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Wednesday, November 4. 2009Friday, October 30. 2009Thursday, October 29. 2009First Weber Group opens its doors to ten experienced agents!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! Wednesday, October 28. 2009Great support of the United WayWisconsin Rapids Holds a Tasty United Way FundraiserOn Tuesday, Oct 20, the Wisco NICE WORK! Wednesday, October 28. 2009Thursday, October 22. 2009Wisconsin fall events
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?
Thursday, October 22. 2009Wednesday, October 21. 2009Tuesday, October 20. 2009Wednesday, October 14. 2009Dane County, Wisconsin real estate statistics 2009· Market Statistics for Dane County - 1st & 2nd Quarter 2009 · Madison West:
· Madison East:
· Sun Prairie:
· Verona:
· Waunakee:
· Fitchburg:
· Cottage Grove:
Data provided by Charlie Wills of First Weber's West Towne office Wednesday, October 14. 2009Where Did My Lake Go? Where Did My Lake Go? If you 've been to Northern Wisconsin recently you’ve probably noticed that many of our lakes have shrunk in size. This is not the result of global warming, just the lack of rain and snow in the last 5 years. This is all part of a natural cycle that can be charted back to the 1890’s. The last time we experienced a serious drought in Northern Wisconsin was between 1987 and 1990. Droughts affect every lake differently. Lakes, such as Thompson and Crescent Lakes have inlets and their water levels do not fluctuate much . Seepage lakes, like Lake Mildred get their water from the water table. If there is not enough rain the lake level will drop as the water table drops. Flowages, such as Nokomis fluctuate even more than seepage lakes because the dams that control the water level are opened to supply more water to the river downstream. Lower water levels means more exposed lake bed. The DNR recommends that property owners leave this exposed area alone. Removing branches and vegetation will affect the fishery when the water level returns. Before you purchase lake property do your research. Contact an experienced realtor or the DNR for information on lake depth, water quality and fishery. Thanks to Sandy Ebben, First Weber Rhinelander for this informative article. Tuesday, October 13. 2009The good news about the bad news
JSOnline did an article on the statistics and you may read it in its entirety here. Some commentary from the article is as follows: "In the first-time buyer market there is price competition. Sellers are getting 98%, 100% of the asking price - multiple offers in some cases," said Mike Ruzicka, president of the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors. "But if you go up the ladder a little bit - over $300,000 - it's really slow." Also, REALTORS are hoping that Congress will extend or open up the first time home buyer tax credit. Doing so would continue to spur sales. "It absolutely needs to be extended and opened up," said Tammy Maddente, executive vice president of First Weber Group. The uncertainty of an extension may have some buyers still waiting. Bob Larson of First Weber's Waukesha office is quoted as saying: "They are trying to wait it out to see what will happen, so it's causing a little bit of a pause," Larson said. As of now, the tax credit does expire and homebuyers must close by December 1. Better get on it if you are serious about buying. Good luck from First Weber Group. We are here to help! Friday, October 9. 2009Age-in-place renovations may have wide appealHave you ever thought how long you'd stay in your current home? Could you "age-in-place" there? If you have made renovations such as walk-in showers, wide doors, or levers instead of doorknobs your home may be more appealing to the baby boomer generation (77 million people) if you decide to sell - and easier for you to live in as you age if you are staying put. There are not too many articles written on this subject. Here is a good one from Realty Times. Hope you find it interesting as well! This article was tweeted by First Weber on Twitter, too. We'd love to have you follow us. Friday, October 9. 2009Insight into the Madison condo market
Madison, WI condo showings are up 20% over September of last year according to Sue Stark of our West Towne office. For the statistics over 4 years and Sue's opinion on when to list, please read her blog article here. Nice job, Sue. Anyone interested in the Madison West Condo market should find Sue Stark's blog called "The Madison Condo Market" worth a visit.
