Madison Home Blog

I am spending my last hour or so  of this convention trip contemplating getting back to the cold of  Madison, Wisconsin.      A feeling of mass overwelm swirls around me.    You would think that after all of these conventions that I attend with Keller Williams, that I would be smart, but all it makes me feel is that there is sooo much more to learn.      I have had classes in Short Sales, internet  marketing,  SEO, REO, selling homes buying homes, state of the economy, vision for the companys future.     I have reviewed what the company is bringing out  this year, got ideas for Google, Craigs list, lead Generation, tips for helping underwater homeowners, blogging.          It is a common joke amongst Keller Williams that once you get to the airport, a magic thing happens and all is erased.     But I have found that reviewing notes on the airline does actually help to settle the ideas.       Helping to review and sort in an order of priority.     When I step off the plane Iwill have an order of priority and an action plan  for the next week or 2.  If you are underwater in your home, a short sale may be for you.   About short sales Madison Wi.       To help in the decision process, watch this series of Videos: Sell My Home Madison.RealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, he created a team of hand picked specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at the Realtor Conventions.   Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 seconds Search all area homes for sale Madison Wi

History says, now is the time to buy a home.

We have written many times over the last 48 months that now is the time to buy a home. Now the case can be made, if you own 1, buy 2 more too, such is the opportunity. Of course what we have been saying has been correct all along.     If you had bought a home in Madison Wi over the last 2 years you could not go wrong.   But now the proof is mounting that this elongated opportunity is closing fast.

History says, now is the time to buy a home.

We have written many times over the last 48 months that now is the time to buy a home. Now the case can be made, if you own 1, buy 2 more too, such is the opportunity. Of course what we have been saying has been correct all along.     If you had bought a home in Madison Wi over the last 2 years you could not go wrong.   But now the proof is mounting that this elongated opportunity is closing fast.

Let™s start with home sales: nationally they are trending up to 5.28 million from a low of 3.84 back just 6 months ago. (annualized figure) So Sales are up.

Let™s look at affordability!   Homes are more affordable that they have ever been, based on price and interest rates against household earnings.   Household income to home price fell to 13% in 2010.

Let™s look at interest rates:They have gone up almost 1% from all time lows just 3 months ago.   Hovering just below 5% for a 30 year, and predictions they will be at 5.6% later in the year.   Every 1% hike in rates is like adding 10% to the price of a home.    How long before we get to a historical average of 8.9% It is likely, due to increased activity, prices will go up soon, and higher interest rates will make home less affordable.   I ask you:  Can you hear me now?  Start here now.  Search all Madison Wi Area homes for sale.

If you are underwater in your home, a short sale may be for you.    About short sales Madison Wi.       To help in the decision process, watch this series of Videos:  Sell My Home Madison.  

RealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, he created a team of hand picked specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at the Realtor Conventions.Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 seconds  Search all area homes for sale Madison Wi

I just wanted to add a couple of points regarding the front page article.

Should I Sell my home?    

The answer is not always clear cut,   and can be an agonizing decision.     A poor decision can cost a family dearly and cause untold stress and wasted effort and opportunity.  

I have become very good at helping people make as good a decision as possible.     Not this may sometimes loose me a sale, but it has earnt me a lot of respect, and that is important in this day and age when people need some help.      We have put together a series of Videos to help you in the process.     If you would like a NO Effort, anonymous way of starting the decision process.  try it.     www.SellMyHomeMadison.com

SellMyHome Madison is a one of a kind attempt to provide pre-consultation help.   Of course, when you decide you need more, you simple put in your info and ask us to œCONTACT US

The second point to make is RealEstateGuy Team has some very good experience in short sales.   We have resources including a national network of experienced agents to help us with tough situations.  

What does this mean?   We understand that Short sales are an excellent choice for some people.   For others, not so much.     We can find out which sales have a chance of going thru and which ones to pass on.  Again, we have a resource.   Start at www.ShortSalesMadison.com.  Find out what a short sale is and what to expect.

Selling is not right for everyone, and the ones who decide to sell are the ones who need to be serious and we will give then the toughest marketing and negotiating to get sold.   Call us, there is no point in delaying.

Follow our blog with many articles on the market and buying and selling a home www.MadisonHomeBlog.com.

RealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, he created a team of hand picked specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at the Realtor Conventions.   Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 seconds Search all area homes for sale Madison WiRealEstateGuy.   Madison Wisconsin

If you are thinking this year may be the time to buy or sell a home in Verona Wi, you probably are wondering how the new year is starting out.  

Well we had a tough end to 2010 and there are many who are relying on an improved 2011 œSpring season.

So you may be wondering what the home selling market is doing I Verona Wi.   It is always difficult to gauge how the new year is going to turn out.   This has repercussions in making it very difficult to price a home for sale.   If we anticipate a strong spring and then if we price too strongly, we can lose out on early interest and the home does not sell.If however we price cautiously and the market comes roaring back, we could leave money on the table.     When RealEstateGuy team counsels a home owner, we have this discussion and using our best market knowledge and predictions of what will happen in the market, we hopefully help the homeowner make the best decision good.   To help in the decision process, watch this series of Videos: Sell My Home MadisonIt comes back to a home owners need to sell and tolerance for risk, which are related.     The cost of overpricing when the family is moving is likely more than the cost of pricing to sell at a higher price, which causes the home to sit.   This is one of many ways that a top real estate professional does to increase the chances of a quick sale.   If you are underwater, a short sale may be for you.   About short sales Madison Wi.       To help in the decision process, watch this series of Videos: Sell My Home MadisonRealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, he created a team of hand picked specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at the Realtor Conventions.   Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 seconds Search all area homes for sale Madison WiRealEstateGuy.   Madison Wisconsin

