"In my opinion, home buying is a stressful experience, but Angie had exceptional patience with me and always had solutions to problems that arose. Angie always made herself available for questions and was very easy to contact. There were a few problems identified during the property inspection and Angie contacted me immediately with answers to resolve all situations."

"Resourceful and knowledgeable with condo situations and next steps" said Michelle. "The pictures and virtual tour were professional and welcoming- I was a skeptic from previous Realtor experience. Resourceful and knowledgeable with condo situations and next steps. Overall 5-star experience, your team was professional, polite, friendly, and timely. Internally and externally the hand off between realtors when ours had a family emergency was seamless. Foremost in the electronic day- Diane and Jeremy responded to emails and texts immediately. It made us feel like family. All we can say is thank you! thank you! thank you!"

"We called David regarding a listing and within 24 hours we had an accepted offer on the land. He was very responsive and understand our wants and needs. He was easy to get ahold of and even called us on a Saturday morning regarding the accepted offer. I highly recommend working with David!!!"

"We were so pleased with the entire experience. Richelle was professional, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to work with."

"Excellent. John was super responsive and lovely to work with... and Lisa handled a complicated closing with a tight turn around quickly and efficiently. And both put up with lots of questions from my family!"

"Michael was fantastic, attentive, and a great help."

"Michael was a great agent and help me the best. The selling agent was very helpful and professional."

"David and Shirin always took time to answer any and all questions and concerns promptly and professionally while showing compassion and understanding throughout the entire listing and sale process."

"Great attention to detail. All my expectations were exceeded. I was looking for market experience and you came through."

"My bank was less than stellar at accomplishing their few tasks involved with this sale, I thank goodness for Eliason's efficiency with how my situation was handled."

"A statue should be erected to honor the manner in which Jeremy shepherded this deal to completion. Truly, he found a way to be human in his kindness and answering every question while understanding the intricate details needed to navigate every aspect. This felt like landing a jumbo jet on an aircraft carrier and he made it happen. We couldn't be more pleased with the service and support he provided at every turn."

"A huge thank you to Joe for coming in and helping us seal the deal. He was great to work with, always responded to questions/concerns in a timely manner, and helped us easily navigate the home purchasing process."

David and Lisa were absolutely the best. Both were extremely responsive, professional, friendly, knowledgeable, and always willing to take a call or answer a question. This is the second time we purchased land through Eliason and both times we had great experiences. We will continue to look to David and Eliason Realty as our number one resource for land and real estate.