Friday, October 9. 2009WHEDA program helps homebuyers buy foreclosures in certain Wisconsin countiesCalled Wisconsin Neighborhood Advantage, this new program offered by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) has 2 goals: to help buyers get into homes and to help stabilize urban neighborhoods. For the details on the program, please visit the Wisconsin Neighborhod Advantage web page. The web page says loans are avilable on a first come, first serve basis. If interested, be sure to check it out today. Thanks to the WRA Newswire Weekly for providing notice of the program. Friday, October 9. 20095 myths sellers believeIf you a In today’s uncertain real estate market, fear runs rampant. Many sellers are listening to the national media and coming to the conclusion that it is a bad time to sell their home. But like most myths, these need debunking. Here are five myths sellers tend to believe.
Seller Myth No. 1: “Now is the worst time to sell your home.” Real estate is local. It depends on where you live. Many of the worst hit markets, like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles or Miami, are already turning around and are experiencing huge sales increases. Here in Fond du Lac County, we saw home prices drop only 2.6% last year. If you are a homeowner who wants to trade up to a new home, the lower price you might get on your current home will be more than offset by the bargain you’ll receive on the next one. Don’t measure your financial status by what your home sells for, but by the net gain or loss of the sale of your existing home PLUS the purchase of your next home. It almost always works out in your favor. Seller Myth No. 2: “Never respond to a low ball bid.” Right now, it’s true that you are going to see more low ball offers than we did a few years ago. And today, with all the stories in the media, buyers today almost feel obligated to put in a low ball offer to see if the seller will bite. But if you respond with a reasonable counter offer, most buyers can be convinced to come up in price and make the deal. I have a philosophy at our office with all our real estate professionals, “As much as it depends on you, don’t let the offer die in your client’s lap.” Always come back with a counter offer. You will be surprised at how many times they other party stays in the negotiation and you finally come to common ground and a deal can be made. Never let it die in your lap. Seller Myth No. 3: “The first offer is never the best offer.” While the first offer may not be the best offer, what is really true, 4 times out of 5, is the first buyer is the best buyer. A lot of sellers believe that it’s smart to hold out for someone better. But the first buyer is most likely going to finally agree to the highest price you’ll ever get for your home. That’s because 75% of the prospective buyers are going to come to your house in the first 30 days you listed it. After you walk away from that buyer who actually made an offer hoping you’ll get something better, the other prospects have walked away too and gone on to another home…and probably written an offer on it. Seller Myth No. 4: “I can always reduce my price later.” Sellers often want to price their home high for a few weeks just to test the market. But buyers shop by price bracket and if your house is in the wrong one, you’ll just help sell everyone else’s home while yours sits there…overpriced. Reducing your price later in small increments puts you in the position of chasing the tide as it goes out. We can spend a million dollars to advertise a home, but if it’s not priced right, it will not sell. We need to wake up that this is a buyer’s market. Unless you are willing to wait a year or so to sell your house, price your home to sell within the next 4 months or less. Because if you price it too high, the only house that will sell is your neighbors’. Sellers Myth No. 5: “I have to have my home sold before I can buy or build a new one.” The fact is that you as soon as you have your home on the market, you should be either making an offer on an existing home, or selecting a builder to build a new one. You can always structure your offer to be contingent on the sale of your existing home if you prefer. If you decide to build, there are a few builders who have financing programs such as a “no payments during construction loan,” or a “commission rebate program,” or a “trade up program” where they will buy your existing home if it hasn’t sold by the time they are finished building your new home. Building has become incredibly attractive this last year. A local lumber company told me last week that lumber prices are the same level we had back in 1977, a 32 year low. With the lower prices we are seeing from subcontractors and suppliers, building a new home is an incredible deal right now. The buyer’s market window is closing in 2009. Don’t miss out on your chance to move up by buying into someone else’s myth. By Scott Swick, General Manager, Fond du Lac First Weber Group Thursday, October 8. 2009Newberry Boulevard named one of America's "Great Streets"
There are just 4 homes for sale right now on E. Newberry Boulevard. (Please note once the homes linked to below have sold or are off the market, the links won't work anymore. We can always provide updated data should you run across this article 6 months from now when it is likely that the homes may have sold. Just send an email or ask a question.)
