This is a more "zoomed-in" picture of that eagle I mentioned in yesterdays post. Its still tough to see, but he is in there.

August 27, 2008

Whew, this nice weather just won't quit. We had our weekly meeting this morning and it was nice to see all the agents. Our office has a couple of new listings, including this home on Lake Michigan. One of our agents did a little research and it looks like vacant land closings for Marquette County are up from the same time period last year. After the meeting, we did a little work with our broker to see what kind of parcel we could assemble for one of our clients. Looks like we may be able to put quite a large tract together, so we'll see how that goes. I also had several e-mails to answer that came in from the website today. Don't hesitate to use the 'contact us' link and send us a message. If you have any questions about anything, we will find the answers and get back to you. That works great for our out-of-town clients...or, if you are surfing the internet at work, hah ha. We also looked a little further into the Munising parcel that we viewed yesterday. It is really nice out that way, especially so close to Pictured Rocks. I can't believe the week is already half over. I hope everyone has some great plans for the upcoming weekend! Wendy and I will be working so feel free to contact us if you coming this way!

This was the view from the overlook near Miner's Castle taken earlier today... believe it or not, there was a bald eagle perched in the tall pine tree, can you see it?

August 26, 2008

Another beautiful day up here! Sunshine virtually all day with temps in the upper 70s. We met with a client looking for a home in Gwinn today. He is a great guy and we know we will find him a great place. I also had to find the answers to a few questions for my timber client. I got most of them taken care of just after noon, but I do have a few numbers to crunch for him yet tonight. Tomorrow is our weekly office meeting and we are excited to hear what everyone has been up to over the last week. If it has been anything like our week, everyone should have been very busy! With the weather being so nice and most of our work taken care of early, we decided to head towards Munising. I said in an earlier post that I had been meaning to get back to a waterfall (Miner's Falls), so today we did. The Pictured Rocks were as pretty as they get today! After the falls, we headed out to view a 10-acre parcel that we have been eyeing. The property turned out to be quite nice and should make an excellent spot for a camp someday. I also heard about the baiting ban for the lower peninsula on the radio today. That ban does NOT apply to the Upper Peninsula. I believe that is going to lead to many more hunters heading up to the UP this season. Like I've said before, they aren't making anymore land, but I can help anyone interested in leasing, buying, or selling. It is just about time for dinner now, hope everyone had a great day!

This train was returning from the ore dock in Marquette. It crossed our path while we were on the way to Republic yesterday evening

August 25, 2008

Today was a pretty good Monday. The weather was nice yet again with temps in the 70s and sunshine. Wendy worked the afternoon at the office making sure everything we are working on stays on track. I went and checked on a house in Gwinn for one of our clients. I figured he might be interested in this one and I live close, so I drove over to take a look. We will see what he thinks. Yesterday we drove out to Republic to take pictures and a couple short videos for another one of our clients. They are looking for a small piece of the UP for a cabin someday, and we think that parcel would make a nice spot. I just saw an e-mail from our Virginia property hunter and it looks like I have a few questions to find the answers to for tomorrow. Also, spoke with our friend Cas (the pilot) and he has promised that he will be here in about 10 days. It will be nice to finally see him! We plan to get aerial photos of all of our listings while he is in town. If anyone has a property they are thinking about listing for sale in the near future contact me... we could easily arrange a flight overhead to grab some neat photos! Hope everyone had a great Monday!

This was one of the nice pictures we took while walking along the Carp River today.

August 24, 2008

The temps were a bit cooler today, but actually quite comfortable. After church we decided to check out the new listing our office has with frontage on the Carp River. That is one very nice piece of land and the pictures and video do not do it justice. We had a great time walking along the river enjoying the rapids and waterfalls. We were quite surprised at the size of the trees there. Sometimes I really wish I had extra money... I was picturing a great camp with a wall of windows overlooking the rapids. One of these days, eh? Someone is going to get a fantastic riverfront parcel. We then went home and posted the pictures and videos on the site since I have already had a few e-mails asking about this one. We just finished dinner and we are getting the hankering to see more property. I think we will head out and get a few more pictures and videos for a buyer we are working with in Wisconsin. Hope everyone has a great week!!