Your vacation home. This is the place families make memories that last a lifetime. When it comes time to make a change and sell this important investment, it can be a little scary. Over the next few months, we are going to introduce you to several families who have gone through the process of selling their homes through Eliason Realty of the North. These are people who have gone through the emotional process as well as the financial aspects of home selling. You may have specific questions about how to list your home. We hope you will find that these clients had great experiences and this will be of help when you chose a real estate agency. Our first story is about the family of Dr. David and Lori Dielentheis of Sheboygan, WI. David Eliason was the listing Realtor for the beautiful log home they sold on Big Sand Lake in Phelps, WI. “My wife and I originally built the property in 1998 and it was our family’s getaway for 20 years,” Dr. David Dielentheis recalled. “Our kids all grew up and started to have kids of their own and we found our family used the property less and less. It became apparent it was time to move on. “It has been a really cherished place for our family and our extended family to get away and recharge our batteries. We got away for special holidays and made it a priority of getting up there for Thanksgiving for as many years that we could. It was really a very special getaway for all of us.” They made the decision to sell and listed it with another agency years before they listed it with Eliason. Unfortunately, it was an unsatisfactory experience. “There was less than an aggressive effort to get the property sold. In defense of the previous Realtor, the market may have not been as good as it was when we started to re-list it. It felt like the efforts to get it sold were primarily the efforts we put into it,” said Dr. Dielentheis. “And oftentimes they wanted us to spend more money on the property. It seemed to us that it was money that was not well-spent. “We had less than half of a dozen showings in greater than a two-year period. We weren’t seeing any interest or movement in the property.” Then family circumstances changed, and they decided to take the property off the market as they thought they might start staying there more frequently. However, this did not happen. In the summer of 2018, the Dielentheis couple began interviewing new real estate agencies in Eagle River and met with David Eliason. “The day I met with Dave Eliason, I felt he was much more enthusiastic, much more excited about taking the property. He seemed much more forthcoming and he just struck me as much more open and honest. “My wife and I talked about the interactions we had with other Realtors and we felt like, ‘You know what? Dave and Eliason Realty was the direction to go.’” The listing was finalized in June. About a month later, David Eliason said he received a call from the couple asking if they should lower the price. "I counseled them that I didn't think they should yet. Price always matters but we don't try to sell on price alone. I told them that should stick with it and let the marketing play out that we put out there 'cause we did a nice job on that. "About 30 days later we got an offer that was about where they thought about a price drop too. So essentially it was like a full price offer for where they would have been otherwise." Before this offer came in, the Dielentheis family thought about putting the selling activity on hold for the upcoming winter months. “Having had the experience we had — it had been listed for three years and really didn’t move,” Dr. Dielentheis explained. “We really didn’t want to have people tromping through during the winter. We felt that it was going to be a very slow period. We were going to up there for Thanksgiving and I said to Dave, let’s take it off the market for the winter. We are up here for Thanksgiving. “But he talked me out of suppressing it for the winter. He said, ‘You know, we get people up here who snowmobile.’ In fact, he said he heard from some people who wanted to look at it over the Thanksgiving Holiday.” Almost miraculously, they had an offer before the end of the holiday weekend and, with some further negotiating, closed before Christmas. In an unsolicited letter from the Dielentheises to David Eliason, they described the qualities David exhibited that got their home sold. “We appreciated the consistent reports of each showing,” they wrote. “We were impressed with the professional quality of the marketing materials used and especially pleased with the seemingly large number of showings. “You clearly understood the necessity of selling the Lake Home Lifestyle and the unique character of our property. And when we began to be discouraged you provided an objective perspective that helped us stay the course. “You went above and beyond our expectations and we sincerely thank you for your dedication and service. Your future clients will be lucky indeed to have David Eliason on their team,” they concluded. Dr. Dielentheis recommends when selling a home, try to separate the emotional attachment from the financial attachment. He also urges sellers to be realistic about the actual market value of the property. Dr. Dielentheis gave heartwarming advice to sellers who have a strong attachment to the home they are selling. “Especially for someone who has an emotional attachment to their property, remember when you sell your property, you don’t sell your memories. The memories you have and all the good times you spent at the property will always travel with you. It doesn’t stay at the house,” he warmly advised. “From our experience, too, finding a Realtor whose advice you can really trust, who will work hard for you to get the sale completed, I think that is what you want to do,” he emphasized. He stressed that he felt that real estate agencies are locally based and that the name of a national agency is not always a good measure for finding an agent. “You really have to look at the personnel and the people that are going to be selling your home and not the name of the agency,” he pointed out. “I don’t think there was anything else that sold the property more than the change of Realtor. I think that was key for us,” he summed up.

"This was a home run. We got what we really wanted even though it did not initially look possible."

"Would never use any other real estate service in the area."

"We were very impressed with our realtor, Joe. He was very helpful and knowledgeable. He was always prompt and answered any questions we had. If he didn't know the answer, he found the answer and got back to us. Would definitely use Joe again!"

"We were very happy with our experience!"

The desire for privacy and isolation inspired Dr. Robert Zimmerman, and his wife Maureen (Mo) to buy two large wilderness lots, totaling 80 acres, in 1998. The property was located 26 miles north of Eagle River in Phelps.

Avid snowmobilers, the Zimmermans built an exquisite custom log home that they used exclusively during the winter while snowmobiling up north.

They rode the northern trails covering Phelps up to Copper Harbor and had put on thousands of miles over the years. However, the time had come to sell the home.

“It came to the point we were using it less because as we were getting older, it was harder to be out on the trails 150 to 200 miles a day. We decided it’s a good time to sell. We figured we would have it for a couple more years as nothing sells up there.”

The home was custom built with the finest materials. It boasts an all-Viking kitchen and custom furniture throughout the two-bedroom home. This is truly a high-end home. Despite its smaller size, the luxurious features demanded a price that Dr. Zimmerman was afraid might scare off potential buyers.

“We thought it might never sell. We thought we might have to give it away. Who would want to spend the kind of money we put into it for a small home?” they had asked themselves. “People who want to spend a lot of money will build a huge home, customize it and then it is easier to sell.”

“I have bought and sold a lot of property. All the property I have bought has been exceptional. The houses we have built have been exceptional,” the doctor explained. “I have worked with a lot of Realtors. I was stunned this worked out the way it did.”

Why was he stunned? Eliason Realtor, Michael Queoff, not only sold a property the Zimmerman’s were concerned about selling but sold it in an amazing 45 days!

