Iowa City Real Estate Blog

When it comes to helping buyers relocating to iowa city I'm always trying to think of new ways to get useful information to them. Often times I think the Internet offers us lots of choices, but they're not always that useful. (Or the websites  are so cluttered with ads they're not exactly a joy to visit).

Just last week I stumbled upon a tool that I absolutely had to have on my website that will not only be a great resource for buyers relocating to iowa city, but also sellers interested in researching home sales in Iowa City neighborhoods. It offers all kinds of area information that I'm sure will be really useful, (yes there's that word again), for buyers and sellers alike.

This very classy Lifestyle Search Tool is from SpatialMatch.  You can see it in action on Corinne's site, Barrington Real Estate Market Solutions. She has an upgraded version of this tool that includes a home search. This isn't an option the company is offering in Iowa City at the moment. You can be sure as soon as they do it will be available on my site too.

In the meantime I'm very happy with the Lifestyle Tool. Through the widget in the side panel on site, Iowa City Homes For Sale you can search for all kinds of things, ranging from schools, golf courses, coffee shops and more. The maps pop out to a full page version, making it much easier to use.

To give buyers relocating to iowa city an idea of how it works I created a search for elementary schools in the Iowa City area. (That's always high on the list of priorities of anyone relocating to Iowa City).  The light blue shaded area indicates a half mile radius from the school. I've also added a border around the respective towns, (I started with Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty). If you click on the individual schools you'll get a wealth of information about the schools. If you select the border of one of the towns you'll get loads of information about the town. 

Check it out. I'm sure you'll be as impressed as I was. (Okay, maybe not quite as impressed, I am  a bit of a map fiend AND a data fiend, so of course this was the ultimate find for me!)

Generally January is the month when I ask myself what made me think relocating to Iowa was a good idea. That's every year except this year that is! Today I took time out from my market reports and spent some time out in the sunshine. Brown Deer Golf Course in Coralville is a two minute drive from where I live and I figured I'd be sure to find some golfers out in this 50 something degree weather today. I did run into someone leaving the golf course when I took this shot, but other than that I struck out with that idea. I enjoyed the sunshine nonetheless. I'm starting to wonder whether winter is going to show up at all this year in Iowa. Although I should maybe keep my mouth shut or I could jinx it!

Cardinal Realty opened its doors for business this week. As my good friend Corinne Guest so eloquently said in her post this morning. AR is a journey. The decision to start my own real estate company comes in no small part through the influence of ActiveRain. When I signed up at AR in July 2009 I was a "toddler" in the world of real estate. I was smart enough to know I needed to tap into the Internet to take my real estate endeavors to the next level, but had no idea how. I'd gone through several template websites and spent a boatload of money on SEO to get absolutely nowhere!

A couple of months on AR and I had my road map. There is SO much information here for those willing to take the time to learn. In no time at all I went from toddler to University Grad. I learned about Wordpress. I learned how to take care of my own SEO. (Saved myself mega bucks there). And most importantly I paid attention to the Independent Brokers here on the Rain and started to grasp the idea that it really wasn't rocket science and I could do that too. 

Two years later Cardinal Realty becomes the newest real estate company in Coralville. For me real estate is a service industry. I am here to serve my clients, not to "sell" homes. The philosophy behind Cardinal Realty is to keep real estate simple. No conflicts of interest by working two sides of a deal. Each client gets exclusive, personalized service. Simple and straightforward. 

Following through with that thought, the plan is to streamline operations so everything can be done online. "Going Green" if you will. Anything we can do to reduce our carbon footprint  is good and what makes it even better is that it's good for business. Clients this year have already experienced the benefits. Iowa City is a relocation destination and folks are transitioning in and out all the time. My last two sellers who both relocated out of state loved the no-hassle option of signing documents online. That's just one example. I'm always looking for new technologies to incorporate into my business. Streamlining my business will mean I have more time to spend with my clients building relationships. And that's what real estate is about, isn't it? 

So here I am with a big Thank You to everyone here on the Rain who motivated and inspired me to forge ahead. I would not be where I am today if I had not attended AR University! You'll know who you are, I comment on your posts from time to time. Special thanks to Corinne for her support. That's the other cool thing about AR. Not only do you find a wealth of information here, you also make friends for life!

We are enjoying absolutely beautiful Fall weather in Iowa at the moment, in stark contrast to to our friends on the East Coast who are getting hammered with winter storms. Yesterday I was over on the east side of Iowa City picking up an earnest money check and felt really lucky to have an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful Fall foliage. As I've said before, I was never much of a fan of Autumn in Europe, way too much rain for me. Here is Iowa it's a different story. It really doesn't get much better than this. Blue skies, perfect temps and eye candy to boot! 

It was a beautiful Fall day in Coralville today. Went over to my listing on Oakleaf St to check everything was in order for the showings tomorrow. (Yes, plural, more than one showing. Things are definitely picking up around here lately). While I was there I couldn't resist taking a shot of this most magnificent tree. This zero lot on Oakleaf has the best yard on the block and the tree knocks spots off all the others in the neighborhood too, especially on a day as nice as today!

