Blog Archives

On December 21, 2011 the Wisconsin state senate put into effect an act to change the landlord tenant laws. This is known as 2011 Wisconsin Act 108. This act was designed to eliminate many of the additional laws local municipalities added on top of state laws. Here are a few rules that got wiped out: Read More

We’ve made a decision; we are building a house… maybe. I’ll start at the beginning of our housing story for those of you that don’t know it. Kinsey was in the process of searching for a condo when we met, and she bought one shortly after**. I (Keith) already had a house that was pretty Read More

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is something most mortgage loan programs require unless the borrower has more than 20% equity of in the property. PMI insures the lender against default by the borrower and it generally costs 1/2 – 1% of the loan amount per year. This is incorporated into the monthly mortgage payments. Essentially, the Read More

There are still many conflicting reports out in the media on the future of the real estate market . Although, we are starting to hearing more positive stories on the national economic and real estate outlook. The question is, what is our local market doing? According to this chart based on statistics from the Wisconsin Read More

If your in the market for a house in Verona or on the west side of Madison, stop by and see these two great homes tomorrow. 7022 Parker Hill Dr. Madison, WI $223,000 This west Madison home features a great floor plan, finished basement with fireplace and awesome entertaining space, and a fenced yard backing Read More

Most people think the winter is a horrible time to sell a home. I’ll be the first to admit, sales are typically down in the Madison area through the winter months. Usually not much happens between Thanksgiving and New Years. Although, this recent holiday season was unusual. We had lots of activity and put several properties Read More

If you are paying any attention to real estate news, there’s no doubt you may be confused on the current state of the housing market. All the headlines listed below are from the past 6 weeks. Can you say “conflicting information”!?!? Home Resales Rise 4% It’s Official: Housing Market Was Sicker than We Thought Mortgage Read More

Yesterday we closed our final scheduled house sale of 2011. So, it’s time to look at our year end statistics.  While there is still doom and gloom all over the news about the real estate market, we were blessed with a great year. Through November, the total number of home sales in Dane County was Read More

Property taxes are a big factor when purchasing a home. Your property taxes could be 35% or more of your mortgage payment. Even if you’re retired, debt free, and paying cash for a home, property taxes could be a significant chunk of your annual income. We have heard comments from some buyers and sellers such Read More

After 11 years of owning investment property, I’ve made some great decisions, made some mistakes, experienced an up market, and experienced a down market. After all this, I’ve developed 5 core rules of buying investment properties. Most of these rules can be applied to any type of investing too. Educate yourself Learn all you can Read More