First Weber Group REALTORS®: Wisconsin Real Estate

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.

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!

If you are 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:

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

Milwaukee, WI makes the news - this time as a travel destination.   This is a great article about Milwaukee that starts out as history and goes into what a find the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is. Milwaukee, known as the City of Festivals, is seated on the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. Our downtown offers a riverwalk, public art, numerous theaters and famous architecture.  If you've never been to Milwaukee, Wisconsin you may enjoy learning more about this Great Lake city, especially if you are considering relocating to Milwaukee.  If you live in the Metro area, read it and be proud!  Here is the link courtesy of The Philadelphia Sun.

If you have any additional information requests, First Weber Group has a Relocation Department waiting to help.

If you are a Milwaukeean, what are your thoughts on the article?

Some welcome news regarding the reasons people are moving comes from Relocation.com . Relocation.com found a dramatic shift when comparing a March 2009 survey with a June 2009 survey.

In June 2009, 50% of people who recently moved did so for "normal" moving reasons like wanting a better home for their needs, be closer to friends and family or desire for a better neighborhood.  Moving because of school, job loss, foreclosure or retirement was came in with 3% or less.  

In contrast, the March 2009 survey 41% of people surveyed said the recession had a moderate to strong influence on their decision to move. 

It is encouraging to see these changes in consumer attitudes.  We hope such positives continue to benefit the Wisconsin real estate market!  Read more on the article here.  

If YOU were surveyed, what would YOUR answer be?

There's an interesting article about Milwaukee, Wisconsin becoming a world leader in freshwater research in the July issue of My Midwest (the in-flight magazine for Midwest Airlines.) I am not sure many of us that live in Wisconsin or Milwaukee even knew there was a Great Lakes Water Institute at UW Milwaukee that the article calls "the largest academic freshwater research facility on the Great Lakes and one of the nation’s leading centers for freshwater research."  The article also calls the Water Institute " a relatively known gem", so if you didn't know it existed, don't feel bad. 

If you are thinking of moving to the Milwaukee area, take a few minutes to read about Milwaukee, their Water Institute and the future on this "Great Place on a Great Lake"  Here's the article.  Let us know if you fly in on Midwest Airlines - or any other airline for that matter - and need a tour of Milwaukee.