Wisconsin Real Estate Blog

Real people selling real estate AND making pickles.

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:09:34 +0000

This has absolutely nothing to do with real estate! Just a post to show that First Weber is made up of of real people who also have talents beyond selling Wisconsin real estate.

Oregon First Weber Office Samples Homemade Pickles

Oregon had a contest for the people in the office who make home-made pickles. We had bread/butter pickles, sweet pickles, chili peppers, mustard peppers, and Jalepeño pickles and dill, of course. So we called it our pickle-off for November 10, 2009. The pickle makers are: John Norwell, Oscar Larson, Tom Jordan, Sharon Christensen and Beth Foss.

I would have liked to have been there to taste. No information on the winner has been provided....

First Weber Tomah office family food drive

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:57:06 +0000

The First Weber Tomah crew and family went door to door collecting items for the local food pantry. Armed with shopping carts, pushing them up and down the street they were able to collect approximately 400 lbs. of food. It was lots of fun and they were well received by all they met along the way.

Sounds like fun! A great idea getting the whole family involved too. Thanks to all who participated by gathering food, and of course, donating food.

Reader question about Lottery tax credit

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:26:20 +0000

A question was asked yesterday by a reader:

"What exactly is the Wisconsin Lottery Real Estate Tax Credit?"

Barb McGill, our Director of First Weber Group Milwaukee, Wisconsin Career Development and resident go-to person answers:

"The Wisconsin Lottery Tax Credit has been used to reduce property tax bills on primary residences (where the owner lives) since 1999. The Credit is determined by a formula that considers how much revenue was generated by the state lottery and a few other gaming sources and the school tax rate for your community.For more information contact your county treasurer or City of Milwaukee Treasurer."

Or you could also see this website which is the Wisconsin Dept of Revenue.

Let us know of you have a real estate question by leaving a comment or clicking on the ask a question button.

Wausau, Wisconsin home sale statistic update for October

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:11:26 +0000

Statistics for Single Family Home sales in the Wausau, Wisconsin area from 2004 and 2008 are documented in the pdf below. Thank you to Ron Zahrt, First Weber Wausau, for providing these Wausau real estate statistics.

Bar_Chart_of_sales__October_09.pdf

It is no real surprise that home sales are down in Wausau since 2004. Yet this year's sales so far are pretty close to sales in 2008. Sales also have been noticeably steady in 2009 with less seasonal ups and downs than previous years. The fall real estate market remains good. In fact, if we look at September-October sales for the last 6 years, October 2008 and October 2009 were the only years where sales increased during those months.

We predict a strong finish for 2009. In all of 2008, 1249 Wausau area single family homes were sold. So far (as of Oct 31, 2009) 1010 units were sold. With the extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit it is probable that First Weber Group will end 2009 ahead of last year.

If you have questions relating to Wausau real estate, please let us know.

October real estate sales soar in Milwaukee area

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:47:15 +0000

October was a fantastic month for Metro Milwaukee residential real estate! (November had good news too, but we'll get to that later) These statistics are courtesy of the Metro Milwaukee Multiple Listing Service.

Sales soared 33% over October of last year.

1191 homes were sold MLS wide October, 2007.

1093 homes were sold October, 2008

1464 homes were sold this October, 2009.

The First Time Homebuyer credit certainly had something to do with this. The credit, due to expire November 30, had many buyers scrambling to close by then. Thankfully, on November 7, 2009, the credit was extended until April 30, 2009 with extra time added to close. (That's November's good news so far) Normally, November's sales slow down - a simple seasonal thing. It will be very interesting to see November's sales this year. I am betting they will be strong!

This is all great news for Wisconsin homeowners! If you have Wisconsin real estate market question, please send us a comment and let us know what you are looking for.

The Moderne condominiums in downtown Milwaukee moving forward

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:17:20 +0000

The Moderne condominiums in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin is approved and expected to break ground in December.

You can see individual units listed for sale through First Weber Group here, more on this condo project at this project page on firstweber.com, or at this Moderne website or at this article in BizTimes.com

The development has a prime location at Juneau and Old World Third Street in downtown Milwaukee. First Weber Group has been marketing The Moderne for several years. We're thrilled to see the approval come through.