Queoff did find a couple who were very interested. The home was in pristine condition. Though it was 19 years old, it had been only used seven weeks a year. In the couple’s absence, they hired a caretaker to groom the property every week.

However, the prospective buyers were insistent on learning about every aspect of the property. This could have been a nightmare as the Zimmermans lived in Lake Geneva, slightly more than 300 miles away.

Queoff stepped in to make sure that the buyers got all the information they needed. Questions and answers flew back and forth and Queoff did the necessary leg work.

One story that both men tell was about the buyer wanting to know what the roof and gutters looked like without needles and leaves. Queoff took it upon himself to clean the roof to the buyer’s satisfaction.

“In the rain,” Dr. Zimmerman pointed out.

“He went out to the house, which is not a short trip from Eagle River to Phelps, on almost a daily basis.

“There were so many things they wanted that I finally said to Mike, ‘Why don’t you cut these people loose?’ But he said, ’No, I am going to pursue this. I am going to keep doing it. I think I can work this.’ He actually bent over so backward it was ridiculous. He got it sold!”

Dr. Zimmerman went on to tell stories of the many homes he has sold. He recalled the Realtors that did not put much work into showing the homes. One even convinced the Zimmermans to take hundreds of thousands of dollars less than they were asking.

Now, a year after the sale, Bob and Mo are missing the Northwoods. Queoff is looking for a property that will be their luxurious winter haven. Zimmerman is confident that when Queoff calls and says he has the perfect property, they will buy it.

“We are pretty in tune. He knows what we're looking for. I really never have been able to work with somebody as well as I worked with Mike. I was stunned that I had to go into the middle of nowhere to find what I would call a great Realtor. Both my wife and I could not believe what he did to get his place sold.”

“Not to put the slight out on Realtors, it’s important for anybody in business to get things moved and they want to move properties. Mike wanted to move property but he actually worked for us, which was fabulous!” Dr. Zimmerman concluded.

Looking for a Realtor you are comfortable with can be daunting. Be sure to ask people you trust to help with recommendations and explain why they liked their Realtor. We know why the Zimmermans are so thrilled with Michael Queoff.

"Our agent Angie was great to work with. She went above and beyond what we expected and hope to work with her again in the future. Angie was very knowledgeable and took the time to understand what we were looking for in our propertysearch...she made our experience one to remember, and we will definitely be passing her contact information along to any friends or relatives that are in the market. Lisa was also very helpful in making sure the close went off without any issues."

"Very helpful and knowledgeable about real estate and buyers and sellers thoughts and needs for the area."

"Very responsive and professional with a personal touch. Diane is top notch! Dealt with everything as it occured and treats you like your only client at the time. She is very well versed in the real estate market and understands there will be issues that come up. She works toward solutions."

"Dara was always ready to go out of her way to help us didn’t matter if it was a night or a weekend."

"Mike was helpful with any questions I had. He also responded quickly to them. Mike was very professional and helpful throughout the process! Thank you"

"I would highly recommend Amber and Marc to anyone. They go over and above to keep buyers and sellers happy and to work out any issues. I have brought and sold many houses and I have to say they were the best agents I ever worked with. Amber was very helpful with dealing with the buyers and their agents when we had a problem with a home inspection. Plus when the buyer decided at late notice that they didn’t want some of the furniture and wanted it removed. Amber and Marc took care of that for us. I felt that everyone at the agency was very friendly and helpful."

"Kelly and Michael were absolutely awesome to work with! Original Buyer did a no show on closing date, however, Kelly was able to secure and close with another offer in less than a month."

"Jeremy and Lisa were just great in all aspects. Lisa coordinated all inspections and resolutions accurately and quickly. Was recommended by our previous realtor in Green Bay. Completly satisfied"

"John and Lisa were both so helpful at getting me through this stressful (due to my bank) situation. John already knows that when I put my house and remaining acres up for sale, he will be my listing agent! I can't say thank you enough for John's (and Lisa's) help!!!"

"Everyone we dealt with was awesome! Couldn't have had a better experience!"

"Lots of details on this sale from drawing new property lines to understanding MFL rules. Very positive. Super efficient and great communication"

I had an unusual and a bit difficult property to sell.... When Rachel Martin took over my listing she brought in more interested folks and got the property sold - full price, in short order. She is knowledgeable, courteous and determined to get your property sold at best price with least amount of hassle. Rachel Martin exemplifies what it means to be a True Professional. An unexpected problem developed right before closing involving the Title Company and unsettled deed. With calm and proficiency, Rachel Martin navigated the situation and got everything solved to both buyer and sellers' satisfaction.