October 2017

Found 19 blog entries for October 2017.

How can you learn more about schools and school districts in the Madison and Dane County area? The report card system put forward by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is one online tool that can help you with your research. As you'll see from the example below, the DPI report cards offer comparative data about school and school district performance.

How to use the school report card system

First, go to the report system web page here: 

https://apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/ 

Then select a school district and school that you'd like to review. In this example we've selected Northside Elementary in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District. 

The DPI website will produce a report for your selected school which you can download

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The curvy, hilly route from Madison to Mazomanie is a good indicator of the terrain you can explore at Dane County's newest park, Morton Forest.

Opened to the public October 16, 2016, it is located at 5169 Reeve Road on nearly 114 acres in the Driftless Area with about two miles of year-round hiking trails and views of Blue Mound, the highest point in the region.

What was once private land and a cabin used for family gatherings is now a managed forest and nature center for future generations to enjoy. And it's all thanks to a generous and selfless act by the benefactor the forest is named after: Steve Morton.

Last year Morton was featured on the PBS program Outdoor Wisconsin, during which he said he inherited the land in 1982 and

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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

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It's fall in Wisconsin! Leaves are changing, mums are in bloom, and while we enjoy the beauty of the season, The team at Meicher CPAs suggest it's the perfect time to look at your tax strategy.  What is a tax strategy? Tax planning is really a way of making sure you utilize tax deductions, by getting everything that you qualify to use, and then using them the right way. "It's also utilizing tax credits, and making sure your capital assets are purchased at the right time," says David Meicher, CPA at Meicher CPAs. 

Meicher acknowledges that the current political climate makes tax planning tricky. It's hard to plan for a tax structure that remains undefined. Even so, we know that the existing tax code is complex, and it's wise to plan ahead. "It really

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sell in one day or sell in one weekWe'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

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It may still feel like summer, but fall is upon us. To help you get in the autumnal mood, check out these upcoming festivals throughout Dane County. Whether you want to drink apple cider, pick out pumpkins, or take a wagon ride over crunchy leaves through city streets, there's no shortage of fun activities for the whole family this month.

Great Pumpkin Give Away
When: 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, October 7
Where: Oak Bank, 5951 McKee Road, Fitchburg
What: Bring the family to pick out a pumpkin to take home; suggested donation of $5 benefits Summer Teaching to Advance Reading Success.
Activities: Kids games, local mascots, bounce house, horse and carriage rides, refreshments.

Monona Fall Festival
When: October 7-8
Where: Winnequah Park, 5301 Healy Lane,

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In this real estate careers topic we cover why we're heavily invested in content marketing. What is content marketing? It's our commitment to continuously share useful real estate information with clients and the general public. 

content and attraction marketing

What types of content do we share? 

We share a lot, including:

  • Community, neighborhood, and condo community profiles. 
  • Things to do in Madison. 
  • Buying and selling tips. 
  • Home and condo market reports. 

How does content marketing benefit our business?

Content marketing benefits our business in 5 main ways:

#1: It helps us attract new clients. We've learned real estate consumers appreciate this approach. It's different from what most other agents offer, and it builds trust and credibility with

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On a warm September morning, just weeks after Dane County Parks opened the first phase of the Lower Yahara River Trail, a group of bicyclists paused on the floating boardwalk between Upper Mud Lake and Lake Waubesa.

They had spotted an eagle, which was perched high in a tree adjacent to the pedestrian bridge -- the longest in the state and perhaps the country. It's a sight few could have seen without being on the new trail that is suspended above the shoreline and wetland.

"Over the years, the bridge will allow millions of people to experience the natural beauty in a manner never before experienced," said Bill Lunney, chair of the Friends of Dane County Parks Endowment and Dane County Park Commission.

That scenic segment, which in places

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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. 

fall real estate market in madison wi 

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.

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