Mr. and Mrs. Kraus Blog

This weekend was a wonderful celebration of a major achievement for Mrs. Kraus: college graduation! Saturday morning she walked across the big stage and received her college diploma. I can’t say enough just how proud of her I am. It’s truly an amazing accomplishment. She worked very hard and did very well, graduating cum laude.

Fishing after Mrs. Kraus's graduation

To celebrate her graduation, we went camping.  We caught some fish and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  We caught a number of channel catfish, and even some surprise walleye (which we of course released back to the river, because the walleye opener is next weekend.  D’oh!).

We have really been getting into mountain biking lately, which has been a lot of fun.  Last summer we bought mountain bikes and a rooftop bike racking system for our car.  We loaded up the bikes and spent a few days up near Duluth, enjoying some great biking and camping at places like Gooseberry Falls and Splitrock Lighthouse.  This summer we plan to enjoy a lot of great biking adventures!

I just posted a number of graduation pictures on Facebook, so friends and family go take a look.  You can even see a video of Mrs. Kraus walking the stage and receiving her diploma.  So proud!

Chad Kraus fishing, mountain biking, Mrs. Kraus

I first made this website so that I could share information about our upcoming wedding.  Three years have passed, and over time the website has evolved to fulfill two purposes:

1. A place for me to experiment with and learn about web topics, like WordPress, Google Adsense, etc.

2. A way to share my thoughts and what’s new with family and friends (and occasionally share something I’ve learned about).

When I first started blogging, I got lots of comments from a few people.  But over time, the comments have become non-existent.  So I have to ask:  Is there anybody out there?

What I’m saying is, if nobody reads this anymore, it’s pretty pointless for me to continue with the current theme of this website.  Probably, Facebook is just as good as anything to spend the time sharing what’s new.

So here is what I’m asking:  If you read this blog fairly regularly, meaning, if you check it periodically, or if you read ALL of my articles because they just pop up in your Google Reader, then do me a favor buds!  If you read the articles in Google Reader, click the link to come to the site.  Once you are here, leave me a comment.  It doesn’t have to be very much, but I sure would enjoy hearing what you thought.  If you are on the home page, there is a link to leave a comment near the top of the article.  If you are on the page for a specific article, then you should find a comment form at the bottom of the article.

Thanks!

Chad Kraus

Dad and Kathy visited during the week of my birthday, and we worked the real estate scene. We spent a good Saturday looking at homes online and then driving by each one. From there we decided which ones we wanted to see. I let my REALTOR know, and he made the appointments for Monday after work. After seeing our top 4, two of them were purchase-worthy. Mrs. Kraus and I decided which one we preferred and we made an offer. After some good negotiating, we got it done by Tuesday evening, and the closing is set for the end of June.

Dad and Kathy were an awesome help during the whole search. They have a lot of experience with real estate. Here are some of the things I learned:

1. Be practical. Make a list of the things you want in a home and be sure the one you buy has the most important features. But don’t overspend. Don’t buy too much house. Staying practical might mean conceding one or two things you’d like to have, but don’t necessarily need.

2. Start looking low in the price scale and work upwards as needed. We started with the lower priced homes to see what it could get us. When we realized that a price range just wouldn’t get us what we needed, we upped the range by $10,000 increments until we found our price range.

3. Keep maintenance in mind. What about the house is already done? Have they recently redone the siding or roof? What is the condition/age of the AC unit and furnace? If these things are new or recently replaced, that’s money you won’t have to spend anytime soon. A house might seem like a great buy, but if there are 10’s of thousands of dollars in maintenance coming up in the near future, you might think again.

4. Don’t fall in love. You should never decide you can’t live without a house until it’s officially yours. In this market you can find a home you’ll love for a great deal. Your first offer might be rejected or you might lose the home to another buyer. Don’t over-pay or fall prey to a bidding war because you fell in love too soon. Be willing to move on to the next house. Chances are, your willingness to walk away might just land you the home you wanted for a lower price.

It was a great week. We learned a lot and had fun looking. A very heartfelt thanks again to my parents for their help and advice, and to my REALTOR Russ for being available when needed and for making things happen (he spent a lot of time with us this week).

Chad Kraus Dad, real estate

Remember that painting of Al’s I mentioned I like? Mrs. Kraus likes it too– so we bought it!

Reminds me of fly fishing last summer

It reminds me of last summer when Mrs. Kraus and I camped at Whitewater State Park. The banks of the trout stream were really wide, so it was easy to cast my fly rod. It was so nice I fished for hours and got blisters. But they were the good kind of blisters!

Chad Kraus camping, fishing, Waggie Art