Congratulations Jason

Jason Mullin, No. 3 son of Laura and Pat Mullin just graduated from Saydel High School. Jason has had an incredible track season, breaking long-standing records at the high school. He also placed 6th in the 100 meter and 8th in the 200 in the state track meet. Way to go Jason!

First-Born Celebrates a Birthday

May 23, the Eisenlauer Team celebrated Bob's birthday. We all met at the Olive Garden and enjoyed a tasty Italian meal. Yes, in the first picture we are all wearing party hats -Sponge BOB. And no in the second picture Bob's hair is not on fire. It's just that angelic glow that seems to hover over him. If you'd like to guess how old Bob is---Post a reply. The first one with the right answer will win 2 movie passes!

Renters Will Dig Deeper in 2007

I recently read an article in Broker Agent News. It had some interesting facts about today's rental market. "Renters be warned..rents will rise about 5% this year and since the beginning of 2005, rents have increased 14%." This is a great incentive to call one of our agents, and see how soon you can get out of the "rental-money-pit" and into home-ownership.
Bob 979-2883 Laura 306-2027 Bill 770-2455

Home Sellers wait longer...says the Register

The Des Moines Register, as usual, leads with a "doomsday" headline for their article on the housing market. Although there is a lot of press about the housing sales being slow nationally, the Des Moines market is generally stable, in the past, the present...and no reason to doubt, in the future. First-quarter home sales in Iowa increased 8.2% from a year ago, while nationally, sales dropped 6.6%. Also median home prices in Des Moines increased 3.5% to $144,500 from a year ago, while the national sales price dropped nearly 2% for the first quarter. A key factor is the job market. April's unemployment rate in Des Moines was 3.1%, state wide rate 3.4%, and national rate is 4.5%. The Des Moines Area Association of Realtors showed the market had 453 more homes on the market in April than a year ago. So buyers...get ready! You've got more than the usual inventory to choose from. Despite the negative slant the Des Moines Register wants to present..Des Moines is a great place to buy or sell real estate, and The Eisenlauer Team would love to help you. After all, We're Easy to Work With...Hart to Beat!

5 Facts about Today's Sellers (real estate)

1. Smaller isn't better. Half of sellers traded up to a larger home: those 55 and older were more likely to buy smaller homes, however.
2. They still love us (real estate agents). 84% of sellers used a Realtor, and FSBOS sales declined by 6% during the last decade.
3. Time Means Business. Sellers who had little urgency in selling a home were 2% more likely to sell the home themselves.
4. It's a repeat business. 87% of sellers had owned at least two other homes: average tenure in a home for todays' sellers was six years.
5. Home turf is still home turf. Sellers moved a median of 17 miles after selling a home.

The source for these figures are 2006 National Association of Realtors Profile of HOme Buyers and Sellers. The Eisenlauer Team would love to be your favorite REALTORS. We'd love to be your source for information too. If you have questions about real estate, the local market or interest rates etc., give us a call, or email.

Downtown Farmers Market & Postage Increase

The Des Moines downtown Farmer's Market opens tomorrow, May 12. Look for morrel mushrooms, aspargus, and rhubarb. Starts at 7:00. Get there early to avoid the crowds...but get there for sure. It's the best grazing! They have their own website, http://knowdowntown.com. You can check on any special events coming up.

Also big news...the price of a stamp goes up from 39 cents to 41 cents on Monday. So get your Mother's Day Card out, and all your bills paid on Saturday.

April fool's day is past...

We hosted an Orientation Party for April Fool's Day, so you would all be ready for the big day. If you attended, we hope you enjoyed the party. If you missed it, we hope you had good reasons to miss out on a legitimate time to be foolish. Here's a few pictures. I have some more I'll try to post later. Bill, Bob and Dillon are standing by the food. We served meatloaf cupcakes, fish bowl jello, cow pie candy, puppy chow, dish water punch and kitty litter casserole. The food was all very edible, it just might not be what you were expecting! The kids had fun making several crafts, finger in the box, money seed packets and April Fool's day cards. And of course, the party favors...whoopee cushions. If anyone missed those, we still have some left..you can request one. We appreciate all those who celebrated with us, and those who came dressed foolishly brought extra smile to others. See ya next year!

We recently took a train trip to Chicago. The Eisenlauer's and the Cunningham's plus two more teens...that makes a total of SIX teens. One night Bill and I took the four male teens to see the Blue Man Group. They perform year-round in Chicago. If you ever get a chance to see them, they are great, innovative, entertaining and funny! Another night we went to see the Chicago Bulls play at the United Center. Kathy and Jeff surprised us all with a limo ride back to the hotel. As you can see..it was a treat none of us had enjoyed before. And it sure beat the taking the subway! The other picture was of a metal moose sculpture we discovered while trying to find our way back to the motel. No, we were not lost. We stayed in a hotel two blocks off Michigan Ave, and we did some serious shopping (shopping, not buying). It was a fun trip..and we'd love to repeat it during the Cubs season!

Hello...The first post of the Eisenlauer team's blogspot! An exciting day. May 3, 2007.