Even in a hot seller's market there are plenty of over-priced listings which won't sell until the owner gets realistic about pricing. For some sellers, that realization is happening right now. The over-heated spring market has given way to a more balanced summer market, motivating some owners to drop their price in order to get their property sold.  

Opportunistic buyers are pouncing on price reductions

Some buyers have given up on their search because they don't believe there are enough listings to go around in the summer market. Other more opportunistic buyers are staying in the game and acting immediately as soon as the right price reduction or right listing comes along. 

It's true, there are fewer new listings to choose from in the

Imagine you've come across a new listing with a beautiful, recently upgraded kitchen. The kitchen space is perfect for you and your family, but you're wondering who did the work and whether or not permits were pulled for the plumbing and electrical. If the property is located in Madison, there's a great online tool you can use to get answers to your questions. 

City of Madison Licenses & Permits Webpage

The City of Madison Licenses and Permits Webpage helps consumers research building permits pulled for individual properties. To access the page, go to https://elam.cityofmadison.com/CitizenAccess/. If this is your first time using the site, you'll need to start by registering for an account. 

Once you've registered for an account, select the

In addition to staging, there are 4 other low-cost, high-impact improvements that can dramatically increase your home's value and mass appeal. This 30 second video covers our top 4 home improvement tips.

12 Ways a Painter Can Help You Sell Your Home

Our #1 home improvement tip is to hire a professional painter to freshen up your home. Painting by a professional always pays for itself, usually many times over. Here are 12 ways a professional painter can add sparkle and value to your listing. 

1. Remove dated wallpaper and replace with a fresh coat of neutral paint. Kilim Beige from Sherwin Williams is a great all-around color for the purposes of selling a home. 
2. Replace bold colors with neutral colors that give your home more mass appeal. 

Our newest condo listing at 8237 Starr Grass Drive is off to an excellent start, thanks to stager, Debbie Lea, and photographer, Beau Meyer. Traffic has been very brisk and the feedback very positive during the first 4 days of the listing. We're looking forward to reviewing offers on Thursday, June 29th. Here's a little more info about this Midtown Commons condominium on Madison's west side. 

Photos & Features of 8237 Starr Grass Drive

This 2 bedroom/2.5 bathroom townhouse is value range priced from $185,000 to $195,000. The main level features 9' ceilings, upgraded flooring, and a gas fireplace with tile surround. 

An open concept dining area flows into the living room. 

A nice kitchen with breakfast bar, recessed lighting, and ample

It is odorless, colorless and has no taste, but radon is a naturally occurring gas that exists throughout Wisconsin, and its radioactive properties make it a health hazard. Fortunately, there are ways to detect it, and remove it from the air you breath.

Lindsay Mefford, of Madison Radon Testing, offers radon testing as part of a home inspection, or as an independently completed process. To do the test, a box (smaller than a shoe box) is temporarily installed in the lowest level of your home. It's installed in a way that prevents tampering. The box takes air samples every hour, and measures the radon content in each sample. After 48 hours, the box is collected, and the measurements are averaged. Madison area homes can fall into three categories. Either

Which price ranges are most competitive in the Madison real estate market? One way to measure the competitiveness (or popularity) of a price range is to look at the percent of offers within the range that involve competition from multiple buyers. In the Madison single family home market, our accepted offer data shows properties priced below $350,000 are in highest demand. Within this range, the most popular price category is $200k - $250k where a full 50% of all accepted offers involve competition from 2 or more buyers. 

In the Madison condo market, condominiums priced below $300,000 are most popular with buyers. Our 2017 data shows condos priced between $250k and $300k are in highest demand, with 43% of the accepted offers in this price category

Our newest listing at 540 Highway 92 just outside of Belleville has been a lot of fun to work on so far. This property offers some beautiful views and a countryside setting just 15 minutes from Verona and 30 minutes from Madison. Justin Lackner has done a great job capturing the natural beauty surrounding the property. Here are a few of Justin's photos. 

Outdoor Photos of 540 Highway 92

This 2 acre property is set up on a hill with mature trees. The lot is surrounded by fields and rolling hills on all sides. 

This shot of the surrounding countryside is taken from the front yard. 

Here's another great shot of the countryside setting - taken from the side lot. 

From this property you can see for miles in all directions. 

One of our 12 team values is to partner with reputable service providers who help our clients achieve their goals. Our partnership with Justin Lackner is a great example of this team value at work. Justin is one of our favorite photographers because he captures some amazing images for our listings. Whenever we have a client with a beautiful kitchen or a unique landscape, Justin is the photographer we call. Here are some recent examples of his work. 

Recent Listing Photos by Justin Lackner

This photo captures the simple elegance and charm of this nearly 100-year-old home in the Greenbush neighborhood. 

In this photo, Justin displays a beautiful interior and panoramic views from this Weston Place high-rise condo. 

This picture was a big

When it comes to selling your home, there's no substitute for planning and preparation. Our initial consultation is all about putting a good plan in place for your sale. During our planning meeting we learn why and when you plan to move. Then we outline the key steps for making your move happen.

For example, let's say your goal is to sell your current home and move into your new condo by August 15th. Your move plan could look a lot like this example below. 

Example Move Plan: Sell and Buy by August 15th

• Meet with our stager on June 1st
• Stage your home's featured space (for example a great room, sun room or kitchen) with our stager's assistance by June 4th 
• Mad City Dream Homes obtains professional photos of your featured space by June

If we were to choose one word to describe the spring real estate market, it would be "over-heated". The spring selling season has been full of bidding wars and huge price increases. If you know anyone who's bought or sold this spring, no doubt you've heard a few interesting stories about our crazy market. 

But real estate is all about the seasons, and right now our over-heated spring market is giving way to a more balanced summer market. As the graph below shows, buyer activity decreases in June from the peak months of March, April and May. Plenty of real estate gets bought and sold in the summertime, but at a slower pace compared to the spring season. 

How does this shift affect buyers and sellers?

If you're still planning to buy or sell in