A summertime view from atop Marquette Mountain (ski area). Mapping the geology of this mountain was the final project for the WMU field camp students.

August 23, 2008

Another day with great weather. Looks like a cool down for tomorrow, but the rest of the week looks like it will be nice. We took things a bit easy today, but there is always something to do. We may have a few very nice properties to check out this coming week to evaluate for potential listings. From the sounds of things, I can not wait to go view them for myself. I'll keep everyone posted, so keep following the site. The last day of the Seafood Festival in Marquette is today. We were in Marquette last night and there was plenty going on. We just watched the Lions game and they won again! That is 3 straight, lets hope they continue during the regular season. Well, I have a round of properties to send off to our oversees client. We have been narrowing down their search over the last month or so. It has been very fun working with them and the website has helped them view a few properties from thousands of miles away, check it out under the 'Our Listings' section. That is it for today, hope everyone has a great weekend!

Yet another great UP waterfall picture. I have been meaning to get back to this one... and you can see why

August 22, 2008

Whew, another very busy day today. We continue to roll along and have had no shortages of real estate inquiries to take care of. Wendy worked the morning shift in the office today and kept all of our clients up to date. I made contact with our investor and went over many new things and further discussed a few properties in detail. I will be working very hard on his project and have much yet to look into. Again, I love this project as he is a very well informed buyer. That makes the work all the more fun and he keeps me very busy. I have a few interesting prospects to run by him for next week. We have continued our research relating to the hunting leases and are quite confident that we will be offering a great service to our buyers and sellers very soon! I will keep everyone posted on the status of what we get worked out. We also approved the final spot for our radio ads that will start on Monday up here. They sound fantastic and really get what Wendy and I offer across. That was a neat process and we are excited to track the the results. We can't believe that it is Friday already... this week really flew by. Time flies when you are having fun!!!

This was a nice brook trout we walked by in Deer Creek today... yes, I said walked by. Boots were off for this portion of the property.

August 21, 2008

We had a great day in the woods today. The weather was fairly nice with a few clouds and temps close to 80. We spent the day with our friends Andrew and his fiance looking at a few nice tracts of land. We had a great time walking through Deer Creek near this fantastic waterfront parcel. I really love the land out there and have had a lot of interest in the 3 parcels we have available. For the price, they simply cannot be beat. We then headed west to view a large 160-acre parcel near Nestoria. I am sure our legs will feel it tomorrow as 160-acres is a lot of land. To cap the day off we stopped into Stumps Tavern and had a beer and great conversation... except for Andrew who left his ID at camp, ha ha. I promised to get a link to the 30+ acre parcel with waterfall frontage and great old growth. That is one top notch tract of water frontage, and remember a land contract is possible. We returned home to many e-mails that we still have to answer, and a few phone calls to return. Sometimes it is so nice to just be in the woods and away from those things for a while, eh?

Imagine this view off your back deck. This was taken earlier today at a log home our office has listed in Gwinn.

August 20, 2008

Lots of real estate happenings today! The weather was just perfect, sunny all day with temps in the 80s. We had our office meeting this morning and, as expected, there is a lot going on! Our office has a couple great new listings, including a 30-acre parcel with 1,000 feet of waterfall frontage on the Carp River! It will be listed just under 200k and a land contract is available... it will not last long. I will get a link up on my site as soon as it gets put into the system. After the meeting we spent some time touring the listings that our office has near Gwinn. I especially like the log home where the picture for today was taken. My WMU friend has arrived in town and we will spend the day in the woods tomorrow. I made sure (as usual) to get the survey, aerials, topos, plat maps, etc together so my client has all the info in front of him. He has chosen some very nice parcels to check out and I can't wait. We just returned from showing a home to a very nice couple and things went very well. I also made contact with the owner of a company that works with hunting leases. I think we may be able to work something out! If anyone following the site has any interest in leases (either leasing land you own, or looking to get a hunting lease) drop me a line. Well, we still have some work to get done yet tonight and, more importantly, its dinner time!

