When the best of the best collaborate, good things are bound to happen. We recently watched this unfold with our Nolen Shore Condo listing, which drew multiple offers and accepted one above listing price in just 3 days.

This downtown high-rise overlooking Lake Monona is stellar on its own, but with the help of professional stagers and a photographer we were able to quickly transform this vacant property. "It demonstrates what can happen when you have all the right players involved to plan, execute, and manage a project," said Realtor Dan Miller.

Behind the scenes were stagers Debbie Lea and Karla Gones and photographer Justin Lackner, whose combined expertise helped make this condo shine. 

While most of our listings only use Debbie Lea,

Typically when we meet with a home-owner about the prospects of selling their home the consultation is very low-key. We don't bring a sales presentation to the consultation. Instead we focus on understanding the seller's questions and concerns and then making sure we address all of them during our meeting.

Usually we tour the home together and discuss the simple cosmetic improvements that will improve the home's marketability and market value. We discuss the specific marketing strategies that are a good fit for their home. We also cover the latest trends in their local real estate market and a good list price for their property. Last, we discuss the fees that are involved with selling their home. 

By the end of our meeting the seller has a good

One of our core team values is to partner with quality and reputable service providers who deliver outstanding service and results. Photographer Beau Meyer is one of our partners who fits this description to a tee. Beau consistently delivers with eye-popping photos of every property he shoots. Below are just a few examples of Beau's work from some of our recent listings.

Interior Listing Photos

Here are some beautiful listing photos of kitchens, dining rooms and great rooms. This photo captures this wonderful view from a kitchen overlooking a great room and wall of windows. 

This picture shows a dining room, kitchen and great room all in one shot. 

Here's a beautiful living room shot from one of our downtown luxury condo listings. 

Lights on, fans off. That's how Beau Meyer gets his photo shoots started. His subject? Homes.

Without giving away all his tricks of the trade, we want to share a few reasons why Beau is one of our favorite photographers to work with for our listings.

Stunning images

Even without seeing Beau's before and after shots on his website, there's no denying his knack for interior photography.

One of his trademarks is to make the exterior views visible through the windows. To do this he combines multiple exposures of images to "make it just like you see it."

He especially loves taking photos of lake homes or "anything with a view."

Realtors trust him to pick out the most valuable features in the house. And even though many of the homes he shoots

We don't have a budget for our real estate listings because a budget would limit our creativity and the overall effectiveness of our marketing. Instead, we customize each marketing plan based on the needs of our client and the type of property they have to sell. There are many ways to boost a listing with extra marketing. Here are just a few of them. 

10 ways to boost a real estate marketing plan

#1: Create a professional floor plan. Professional floor plans are a nice marketing tool for large and luxury homes. Floor plans help buyers visualize how they will use each room in the house. 

#2: Add aerial photos to the listing. There is no better way to sell a unique setting than to show an aerial view from a drone camera. Check out this link for

We've all heard stories this year of home owners who sold their listing within a day or even a few hours of putting their house on the market. Although it's very tempting for a home owner to accept the first strong offer that comes in, is this the right decision to make?

We would argue in many cases the right decision is to wait and allow more offers to come in before responding to the first buyer that writes an offer. The reason is competing offers are a seller's best friend. Sellers who negotiate with multiple buyers usually end up with a higher price and better terms than sellers who negotiate with just one. The hard part for some sellers is knowing how to attract competing offers in the first place. Here are four tips for making it happen. 

How

The October real estate market offers a window of opportunity for sellers who are still looking for the right buyer. Take a look at the graph below, which shows the number of Madison single family home accepted offers for each month in 2016. 

As the graph above shows, buyer activity typically increases in October before bottoming out in November and December. This means it's critical for sellers to get their listing priced properly right now. Sellers who find their buyer in October will avoid the slow holiday season and the need for a November or December price reduction. 

Pricing for the fall market

If you're still looking for the right buyer, we recommend working with your real estate agent to take a fresh look at the market in your area.

Although our low inventory market makes it possible to sell your home in any season, many home owners are planning their sale for next spring when buyers will be out in peak numbers. If your goal is to sell next spring, remember there's no substitute for planning and preparation. Take action on these 5 recommendations right now and you'll achieve great results in 2018. 

5 tips for a great 2018 listing

#1: Contact your real estate agent to find out what your home is worth. While you're at it, discuss the simple cosmetic improvements that will increase its value. Then re-assess your home's value when your projects are complete. 

#2: Consult with a professional home stager and implement her recommendations. We recommend Debbie Lea from Showcase

Competing offers are a seller's best friend. With multiple offers in hand, a seller has the psychological advantage and is in a great position to control the outcome of the negotiation and sale.   

In this article we cover why you should choose a listing plan that's designed to attract multiple offers. Here are the 4 main ways multiple offers will benefit your sale. 

4 advantages of multiple offers

#1: Competing offers give you leverage to negotiate the highest possible price. When buyers compete for your listing, you have the negotiation advantage. You'll get the highest market price when you negotiate with all parties and allow buyers to compete for your listing.  

#2: Multiple offers help you negotiate the best terms. Your odds of receiving

Documenting features and upgrades is a great way to demonstrate your home's value and justify your list price to buyers and appraisers. This 30 second video offers 3 quick tips to help you get started with the process. 

How we help you sell your home's features and upgrades

Once we have your list of upgrades, we'll use this information to create professional marketing materials for your listing. If your list of upgrades is extensive, we can create an itemized list similar to this one from a recent listing. 

Example of a "features sheet"

Another great marketing piece is our "features sheet". Our features sheet displays your home's key selling points alongside your professional photos to create an eye-catching promotional piece.