Your Guide to Outdoor Maintenance — Midwest
Monday, March 8th, 2010 | Home Improvements | No Comments
Each spring, check your sprinkler system to make sure all parts of the yard are getting watered evenly. Image: Rain Bird Corporation
If you live in the Midwest, prevent problems & preserve the value
of your property with proactive outdoor maintenance.
http://www.houselogic.com/articles/your-guide-outdoor-maintenance-midwest/
Congrats to Nick & Nicole on their new house!
Friday, March 5th, 2010 | Home Buying | No Comments
Nick & Nicole ~ We just bought a house! 
Tax Tips for Homeowners Preparing 2009 Returns
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 | Market News | No Comments
Tax Tips for Homeowners Preparing 2009 Returns
You’ve heard it before:
Your home is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make. It’s also probably the biggest tax write-off you’ll ever have. Follow these tax tips for homeowners to ensure that you receive all of the tax deductions and tax credits to which you’re entitled for the 2009 tax year.
http://www.houselogic.com/articles/tax-tips-homeowners-preparing-2009-returns/
What a Difference Virtual Staging Can Make for a Vacant Property
Monday, February 22nd, 2010 | Staging | No Comments
~ What a Difference Virtual Staging Can Make for a Vacant Property ~
Virtual Staging ~ Before & After
13-3 Sherman Terrace, Madison
WHEDA to start taking applications March 1, 2010!
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 | Home Buying | No Comments
Home Buyers!
WHEDA will start taking loan applications for low money down loans March 1, 2010!
http://www.wheda.com/root/HomeBuyers/WHEDAMortgages/Dynamic.aspx?id=2246
7 Smart Strategies for Kitchen Remodeling
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 | Home Improvements | No Comments
7 Smart Strategies for Kitchen Remodeling
http://www.houselogic.com/articles/7-smart-strategies-for-kitchen-remodeling/
Busy First Half Expected
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 | Home Buying, Home Selling, Market News | No Comments
With the extended tax credit now in place, we think it’s a virtual certainty that the first and second quarters of 2010 will be very, very active. Based on our experience at the end of last year, we expect that offer activity will again fall off fairly steeply after April 30, and closing activity will likewise decline after June 30. We expect the year to be atypical in terms of the normal seasonal patterns, with heavier than normal activity in the fi rst half, followed by an unusual drop-off. The question is, will accelerated activity in the fi rst half reduce inventories to the point where the market can move forward from there on a somewhat normal footing? While we won’t know anything for sure until a year from now, our guess is that while 2010 will be “front end loaded,” the foundation for further growth in 2011 and beyond will have been laid. www.StarkHomes.com
What’s Happening in the Market?
Monday, February 15th, 2010 | Home Buying, Home Selling, Market News | No Comments
What is Happening in the Market?
http://www.starkhomes.com/market_news/REMktSrc_vol4I4.pdf
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Market Observations
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The Effect of The First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
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Prices
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News and Views
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Advice for Buyers and Sellers
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Trend Watch
Good news for the Wisconsin housing market!
Friday, February 12th, 2010 | Home Buying, Home Selling, Market News | No Comments
Good news for the Wisconsin housing market!
Home sales in the state in fourth quarter 2009 were 25.6 percent above the same quarter in 2008. Read the full report.
http://www.wra.org/online_pubs/press_releases/2010/pr0211_hsgstats.html
Ghostly Disclosures
Friday, February 12th, 2010 | Home Selling | No Comments
I’ve been told by my friends that I should write down & share my real estate experiences. The following experience really happened about 5 years ago.
Jen Stauter www.HomeTeam4u.net
I arrived for my 6:30 PM listing appt – it was just starting to get dark outside. I had listed & sold these folk’s previous house & helped them buy their current house in the Town of Sun Prairie.
We went into the dimly lit living room to chat about getting their house sold. Upon filling out the real estate condition report – we hit the question about are there any other defects in the house to disclose to a potential Buyer.
Mr. & Mrs. Seller looked at each other and paused. * Having been in this business for a long time – I know a look & a pause is never good.
Mr. Seller says to me, “Do you believe in ghosts?” He did not wait for my answer when he responded, “You better – because we got some here. Do we need to disclose them?”
Knowing the rules on “ghost disclosures” in Wisconsin only requires brokers to disclose a haunting if it has an effect on the physical condition of the property – I asked them to tell me about their experiences to see if something needed to be disclosed or not.
I was told sometimes when they were talking on the phone – another voice other then the person on the line would begin talking to them. Whenever the “phone spirit” was on the phone – it manifests itself as a certain bird outside – this bird sits on the deck & tries to get in the house.
As I’m listening to this I’m starting to feel like I’m in an episode of Paranormal State. I keep listening & the Sellers keep talking.
They had a fire in the basement of the house. The Owners are sure that “Jack” caused the fire. The Owners claim a man-spirit, named “Jack” lives in the basement & that they have seen him. He did not like that they were renovating the basement so he started the fire. During the fire clean up, the cleanup workers discovered old bullet holes in the basement walls. The Owners think that “Jack” must have been murdered in the house.
Hmmm… still listening & nodding… the Seller keeps talking.
Next, they tell me about their bon fires in the backyard. Usually, they see spirits running in the backyard at the bon fires.
Ok – that is enough info for me. We decide it would be best to disclose that the Seller feels the house is haunted. Who knows if it is or isn’t, but if the Seller is telling everyone that it is haunted – we might as well disclose it.
A few days later, we got the house on the market. I was set up to do an open house – during the day 1 -4 pm. I arrived for my open house & wasn’t thinking about the house being “haunted”.
As I was sitting in the living room – the place started to feel dark. So I opened all the heavy, purple, velvet curtains to let more light in. At that point, I remembered the “ghosts”.
I decided to keep busy so I started doing some paperwork until open house attendees arrived. Shortly, thereafter I started to hear a banging noise from the basement. So being curious I went down to the basement. I could not find the source of the banging.
Just then the phone started to ring. When holding open houses – I do not answer the Seller’s phone so I let it ring. 3 separate times the phone rang & I could hear the message that was left on the Seller’s old style answering machine. It was just strange static.
At this point, I decided I was going to go outside on the deck so I was out of the house. It was daylight so I did not see any “spirits” in the backyard. I ended up spending my entire open house on the deck as no one came to the open house.
Later, I told the owners about my experience. They thought “Jack”, the basement spirit, was playing tricks on me.
This house was creepy. I don’t know if all the ghost stories spooked me or if “Jack” was playing tricks on me. In the end, we did not need to worry about all the ghostly disclosures because the Owners decided that they wanted to stay in the house.