If you are a first time home buyer, or for that matter a home buyer returning to the housing market many years after your previous experience, it is likely that you have not really got a good idea of how the process works.   (now I acknowledge you may have done your due diligence online, but that is not a substitute for having a trusted advisor.)In Real Estate Guy™s experience, buyers in this situation, follow a hard worn path. Let™s look at a single buyer, Tom and the experience he would go thru.Tom bounces thru open houses, he takes a somewhat adversarial approach to the hosting agent.     He finds a home he loves and would be happy to buy.     But unsure of the next step.     And likely not liking or trusting the agent, and not wanting to appear too eager, Tom says he will œthink about it.   Yes this is the time old delay tactic.In thinking about it, Tom will talk with friends, and together they will come up with all the reasons not to buy the home.     But even if he wants to proceed, there will be lots of anguish and he will still have to make the œcrazy move of calling the agent who had the house open, or another agent (which can make the process even more complex).At this point he has no trusted guidance to answer questions.   Tom begins the process of working in the dark to put an offer on and negotiate to buy this home.     The process can be very stressful and daunting and even a successful purchase will likely be just plain uncomfortable.Our proposition is that buyers should familiarize themselves with the process before they step in a home.   Once a buyer finds a nice home they will be in a situation of knowing what step to take and be comfortable.   This will lead to a much better decision.Real Estate Guy suggests that a new home buyer should find a good Realtor and establish a trusting relationship.When we first meet a new buyer, we make this easy by offering a no obligation meeting to discuss the home buying process, the market and how a Real Estate Agent can enhance the process and also save the client time.   Read RealEstateGuy™s home buyer consultation process.If we get together after that meeting, we make a mutual decision to work together and we start deciding which homes to look at.A trusting relationship means a smoother, less stressful, and often fun transaction.   It results in a great home, with generally much less time expended.I spoke about going to open houses, and the œnew open house is of course the Internet.   Still much the same, it opens up the home buyer to far more homes, which means far more choices and hence a more difficult decision.   There is still the problem of contacting the dreaded œSalesperson.So make it easy on yourself.     Select an agent BEFORE you take a step into a single home.     We will be very happy to sit down and answer any questions you may have.While you are at it, here is our latest search technology.     Search homes for sale Madison WiRealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, Guy selected a team of specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at State Realtor Conventions.Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 seconds Search all area homes for sale Madison Wi   RealEstateGuy.   Madison Wisconsin

So you qualified for the home buyers tax credit?     Congratulations.     Have you received the benefit yet?What you should have done was to make an amendment of your 2009 tax return and you would have received the credit by now.However If you did not do that, there is still time.   But you have to act now.     You will need to make your case on your 2010 tax return.   For this you will need the HUD1 form that you signed at closing to prove you bought a home.If you don™t do it on this years form you will lose out on the credit that is owed to you.   For more details see the NAR site If you need help, see qualified tax preparer or a CPA.RealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, he created a team of hand picked specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at the Realtor Conventions.  Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 seconds Search all area homes for sale Madison Wi

Congratulations to Genette and Lee, who closed a chapter of their lives today.       Yes they sold their home in The Madison Area even though the mortgage was $150,000 more than the net proceeds from the sale.     It wasn™t easy.   We lost one buyer when the bank took too long to make a Short Sale decision.   When they finally made the decision, the buyer had lost a job.      But the second round, we were able to make a deal with in 3 weeks to go forward with the sale and to release the sellers from their debt.    Yes we negotiated $150,000 off the principal.     Again, congratulations to Genette and Lee. You were wonderful, doing everything that was asked of you.     And the result was that you can move on with your lives.   Short sales require skill and expertise.   If your agent does not have experience with the short sale, then you need to find one who knows what they are doing, who to talk to, how to talk to potential buyers to educate them and keep them in the fray while negotiations are going on.If you are underwater, a short sale may be for you.   About short sales Madison Wi.       To help in the decision process watch this series of Videos: Sell My Home MadisonRealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, he created a team of hand picked specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at the Realtor Conventions.   Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 seconds Search all area homes for sale Madison WiRealEstateGuy.   Madison Wisconsin

·        I am often talking with home owners about selling their home and so often happens they do not have the questions to ask.   So in the spirit of helping said home owner, here is a list of suggested questions to provide a framework for an interview to ensure a good decision is made.

·             Are you a full-time or part-time agent?

·             What is the average number of days your listings are on the market before selling?

·             Will you service our listing personally or will we be working with your assistants?

·             How many sellers and buyers are you currently representing?

·             What is your Internet marketing program?

·             What is your policy on responding to phone calls/emails/text messages?

·             How much of your business is generated by referrals?

·             What references can you provide?

·             Do you offer an œeasy exit listing so that I can end our agreement if I am not satisfied?

Do you need to sell your home now?    Watch this video.  Sell my Madison area home now.

RealEstateGuy has been a full time, full service Realtor since 1993. He is dedicated to helping people achieve their Real Estate Goals and dreams.   In order to provide more specialized service, he created a team of hand picked specialists. Guy believes in constantly learning more, so regularly attends national seminars and trainings. Guy has been a top producer, leader in his office, a president of the Wisconsin chapter of CRS, and has spoken at the Realtor Conventions.

Get a chuckle.  Watch Real   Estate Guy video. 30 secondsSearch all area homes for sale Madison WiRealEstateGuy.   Madison Wisconsin