First Weber Group REALTORS®: Wisconsin Real Estate

$175 million dollar house sold?  I always wonder where people who have such expensive, be-all, end-all homes move to next.  But then, they probably don't MOVE at all.  People with this kind of money probably have a number of homes they divide their time between.  What a luxury, no pun intended.

from Dec 1- Dec 16, contribute healthy, recently
purchased non-perishable food items at any location below.
let’s work together to help those in need in our communities.

Thank you!

First Weber North Shore: 4650 N. Port Washington Rd
First Weber Mequon: 1500 W. Mequon Rd
First Weber Metro South: 10521 W. Layton Ave
First Weber Muskego: W189 S7769 Racine Ave
First Weber Waukesha: 1507 E. Sunset Drive
First Weber Lake Country: 2750A Golf Rd
First Weber Elmbrook: 12665 W. North Ave
First Weber West/Northwest: 8201 W. Capitol Dr
First Weber West Bend: 1720 Clarence Ct

Luxury home buyers and sellers are a different animal. 

Marketing to them and working with them requires an acquired

 expertise.  Acquiring and/or honing that expertise was the goal

 of First Weber's Luxury Home Marketing two day seminar

featuring national speaker Laurie Moore-Moore. (yes, that is her name!)

Moore-Moore is the President of the

Institute for Luxury Home Marketing and delivered

a very valuable program to the following agents

who are now members of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing:

Melissa Baxter, First Weber Capitol office

Jeff Berg, First Weber North Shore office

Beth Boening, First Weber East Towne office

Julie Bowes, First Weber West Towne office

Stephanie Brunkhorst, First Weber Brookfield

Cathy Brunsell, First Weber West Towne office

Ed Busse, First Weber East Towne office

Ann Cardinale, First Weber West Towne office

Wendy Crawford, First Weber North Shore office

Darby Cusick, First Weber Brookfield office

Mary Deeken, First Weber Brookfield office

Debby Dines, First Weber Capitol office

Jennifer Dullere, First Weber Lake Mills office

Calene Ehrlich, First Weber Mauston office

Kathy Fleming, First Weber West Towne office

Sheridan Glen, First Weber Capitol office

Susan Godfrey, First Weber Brookfield office

Pam Grant, First Weber North Shore office

Mark Hamilton, First Weber West Towne office

Marcy Harrig, First Weber Muskego office

Don Huibregtse, First Weber Cottage Grove office

Julie Lang, First Weber Racine office

Melissa LeGrand, First Weber West Towne office

Mike Mercer, First Weber Muskego office

Michael Mraz, First Weber West Towne office

Shelly Metzer, First Weber Lake Mills office

Rita Padfield, First Weber West Madison/Fitchburg office

Mike Payton, First Weber Lake Country office

Lynn Plotz, First Weber Lake Mills office

Monika Ramsey, First Weber East Towne office

Erika Roethe, First Weber West Towne office

Kelly Rogers, First Weber West Towne office

Kelly Seaman, First Weber North Shore office

Jacci See, First Weber Middleton office

Laura Shivley, First Weber West Madison/Fitchburg office

Lauren Siegel, First Weber Norths Shore office

Nancy K. Smith, First Weber Dodgeville office

Scotty Smith, First Weber Pardeville ofice

Sherri Swan-Edmonds, First Weber East Towne office

Scott Swick, First Weber Fond du Lac office

Jennifer Villarreal, First Weber Waukesha office

Wendy Wagner, First Weber Menomonee Falls office

Lynn Wheat, First Weber North Shore office

Charlie Wills, First Weber West Towne office

Kathy Zastrow, First Weber West Madison/Fitchburg office.

Congratulations!

More than 1,000 Wisconsin residents still have not received a tax refund because the refunds could not be delivered via mail according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report today. See The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Data on Demand page to search records for all counties in Wisconsin.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report,

"A refund check is normally returned as undeliverable when a taxpayer moves without updating his or her address with either the U.S. Postal Service or the IRS," said Christopher Miller, IRS spokesman in Milwaukee. He suggests using direct deposit to a bank account as a way to avoid the problem.

To check the status of a refund, a taxpayer can use the "Where's My Refund?" tool on IRS.gov or by calling 1-800-829-1954 

I remember getting my refund - but hey, I checked anyway.  You never know what you may find.

There is a new group called The Wisconsin Way whose goal is to start a "public conversation about lowering property taxes and ensuring excellence in public service."  This group is the brainchild of the Wiscosnin Counties Association, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, Wisconsin REALTORS Association, Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association and Wood Communications Group. 

This sounds like an very ambitious project - but one well worth pursuing.  And The Wisconsin Way needs help. It was not meant to operate in a vacuum - but involve Wisconsin tax payers and invite opinions, discussion and ideas through a series of public meetings.  See a schedule of their website here and please attend one near you. Together we can make Wisconsin better than ever. 

For further information about The Wisconsin Way and their public forums please visit their web site, call 800-919-3012 or email wisconsinway@wcgpr.com

How much real estate is being sold in Southeastern Wisconsin these days?  From all the depressing news you read and hear, you may think very few homes are being sold and nobody is buying.

The truth is A LOT of Wisconsin real estate is being sold and the statistics prove it. Price right, sellers! Act now buyers!  Don't be fooled into thinking that nothing is selling.  Prices might not be what they once were, but it is still very possible to buy or sell a home. See the following 3rd quarter 2007 statistics on SOLD properties as reported by the Metro Milwaukee Multiple Listing Service.

We can help you buy or sell wherever you are in Wisconsin so if you are ready, please contact us at realestateinfo@firstweber.com.  We would be happy to provide real estate services to you, just as we are happy to be able to share information with you on the First Weber Group Wisconsin real estate news blog.

To attract the most buyers and likely increase the sale price, sellers may consider certain upgrades before listing their home for sale.  But what do buyers want? And how much will they pay for them?

The following statistics are from the 2007 NAR profile of Buyers' Home Feature Preferences report.  Some are very easy updates to make-- go out and buy fancy new appliances! Others, like distance to work, you can obviously do nothing about.

Some of these numbers are surprising to me, but to each his own. I myself would pay more for professional landscaping than is listed here. And probably not as much for hardwood floors.  The above stats provide no guarantee that such improvements WILL increase the value of a home, but they certainly would not decrease it either.

Sellers, what have you done to spruce up your house, and have you seen any results? Home Buyers here in the Wisconsin real estate market - what would you add to this list ?

As always, happy to have you readng the blog. Drop us a comment or suggestion anytime.