Summer vacation is still a week away for many kids, but they can start having fun with family-friendly festivals this weekend. There will be local bike rides, jazz music, carnivals, and even classic cars and cows to see near Capitol Square in early June. Our team will be at the Parks & Trails Unite Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, so be sure to stop by next to the “Science is Fun” booth.

Festa Italia
When: June 1-3 (4:30-11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday)
Where: McKee Farms Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road, Fitchburg
Admission: $3 per day (kids under 12 are free)
Activities: Pasta dinner and spaghetti-eating contests, bocce tournament, Italian dancers and musicians, raffle, face painting, balloon sculptures, magic

Leave your worries at the door of unit 204 at Nolen Shore Condominiums, where you'll be transported to a serene space in the heart of Madison. This 2,461-square-foot condo features 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, chef's kitchen, formal dining room, office/den, and a 572-square-foot private terrace perfect for entertaining.

Frequent travels to Europe inspired the home sellers to imbue their condo with calming, elegant features. Over the last decade, they have invested over $100,000 in stunning upgrades to this immaculate home. One of the most significant enhancements was the fireplace, which features a linear flame and floor-to-ceiling travertine and custom tile. Everything is streamlined to have a contemporary European look, from the furniture and

The weekend weather forecast looks promising, and no one could be happier than the people behind Brat Fest. Brat Fest kicks off Friday at the Alliant Energy Center, and will continue through Memorial Day. The event is a Madison tradition, dating back to 1983, when brats were cooked and served in the grocery store parking lot at Hilldale Mall. The event has grown to become a huge festival, with four music stages, carnival rides, thousands of brats, and close to 1.75 million dollars raised for charity.

This year, organizers hope to beat their all time record for brats served. That record was made in 2010, with 209,376 brats eaten, and near perfect weather conditions. After a few years with rainy weather, 2018 looks promising.  The brat stations are

As we approach the warmer summer months the Madison real estate market shifts from "over-heated" to "balanced". The graph below, which shows accepted offers by month, puts this shift into perspective. As the graph shows, buyer activity decreases in June, a typical pattern for our market.  

Opportunities for summertime buyers

Because the market shifts in June, the summertime is a good market for opportunistic buyers. A decent supply of new listings will hit the market in June, but competing offers and bidding wars will moderate. So right now is the time for buyers to stay engaged with their search and to act quickly when an appealing property is listed for sale. With a good supply of new listings, and fewer competing buyers, the summer market

As we inch closer to summer, outdoor festivals are starting to pop up on our radar again. These annual family-friendly events offer great opportunities to try new things and explore surrounding Dane County communities. Two cities south of Madison are gearing up for a weekend full of music, food, and fun from May 18-20: Stoughton and Fitchburg.

Syttende Mai Norwegian Heritage Festival

When: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Downtown Stoughton
Info: www.stoughtonfestivals.com

Even if you can't claim any Norwegian ancestry, Stoughton will have you embracing potato lefse, rosemaling painting, and Hardanger fiddle in no time. These are just a few traditions of this city's festival, which celebrates Norway's May 17th

In the age of online everything, home buyers may be tempted to use online lenders. These lenders offer online mortgage applications and approvals, and claim to offer the best rates for your home purchase. But they may not be your best option. Karen Wedvick, a mortgage lender at Johnson Bank, explains why local lenders are best equipped to help you with your home purchase. "When buying the biggest purchase of your life, you might want some local advice. There are lots of things that kill deals besides your credit rating and interest rates," she says. Wedvick suggests buyers consider the advantages of a local lender:

1. Local Decision Making. A lender at a local bank is well-versed on the local market. They often approve their own loans (or have

We just put the finishing touches on our latest single family home and condo reports, and as expected, rising prices and low inventory continue to be the two major themes in this year's real estate market. But how long can this sellers market in Madison last? We expect the market to favor sellers for a long time, and we explain why below. 

Why Madison is a long-term sellers market

The short and simple answer is the Madison area has many more people wanting to buy than owners willing to sell. We know this from our day-to-day work in the field, and our review of local market data confirms this is much more than a hunch. Here are 3 reasons why we know the city of Madison has many more buyers than sellers.

#1: Competing offers are at an all-time

With Madison at its core, Dane County is the fastest growing county in Wisconsin. But that growth is spreading to surrounding communities as well, like the Village of Mazomanie. Halfway between Middleton and Spring Green along Hwy. 14, Mazomanie straddles the line between Dane and Iowa counties and helps bridge the gap between urban and rural life. It feels like small-town living, but you're just 20 minutes away from everything.

Part of this growth is due to larger businesses taking root here, such as Wick Buildings and Roundy's Distribution Center. Between 2000-2013, Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC), Plastic Ingenuity, and Cardinal Coated Glass also moved into large facilities in town that have attracted numerous employees. In turn, there has

It's time to get outdoors and enjoy lingering in Downtown Madison. The first Madison Night Market of the year opens tonight at 6 p.m. Visit more than one hundred vendors along the streets, take advantage of the specials and sales at downtown businesses, and enjoy live music and entertainment along the way.

"It’s a great opportunity to celebrate all the creativity in Madison," says Tiffany Kenney, Executive Director of Madison's Central Business Improvement District. "The Madison Night Market is designed to promote the ideas of shopping downtown, shopping local and shopping to support artisans."

The night market is in its second year, after attracting more than 5000 attendees to its monthly events in 2017. Visitors enjoyed the artwork, live music,

At Mad City Dream Homes, we customize each marketing plan in order to deliver the best value for each home-selling client. This is one reason why we love selling luxury real estate; there are so many creative touches we can add for the truly special property.

Luxury real estate marketing examples

Below we share a few examples of the marketing tools we make available to our clients with high-end and luxury properties.

Staging with rented furniture

Sometimes it makes perfect sense to replace an owner's existing furniture with rented furniture individually selected by our stager. Such was the case with our recent Lake Monona condo listing in Downtown Madison. Notice how the low profile furniture adds a modern touch while allowing for an