The Bartel Group Blog

It may be a bit chilly yet to starting thinking of spring gardening, but it's high time to start planning a spring makeover of your front yard, especially if you're planning to list your home among Edina homes for sale or Detroit Lakes homes for sale. Start by walking around your property and assessing what needs to be done to boost your curb appeal. Keeping the grass mowed and the shrubs trimmed will help, but adding some color, taking out damaged plants and replacing them in bare spaces with healthy new specimens, and filling in the winter-ravaged ground cover if need be are three projects that can enhance your listed property's looks so potential buyers will stop and take a second look. 

1. Add Some Color
   Planting annuals is an easy, no-brainer way to dress up your property and catch the eye of potential buyers. Perennials are great, but they take time to get established, so you may want to concentrate on bright annuals along sidewalks and in beds fronting the house to dress things up. Paint a picture in your mind with drifts of annuals such as dahlia, calla lilies, various kinds of daisies, salvia, pentas, nicotianas, and many more. Although annuals usually need to be replaced every year, it's worthwhile to plant these big swatches of color for an instant wow effect.

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Spring Market

As the spring market is in full swing and home prices are ticking up, mortgage rates have moved higher in recent weeks as well. Freddie Mac reports that the national average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.17% with an average of .6 points. While rates are still below the average of 3.5% for the same week last year, the year over year comparison has been tightening in recent weeks.

Mortgage Rates

During the course of the pandemic, 'home' has become more important than ever. As a result, strong purchase demand continues—but buyers also outnumber the sellers. Since January, mortgage rates have increased half a percentage point from historic lows and home prices have risen, leaving potential homebuyers with less purchasing power. Unfortunately, this has disproportionately affected the low end of the market, where supply is the slimmest.

~Provided by www.freddiemac.com 03-25-21

What could be better than spending a beautiful spring day outdoors at your favorite golf course? Whether you're new to the game or have been anticipating your return to the golf course all winter long, this is the perfect year to embrace the game. National Golfer's Day takes place every year on April 10, and the great golf courses around the Twin Cities are gearing up for another exciting season. We have the details on six local courses where you can celebrate Golfer's Day, then enjoy some outdoor fun on the links all spring and summer long.

• Hiawatha Golf Club – 4553 Longfellow Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55407
  A long-time local favorite near Minneapolis homes for sale, the 18-hole course at Hiawatha Golf Club has been delighting golfers for nearly a century. The course is located next to the scenic Hiawatha Lake and is one of the longest public golf courses in Minneapolis. There are water features throughout the course, including 10 ponds, two holes bordering the lake, and a creek winding through the back nine.

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If you're in the market for a new home in the Twin Cities, Counselor Realty has a variety of beautiful traditional and contemporary homes in your price range. You'll find many Coon Rapids homes for sale and Rochester homes for sale with unique exterior features, enticing interior spaces, special amenities, and breathtaking views.

When you're looking for a new home, you hope to find the perfect place that will accommodate all of your family's lifestyle needs. That may include a space for a home office, music studio, art studio, a children's playroom, a guest room for visitors, or a quiet room for relaxation. If you find a home you love, but it falls a little short on space, adding an outbuilding to the backyard may be the perfect solution.

• Garden Sheds
  An outdoor shed doesn't have to be a tiny space to store gardening equipment and extra paint. Although that is one use, an outdoor shed can serve a lot of other purposes. By adding a few windows for natural light, shelving for storage, a ceiling fan for a cool breeze, and a couple of cozy chairs, a shed can become a great place to have your morning coffee or curl up with your favorite book. If you work out or do yoga, a backyard shed will create a quiet environment where you can focus on your daily health routine.

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Museums offer the chance to spend some time alone or with family and friends as you explore and learn. The Twin Cities have excellent one-of-a-kind museums located near Minneapolis homes for sale and ranging from one dedicated to Russian art to one that's perfect for model train enthusiasts.
  
We recommend exploring these 5 unique museums around the Twin Cities:  

1. The Museum of Russian Art – 5500 Stevens Ave. (corner of Diamond Lake Rd. and 35W), Minneapolis, MN 55419      
   The Museum of Russian Art is North America's only museum devoted to Russian art, from Muscovite Russia to the post-Soviet period. Located in a historic building of the beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival style, it houses more than 5,000 works and holds several exhibitions each year as well as lectures, concerts, and more. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

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