Well, hello, 2017!!

In what seems like a blink of an eye, 2016 is gone! A tough election cycle, new challenges and opportunities with the Minneapolis + St Paul real estate market, the loss of many beloved musicians and artists, and so many laughs and fun times with friends: It sure was a big year, wasn’t it?

The brightest news: Our home expanded to include one more smile, our baby Zoey. All of the successes in business don’t mean too much if you don’t have a family you love, right? She’s made our family even more complete, and the fun and love abounds! Now, I can’t say I’ve ever been this tired in my life, but it’s sure worth every minute.

Yes, 4 under 4. Yes, Suzanne and I are outnumbered. Ha!

Our "fuller house” has a new kitchen and countless updates inside and out, and the boys are growing so fast. We’ve been able to host two events this year, a Halloween party and a coats and toys drive. Check this out: At the holiday drive, we got 10 bins FULL of toys, 6 coats, 8 pairs of snow pants and 1 big bag of hats and mittens and a few boots. It fills my heart to know we made things a little brighter for kids in our neighborhood, and THANK YOU for helping bring this to life!

As far as Halloween? 20+ kids in the backyard, and around 30 adults. And pumpkins; wow, were there ever a lot of pumpkins…I lost count.

My business grew this year to new heights this year, too! As I was pulling together this post, I researched days on the market in our market, and the average is 37 and ... drum roll please ... mine is only 25! Wow, am I proud of that number. I've set a goal for 40 home transactions, up 10 from last year and excited to make it happen!

I don't do this on my own, so I better not take all of the credit! I hired an assistant to help with my volume of homes and she’s been such a blessing. I’ve been working with a marketing analyst to help position my listings to show-up to more people through all of the various websites and social media, and it’s shown to work: Not only has the days on market dropped, but also the overall traffic and interest in the homes as risen greatly! We also worked together on my website and other coaching, and wow, has it been fun.

Keller Williams has been a great home, and the support of the network of other realtors in our community has helped me immensely. A crazy election year, new family members, house renovations, and all of the various happenings throughout a year can sure be stressful, but you all have helped me stay calm and happy throughout 2016. Big thanks to you all!

Where are we going in 2017? Well, we have shortened the to-do list for the house (thank goodness, I’m tired of hammer-swinging for a while). We are having 8 new windows installed and residing the family room to improve the insulation to keep it more toasty in the winter months. We sure use that room a lot!

There’s a few trips to Florida planned to finalize our adoption with Zoey, and all of the other fun that happens during MN summers.

Cheers to a great 2017, everyone! And please, tell me what you are setting for goals in the year ahead!

PS: We can't share a pic of our Zoey quite yet, but stop by anytime to visit and meet her :-)