62nd Annual Musky Festival

62nd Annual Musky Festival

This week, in Hayward, WI, we are celebrating our 62nd Musky Festival. If you haven’t experienced one you owe it to yourself to come.

The fun starts on Thursday, the 23rd, with downtown sidewalk sales, the crowning of the Musky Queen, and the wonderful Carnival opens.

Friday starts the hughest Arts & Crafts Show which includes food, refreshments, and live entertainment. There are activities for the kids throughout the day. From 8 PM to Midnight the band RHINO will be playing for the street dance. They perform modern rock, classic pop and popular tunes.

More info tomorrow. But for the full details go to: www.muskyfestival.com .

My favorite are the Hayward Lions Club brats and the fried cheese curd. I hope to see you there!

Tom Berlage, Area North Realty, Hayward, WI
800-344-2300

TURTLE TIME

This time of year, up here in Hayward, female turtles are out laying their eggs.  It is not uncommon to see painted and snapping turtles, on the shoulders of our rural roads, laying their eggs.  Often times I will see one of the ladies crossing the road and I am careful to avoid smashing her.  I have also been known to stop my car and help one of these creatures cross the road, but only the painted ladies.  Snapping turtles I leave alone.  Their jaws are very powerful and a couple of years ago one snapped a broom stick I was using to prod her out of my wife's herb garden.

Here is a picture of a recent snapper I found crossing Moose Lake Road near our organic farm:

Isn't she beautiful?  "With a face only a mother could love."  LOL!



So if you encounter one of our reptilian ladies crossing a road here in northwestern WI please be careful not to run her over so that she may safely lay her eggs.  After all, as ugly as these snappers are, they are still a part of our glorious northwoods!
Be well and have a great weekend!
Tom Berlage, Area North Realty, Hayward, WI

One Day, Winter to Spring

It is amazing how our weather can change so much in one day.  Take for example our colius.  The first picture was taken Saturday, the day before Easter.  The next picture was taken Easter morning.

Link to Real Estate Statistics for Sawyer County for March 2011

http://www.ranww.org/documents/resources/sawyer.pdf

Remember When? Old Hayward Pictures

Hayward, WI has seen a lot of changes since I first starting coming up here fifty some years ago.  Many of the old attractions have disappeared and new ones have taken their place.  Do you remember this fellow? 
This was the wooden Indian that stood in front of Lindahl's variety store on Main Street.  He had a motion detector installed in the box next to him.  When you walked by the sensor would get tripped and the Indian would begin singing
This was the paddle boat known as the Namakagon Queen.  She was part of Tony Wise's History Land as was the Indian village.  These were located on Co. Hwy B.
   What do you remember about old Hayward?

MARCH 2011 SAWYER COUNTY SALES STATISTICS

     Last month only 10 properties sold in Sawyer County.  The median list price was $149,450 and the median sold price was $135,950.  The SP/LP ratio was 91%.  (Sales Price to List Price ratio.)  The median Days On the Market was 158. 
     During March 89 residential properties were newly listed witha median list price of $259,900.
     In February 11 properties sold for a median sales price of $189,000 but with a median DOM of 249.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING A SECOND HOME

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING A SECOND HOME


1. Now is a good time to buy

In many second-home hot spots, prices are still close to their five-year lows.

2. A second home is a better deal if you can rent it out

You may think you'll keep the retreat all to yourself, but it's still smart to shop as if you're going to rent the place out. That's because a home's rental potential can affect its resale value.

Before you bid on a house, make sure the homeowners association or township allows short-term rentals (many do not). And keep in mind that renters prefer homes with at least one bathroom for every bedroom.

3. Don't count on rental income to pay all your bills

The typical property rents out just 17 weeks a year, says Christine Karpinski of vacation-rental site HomeAway.com. Plus, you'll need to pay for cleaning, maintenance, insurance, and maybe management fees (at least 15% of income).

To get a handle on a property's income potential, ask a management company for a history of rental dates and rates for homes comparable to the one you're considering. If your monthly loan payment is less than or equal to one peak week of rent, you're likely to break even, says Karpinski.

4. Your loan rate depends on how you make use of the house

Lenders have raised standards across the board, but they're giving extra scrutiny to vacation homes. Use the property primarily as a second home and you'll pay about the same mortgage rate as you would on a primary residence, says HSH Associates vice president Keith Gumbinger. If you need rental income to qualify for the loan, however, the house is treated as investment property -- so you'll have to fork over as much as 25% for the down payment and pay up to one percentage point more in interest.

5. There can be Tax benefits

Rent the house out for two weeks or less and you won't have to report a cent of income to the IRS -- and you can still deduct property taxes and mortgage interest.

Stay there for less than two weeks or 10% of rental days, whichever is greater, and you can deduct operating costs -- everything from cleaning fees and maintenance to linens and repairs -- in addition to interest and property tax. Use and rent a lot? You'll have to allocate the write-offs between personal and rental use, which gets tricky, says Rick Shapiro, a CPA in West Hartford, Conn. So talk to your tax guy before you buy.