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Wednesday, January 27. 2010
Congratulations to Amy Curler of First Weber's West Bend office on the personal writeup on jsonline. In addition to selling real estate, Amy works with teens and has traveled to assist with Hurricane Katrina rebuilding projects. There's more to the nice story here. Good job of giving back, Amy!
Tuesday, January 26. 2010
 Year end Wisconsin real estate sales numbers are being reported and Wisconsin Realtors gear up for a strong spring selling season. Here is another helpful article in the Northwestern Newspaper in Oshkosh, Wisconsin which discusses the many advantages of buying a home this spring before the expanded tax credit expires.
We at First Weber do try and educate those interested in Wisconsin real estate with articles here at our blog. (And thank you for reading!) We provide a ton of information on properties and the home buying process at firstweber.com. However, perhaps the best way to get going fast is to connect with a Realtor and have a personal conversation. We don't bite, really! You can contact any First Weber Realtor off FirstWeber.com or just let us know if you need help selecting a Realtor. We are here to help you buy and sell Wisconsin real estate. It's our job. How can we help you today?
Friday, January 22. 2010
Looking for a great start to 2010 in Wisconsin real estate! 400 First Weber realtors and more than 100 managers attended First Weber's annual retreat in the Dells this week with 3 national speakers and lots of networking. Congratulations to the many First Weber agents who invested in their careers by attending. Your clients and customers will benefit from what you learned! In addition to speakers, there were announcements and other events. 1. A news spokesperson for the First Weber Foundation was named - Suzy Favor Hamilton, an agent with us and a former Olympian. 2. The First Weber Foundation announced a contribution of $2500 to the Haitian relief fund. In addition to that money, a silent auction was also held which raised an additional $3500 for the relief fund. Thank you to all who participated to help out. 3. A sneak peak of the new Firstweber.com was given on this project that's coming late spring/early summer. We hope our blog readers and website users will enjoy the improvements to come. One last note - WOW, is the Wilderness Resort a giant, beautiful place. The adjacent Glacier Canyon conference center overlooked beautiful, hilly terrain of the Wisconsin woods. We even saw deer walking in the snow during our conference. It was time well spent and this writer left inspired! Thanks for reading! Remember, if you have a real estate question, please drop us a note in the comments or ask a question.
Tuesday, January 19. 2010
Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin were both ranked among the top 20 metro areas for business, according to a survey by MarketWatch.com (as reported in the Dec. 16 BizTimes Daily at BizTimes.com) The survey ranked 101 metro area on 10 metrics each including the number of companies per capita to determine a company concentration score; also looked at were the employment picture, growth and economic stability. Madison scored 12th, with high scores in economic stability. Madison has seen growth in private sector technology and biomedicine at the University of Wisconsin. Milwaukee scored 20th, with high scores for company concentration. Milwaukee is home to such global companies as Harley Davidson Inc., Johnson Controls Incc., Manpower Inc., Rockwell Automation Inc., Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co and more. Sweet!
Monday, January 18. 2010
Meet a guy who knows a lot about Racine real estate.... In his own words, "I have been in the real estate business for a really long time!" He is John Crimmings, Vice President and co-owner of First Weber Group Southern Wisconsin. John shares his knowledge in a great post on his blog specific to Racine entitled "2009 Year in Review". You can read the whole article here. I can assure you, if Racine real estate interests you, you will find John's blog useful. Even if Racine is not what you are looking for, there is information to learn. For example, John explains "absorption rates" which basically means the number of months it takes to absorb all current real estate inventory in a particular community given the current sales activity level. Below are some of John's findings on Single Family Residential homes in Eastern Racine county: 2008 4th quarter: 13.6 months of inventory 2009 1st quarter: 17.2 months of inventory 2009 2nd quarter : 11.3 months of inventory 2009 3rd quarter: 9.7 months of inventory 2009 4th quarter: 8.4 months of inventory We're going in the right direction! "Normal" absorption is considered 6 months.
Nice writing, John!
If there is a specific city you would like absorption rates on, please send us a comment.
Thursday, January 14. 2010
Central Wisconsin Housing Trend For 2010 Article provided by Ron Zahrt, President of First Weber Group Northern Wisconsin Single family residential home sales are showing signs of a recovery from prior year’s sales. Overall the real estate market showed a significant gain over 2008 4th quarter sales in the last quarter of 2009. Single family residential homes sales for the 4th quarter in the Central Wisconsin MLS for 2009 were 711 units compared to 569 homes sold in the 4th quarter in 2008. This amounts to a 137 gain in homes sales or almost a 25% gain in single family home sales for this time period. Much of this increase can be attributable to the housing stimulus package for first time home buyers that was scheduled to expire on November 30th of 2009. Since then the housing stimulus has been extended by Congress until April 30th of 2010. It has also been expanded to allow participation by some individuals who own their current home. This will allow housing sales to continue to get better as 2010 progresses. Full year statistics from the Central Wisconsin Multiple Listing Service* show home sales in calendar year 2009 for Central Wisconsin were up slightly over 2008. The numbers of homes sold in the area served by the Central Wisconsin Multiple Listing Service; (Marshfield, Stevens Point, Wausau, and Wisconsin Rapids) were up from 2743 in 2008 to 2767 in 2009. While is may seem an insignificant gain, an increase in the number of sales creates a positive attitude toward the housing market. The fact that there is a gain in number of homes sold after a very slow start in 2009 points to a housing recovery taking place in central Wisconsin. Housing activity in the market in 2010 is up substantially from the same period in 2009.