I was going to put a different picture up today, but this one just made me laugh. This was taken while visiting my brother last year in Colorado.

August 19, 2008

Busy, busy, busy today. The weather was just great today, very sunny and not too hot or too cold. Wendy was in the office for the afternoon and several new things to work on now. We are beginning to see a lot of interest in the hunting properties. In fact Wendy had an inquiry for a hunting lease today. That confirms some of what I have been thinking about lately. I hope to speak to the owner of the hunting lease company that I would like to start working with. We also gathered a lot of new info for a few of our investors. They are interested in larger parcels with timber. Not so much to just log and sell like many people think, it is more involved than that. More to properly manage and increase the quality of the standing timber, enroll in tax saving programs, lease to hunters, protect wildlife habitat, etc. We absolutely love working on these projects. It is so much fun to work with clients who like to think about possibilities and see what they can make of it. I am also pretty excited for our weekly office meeting tomorrow. I expect to hear about plenty of activity and we are giving agents at our office a tour of our Gwinn properties. Hope everyone had a great day!!! How about them Lions... 2 for 2!

I love this picture... a perfect cross section of what things look like from the surface down to the water table. Taken at Presque Isle

August 18, 2008

It has been very busy in the real estate world lately. Wendy and I took a drive in the Jeep through a nice 880-acre parcel last night. The property looks promising for one of our client's needs but we still have many more to look into. We have also been gathering info for our Wisconsin friends and working on putting an offer together. We have a few more details to look into, but that is what we do. I was up pretty late last night doing all sorts of computer work. I added all of our listings to a new outlet for rural property on the internet. We are always looking for more ways to advertise our client's properties and this one seems promising. I also have been doing a lot of research on hunting leases. Leases can be an excellent way to soak up any carrying costs for landowners that do not hunt... or who hold more lands than they can hunt themselves. I am working with a Michigan company that does a lot of work in that department. Hopefully I will be able to work something out to offer a great selection of leases to anyone looking and/or help interested landowners earn a little money. Hope everyone had a great Monday!!!

This was taken beneath the Cut River Bridge that many of you may cross over while traveling on US 2 just west of the bridge.

August 17, 2008

It has been a warm and sunny day today. Wendy and I have been just enjoying the weather and planning out our week that lies ahead of us. After church, we watched some of the Olympics and relaxed for a bit. Of course, we always end up doing a little real estate work no matter what we say we are going to do. We have been working with a few investors lately and have many details to look into and information to get pinned down for them. One fellow from Virginia really has my interest perked...he is really on top of things and I look forward to working with him. We have a few phone calls to make for our new Wisconsin friends. They are looking for a smaller piece of property for investment, with a little enjoyment factor on the side. That brings me to a point that I want to make. Wendy and I work with a wide range of clients, we do not give any less attention to the smaller projects that come our way. Many agents will shun clients that are not looking to spend what they consider "enough"... we do NOT. If it involves investment, recreational, or vacant land, we love to help folks out. We really love what we do and our satisfaction comes in the form real estate deals that achieve our client's objectives... not in the dollar signs hovering over their heads. Hope everyone had (or is still having) a great weekend!

This was a nice view of the northwoods, taken near Republic, MI earlier today!

August 16, 2008

Today has been a very busy day for us. The weather was not quite what they said it would be...but we live in Michigan. The sun is coming out now and the clouds are peeling away, all in all a nice day. We had our showings this morning with Dave and Heidi. Things went very well and we had a lot of fun. The property that they were most interested in is proving to be a very nice parcel. After we returned home we showed a few folks that we have in town how we do our aerials, topos, and updates to the website. Surprisingly, they were actually interested in what we do...I keep telling everyone that we love our jobs! We also made contact with a great guy from Virginia today. He is also an investor and we are very excited with his plans and can't wait to help him pin down his piece of the UP. Well, excuse my frankness...but I have a few beers to drink now and I promised everyone I would get off the computer and quit working for the day!!

