LAKE LIFE WKND is a lifestyle podcast from northern Minnesota. In each episode, we will highlight upcoming events, share local news and we will interview a lake life guest from the area to speak about their engagement to the area.

This weekly podcast will benefit vacationers as well as residents in the
area to get latest updates and cool insights.

At www.lakelifewknd.com we share the podcast and a complete event schedule for the area as well as a stories section and destination tips. This website is the only platform of its kind in the local area merging all necessary information to enjoy your weekend!

Since 1966 Jack Chivers has worked in commercial real estate which is the foundation of the new division of business consulting services we have established. He will be leading the Business Broker and Commercial Sales side and Dirk Ockhardt will work as a Business Strategy & Analytics advisor.

Further, we have added Doug Gillam as Director of Research & Marketing to meet our promises and increase the quality of our services provided. He brings more than 30 years of experience in local, national and international sales to the group. Together they will cover the states of Minnesota and North Dakota to provide the following services:

Business Strategy | Commercial Real Estate | Mergers & Acquisitions

The J.Chivers Business Advisory group is a comprehensive partner for growing businesses. Today’s dynamic environment may have a direct impact on an organization’s bottom line. It can be challenging to keep up with changing consumer behaviors and market developments. We consult our clients on business strategies to stay on track and advise them during the growth process. Our services make businesses more successful.

Additional information can be found at www.chiversadvisory.com

RIBBON CUTTING AND OPEN HOUSE

The new JCR office opens doors in downtown Perham which is strategically located to grow market outreach and continue servicing its clients better. This new satellite office also has a store front as the existing offices in Fargo and Vergas. At all locations, JCR permanently displays local real estate property for sale in a street side window. This type of traditional advertising has proven great success over the past years and will be utilized at all future satellite offices. Buyers stop to look at flyers, take the LAKE LIFE magazine and feel more invited to enter. This marketing strategy also gives sellers an advertising advantage.

A new, full time agent, Jason Witzke, manages the new location and services the Perham marketplace. Jason is another local expert who adds great value to the JCR group and will work for clients in the Perham and surrounding area. His 15 years of experience in the real estate industry, including mortgage leading, property investments and sales, make him a priceless resource for both buyers and sellers for all real property types.

Ribbon cutting on Friday, November 11th at 10:30am at 107 West Main Street, Perham
Public is invited to meet the Chivers and visit the new office during the open house weekend
Friday, November 18 from 10am-5pm and Saturday, November 19 from 12pm-4pm

JCR Land Co. is a new division of the group focused on hunting land and acreage

JCR Land Co. is a new division of Jack Chivers Realty specialized on land properties for hunting and recreational use. The new group of experts posses extensive knowledge and education of wildlife management and land conservation. Our improved services now supersede industry standards to serve both buyers and sellers better in the greater central Minnesota region with all real estate transactions.

Selling land does not only require necessary knowledge on land properties, but also access to market data for best pricing as well as a network of buyers. The new group of experts have access to all our resources available paired with extensive backgrounds to meet highest client expectation.

Our land experts are based in the heart of lakes country with a new office space at the LAKE LIFE lounge in Vergas, MN. This location is growing to be a meeting point for individuals seeking any kind of information on real estate properties in lakes country.

Learn more about JCR Land Co.at www.jcrland.com

In 1966, Jack came to Detroit Lakes in Minnesota and began his career as a professional in real estate sales. He started working for Calhoun Realty out of Minneapolis on April 1, 1966 and worked the tristate area as a commercial sales agent for the following 1 ½ decades. He has sold small and larger businesses, e.g. hotels, newspapers, gas stations and shopping centers and more.

Jack then found his nitch as a „Lake Expert“ in the greater area around Detroit Lakes. On June 2, 1980 he founded his own brokerage named Jack Chivers Realty, offering both residential and commercial real estate services.

To this day, Jack is the most experienced and most successful real estate professional in possibly the whole tri-state area. His name has become an icon for recreational real property sales and is known far beyond local borders. On top of that, he is one of very few in the nation celebrating more than 50 years of industry experience and still actively selling.

Today, we have the honor to congratulate him on his anniversary and are proud to share he has no
intentions of retirement any time soon and continues to be active as a Broker Associate and mentor to our sales team.

We are proud to announce that our top producing agent Lisa Jasken Peterson was awarded the highest honors by the Lakes Country Association of Realtors (LCAR)in Detroit Lakes and received the REALTOR of the year award 2015 at the annual membership meeting.

Lisa is a Minnesota native that became passionate for the real estate industry when she started
building homes prior to becoming a real estate agent four years ago. She is highly organized,
dedicated, and driven which has helped her serve several clients at one time and create an impressive sales history. With her experience in home sales, organizational coaching and graphic design - Lisa brings a creative element and a strong marketing background to the Jack Chivers Realty group.