Take a look at the links above and let us know your thoughts on The Moderne condos.

Metro Milwaukee real estate market becomes more balanced

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:06:30 +0000

The real estate market in most of the counties in Metro Milwaukee is becoming more balanced. The third quarter stat report from the Metro Milwaukee MLS ranks counties from a 1 (buyer's market) to a 5 (seller's market). We're happy to report that Milwaukee County, Waukesha County, Ozaukee County, and Washington County are ranked as 3, indicating balanced. Racine County was ranked as 2, showing a slight lean to the buyer's market side. The "days on market" for all these counties went down slightly, meaning it took less time to sell.

Third quarter, 2009 sales in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Racine and Washington Counties were all up over second quarter, 2008 as shown below:

County	# homes sold 2nd Q 2008	# homes sold 3rd Q 2009
Milwaukee	1578	1730
Waukesha	827	985
Ozaukee	179	214
Racine	390	413
Washington	265	289

The Homebuyer tax credit was extended and expanded to include current homeowners. This should have an additional boost on sales. When you're ready to search for a new home, please do so at firstweber.com

Home buyer tax credit extended for first time homebuyers, expanded to current homeowners

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:58:37 +0000

Huge news on the Wisconsin real estate front about how the new extended and expanded home buyer tax credit can help out homebuyers and sellers!

One of the most important inclusions in the new tax credit is that it also includes existing homeowners. Up to $6500 is available. As usual, "certain restrictions apply". See more at firstweber.com and nar.com This credit is good on contracts written up to April 30, 2010. There is then additional time to close. See details in the link above.

The $8000 credit for first time home buyers is being extended until April 30, 2009. Thank goodness, because the previous deadline to close was November 30, 2009. The new credit is good on contracts written up until April 30, 2010. Again, restrictions apply so read the facts at firstweber.com and other links you'll find there.

In my opinion, this is fantastic news for Wisconsin home sellers and home buyers, and certainly Wisconsin Realtors as well. If you have questions, please contact us, send a comment or ask a question.

If you just can't wait to start searching for a home, here's a link to our search page!. There are almost 80,000 searchable at firstweber.com - five Multiple Listing Services across the state. If you want Wisconsin real estate, firstweber.com is an excellent place to get it. Contact us when you feel you are ready to proceed and we'll walk you through the whole process.

Foreclosures down in Metro Milwaukee area ...

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Foreclosures were down 12.5% in the southeastern Wisconsin compared with October, 2008, according to this post on jsonline.com. Foreclosures were also down 8.5% from September, 2009. It's always nice to pass along good news!

Two "TOP" mentions for Madison, WI

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:33:10 +0000

If you are thinking of moving to Madison, Wisconsin, here are two positive items to consider.

Madison is the #11 Healthiest Housing Market in the Builderonline.com Housing Market list.

Being the capitol city and home to the University of Wisconsin helps to keep unemployment low. The article states that Madison is one of the most educated workforces in the nation and consistently ranks well as a great place to live and work. That is great press for Madison!

In another web article today from msnbc.com, Madison, Wisconsin came in at #9 for the Healthiest cities for Women. (all those walking students may play a factor - the UW is a huge campus to cover, sometimes one end to another from class to class. I remember that very well...) The article states that 85% of women in Madison get regular exercise outside of work. That IS an impressive number! There are lots of bike trails in Madison and Madison is home to the Bicycling Federation of Wisconsin which holds a bike-awareness week every year.

That's enough good news about Madison for the day! We're always happy to spread good news about our Wisconsin cities. If you are relocating and are interested in information on other Wisconsin communities, please let us know and we'd be happy to help.

Thanks for reading. What other good stories about Madison, WI do you have? This could get interesting - college town, you know!

First Weber Group opens its doors to ten experienced agents!

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:49:19 +0000

First Weber welcomes ten experienced agents from First Realty, GMAC!

We are thrilled to have these quality agents

on the First Weber team!