This was taken at Cas's farm...that is just a few of the 300+ head that he milks

August 15, 2008

You guessed it, another day with great weather. This has been summer at its finest lately. We spent the day getting things in order for our showings tomorrow. We will be showing a few properties to a couple from Wisconsin. A few of the properties we will be showing have interested us and we are probably just as excited to see them. Wendy just returned from another round of blueberry hunting. They are absolutely perfect for picking right now and much larger than the ones we picked last week. It looks like Cas is pushing things back another week for his visit. He is right in the middle of cutting hay and the cows have to be fed (he runs a dairy farm). We would rather him come and spend some time than rush things. Also, heard from our friend Terry and it looks like she found her spot to build her earth-sheltered home. I can not wait to check that out when she starts construction!

This was taken today on Big Trout Lake...that log I was standing on was the perfect spot!

August 14, 2008

Well, the nice weather continues for another day. Mid 70s and sunshine all day. The weekend is supposed to warm up a bit, with no rain forecast...should be a great weekend to be up here. Wendy had a great day in the office and kept very busy. She made contact with our buyers and sent off many new listings to clients. I went and checked on a few properties that I have been meaning to see as I have a client that will be in town soon. Tomorrow I will be going to a commercial development breakfast in Marquette. The meeting relates to the form KI Sawyer Air Force Base that was deactivated in 1995. Sounds like there will be some very nice incentives for businesses locating there. If any of you are kicking around a business idea and would like to locate in the UP (and get to live here at the same time), this could be the ticket! To cap the afternoon off, I did a little fishing on the way home with some decent success. Hope everyone had a great day!

This is the Escanaba River flowing just below the Cataract Dam near Gwinn, there are a few properties available on this stretch of the river.

August 13, 2008

It was a great Wednesday today. We had another full day of perfect weather and the forecast looks good for the next several days. We had our office meeting this morning and things went well. We scheduled the Gwinn property tour for next week as several agents were very busy with real estate work today. It looks like our office picked up several nice listings that I am anxious to send out to a few of our clients. We also decided to go ahead with the radio advertising. We can't wait to hear what they come up with for our spot. We should get to approve things by next week, and then the ad will be running shortly thereafter. I actually had someone ask me about my favorite log home today. Guess I shouldn't start saving my money since I don't think this one will be on the market long enough for me, ha ha. Hope everyone had a great day!

These are the types of things that you just don't see unless you get out of the car and put your boots on

August 12, 2008

Another great day with fantastic weather. We spent most of the day going through listings and sending updates to buyers. We also did a bit of work on the ad we will be airing soon. This is quite an experience as we have never used radio for advertising before...kinda neat how the process works. Hope everyone is enjoying the Olympics. Wendy and I have been watching almost every night. August is moving along quickly and I am actually starting to look forward to the fall. There is no better place for fall colors that the UP. We have our office meeting tomorrow morning and the agents may be touring a few Gwinn properties afterwards. Our office works very hard to make sure everyone is familiar with the properties we deal with. Wendy and I actually walk through the woods with our clients, get out of our vehicles to take pictures of listings, etc. You will never see a rearview mirror or car door frame on any listing pictures on this website. Anyone who is currently looking on the internet for property knows what I mean by that. Well, that is all for today and keep checking back!

This was a nice view taken near Marquette....reminds me of Canadian fishing trips when I was a kid

August 11, 2008

We had another busy day in the real estate world. We have been answering emails and phone calls all day. It seems as if hunting season thoughts have entered the minds of many people. We also spoke to a neighbor of ours who has a friend looking for a home near Gwinn. He has a camp that he loves and doesn't want to drive back and forth anymore. I hear that from many folks who are deciding to live up here full time...and I can't agree more. Wendy has a showing scheduled for this weekend for a couple from Wisconsin. They are looking for a small lot for a potential future cabin, and we are delighted to help. Many realtors shrug off those looking for smaller tracts of land, not us. We do this because we love what we do. It sounds cliche, but we do not attach dollar signs to our clients. The weather was VERY pleasant today. 75 degrees with plenty of sunshine and very little wind. That is it from the north and I hope everyone had a great Monday!!

