** This article was originally written by Samantha Haas while a member of our team. You can learn more about Samantha and her work here. 

How might your life be different if you were offered a fresh start when you were younger? For 50 years, Operation Fresh Start (OFS) has been building the futures and transforming the lives of more than 8,000 young people with that question in mind. The mission of the nonprofit is to empower emerging adults on a path to self-sufficiency through education, mentoring, and employment training. 

“I think how this organization started is just amazing,” said OFS Development Director Jody Weyers. “Jack Osteraas was a former police officer and saw the same young people on the street all the time. So he talked to some

September was another very active month in the Madison area condominium market. Here's our latest condo snapshot covering all of the most important trends. 

Dane County condo accepted offers

Accepted offers decreased by 7% year-over-year, but were still very strong from an historical perspective. The 139 accepted offers last month were the 5th highest on record for the month of September. Remember, year-over-year comparisons are tricky right now because last year's peak market was pushed to the summer and the fall after the pandemic arrived in the spring. Also, don't forget that historically low inventory is limiting the number of offers that are being written in this year's market.  

Dane County condo sales

Madison area condo sales

Congrats to our clients at 6713 Colony Drive who recently received a very quick, strong and clean offer for their home! Their success was due in large part to their commitment to the staging process, under the guidance of our stager, Debbie Lea, and listing agent Alan Feder. Working together as a team, our clients, Debbie and Alan set the stage for some amazing listing photos that were the key to this successful listing.

Killer kitchen photos

These shots show off the character and quality of this thoughtfully designed kitchen. 

Gorgeous family room photos

These pics display all of the natural elements in this unique and beautiful family room. 

Alan's plan included beautiful exterior shots, too.

These photos

Accepted offers and home sales were lower compared to last year, but September was still a very active month for the Madison area real estate market. Remember, the normal seasonality of our market was disrupted by the pandemic in 2020, which makes year-over-year comparisons tricky. With this update we'll help you make sense of our fall market while giving you plenty of historical perspective.

Dane County single family home accepted offers

Accepted offers decreased by 12 percent from a year ago, but don't let that fool you. Buyers have been very busy this fall. A total of 521 homes went under contract in September. Excluding September of 2020, last month was the most active September on record. The next highest September on record was September of