jolenta's Blog: Tips for Home Sellers

Radon gas is a colorless, odorless, invisible, yet dangerous carcinogen. There's no rhyme or reason as to where radon gas will show up in homes in Wisconsin. There are no established patterns; any home may or may not contain its presence. I recently had an unusual experience with a client who discovered radon gas in her Madison West Side home several years after tests had come back negative. After retesting days later, however, it turned out that she did not, in fact, have radon gas in her home. Read about the trials and tribulations this seller went through, how we got to the bottom of the mystery of why testing intermittently showed elevated, then non-elevated levels of radon, and find out your options for testing for the presence of radon gas.…

Over the past few days I've shown 45 different properties ranging in price from $125K to over $800K to three different sets of buyers. That's enough properties to give almost anyone a decent idea what's happening with the Madison real estate market which, by the way, is still a buyer's market like most of the U.S. housing market.

That's why I feel compelled to tell you how surprised I am at some of the obvious transgressions sellers are still making when it comes to preparing their homes to be shown by a Realtor. And no, you are not seeing things. That is, in fact, a pile of three knee-pad sized bras laying on the bed of an otherwise perfectly immaculate house!

How did this happen when the rest of the house was so beautifully and meticulously prepared?…

The new tax credit for first-time homebuyers that's included in the economic stimulus package was slashed from the previously proposed $15K to just $8K and a far cry from the $20K the homebuilding industry wanted. Analysts expect the credit consisting of 10% of the value of any home up to $8K to have a smaller impact on the U.S. housing market than previously hoped. Last year, Congress enacted a $7,500 tax credit for first-time buyers (which had to be paid back over 15 years) and the impact on home sales was negligible.This time the tax credit is limited to first-time buyers who act between the start of 2009 and the end of November 2009. First-time buyers are defined as those who haven't owned a house for at least three years.

The credit of 10…

Lake & City Homes Realty is proud to announce its first featured listing! This adorable brick & stone bungalow is located at 2661 Hoard Street on Madison's East Side on a quiet tree-lined street in desirable North Gardens (in fact, just three doors down from my brother's house!).

Features include a very nice-sized living room, separate dining area, generous eat-in kitchen, two nice-sized bedrooms (with deck off Master bedroom), separate office (could also be used as a playroom, den or workout room), plus a dry basement currently used as an art studio but which could be finished. Over 1,000sf of living space for just $149,900! Join us at our first open house this Sunday, February 8th, 2009 from 1-3pm!

Madison WI is chock full of adorable homes for sale…

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…