This was a picture I took while studying lakeshore erosion problems on the west side of the lower peninsula in college. I always wonder if that house is still there?

August 10, 2008

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Wendy and I took it fairly easy this weekend. Took things easy and enjoyed the windy weather. We have had plenty of computer work to keep us busy. We are also deciding on what advertising we are going to go with . We think we are going to do a radio ad and see how it works. I am a fan of talk radio, so we are looking into a local station that we listen to frequently. The Marquette County fair is wrapping up today. Also, the Ore to Shore bike race was held on Saturday. Maybe I will enter that next year as I have been thinking about doing more biking. We are gearing up for a very busy week this week. I have friends coming into town and we have lots of real estate to take care of as well. We hope to have a few new listings on the site by the end of the week so keep checking back. Hope everyone has a great week planned!!!

Check out this monster pine that we came across while walking some property a few weeks back.

August 8, 2008

Another day with perfect summer weather. Temps are supposed to cool off slightly for tomorrow which is great as we may head to the Marquette County fair. I haven't been to a county fair in years so it should be fun. Wendy had a great day in the office this morning and kept very busy. She tells me that we may have an investor to work with shortly. That should be a fun client to work with since I believe there is no better investment than land. Land up here tends to give investors a steady and more reliable return on investment...as opposed to the risky housing markets that you may hear about in other parts of the country. I am unaware of any other place with such an abundance of top quality recreational land for reasonable prices. And, when you think about it - nobody is "making" any more undeveloped land so demand will only increase in the future. Well, how 'bout them Lions yesterday???? Yes, Wendy and I are big Lions fans and can't wait for the next game. Tonight will be burgers on the grill, after all, its Friday!

I read through some old posts and realized I talk about fishing quite a bit but have never actually posted any of our catches. Here is a nice smallmouth Wendy "put in the canoe"

August 7, 2008

We had quite a busy day again in the real estate world. Wendy continued her research on a few new listings that we should have up on the site by next week. We really like to do our homework on properties we deal with. These two listings should be very nice properties, the Yellow Dog property I know is a nice one. We actually had an inquiry come in about the 60-acre parcel already, its still almost a week away from listing but don't worry everyone, we'll put it on the website as soon as everything is official. We've also been keeping our clients posted on properties that become available. We spoke to our friend Terry again today...don't worry, we will find you exactly what you are looking for. Government work is not close enough for us, ha ha. Anyway, Wendy is working in the office tomorrow morning and has plenty to do. I may head out to that 60-acre parcel just to get a better feel for it and to snap a few pictures. Wendy has been running the comparables and I need to check on a few things. Also, spoke to Cas today and everything is on pace for his visit with Gary and his plane for next weekend. I know I said this weekend in an earlier post but I was jumping the gun a little. That is it from the northcountry today! Go Lions!!!!

Look how well-behaved Fido is.... when Wendy has a few blueberries in her hand for him!!

August 6, 2008

Hello everyone! Well, we had our course this morning at NMU and things went fairly well. The good news is that we are already doing many of the things that were suggested in the course. The instructor even suggested that folks use some sort of blog for their websites. We decided to do this based on our love for the Upper Peninsula land and to show everyone what life is like up this way...but it is good to know that it helps our site as well. After that, we had a few e-mails to take care of and Wendy had research to do for a property we are viewing next week. I also looked into some radio advertising on one of the local stations up here. I think we will be going with an ad on the local news talk station for next month. Last night Wendy went out to gather more blueberries. She was gone for a little while so Fido and I went to check on her. She had a whole bucket full of berries and she was still at it. Looks like we'll be eatin' good for a while.

