cars and have radar to find new business across a crowded room. Every audience member knows a Realtor® and there are few who will step up to defend the industry.

Well Hollywood, today is the day that I am standing up to offer my services for your next big production when you need a real Realtor ® for a role.

Take One—Cut! Cut! Sorry, I can’t drive up in a Lexus. No. Not every agent is making the dollars to afford to drive a status car, wear an Italian suit and carry a Blackberry. I know. I know the real-estate-agent-mom in Disturbia had all of those cool toys but the average real Realtor ® cannot afford them all.

Take Two—Cut! Cut! No I can’t leave home at the drop of a hat to be a super hero. I have a listing appointment at 10 a.m. in Ham Lake, MN and the seller wants the information in the MLS today. And from 4-7 p.m., I will be showing homes all over Anoka County to my first time buyers who cannot be rescheduled. I realize that the parents in Sky High were able to drop all of their business on an assistant and save the world but a real Realtor ® wouldn’t have a business if the assistant did it all.

Take Three—Cut! Cut! Sorry, guys! A Realtor® does do many things to help a client but I am not cleaning anyone’s home prior to an open house in a slip, suit or coverall. I realize the female lead in American Beauty came to her listing armed with flags, signs and cleaning supplies to get ready for the open house. But, a real Realtor ®’s job is to professionally sell the house, not clean it. Call a Merrymaid for that job please.

Take Four—Cut! Cut! Again I have to apologize but although I would be happy to stop at a restaurant or bar to celebrate a closing with a new buyer, most buyers would rather head to their new home and start unpacking. I know Eddie Murphy was able to pick up a great new client while toasting his success in The Haunted Mansion. But a real Realtor ® wouldn’t be so callous as to blow off a celebration with one client to start a conversation with the next.

Take Five—Cut! Cut! Wait a second! No agent is going to sell a home and be the code inspector and midwife to boot! I realize it was a funny scenario in Are We Done Yet? But no one really believed that the guy from Scrubs was a real Realtor ®. As a Realtor®, you have fiduciary duties to your client. Reasonable care and disclosure cannot be overlooked for the sake of comedy.

OK! Okay, let’s save sometime here…No, I don’t pick through garbage dumps to find object d’art to stage a home like Peggy Hill, wife and mother on King of the Hill. Find a professional stager to do the job right!

Remember that Desperate Housewife that used homes on the market for romantic rendezvous’? That does NOT happen!

And though there are many agents, like Eve Adams in Evan Almighty, who will want a family to pose with the “SOLD” sign, they won’t push the children out of the way for the visibility of their name, face or logo…Come heck or high water!

Here is what a Real Professional Realtor ® will provide to a client:

• Realtors pledge to protect and promote the interests of their client.



• Realtors do not mislead on property value.



• Realtors preserve the confidential information of their clients.



• Realtors must disclose material defects and facts on properties.



• Realtors must not discriminate.



• Realtors must disclose dual agency.



• Realtors are required to be accountable for funds.



• Realtors must disclose accepted offers.



• Realtors are required to provide competent service.



• Realtors are not lawyers and cannot offer legal advice.

I list houses for sale. I help people find homes. I write contracts. I negotiate. I market and sell homes. I show houses. Period.
What?? You say that is BORING! Being a Professional Realtor® is boring?
So why do you continue to characterize our profession in these crazy roles?
Let’s make a movie or television show portraying what Realtors® really do and who we really are!
Hello, Hollywood? Hello? Hmmm…Seems they hung up.
Oh, I get it: Don’t call us…we’ll call you!
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If you are relocating to Minnesota, are looking for Homes for Sale in the north and east Twin Cities metro area and need help from a professional Realtor, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet. I specialize in acreage properties! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.
Copyright 2007 Teri Eckholm