Jen Hanson started in the real estate business not as an agent, but as a member of a construction firm. While there she honed her people skills, interacting with clients and assessing their needs on a daily basis. Those skills would later prove invaluable when she embarked on her career as a real estate agent.
She earned her license in 1997 and has been listing and selling homes in the Otter Tail County lakes area for the past eight years. She has worked very hard to server her customers, logging over 50,000 miles and hundreds of research hours in the first year alone to make sure she knew the ins and outs of her product. It is that kind of dedication to her customers and her job that has made her one of the top agents in the area and the owner of her Re/Max office in Perham, MN.
LakeshoreDreams.com had a chance to sit down with Jen and learn more about her and the area she serves.
LD: Agents match people with properties that best suit their needs. How do you insure that this happens?
Hanson: Well, first off I think it's important that the buyers know that each lake has a different personality and depending on what the buyer wants to do on the lake determines what lake would be better suited for their needs. A lot of them come in thinking that they are just buying a lake home. Once they start getting into it they realize that certain things work for them or don't work for them. As their agent, it's my job to educate the buyer about the property and ask the buyer questions in order to assess their needs and then address them. That's why I strive to know all the little details about the properties I show. Where the closest gas station is, where the good restaurants are, where the best swimming holes are, and so on. It's knowing those little details that improve my value as an agent.
LD: If I was interested in purchasing a lake home near Perham, why would I want to live near this community?
Hanson: Perham is a wonderful place to live. We have a top notch hospital with a complete staff and full time surgeon on hand at all times. We also have a state renowned assisted living facility for residents that need extra care. If you have children, you'll be delighted to know that we have strong schools serving elementary through high school aged children. Our thriving downtown that is busy all year round with many different kinds of specialty shops and grocery stores. Our chamber of commerce helps out by offering great financial packages and revolving loans that attract smaller business and keep them here.
The people here are also wonderful. Many of the citizens volunteered to have money deducted from their checks to help pay for our new community center. They were able to raise $2.7 million for the project and now we have a wonderful community center to show for it.
LD: A thriving town and an active community. Sounds like a good fit to me. I haven't even asked you about the surrounding lakes. What are some of them like?
Hanson: The closest to Perham would be Little Pine Lake, that one is about 1,200 acres and its shores have many beautiful sandy beaches. Lots of people have had houses up there for years and have handed them down for generations. Across the way there is Big Pine Lake. This one is a little bigger at 5,000 acres and it does have a few sandy beaches. But Big Pine has much more natural shorelines lined with trees and long grasses. This lake would be perfect for people that want more privacy or just want to enjoy the scenery. The fishing must be great there as well because you can see many fishing houses lining the shores of that lake.
LD: What kind of developments or projects are you currently showing?
Hanson: On Leek and
Trowbridge Lake a number of the old resort cabins are being renovated and then being sold off as individual lots. The catch being that you can improve the building on the property all you want, but you can't increase the square footage of the lot.
Also, on Little Pine, there are a number of condos going up adjacent to a popular golf course. They aren't directly on the lake, but a number of lake home owners are selling their lake homes and then moving into the condo. It's a win-win situation really. New people get to enjoy the lake while the previous owners get to move into a place that's maybe a little bit nicer.
LD: Are there any new developments being planned in your area?
Hanson: The Naterra Company has bought a sizeable amount of river frontage three miles outside of Perham. They are currently platting it for residential use. Currently, I am unsure of any of the particulars.
LSD: What kinds of properties are your clients leaning towards?
Hanson: Well, my buyers tend to fall into two groups, the fixer uppers and the finished products. The fixer-uppers purchase older properties and either renovating them for their own use or they are house flippers where they improve the property and then turn around and sell it for a profit. The people who want the finished product either tear down the old house and have a new one built, or they buy a house that's already been renovated by the previous owner.
For more information on properties in Perham and Otter Tail County please visit Jen Hanson's listing page on LakeshoreDreams.com.