This is the only picture I could find of Brian. This was taken in the limo after my wedding so excuse the beers. From left to right my sister Lisa, my brother Paul, and finally the birthday boy Brian

August 5, 2008

Another beautiful day today - 80 and sunshine! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Brian!! He is number 8 in my family, yup the youngest in the family of eight kids. He just moved back to Flushing, MI and I hope he is settling nicely in his new place. We stopped in to the office this afternoon to take care of a few small details. We also went through the MLS for a buyer and answered several e-mails. We scheduled an appointment to list a nice 60-acre parcel in West Branch Township for next week. We will probably do a fly over and get a couple pictures of it from the air while Cas is in town. Cas will also be bringing along another friend of ours, Gary. Hope he brings his fishing gear along! We have a course to attend at NMU tomorrow regarding internet search engines and other website things. Don't be surprised if you see some of your friends coming across our website in the future.

This was taken on a camping trip...I keep saying that I should frame this one and hang it on the wall

August 4, 2008

The weather was not too bad today, a little cloudy but no rain. Anyway, Wendy had a hectic day in the office today. She had plenty of folks interested in land with plenty of questions needing answers. We also mailed off the listing papers for the Yellow Dog River parcel. It's not quite official but we'd love to get this one as it fits our specialty well. We also made a listing appointment for a nice 60-acre parcel for next week, and I made contact with a few buyers that requested additional information and regular listing updates. There are quite a few new listings this week..at least ones that fit my client's criteria. All the recreational land we have been searching through today is reminding me that hunting season will be here quicker than we think. Some more good news, just got off the phone with Cas (the pilot) and he is coming in this weekend!!! We can't wait to see him. We will be getting some very nice aerial photos of all our listings too. If anyone is thinking of listing property up here give us a call and we can get some great pictures. Hope you all had a great Monday!

This was just a nice view taken on the property that we showed today.

August 3, 2008

What a nice day we had today. The weather was very warm and the sun has been out all day! After church, we went into Marquette to pick up a few things and use our free chicken dinner certificate that we won off the radio. We also met up with Terry today and walked through the woods a bit. The showing went very well and we hope we can put something together for her. Regardless of where she chooses to build, I have become very interested in these earth sheltered homes. Hopefully one day I can get some construction pictures up on the website for all of you to see. We have a pretty busy week planned ahead of us. Wendy will be in the office for the morning shift, and I have plenty of things to look into for our interested buyers. Wendy may also be working on that Yellow Dog River property we have hinted at in the past. Hopefully we can get that one listed as it is a very nice parcel. I think we will be heading into Gwinn tonight to meet up with a few friends and exchange stories by the fire. Hope everyone had a great weekend and plans for a great work week ahead of them!!!

This is a picture we took while showing a parcel with Deer Creek frontage earlier this month. Our WMU buddy was interested in a parcel nearby and I couldn't resist the excuse to post another picture of this property!

August 1, 2008

Hello everyone! Its Friday and what a great Friday it has been. I can't believe that it is August already. We had quite a productive day, and our closing this morning went great. Congratulations Chris, and like I said, keep us posted on your cabin plans!!! You guys really got a GREAT parcel and have Wendy and I quite jealous. We also heard from another one of our buyers that I met at the WMU geology field camp. He is looking for a place to build a camp some day and we will have a great time showing him parcels when he arrives back in town. He is a WMU geology guy, so we will have plenty to talk about. We also got a few things in order for our showings on Sunday and can't wait to meet Terry. The weather was pretty good today and the forecast looks fantastic for at least the next 5 days. Well, I think Wendy and I will head into Marquette for a little dinner and fun tonight. We've worked very hard and don't really feel like cooking tonight. I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them!!!

This was a neat picture that I came across while looking into earth sheltered homes...I may have to consider one of these some day

July 31, 2008

We had another busy day in the real estate world today. Wendy was in the office for the afternoon shift and came back home pretty worn out. She had to go over everything for the closing we have tomorrow. She also went through and followed up with several buyers that we are working with...we like to keep in touch and see how everyone is doing. I spoke to a potential buyer for our new listing and scheduled a showing for this weekend. Sounds like she really gets the UP lifestyle and I really hope she finds her property. In fact, she was talking about building an earth sheltered home. I was taught a bit about these when I was in college, pretty neat. I have actually been doing a little more research on the internet and finding some decent, energy saving facts. These are exactly the type of folks that we like working with, new ideas and a great attitude! Anyway, we had yet another day of fantastic weather...just shy of 80 and nothing but sunshine. No fishing today, but we'll get out for sure over the weekend.

