It goes against convention, but the month of December is an excellent time to buy a home. Why? There are far fewer buyers to compete with in the wintertime, and sellers tend to be more motivated during the holiday season. This means the deals are better in December and January. If you're looking to get a fair deal on a nice home or condo, the winter season is an excellent time to buy. Of course every situation is different. Feel free to contact us to discuss your individual situation. 

Here are more specifics on why right now is an excellent time to buy in Madison and the surrounding Dane County area. 

Buyers Have Less Competition in December

It's much easier to get an offer accepted in December because there are fewer competing buyers. The MLS

The Madison real estate market has changed from the fever pitch that characterized the months of March, April, May and June. The graph below shows how the market is changing. Each bar represents a snapshot of the single family home market taken mid-month. Each number reflects the percent of all Madison single family home listings that had an accepted offer at the time of the snapshot. 

What Does the Data Say about the Spring Market?

If you were searching for a home in March, April, May or June, over 50% of the listings you viewed online were already under contract and scheduled for closing. These were wild and crazy times. Many new listings sold in a matter of days or even hours - after receiving multiple competing offers. Some buyers put their

Have you been considering a housing change? Maybe you've been in your starter home for a while, and you're ready for more space, and higher end amenities. This fall is the perfect time to make that change, with the best opportunity to both sell high, and purchase at a competitive price. Let me explain.

How the Starter Home and Move Up Markets Vary

There is a shortage of affordable housing in Dane County. Homes priced under $250,000 are selling quickly due to a limited supply of listings on the open market. For example, right now there are only 1.8 months of inventory in all of Madison. For homes in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range, there are only 1.4 months of supply. Homes that fall within this price range sell rapidly, and often at or

It's only February, but the hot Spring market has already arrived in Madison. This year's single family home and condo markets are already chaotic with buyers fighting over a limited supply of properties.

Sellers will enjoy 2016. Buyers will need a solid game plan for finding the right home at the right price. Below are a few quick real estate stats which show why 2016 is already proving to be a hot seller's market. We also offer some tips for making your real estate goals happen in 2016. 

Current Trends: The Madison Condo Market

The $250,000 and under price category is the hottest segment in the Madison condo market. As of this post there are only 1.6 months of supply available for sale in this price range. An amazing 46% of the listings in this

When is the best time to buy a home in Madison? Contrary to conventional wisdom, right now is actually an excellent time to buy a home in our market. To be a little more specific, November, December and the first half of January offer a nice window of opportunity for local home buyers. The graph below, which shows the number of Madison accepted offers by month, shows why. 

The Best Times to Buy a Home in Madison

November, December and January are the 3 slowest months in the Madison real estate market. During these 3 months fewer showings are scheduled, fewer offers are written, and fewer offers are accepted compared to any other month in the calendar year. Buyers have much less competition from other buyers during the cold weather months, which

We've covered previously how you and your real estate agent can use creative techniques to find and buy an unlisted property. These strategies include calling and sending letters to home owners in your preferred locations. Done in the right way, both methods work extremely well. Both afford you the opportunity to find the right property, negotiate with the owner, and close on your new home without any competition from other buyers. In this market of low inventory and high demand, both strategies give you a big advantage over the competition. Not only that, buying an unlisted home is a bit of an adventure and can be a lot of fun. 

A good old-fashioned postcard offers another creative avenue for finding and buying an unlisted property. A strategically

We recently posted on how you and your buyer agent can collaborate to find an off-market property before the general public knows it's available for sale. Blanketing a neighborhood (or condo development) with a personal letter is an excellent strategy for beating the competition to a great home in a popular location. 

Another effective method is to ask your agent to call the households in your preferred neighborhood. Similar to the personal letter, an effective phone call campaign allows you to connect with property owners who are planning to sell in the near future. Here are a few tips for a successful phone call campaign, which we've learned through trial, error, and on-the-job education.

Five Tips for an Effective Phone Call Campaign

1. Your

Housing inventory is much lower than it used to be - and demand is much higher - so for some buyers finding the right home can be a real challenge. In some neighborhoods the competition for homes is fierce. A well-priced listing in a popular neighborhood can sell within days (or sometimes even within hours) and with multiple competing offers.

However, there are a few different strategies you and your buyer agent can use to beat the competition to a great home in your preferred location. One very effective method is to deliver a letter to every home in your target neighborhood.

A personal letter offers a great way to reach home owners who are planning to sell but who have not yet put their home on the open market. 

As an example, our real estate

When is the best time to buy a home in Madison? Conventional wisdom says to buy in the springtime. Year in and year out our local real estate market is busiest during the warmer months and slowest during the winter holiday season. There are many in the real estate industry who refer to this time of year as the "REALTOR Holiday", which runs unofficially from Thanksgiving Day through New Year's Day. 

The spring and summer months are the most popular times for buying in our market, but there can be some challenges that come with buying during the peak season. Shopping in the spring or summer market means you're competing with many other buyers at a time when homes are selling very quickly. If you don't act quickly yourself, you could lose your ideal

Searching for real estate by school or school district is easy with our suite of property search tools. We show you how with two simple examples below.

Example 1: Homes in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District

Let's suppose you're interested in homes in the Middleton-Cross Plains school district. Here's how you can focus your search in 4 quick steps:

1. Go to our property Search page.
2. Scroll to the School District filter and select Middleton-Cross Plains
3. Customize your search according to your preferred property type, size, price, and number of bedrooms/bathrooms.
4. Click Refine Search.

Our search tool then presents all of the properties in the Middleton-Cross Plains school district that meet all of our your defined criteria.