What will the year 2010 bring then? The Federal Tax Stimulus is in place until April 30th, fixed rate interest rates are very low, and a large inventory of homes is currently available. This may be the most advantageous market in a long time to either sell a home or purchase a new one. One may ask? If home prices are a somewhat depressed, why make the move now? If you are not now a homeowner, homes prices right now are probably at the low point they will be for some time. Combine that with the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and it is a great time to buy.
If you are a current home owner looking to step up, you may sell for a somewhat lower sale price than in prior years; however, you may be able to make up the difference or more on the purchase of your next home. This is a great time to move up to the home that you want. Add this with the fact that many step up buyers may also qualify for a Federal Tax Credit, now is the time to be looking for your step up home.
What’s my advice about buying or selling a home this year? Talk to your local lender, your tax advisor and call a REALTOR.
Home buying activity traditionally picks up as we move further into the year. Interest rates are traditionally at their low point in the year during this time period, inventory is very good and the Federal Tax Credit remains in effect for the first quarter of 2010.
This may be the best time in years to buy that home you’ve been waiting for.
* The statistics in this article are obtained from the Central Wisconsin MLS database and neither the MLS nor the author represent that this encompasses all sales in the area.
Tuesday, January 12. 2010
Similar to today's Metro MLS statistic blog post on the First Weber blog, an article today on jsonline states home sales were up, but prices were down. It pictures a First Weber agent, Lauren Siegel, and features quotes from numerous Milwaukee Realtors on what's happening and what they expect in 2010. If you're looking for viewpoints on Milwaukee real estate from a variety of agents and different companies, please take a look at this article which also quotes First Weber Executive Vice President Tammy Maddente. Please think of First Weber Group when you think Wisconsin real estate!
Monday, January 11. 2010
Hot off the press - the year end Metro Milwaukee MLS stats are in. Overall, the metro MLS sales were up 5.9% over 2008. That equals 14,321 homes and condos sold versus 13,523 in 2008. If we do county by county, the overall results are positive. Milwaukee County real estate: Sales up 11.3% over 2008. In 8 out of 12 months, 2009 sales beat 2008's Waukesha County real estate: Sales down a mere 1.9% compared to 2008. In 5 out of 12 months, 2009 sales beat 2008's, including a 70% gain in November. Ozaukee County real estate: Sales were up 1.4% over 2008. In 5 out of 12 months, 2009 sales beat 2008's, including a 63.9% gain in June and 118.9% gain in November. Washington County real estate: Sales up 1.7% over 2008. In 5 out of 12 motnhs, sales beat 2008's, including a 114.3% increase in November. Racine County real estate: Sales were down just 1.1% compared to 2008. Racine had 6 months in 2009 in which more real estate was sold than in 2008. Racine Country real estate showed a great December with an increase of almost 20% over last December. Home prices were down, but not a tremendous amount. The price drop is said to be mostly a result of the sale of starter homes or those on the lower end of the price bracket which brings down the average sales price. There's no telling what is in the future for Wisconsin real estate in 2010, however, we expect a solid spring thanks to the extended and expanded home buyer tax credit. To qualify, a binding offer to purchase must be in place by April 30, 2010. The property must close by July 1st. Are you thinking of selling? Buying? Check out this tax credit information. And here's is a Job Loss Protection program a First Weber seller can offer to a potential buyer to help close the deal. We hope you choose to work with First Weber in 2010. Thanks for reading.
Monday, January 4. 2010
An important thing to talk about with your real estate agent: The highest priced offer to purchase may not always be the best offer. Why would that be? Several factors come into play such as home sale contingency. Is the offer price really nice but contingent on the sale of the buyer's current home? That other home could take a while to sell. Offers contingent on a home sale are common, yet should be considered carefully. What about the closing date? A buyer who can close quickly means you have less months of mortgage payments to make on your current home. Sellers, your First Weber agent can talk you through the pros and cons of each offer. And buyers, the two scenarios above maybe of value to you. Talk with your buyer's agent for help in making your offer to purchase as strong as it can be. Dian Hymer's article on Inman News Dec 18, 2009 bought this excellent topic to mind. Thank you for reading the First Weber blog and let us know if you have any Wisconsin real estate questions you'd like answered!
Monday, January 4. 2010
Home values have fared better in the Milwaukee area than other metro areas in the country according to RadarLogic and BizTimes.com which provides a nice synopsis of the statistic-heavy RadarLogic report. Read the whole BizTimes article here. (You'll have a scroll to the second story) Highlights include: Milwaukee has the lowest price decline of all 25 metro markets that are tracked. Milwaukee also had the number two spot for five year price increase; 2%. Denver was the only metro area that posted a sales price increase over 2008. That is encouraging news for Milwaukee. Let's hope for continued positive Wisconsin real estate news in 2010. Happy New Year from First Weber Group!
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