This was a picture of the sun beginning to set while we were fishing earlier.

July 30, 2008

It is a bit late right now, but had to post something. We had quite a day of real estate today. We have already taken a couple phone calls on our new listing and will be showing the property on Sunday. I knew this one would get some attention. Wendy got everything rapped up for her closing which is scheduled for Friday. She was really on the ball with that one and got everyone 'in line' since our buyer needed to close fast. We do everything we can for our clients. We had a pretty quick meeting this morning since not many agents made it to the office...everyone must be busy! After all that, we got a few more details together for a new buyer that we are looking to work with for a waterfront building lot. We capped the night off with a little fishing above the Cataract Dam south of Marquette. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!!

Here is a little before and after I put together for the work our friend did on his Jeep. Nice, huh?

July 29, 2008

Hello everyone. We had fairly decent weather today with temps near 80 and a little rain. We spent the day gathering paperwork and looking into a few different forms of advertising. We are looking for a few good ways to promote our listings locally and regionally. We have our weekly office meeting tomorrow so we are pretty excited to hear what all the agents have going on. We got a late start today so we nixed the blueberry pancakes and Wendy made some fantastic blueberry cookies. We can't believe that it's almost August already. Time flies when you're having fun. The week is about half over and we still have plenty left to get done. Well, better hit the hay.

This was my fishing hole of choice for today. Not another soul around...except Wendy off gathering berries.

July 28, 2008

Another day with absolutely perfect weather. Wendy had quite a bit of details to take of for her closing later this week. I went through the MLS to see if there were any new listings that met our buyers criteria, just to keep everyone up to date. We are still pretty excited about our new listing near Gwinn, I am sure this one will move quickly. After the real estate world was taken care of we headed out for a little fun. I grabbed a fishing pole and Wendy grabbed a bucket for blueberries. Lets just say Wendy had much more success than I did, but it was fun to get out in the woods. Wendy has promised fresh blueberry pancakes tomorrow morning. Also, our friend Rich completed his Jeep work today. Check back tomorrow for pictures of the before and after...it really turned out nice. Hope all of you had a great Monday and keep checking back!!!

Some of the wild blueberries we came across today. Everywhere you drive up here lately you see people collecting these on the sides of the roads. Many are ready for picking!

July 27, 2008

Hello everyone! Just got back from shooting pictures and placing signs for our new listing in Gwinn. This property is huge and has frontage on two different lakes. Nicely wooded and has a few open areas that make excellent building sites..or hunting blind locations. Wendy saw plenty of deer as she was walking the property. My parents came into Gwinn for church this morning and then we went to lunch in Marquette. They are going to slowly make their way back home to Flushing, MI over the next day or two. We had a great time visiting with them and they were quite impressed with the area. Well, check out "Our Listings" for a few more pictures and details about our new listing. I think we might just head out and do a little fishing to cap off the perfect weekend. We both have a very busy week ahead of us. I hope everyone has a great work week planned...if not you should be living up here, or at least escaping from time to time.

This was one of the most beautiful sunsets that we have captured, taken on a camping trip west of Marquette a few summers ago. We have been meaning to get back here as the fishing was great.

July 26, 2008

Well, my parents arrived in town today. We met up with them in Marquette when they were searching for a hotel room. Marquette is very busy this weekend but they finally found a good room. After they got checked in we headed out for a nice dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant. The food was great but it took a little while..gave us some time to catch up on things and we really had fun. We also covered some more details for our overseas buyer, they have had quite a busy schedule out there with visitors from the U.S. We are a bit sleepy now so we will call it a night. Stay tuned for our new listing, we should have pictures, topos, and aerials up by Monday. If our friend Cas (pilot and operator of a downstate dairy farm) can find someone to feed his heard of cattle for a few days we should even get a few nice aerials (taken from a birds eye perspective) of the property up on our website by next weekend. Hope everyone's weekend is going well with weather as nice as we are having!!!

