At Mad City Dream Homes, we implement a customized marketing plan for all of our home-selling clients. This philosophy allows us to produce some amazing marketing campaigns for our sellers, in particular for our clients who own a luxury home or condo. Below we share a marketing plan from Chris Venden and a few marketing examples from one of her recent luxury listings. Chris's listing attracted competing buyers, including an offer from one buyer who wrote a very strong offer for above the list. 

Marketing plan for a recent luxury listing

Mad City Dream Homes implemented all of the marketing strategies below. All marketing costs were paid for by our real estate team, which is the standard for all of our listings.   

Unlimited support from

In this short question and answer topic we cover inspections and appraisals, and whether or not sellers are advised to attend. 

Can I attend my buyer's inspection? 

A home inspection is conducted by a licensed home inspector in order to assess the physical condition of the property. We generally advise our selling clients to vacate their property during the home inspection so the buyer, buyer agent, and inspector can speak freely about any issues that are found during the inspection. This is the commonly accepted etiquette in our market. If questions arise during the inspection which the seller is capable of addressing (for example, when was the furnace last serviced or the roof last replaced), these questions can be addressed shortly after the

Every client with a home to sell has a unique property and unique goals. Because of this we treat each new listing as a unique and individual project. Our project-based approach allows us to exercise our creativity and professional judgment as we help our sellers make the most of their individual situation. 

Such was the case with our recent condo sale at Mariners Cove. Our clients lived out of state and needed a full-service team who would assume responsibility for their sale and produce a showcase listing for their property. They hired Shelley Lazzareschi to list and sell their condo, and Shelley did not disappoint. Below we share a few elements from Shelley's marketing plan, which led to the highest sales price ever within the association. 

Sometimes your life’s work happens almost by accident. For Doreen Meland, designing and staging homes came naturally, even before she knew it could be a business. “I didn’t know I was doing it, but I was. A Realtor came through our home, and asked if I staged homes. After thinking about it, I decided it would be fun. My business has grown from there,” she says.

Doreen’s work covers a broad range of projects. She has a natural ability for interior design, and is a gifted landscaper. Both interior and exterior projects fill her portfolio.  She has helped clients efficiently stage their homes for sale. But she has also worked with clients who require a more thorough decluttering.

Doreen loves organizing. Recently, she assisted clients who needed to

We all know there is a seasonal aspect to the market and the spring months typically are the best months for sellers in the Madison area. However, there are some Dane County properties which are always in high demand and can sell quickly any time of year. Below we share 10 different types of properties in the Madison area that benefit from a perpetually strong market. 

Hot properties in the Madison area

1) Condos priced under $250,000

The shortage of affordable housing in Dane County has many buyers standing on the sidelines waiting for the right condo to be listed for sale. A nice condo priced under $250,000 is always a hot commodity in our low inventory market. 

2) Homes priced under $350,000

Single family homes priced under $350,000

Is to make you proud of how your property is presented to the general public. If we can make you proud of your listing, then we know our marketing plan is on the right track. Here are 3 basic ways we work to make you proud of your MLS listing: 

1) Capture beautiful listing photos. 

Capturing beautiful photos begins with the home staging process. Remember, we provide your staging services free of charge by connecting you with the best stager in the business, Debbie Lea. Once your staging is completed, we partner with the best real estate photographers in Madison to create the photos for your listing. We don't have a set budget for our photos, and we'll do whatever it takes to capture the very best pictures of your home. If needed, we'll schedule

The Mad City Dream Homes team works in a unique way. While many Realtors work independently, our team works together, combining our unique skills and abilities to best serve clients’ needs.

Our buying and selling team

Tammy Steiner serves as a showing agent. She makes her schedule available, days, nights and weekends, to make sure buyers can attend showings as soon as properties are listed. “In this market, getting in the door quickly can be the key to actually finding, and getting an accepted offer on your property of choice,” she said.

Shelley Lazzareschi, Dan Miller, Maureen Moran and Chris Venden fill the roles of all-around agents.  Any member of the team is available to bring clients to showings, coordinate contracts, and provide

We loved working on our most recent west side listing, which just sold yesterday to a new home owner. This listing was actually a project that we had been working on for a long, long time. It all started almost 4 years ago when we hired a photographer to capture exterior photos of the property. We knew we'd use the photos someday - we weren't sure when - so we collected some nice exterior pictures on a beautiful summer day. 

Working proactively for a successful listing

We were optimistic our clients would experience a successful sale due to all of the great work they had been putting into their listing. Here are a few of the things we worked on together over the last few months and years. 

• First, we kept our clients up-to-date on the

When deals need to be made, it all comes down to trusted relationships. You can buy and sell homes in Madison, but to do it well, you will need a Realtor who values relationships and brings solid negotiating skills to the table. This adds some strength to your real estate plan, and it helps remove some of the emotion that could otherwise cloud the negotiations. The Mad City Dream Homes Team can help you look at the big picture, and they have enough history in the business to creatively problem-solve, and get you the best deal.

"Our team places a high-value on quality communication, " says Maureen Moran. "We can gather so much more information about the sale for our clients, simply by picking up the phone and talking with the other agent." 

We've learned over the years that some folks can get a little confused about assessments, inspections, and appraisals - and the role each plays as part of the buying and selling process. If you're a little unclear yourself, this short overview will answer a lot of your questions.  

Assessments

An assessment refers to the "value" that the local taxing authority assigns to your property. Your local assessor assigns an assessed value to your property each year, that along with the mill rate, determines the amount of property tax you owe.

As a general rule of thumb you shouldn't use your property's assessed value to approximate how much it can sell for on the open market. That's because in most cases your local assessor has never been to your