April is the perfect time to sell a home in Madison. In fact it may be the best month out of any month in the year to put your home on the market. Below we offer 5 reasons why right now is an excellent time to sell your home. 

Reason #1: Seasonality

Year in and year out April is one of the hottest months for real estate in Madison. In 2015, more offers were submitted and accepted in the month of April than in any other month of the year. If your goal is to list your home when buyers are most active, April is the month to make it happen. 

Reason #2: Low Supply

Housing supply remains unusually low in Madison. As of this post there are only 1.3 months of inventory available for sale in the single family home real estate market. This

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

We have a new listing coming up at 6577 Matz Rd in Dane, Wisconsin. It's a beautiful 3-bedroom home that sits on an acre of land just 15 minutes from Madison's West Side. The house is beautiful, but the views are truly breathtaking. That's why we've called on talented photographer, Zac Albrecht, to take pictures of the landscape surrounding the property. This home offers million dollar views, and Zac has done a wonderful job capturing them. Below are a few photos which will be appearing soon in our upcoming listing.

Professional Landscape Photos - 6577 Matz Rd, Dane, WI

This first photo is taken from the back yard of the home - overlooking Baraboo Bluffs - with views that extend for miles and miles. Imagine the scenery this vista offers during the

Our most successful listings are those with a great spirit of teamwork. Our upcoming listing at Nichols Station Condominiums is a great example. Yesterday our real estate team met with Mr Seller's family and Debbie Lea from Showcase Home Stagers to prepare the condo for sale. We started at 9:00 AM and before we hit 11:00 AM the condo was 80% staged. Today, Mr Seller will purchase a few accessories, remove a few furniture pieces, and do a little touch-up cleaning before we arrange for our professional photographer to shoot the listing photos and video. 

"Hands On Staging" by Debbie Lea

Yesterday's 2-hour session was extremely productive as we worked together to implement Debbie's recommendations. During our time together I documented all of the

Modesty is a likable trait, but when it comes to real estate it won't help buyers like your home. If you want your home to sell high and sell quickly, a little vanity can go a long way. Below we offer a few ways you can show the world why your home is the best buy in the neighborhood. 

See all of our home-selling tips here.

4 Ways to Brag about Your Real Estate Listing

1. Focus on looks by consulting with a professional home stager, hiring a professional photographer, and hiring a professional videographer. 
2. Write a compelling listing description that motivates buyers to call their agent and schedule a showing for your home. 
3. Advertise your home's improvements and upgrades. 
4. Document your home's features room-by-room.

In this post

For most home owners the definition of a successful sale is a real estate listing that sells quickly and for a high market price. The catch is a successful sale usually doesn't happen overnight. Rather, it's usually the result of a lot of advanced planning and preparation by both the listing agent and the client. 

So how can you plan for a successful sale of your own? You're bound to do well if you keep the "5 P's" of selling a home in mind. 

Preparing for a Successful Listing: The "5 P's" of Selling a Home

1. Price your home correctly from the start. 
2. Work with a professional home stager to ensure a great and lasting first impression.  
3. Enlist the services of a professional photographer for the very best listing photos. 
4. Use a

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 recently wrote about 4 key steps you should take right now in order to prepare for a successful listing in the Spring. Step #1 is get your staging plan in order. A few of our own clients are taking this advice to heart and working proactively on their staging right now. I have no doubt each of these sellers will be rewarded for their efforts. They'll knock it out of the park when their homes hit the market in early 2016.

Home Staging by Debbie Lea

Recently one of these sellers participated in a "group staging" session run by Debbie Lea from Showcase Home Stagers. The consultation was attended by Mr. Seller, Mrs. Seller, and myself. The four of us spent 3 hours together as we toured the home room-by-room. 

This was a collaborative and "hands

A professional, full-motion listing video offers the best way to show off your home on the world wide web. Done in the right manner, a full-motion virtual tour benefits your listing by providing better visual marketing, better exposure on Google, and syndication to more websites. Below, we share a few examples of some great listing videos. Later, we offer a few tips for creating an effective virtual tour.

3 Examples of Great Virtual Tours

This first video provides an excellent visual introduction to this upscale listing in Fitchburg. Note how the narrated script also does a great job of calling attention to the many high-end features offered by this home.

This second video provides a very polished presentation for our recent listing in Sunset

Planning and preparation are critical to any successful endeavor. The same goes with selling a home. If you're like most successful sellers, your preparation will begin several months before your home is listed on the open market. It can be a lot of work, but it all becomes very manageable when you have a knowledgeable real estate agent, a professional home stager, and a professional photographer helping you execute your home selling plan.

Below we offer 4 key steps you can take right now to prepare for your successful sale. Even if your plan is to sell in 2016, now is the perfect time to start laying the foundation for a killer listing.

Step 1: Consult with a Professional Home Stager

Your most fundamental step is to consult with a