Longtime Duluth real estate agent Tracy Ramsay says recruiters have told her the cold weather is a barrier to attracting talent. More recently, however, recruiters have been reporting a different deterrent: long, frustrating house-hunts.
Ramsay’s idea for combatting the area’s significant housing shortage was to launch a new real estate-slash-lifestyle magazine called North in February. “The only thing I could think to do was to try to help people who aren’t from here better understand and appreciate our city — and realize that it’s worth the wait.”
Ramsay attributes Duluth’s outdoorsy, down-to-earth culture to its modest size and close proximity to nature. It’s the kind of place, she says with a laugh, where she wears Sorels with a dress to show a house when the roads aren’t plowed.
North magazine’s large format and sleek design give it the gravitas of a coffee-table book. It reads, in part, like a glossy lifestyle magazine, with veteran writers from Outside, Midwest Home and Mpls.St.Paul covering the North Shore’s enviable homes and luxury experiences (a boutique hotel in Bayfield, Wis.; glamping in Beaver Bay; a highly anticipated golf course).
There are also articles that delve into serious questions facing the region. Will climate refugees spur a population boom in Duluth? What can be done about that housing shortage? The publication doubles as Ramsay’s marketing vehicle, with a section featuring mostly million-dollar homes for sale and recently sold.
Ramsay hopes to produce North twice a year, mailing copies to targeted households in northern Minnesota and distributing them to area hotels and resorts. (In the Twin Cities, copies are available at the Minneapolis Land Rover dealership; digital editions are at northhomeandlife.com)
Ramsay said that she’s seen an influx of high-end home buyers relocating to Duluth from places like California and Washington for jobs at major employers such as Essentia Health, St. Luke’s Hospital and Cirrus Aircraft. Some clients from drier climates say they see Lake Superior as a refuge. “There are people buying here in anticipation of not having water, and that’s really scary,” she said.
Most of Ramsay’s Twin Cities clients are looking for vacation homes, having cultivated an appreciation of Duluth as a frequent travel destination. “I feel like there’s a lot of love from the area,” she said.