4BR, 1.5 BA Newberry Boulevard 3 BR, 1 BA E Newberry Boulevard 4 BR, 1 BA E Newberry Boulevard 4 BR, 1.5 BA E Newberry Boulevard
If any reader has comments or observations about this street on the east side of Milwaukee, feel free to comment! This association had their criteria... do you have a street that stands out in your mind? Continue reading "Newberry Boulevard named one of America's "Great Streets""Friday, October 2. 2009Wednesday, September 30. 2009Tuesday, September 29. 2009Your favorite fall activity in Wisconsin is? Flickr photo by Mickey Fall has arrived in Wisconsin. Do you have a favorite fall activity? Mine would have to be fall walks. I also love the sound of fall football games at the nearby high school. There are numerous activities to enjoy and a great website to see for events is Wistravel.com here. Please contribute your favorite things about fall in Wisconsin. It would be interesting to see the different favorite things across Wisconsin - from our urban areas to rural areas and "up north." Thanks for reading and participating! Thursday, September 24. 2009Dane County Real estate stats for August, 2009
Across the whole South Central WI MLS system in August, 978 single family homes were sold with an average price of $185,831. A break out of some price ranges follows: 2 million dollar+ homes sold. 18 homes from $500,000-$749,999 sold. 166 homes listed between $200,000-$249,999 sold. 76 homes between $100,000 and $119,999 sold. 31 houses between $70,000-$79,999 sold. If there are specific statistics in a certain county, town or subdivison you are interested in, please comment below. Let us know how we can help you and thanks for reading. Thursday, September 24. 2009Tuesday, September 22. 2009Friday, September 18. 2009Historic Home Fall Tour in RacineAcross Wisconsin you can find quaint towns and a sense of history. Going on next weekend is a Historic Home Tour in Racine, Wisconsin. Here the Racine Journal Times wrote a nice article describing the event. John Crimmings, Manager of First Weber's Racine office, also contributes his thoughts toward the event here:  Photo by Charles S Vallone "Preservation Racine's Tour of Historic Places is as much a part of Autumn in Racine as is the changing trees and falling leaves. This really is a tradition that has met with tremendous success over the years. Each year hundreds of people take part in the tour and enjoy a beautiful Fall afternoon. This year they are concentrating on College Avenue, the last cobblestone street in the city. Racine's Southside is part of the largest Historic District in the State of Wisconsin. It features many spectacular homes that have been restored and refurbished and are excellent examples of the quality of years gone by. On further note, specific to First Weber. Our office has always been supportive of Preservation Racine and we have served as a ticket outlet for this great event for as long as I can remember. One person within our Company, however, deserves to be recognized for her continued efforts in local preservation. Pat Murphy, a salesperson for over 35 years, continues to spearhead support for Preservation Racine and has really become the public persona of that organization and this wonderful event. There really is no way to properly thank Pat for her efforts but Racine residents, and others alike, need to know how proud we are to have Pat as part of our team." If you like history and are in the Racine area, stop in the First Weber office (1100 N. Main) to pick up your tickets for the tour which runs Sept 27 noon - 5:30 p.m.
Friday, September 18. 2009 |
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nsin 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!
The Metro Milwaukee MLS stats reports included some good news and some bad news. The number of homes sold is up more than 7% over last September. That's the good news. The bad news is the average sales price has dropped to 2002 or 2003 levels. The good news about the bad news is that local REALTORS say the average sales price decrease is a result of more sales in the $200,000 and under starter home price range. Sellers of those homes are now free to buy-up. So that is more good news.
re a home seller in Wisconsin, this article may be of interest to you. Let us know what you think. Scott Swick of First Weber writes about myths and opinions below:
Newberry Boulevard, on Milwaukee's east side, was named one of 10 "Great Streets" by the American Planning Association. Do you have a "favorite" street? The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 
Real estate sales data from South Central Wisconsin Multiple Listing Service for August 2009 in Dane County