Welcome:

Carla Corriveau, Brookfield office

Darlene Guernsey, Metro West office

Kathy Mitchell, Brookfield office

Joan Pray, Brookfield office

Michael Sadowski, Brookfield office

Laurie Schubert, Waukesha office

Judi Stier, Brookfield office

Dan Weber, Brookfield office

Jennifer Talsky-Wielgosh, Brookfield office

Kathy Witt, Lake Country office

(Names are listed to match the order of the pictures)

We look forward to working with these outstanding agents and their clients and customers!

Great support of the United Way

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:44:34 +0000

Wisconsin Rapids Holds a Tasty United Way Fundraiser

On Tuesday, Oct 20, the Wisconsin Rapids office held a taco lunch to benefit the United Way. Annette Schmidt was the coordinator of this event and did a great job, others from the office donated to the event and worked at the event! $454 was donated to the United Way from this event. Many hands make light work!

NICE WORK!

And number 11 is... you suggest it.

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:26:18 +0000

I read with anticipation a list of America's top 10 cool small towns, thinking Wisconsin surely would be included. Alas, no Wisconsin town in that list/slide show. I have not personally checked out all the towns on the list, though I would love to - they do look pretty great. (The link to the slide show is here. Compliments of bing and msn.com)

If they extended the list to top 11, which Wisconsin small town would you suggest be added and why? Don't forget the "why"!

My vote would be for Mineral Point, Wisconsin and the why is because of the artist community and the history in the town.

There are many more - waiting for your ideas!

Thanks for sharing!

Wisconsin fall events

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:32:30 +0000

There's a lot of fall happenings going on all across Wisconsin in the next week. If the weather is not frightful, check out some of these Wisconsin events, compliments of Wistravel.com. Anyone ever been to the UFO parade in Belleville? What about the Halloween Candlelight Cave Tour in Chilton?

Third Quarter Dane County real estate statistics now available

nospam@example.com (Katie Huebschen, First Weber Group) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:32:34 +0000

Market Statistics for Dane County - 1st, 2nd and 3rd Quarter 2009

Madison West:

List Price: $249,900/ $249,900/ $259,900
Sale Price: $241,250/ $244950/ $252,500
List to Sale Ratio: 96.5%/ 98%/ 97.15%
Days On Market: 69 days/ 51 days/ 65 days

Madison East:

List Price: $183,400/ $184,900/ $189,900
Sale Price: $179,850/ $177,500/ $183,500
List to Sale Ratio: 98.1%/ 96%/ 96.65%
Days On Market: 58 days/ 79 days/ 66 days

Sun Prairie:

List Price: $211,150/ $205,000/ $213,700
Sale Price: $206,450/ $197,500/ $205,000
List to Sale Ratio: 97.7%/ 96.3%/ 95.93%
Days On Market: 68 days/ 85 days/ 81 days

Verona:

List Price: $289,900/ $292,400/ $265,950
Sale Price: $285,000/ $285,950/ $251,000
List to Sale Ratio: 98.3%/ 98%/ 94.38%
Days On Market: 102 days/ 58 days/ 58 days

Waunakee:

List Price: $367,400/ $349,900/ $349,900
Sale Price: $351,450/ $335,000/ $349,900
List to Sale Ratio: 95.6%/ 96%/ 100%
Days On Market: 102 days/ 57 days/ 88 days

Fitchburg:

List Price: $278,900/ $294,900/ $269,900
Sale Price: $265,000/ $287,500/ $259,000
List to Sale Ratio: 95%/ 97%/ 95.96%
Days On Market: 93 days/ 74 days/ 73 days

Cottage Grove:

List Price: $223,900/ $249,900/ $234,200
Sale Price: $209,450/ $242,500/ $233,700
List to Sale Ratio: 93.5%/ 97%/ 99.79%
Days On Market: 49 days/ 57 days/ 57 days

Thanks to Charlie Wills for these compiling these statistics. It will be interesting to see the fourth quarter stats - the first time buyer tax credit ending soon should make for a strong finish! If there are other statistics you are looking for, please let us know and we will get them for you!