TWRE on HGTV House Hunters

Congrats to our friends at the Red Caboose Frozen Yogurt + Coffee and Trails West Real Estate for some time on NATIONAL television!

http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters/couple-rushes-to-buy-home-in-montana/index.html

First Half of 2011 - Market Stats

First Quarter 2011 Market Stats

2010 Market Stats

The following is the Market Stat Report for the Flathead Valley comparing sales activity from 2009 to 2010 by neighborhood. Land and luxury segments still struggled in 2010. Some rebound and turn in the market is evident in residential sales with increases in volume. However, median prices are declining across the board.

Tip for searching the internet

I have found some useful tips that help narrow your search on the internet!

1. Place a plus sign (+) prior to each word to view each word separately within your search results, such as: "+writer+grammar+punctuation".
2. Place a minus sign (-) prior to each word to omit a word, such as: "recipe-meat" for a vegetarian meal.
3. Use quotation marks ("), to view consecutive words of a phrase, such as: "flower arrangement."
4. Use hyphens to replace quotation marks, such as: To-be-or-not-to-be.
5. Use plus signs with the quotation of a phrase, such as: +baking+"chocolate cake."
6. Connect words and phrases with hyphens and quotation marks to pinpoint the search, such as: "baking German-chocolate-cake."
7. Use and within a phrase. “James Taylor and singer” will result with a list of singers with the name of James Taylor.
8. Use not to eliminate part of a search. “James Taylor not singer” will result with a list of people that are '‘not’' singers, but have the name of James Taylor.
9. Use or. “James Taylor or Frank Sinatra” will result with a list of ‘'either or both’' of these phrases.
10. Connect to search similar items, such as: "blue-bird or black-bird or blackbird."

2010—Uplifting news in Real Estate Sales

2010—Uplifting news in Real Estate Sales

There’s no end to real estate in the news. One can purchase the Montana property where the Unabomber lived for $69,500, or read about shoddily documented mortgages that have investors wondering if the housing slump will ever end. More locally, apprehension mounted when one of the Flathead Valley’s most prominent real estate companies went out of business.

However, some Flathead Valley offices claim they are seeing a surge in real estate sales. Trails West Real Estate certainly did. “It was a busy summer followed by an even busier fall,” notes Tom Brown, one of the five owners of Trails West. Buyers from all over the country and Canada seem to feel that this is the perfect place to buy a home. Sales are strong across all of Trails West’s five valley offices. From January 2010 to December 8, 2010, Trails West Realtors closed 236 deals, a total sold volume of $102,010,482. Laura Manning, Business Manager at Trails West credits the agents and owners for the company’s success.

“The owners made a commitment to expand at the onset of the market decline. Not only did they add new office locations, but they also invested in a new website with improved search capabilities for buyers. The 39 agents made commitments to grow their personal business through excellent client service, personal branding, and staying on top of market trends. We now have agents that specialize in short sales, lake properties, land, and workforce housing, just to name a few areas.”

Maintaining focus on growth and evolution has allowed Trails West’s agents to market their listings to a much broader field of prospective buyers and take over market share. Trails West now represents nearly 10% of all the residential sales volume reported by the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors through December 8^th of this year. In total residential sales volume, Trails West is approximately $20 million ahead of its nearest competitor for that same time period.

There’s never a crystal ball, but if November and December are any indication of sales action, it looks like 2011 will continue to show steady growth in real estate sales in the Flathead Valley. Maybe northwestern Montana should be in the national news. But then, no news is usually good news!

One of the luxury properties sold this year

by Trails West Real Estate

2010 Montana Economic Development Summit Update

Dear fellow Montana EconomicDevelopment Summit participant, The 2010Montana Economic Development Summit focused on Montana Solutions for Montana Jobs. One important step in creating jobs here at home is exploring opportunities to boost American exports. During the week of October 10, Senator Max Baucus will be in Beijing and Shanghai tolook for ways to promote American exports, including high-quality Montana beef,wheat, and other products. The trip comes a month after Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhang Yesui joined Max on a tour of Montana.You can find more information on that visit by clicking here. Montana's relationship with China affects many industries, and presents both challenges and opportunities. We invite you to submit questions for Max to raise with the influential political and business leaders he is scheduled to meet in China. And please let us know if you have business partners in China that Max and his staff should reach out to while they're there. You can submit your questions and comments through our online portal by clicking here. Thank you for helping us continue the important dialogue on Montana exports that we started at the 2010 Montana Economic Development Summit.

This email was sent by 2010 Montana Economic Development Summit, 127 South Excelsior, Butte, Montana 59701,