There's always lots going on in Coralville in the summer months. 4th Fest, with the big 4th of July Parade was a huge success, as it is every year. The word is out and year to year we have more folks travel quite a ways to be part of the big July 4th celebration with us here in Coralville. At the end of July Coralville hosted two major events that got lots of attention. Ragbrai, the annual great bicycle ride across Iowa overnighted in Coralville and on that very same weekend young folks from all over the US got together at the Marriott in Coralville for their annual convention celebrating the world of animation at Anime Iowa. That was in interesting weekend. Talk about polar opposites! Coralville finished off the summer in style with FryFest, celebrating all things Hawkeye. A fitting way to end the summer of course with everyone looking forward to the College Football Season.

The slideshow shows my favorite photos of these popular events in Coralville and finishes off with one I took behind the Marriott last week at the Walking Tour organized by the City of Coralville. Just from some of these photos you'll see there's a lot of construction going on at the Iowa River Landing. The City's Walking Tour was designed to give residents the scoop on what's in the pipeline. I'll be telling you more about that in a future post.

After about five minutes of seeing this little guy out of the corner of my eye I decided to get up and try and take a photo of him. This tree is right outside the window of my home office and I felt sure as soon as I started scrummaging around for the camera he would take off. I was wrong. At least initially. I managed to take this good shot of him from inside. I even managed to open the door to the deck without disturbing him. It was only when I took my first step onto the deck that he scarpered. One second he was there, the next he was gone. Quite astounding really, he sat there quietly for a full ten minutes at least and then managed to disappear in the blink of an eye. I wish I could change gears that quickly!

We have lots of wild life in Coralville. The wide variety of birds is amazing. The deer come round now and again too. And of course the squirrels and chipmunks are darting up and down the trees in my yard all day long. They rarely stay still long enough to take a photo though. I figure I got lucky yesterday!

Sometimes I do things unrelated to real estate. It's not often at this time of the year, as any real estate agent will tell you. It's famine or feast in our business. We're either up to our eyes in it or twiddling our thumbs. There's no happy medium. Last weekend I actually spent 48 hours without thinking about real estate at all. Son #1 drove down from Rochester MN with his wife and we took a road trip to visit son #2 in Kansas City MO.

Now that was a surprise. I don't know what I was expecting of Kansas City, but it certainly exceeded expectations. Very Cosmopolitan. Very Chic. My son and his girlfriend definitely made some smart choices when it came showing us the sights. We started at the Country Club Plaza, aka "The Plaza," a high end shopping center and residential area in Kansas City. I was totally blown away by the architecture, the murals, the fountains, not to mention the European flavor of the entire experience. (Hey, I'm European, of course I was impressed). The way the whole area is set up is very unique in comparison to what I've come to expect from shopping centers in the US. We followed that with a visit to the Hallmark Crown Center Complex. It's nice to see a private company have such a big impact on a community. Although it may seem like it, Wall Street does not rule the world! All in all a great weekend...

Spring has finally sprung in Coralville, Iowa. With daylight savings time the evenings are light longer and best of all they're even starting to get warmer now. It was a long, hard winter this year. This is my first shot in a long while where I didn't get cold fingers! I'd just come out of the Olive Garden in Coralville. The food was great, as usual. I love Italian food and ordered a dish with egg plant. It's not just the food either, Olive Garden in Coralville does a wonderful job of making you feel welcome.

I was there with a friend who was visiting for the weekend. It was a special evening, made all the more special by the beautiful sky that greeted us when we walked out of the restaurant. There were a couple of days during this particularly hard winter in Iowa that I asked myself what I was thinking when I made the decision to move here! On a warm, spring evening in April I have the answer to that question...

The sun is out and Valentine's Day Weekend is getting off to a great start. There are a couple of things going on in Iowa City tonight if you're into live music, or perhaps like me you're an Agatha Christie fan, in which case The Englert is the place for you. This weekend the Iowa City Community Theatre is presenting And Then There Were None -  Classic Agatha Christie, definitely a must see if you're a Whodunnit fan like me. Saturday's performance starts at 7.30pm and there's a matinee on Sunday at 2.00pm.

Getting back to the live music, we have a couple of options. The first is the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort at Riverside where the Bacon Brothers will be performing tonight. (February 12). Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael have been making music 15 years now. Long enough to be taken seriously and not held back by the fact that Kevin is also a very successful actor. Doors open at 7.00pm and the show starts at 8.00pm. The link is to the website and you can purchase tickets there. Phone number if you want to call ahead is 319-648-1234

On Sunday afternoon they have another pretty big name at the Riverside Casino with Righteous Brother, Bill Medley. He's half of the duo who sang one of the best love songs of all time, Unchained Melody. (And if you're drawing a blank on the title, it was used in the Patrick Swayze movie Ghost). That show is on Sunday, February 13. Doors open at 3.00pm and the show starts at 4.00pm.

Take it from me, it's an impressive place. I was there for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It has a great atmosphere and is SO much more than a Casino. If you haven't visited yet, this weekend may be just the time to check it out!

Downtown Iowa City has its own live music venues and I have two hot picks for you. The Yacht Club on Linn St and The Mill on Burlington. Sublime Tribute - Secondhand Smoke are playing at the Yacht Club and folk blues legend Dave Moore is at the Mill tonight.

To round things up. If you really want to party Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon boasts the best party in Iowa tonight with Lost Highway hitting the stage at 9.00pm. Check out the link to their Facebook page for more info.

These are just a couple of things that caught my eye. If you have any to add feel free to put them in the comments. I'm sure other readers will appreciate it.