I've Got the Fever...

And the only cure is more cow bell.  Oh, wait, that is a Saturday Night Live Skit.  I think the real cure for my fever is going to be a trip to Target Field.  It seems every where I turn or whoever I talk to the topic these days seems to be on our Minnesota Twins and their new stadium that they will be debuting this coming weekend with a couple of exhibition games.

Speaking of Twins, yes that is right; your NewmanSellsHomes.com spring magnet is on the way featuring your Minnesota Twins’ 2010 schedule!

It became quite apparent over the last few years that this little tradition of sending out Vikings and Twins magnets has a bit of an impact on my “fan base.”   For example, this last summer/fall I was a bit behind on getting my Vikings magnets out.  I received a phone call from one of my past clients making sure I hadn’t forgotten to send their Vikings magnet to them. This last week I had a similar experience. I was at a funeral visitation and I had one of my long time magnet recipients come up to me and ask where his Twins schedule was.  I’m not sure how you feel about my real estate related mailers but I know one thing for sure, if I didn’t send out the sports magnets I might have an uprising on my hands.

Have no fear, you have my commitment that the annual Twins and Vikings magnets that I send out will be coming your way until I retire or someone stops me from sending them out.  Whichever comes first.

If you aren’t currently on my mailing list and would like to be added, shoot me an email with your phone, email, and mailing address and I will gladly add you to my list.  Here is to another successful Twins season and the beginning of a new era for our Minnesota team!

A rainy but successful tailgating party!

The weather could have been a bit better but nevertheless we had a very successful tailgating party.

As you can see from the pictures, we had a steady rainfall during the entire event.  Thankfully I have done quite a bit of tailgating during my Vikings season ticket ownership days so I was well prepared for the elements.

Yep, that's the official NewmanSellsHomes.com tailgating tent that I am grilling under in the 2nd photo.

Despite the weather and throwing the event together at the last minute, we had 29 people show up and 52 items were donated to the Scott County CAP Agency food shelf. 

Thank you to everyone for your food donations and for stopping by to share a brat and some football talk. I am already planning the same event for next year but I am going to plan a little more in advance and I am going to order some better weather. My goal is 100 people next year!

On a side note, I am wearing my Favre jersey to antagonize Larry who lives in the house you see in the background of the photo above.  He is a huge Packer fan!

Thanks again to everyone for your support!  Enjoy another Vikings season and Skol Vikings!

Are You Ready For Some Tailgating...

If you know me well (or no me a little) you know that I am a huge Vikings fan. Nothing thrills me more than the fact that we now have Brett Favre on our team and we are playing the Packers this week!

In honor of this big event which includes Favre playing his former team for the first time, I wanted to concoct an idea that would allow me to have some fun in preparation for and in anticipation of the big game while giving back to the community in which I work, live, and play.

Our Coldwell Banker Burnet office recently became an official drop off site for the Scott County CAP agency food shelf so I thought there couldn't be a better way to get people involved then having a tailgating party to benefit the food shelf.

So here is the plan: NewmanSellsHomes.com will sponsor a tailgating event right before the game and provide Brats, hotdogs, chips, and beverages. We are asking that anyone who attends bring a food shelf item that we will donate to the local CAP agency.

For more information on the CAP agency or to check out what type of items are needed for their food shelf, visit their website at www.capagency.org.

If you live in or around the Shakopee area and are interested in attending this coming Monday, text or call me at 612.719.9245 and I will get you more information on our little party.

Let summer begin...

Summer is already flying and it has only just begun! As you can see by my lack of blogging as of late my real estate business has been a bit busy this spring! That is very fun to say after the real estate market was not that great in 2008. 2009 has come in with a bang so much so that it has been hard to keep up with blogging, tweeting, and Facebooking!

Summer is only about a week old but with the 4^th of July approaching fast it feels like it will be over before we know it. We have already had some fun times this year visiting the Taste of Chaska (see the attached photo of the kids listening to live music) and some not so fun times getting swimmers itch (often referred to as “chiggers”) in one of our 10,000 lakes last weekend. I won't show you the picture of that!

Last night we hosted the 3^rd annual NewmanSellsHomes.com basketball team party at our home. We had a great time and had Famous Dave’s cater the event this year which ended up being a wonderful decision. They delivered the food, plates, napkins, sauces, and even the wet naps. All we had to do was recycle a few aluminum pans.

This last week Jessi and I celebrated our 8^th wedding anniversary and we had a fabulous evening out. We tried a restaurant that was new to us called Biella in downtown Excelsior. The food was fantastic by the way. We ended our evening by heading across the street to enjoy a movie at The Dock cinema. In true romantic style we saw The Proposal.

So what does this all have to do with real estate? Well, as important as the actual home you live in is, your community just may be even that much more important. I encourage you to explore what your area (and surrounding areas) has to offer and take part in the many celebrations and events that are happening throughout the summer. What a great way to get to know more about the many different businesses, services, and programs in the area while spending some quality time with family and friends.

In fact, my open house is just ending so I think it might be time to take down my open house signs, put the boat in a local lake, and explore a little nature. Have a great summer from all of us at Newman’s Neighborhood!

Christmas In May

This past Saturday our office had the opportunity to participate in the 13th annual Christmas In May event in Chaska. For the past 13 years the community has come together in the form of volunteers who work together to help make needed repairs on homes where the homeowner does not have the financial or physical ability to complete them on their own.

The repairs can be anything from landscaping to electrical and anything in between. This year between 40-50 volunteers joined together on our project which was just one of 5 projects going on that day in Chaska. Our project consisted of fixing a rotting wooden swing set, removing and replacing edging and rock around the entire home, cutting down tree limbs, and cleaning up a large lilac hedge among other items.

It was amazing to see about 50 people come together on Saturday morning to complete the majority of the work in about 2 1/2 hours. We started out removing old edging and sod, we then dug part of the trench for the new edging, we laid new weed barrier, and finished up by scooping rock into wheel barrows and pushing them around the back side of the home.

The day was extremely rewarding and it felt good to give back to one of the communities that gives us so much. An event like this truly shows what community is really all about. It also was great to use some muscles that do not normally get used throughout the work day!

If you would like more information on volunteering you can call 952.361.5350, if you know of someone who may need assistance with their home they can call 952.448.7715, or if you would like to make a financial or materials contribution you can call 952.556.1317.

Happy Mother's Day!