Her REALTOR Spirit has been outstanding and she has been active in the LCAR Community
Interaction Committee. She has been great at generating ideas within the committee and showed how much she cares about our communities during the REALTORS Volunteer across Minnesota Week of Service this year. Over the past years she always strived to participate in association activities such as REALTOR Ring Day to name one. In the community she is very involved in her church, with school sports, is a former Jaycee, and is currently a Lakes Country Chamber Ambassador. She is married to Ben Peterson and the mother of 6 children.

The REALTOR of the Year is the highest honor that the Lakes Country Association of REALTORS can award to one of its members. The Award is presented annually to a REALTOR nominated by their peers, then selected by the REALTOR of the Year Committee, an impartial panel made up of members appointed by the Board of Directors.

The REALTOR of the Year award is given to the REALTOR member who best exemplifies the
Association’s dedication to professionalism, volunteerism, and involvement in the community as well as in the Lakes Country Association of REALTORS.

The all new Lake Life lounge will open its doors in Vergas, Minnesota this August. The new location by Jack Chivers Realty offers a different approach to interact with clients and guests from outside the area to learn more about owning local and recreational real estate.

The lounge is centrally located in the heart of Lakes Country and will be open to the public year round. This unique environment will be used for client functions as well as possible art exhibits or similar events. JCR also plans to continue their “My First Lake Home” class series at their new location.

With the JCR main offices and the kiosk in downtown Detroit Lakes as well as a branch office in downtown Fargo, the Lake Life lounge becomes JCR’s fourth location to serve their clients. JCR continues to grow for better client accessibility and service for both selling and buying clients.

Local experts are local, something JCR stands for. Therefore, they decided to make themselves
available to buyers and sellers in Vergas as well. A full time agent will be available for clients at the new location year round.

The Grand Opening is scheduled for Saturday, August 22, 2015 from 4:00 to 8:00pm. JCR will share the latest Real Estate Market Updates over drinks and appetizers accompanied by live jazz music.

Since 1966, Jack Chivers is known in lakes country for Marketing beyond Borders. To this day, the agency follows the established traditions and remains the leading sales agency in the area. The market in 2015 is very strong, in fact it is the best year within the past 15 years. JCR sold more properties during the first half of this year compared to all of last year’s sales.

With the group consisting of 11 real estate experts and 3 full time office employees, JCR is capable of serving all clients with the complete spectrum of real estate from City, Rural and Lakeshore residential sales as well as land development and commercial real estate. JCR is the only agency in the area with a non-competing broker who is represented by sales agents.

Iconic Detroit Lakes real estate agent Jack Chivers has sold his business — but he will remain there as a sales agent and will lead the eight-person sales team. Fargo businessman Dirk Ockhardt and two silent investors purchased Jack Chivers Realty on Jan. 1.

Ockhardt will serve as the new managing broker and president of Jack Chivers Realty.

He said he will focus on business quality, strategy, marketing and growth.

Jack Chivers Realty has sold more Minnesota lake homes, investment properties and commercial properties than any other real estate agency in the Detroit Lakes area, Ockhardt said.

It features properties locally, nationally and now also internationally, with connections in Europe through Ockhardt, who was born and raised near Düsseldorf, Germany.

Chivers has been in real estate sales since 1966.

He started his real estate career at Calhoun Realty of Minneapolis, and for the next 13 years he was a leading salesperson on the 200-person sales team, winning top honors 12 out of 13 years.

He launched Jack Chivers Realty in Detroit Lakes in 1985.

Jack Chivers Realty, on average, performs double the sales of its closest competitors, Ockhardt said.

“Jack and his team serve with excellence and integrity, and are the market leader in client satisfaction,” he added.

Ockhardt became familiar with the Midwest and Canada, first as a foreign exchange student in the lakes area, and later as a member of the German Air Force, stationed for a year in Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada.

He has an interesting background: In 2000 he started his sales career with Dresdner Bank in Essen, Germany.

He earned an associate degree in banking, and planned to continue in an MBA program, but he got swept up in the world of art, eventually running his own art brokerage for several years before he returned to school to earn a law degree.

He returned to the Midwest in 2009 to raise a family and focused on real estate sales.

Ockhardt said he started his real estate career in 2011 with one goal in mind: to become a real estate broker.

He engaged with Jack Chivers to transition into the role of an owner-broker in 2012.  Last year, he founded Ockhardt Realty — the holding company for Jack Chivers Realty — with two silent partners in Fargo.

Ockhardt serves the community as a member of the Historic Preservation Commission for the City of Fargo, a member of the Board of Directors of the Rourke Art Museum, an active Fargo Rotarian and a committee member of the local realtor association.

He also co-founded the SoMA Fargo neighborhood (South of Main Avenue) in downtown Fargo and is an active downtown community member.