Cheryl Dooley's (hutchinsonhomes) Blog

Last fall I heard an economist speak to a group of real estate people and mortgage brokers.  He spoke about what we could expect in 2009 in our industries.  He told the mortgage people that there was good news and bad news for them.  The good news was that the interest rates would drop and they w...

Even though the real estate market in Hutchinson, MN is still quieter than we'd like, we are starting to see multiple offers come in on quite a few properties.  That certainly is a good sign!  There are buyers out there just waiting for the right "deal" to come along and when it does, the buyers ...

Recently I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my sisters laying on the beach and shopping.  All of us have careers that are being affected by the economy in one way or another.  We decided at the beginning of our trip that we would not read any newspapers, listen to any television, or l...

Every day someone asks me if anyone can get financing to buy homes any more.  I usually answer them by telling them that they need to quit listening to all the doom and gloom in the media.  Then I answer them, that yes, buyers can still get financing.  Although the number of mortgage companies th...

Back in the fall of 1999, Hutchinson Technology had a significant layoff (about 700 employees if I remember right), and so I went back to my records to see how the housing market in Hutchinson was affected.  The first thing I found was that the vacancy rate of rentals increased significantly.  Ma...

 Tomorrow one of Hutchinson's major employers will be laying off a significant number of employees.  In a way, I'm sure that most will be glad when tomorrow is over.  The employees were told about a month ago that there would be a large layoff starting Jan. 12.  I haven't spoken to a single emplo...

Recently I had an opportunity to purchase some stock in a company that I am familiar with.  I knew that the stock price was great, but I was worried about the market in general, so I decided not to invest.  Now, less than a month later, the stock has doubled, and here I am wishing that I hadn't w...

Who has time to research all the many sites for social networking?  Having a type-A personality, I have very little patience in trying to maneuver around all the various sites to figure out what each one has to offer.  I have the same frustrations when it comes to all the real estate technology. ...

For the past 10 years or so, people considered their home an investment because prices continued to climb and people were enjoying increased equity at a faster rate than ever before.  Now, in the past couple of years all that has changed.  But a home is still an investment.  It's an investment in...