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That old joke about how your tax assessor views your property may be more true than you realize...

To better understand all things property tax related, I recently added a page to my Madison WI real estate site about Madison property assessments and mill rates based on information from the City Assessor's Office. In my research putting together this page I had a conversation recently with City of Madison Assessor's Office and was struck by two things: One, the fact that the office of the City Assessor of Madison does not have unfettered access to the South Central Wisconsin MLS (apparently they they have access to Sold listings but do not have access to Active, Pending and Expired listings). And two (and perhaps more surprising), that in valuing…

Lake, City, Lake. The motto of the city of Madison, WI.

Yep, it's that time again. It's that time of year I sit in my office, hands slightly elevated over my keyboard, struggling to keep the blood flowing in the right directions, trying to ward off the frigid Wisconsin temps (it doesn't help that I have the worst circulation known to man!). Yes, it's that time of year I feel the need (half-jokingly) to remind myself why I moved back to Madison WI five years ago in the first place. The answer is, of course, because I thought it would be a great place to buy a house, raise a family and start a business. But a part of me assumed anyone views their hometown that way. At the time I was making my decison, I remembered all the great things about growing up in…

The ability to easily digest MLS statistics for Madison WI homes is now available on my website. Like me, you may have noticed the recent proliferation of sites such as Zillow.com that attempt to value homes in an automated fashion. Or you may have noticed other sites that are attempting to commoditize the business of valuing real estate. I have and I decided it was time to start providing value-added market data reporting by collecting MLS data and charting it on my site, as well as offering some commentary on Madison real estate market trends as I observe them in 2009 and going forward.

Lake & City Homes now has a Madison Market Data page where key MLS data for the Madison, WI real estate market are being tracked and reported. Buyers and sellers…

Recently there's been an extensive discussion on the REW forum between a number of REW clients and a home seller who has been having difficulty selling their home. A lot of excellent advice has been dispensed on the part of REW's many savvy Realtors around the country and it seems that the seller has clearly benefitted from the generosity of the Forum's members. One area in particular that has been heavily discussed is the possibility that the house is over-priced. There has been little evidence to suggest that the house is not overpriced. Also, it has been firmly established that, due to extensive remodeling, the condition of the house is probably not cause for concern. And yet, the seller has been on the market for many long months and has not managed to…