I love the way the water looks out near Presque Isle...that photo is not retouched, it really looks that blue

July 25, 2008

Hello everyone! Had to post the Land Log a bit early today as we are pretty busy and going to be gone for most of the evening. Wendy came home with a very nice new listing today. This property is a fantastic 178-acre parcel with a few different water frontages. We can't wait to get this one up on the site. Wendy and I will be getting the pictures together and walking the parcel over the weekend, so stay tuned for this one! This would make a GREAT investment parcel for someone out there as there are many splits available and it is close to Gwinn. Well, my parents will be in town tomorrow and we are getting pretty excited. We have to head out now since we promised to help out a neighbor. Hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them.

This was a nice picture Wendy took while fishing above the Cataract Dam the other day...big pike are in them waters

July 24, 2008

Hello everyone! We had quite a bit to do today, but we handled it all fairly well. I am still excited about that log cabin our office just listed, someone is going to get a great northern home. We heard from my parents who are heading up to visit as I type. They are taking a relaxing trip northward and should arrive on Saturday. Can't wait to see them and show them around a bit. Wendy will be in the office for the morning shift tomorrow and I am sure she will come home with plenty to do...she always does. I will be helping a buddy of mine work on his Jeep, he's putting a lift on and I can't wait to see how it turns out. We just got back from dinner as we finally celebrated our anniversary. It was a great dinner and we are stuffed. Today's weather was absolutely perfect, sunshine and temps just reaching 80 degrees. May be some rain tomorrow, but the weekend looks fantastic as well. That is all I've got for today.

This is the waterfall that we stopped at today...even more impressive in person!

July 23, 2008

Well, we had our weekly office meeting this morning and heard plenty of buzz from all the agents. We also heard some encouraging news about the Michigan market. According to a few of our broker's downstate real estate guys, things are picking up in West Michigan! We also got word of an absolutely PERFECT custom log home listing with Lake Superior and Little Garlic River frontage! Those of you who have been watching this site may remember the Lake Superior frontage that I posted a link to...yeah, the $2,650,000 property. Well, this custom log home is adjacent to that property, just across the Little Garlic River. It is unbelievable!!! Contact us for a showing as we love visiting this neck of the woods. After our meeting and a little more office work, Wendy and I went out for a little fishing, exploring, and just driving with the top down on the Jeep. We stopped off near Marquette Mountain and played around in the "unnamed falls". Weather is supposed to be nice for the next several days. Hope everyone had a great day and keep checking back!!!

This is the old Coast Guard station in Marquette. I took this while the WMU geology camp was mapping the rocks this was built on.

July 22, 2008

We had another great day up here! I got an e-mail from a WMU alum looking to get a great piece of land to call his own. This will be a fun deal to work on as he is looking for exactly what I would like to own for myself one day. We went to town today to Gander Mountain and Wilderness Sports, Inc. to look at a few things and maybe Wendy will be getting a revolver soon. She had so much fun at the event yesterday that she didn't bring home any good pictures, but that's okay. We just finished grilling again for dinner...good stuff! Also, we got word from our good buddy Cas and he is flying in soon. He will be flying by for the Osh Kosh Fly-In and bringing another buddy of ours up with him. We will have some fun and hopefully show the guys the real estate business. Anyway, that is it for today and I hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

This is just a nice picture we took while showing property a little while ago...I believe it's still on the market

July 21, 2008

Another great Monday. The weather was a bit cooler today but the rain has held off so far. We spent the day setting up and getting everything together for a closing scheduled for August. Wendy worked the afternoon shift in the office and has a couple properties for me to look into for an interested buyer. She is out at the West Branch Sportsman Club for a special event that they hold...I had to stay home since this one is only for the girls. I hope she doesn't whoop me next time we go out shooting clays. Actually, I take that back, I hope she doesn't whoop me even more than she already does...she's quite a shot. All these camps that we have been looking into for buyers lately really has me wishing for one myself, one of these days. Looks like Marquette, MI has been named one of the Best Cities to Ride Out a Gas Crunch in a CNN Money article. I keep telling everyone that life is good up here!! Hope everyone has a great week!