"March Madness" has descended upon Madison, Wisconsin. That means plenty of hoops action at the Kohl Center. The boys state basketball tournament begins this Thursday at the Kohl Center, followed by the girls state tournament next week at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Bucky will also be playing his heart out, hopefully into the later rounds of the NCAA tournament.

The term "March Madness" also applies to our local real estate market. With more demand and less supply, many sellers are benefiting from a feeding frenzy for homes. As one client commented to me this weekend, "this market is crazy!". Her first 3 showings resulted in 3 offers (all of them above the list price), and we had her house sold in 4 days.

This is the kind of market we expect

There are many great benefits to living in the Madison, WI area. Madison offers an amazing variety of arts, entertainment, cultural, educational and recreational opportunities for a city of its size. Even with so much to do in Madison, an increasing number of locals are "slowing down" and getting back to their roots with Community Supported Agriculture.

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a coming together of individuals who support and participate in the experience of farming locally-grown food. The greater Madison area is home to dozens of small CSA farms, where members can choose to participate in the farming experience in a variety of ways. A growing number of Madisonians are choosing to join a local

We have two Verona homes for sale with our newest listing at 913 Maple Road in the popular Cross Country Heights neighborhood. Just down the road from the Epic Systems campus, this 3 bedroom/ 2 bath tri-level home is value priced at $230,000.

It features a sunlit living room, kitchen with breakfast bar, a dining area that exits to the rear deck and fenced in back yard, a family room with wood-burning fireplace, plenty of storage, and an attached 2 car garage. Don't miss out on this opportunity to own this great Verona home at a fantastic value. Take a short video tour of this wonderful home, and contact us for your own personal property tour.

Contact us for a tour of 913 Maple Raod and for all of your home buying and home selling needs in Verona,

If you've been searching the internet for Madison real estate, you've seen plenty of listings for vacant homes and condos. Yes, some of these units are foreclosures. The problem with many vacant home listings is they often present as a foreclosure, even if they are not! Bland photos with no color. And no online video tours. What it is that makes these homes special? That can be hard to discern from the listings themselves.

The good news for the vacant home owner is that great staging requires only a small investment, and the results are worth every penny and more. The goal of staging a vacant home is to give the home some color and life so the listing photos capture the attention of online buyers. Great photos generate more showings; more showings

Homes in the Village of Shorewood Hills are among the most highly valued in all of Dane County. Why is Shorewood Hills real estate held in such high regard? It begins with the properties themselves. Original. Historic. Diverse. Picturesque. All of these terms apply to the wide assortment of houses in Shorewood Hills.

For most buyers the attraction to Shorewood Hills is about much more than real estate. It's also about the natural setting that the Village offers. Perched up against the Lake Mendota shoreline, the Village of Shorewood Hills offers an amazing variety of natural spaces and inspiring views. If you like hiking, biking, swimming, boating, fishing - or simply a quiet walk and a lakefront sunset - Shorewood Hills offers plenty of shoreline,

Getting ready to sell your Madison area home or condo? There are many different factors that will influence the success of your real estate marketing plan. One of the most important of factors is how your home presents online. Remember, over 90% of all buyers first learn about a listing by viewing it on the internet, and the number one reason buyers use the internet is to evaluate a listing's aesthetic appeal.

This means your staging and your professional photos are two critical elements that will play a huge role in the overall success of your sale. They'll greatly influence the number of showings that your listing receives, the amount of time that your home is on the market, and the price at which your home sells.

Below are some examples of high

You're not alone. Verona real estate is in high demand. Home sales are off to a good start in 2013 after increasing by more than 25% in 2012. With just over 5 months of inventory, many homes in Verona are selling quickly. Verona building contracts are on the rise, too.

What makes Verona WI homes so popular?

Many buyers appreciate the city's small town charm and convenient location just outside of Madison. Verona is also home to Epic Systems, one of South Central Wisconsin's largest employers. Many of the employees from this fast-growing company choose to lay down their roots in Verona, where there's a diverse selection of mid-century and new construction homes.

We expect 2013 to  be a good year for Verona home sellers. With lower inventories and

This weekend I came across this sign at the intersection of Midvale Blvd and Mineral Point Rd on Madison's near west side. This intersection is surrounded by the Westmorland, Sunset Village, Hill Farms and Midvale Heights neighborhoods. It's an interesting place to post a sign targeting distressed sellers. The near west side is Madison's most stable real estate market, where the home values have held up amazingly well, even through the worst of the real estate downturn.

Most sellers on the near west side are far from distressed. Sellers on this side of town benefit from a strong demand for a limited supply of homes. With the Spring market right around the corner, the buyers will be out in full force very soon, and many of them will be targeting

What makes Madison, Wisconsin original and unique? The neighborhoods. Madison is home to an amazing variety of local settings, each with its own identity and character. There is no better example of this than the neighborhoods on Madison's Near East Side. Authentic. Ecclectic. Urban. Unique. All of these terms have been used to describe the neighborhoods on the Near East Side of Madison.

The real estate on Madison's Near East Side dates back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. With homes lining Madison's Isthmus and the city's two iconic lakes, the setting of the Near East Side is like no other in Madtown.

The Near East Side is home to Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Atwood Avenue, "Willy Street", James Madison Park, and Olbrich Gardens. It's the unique

The houses for sale on the north side of Madison offer the most home for the money compared to the real estate in any other side of town. As you'll see from the graph below, the north side "price per square foot" for single family homes was only $93 in 2012. This represents a 27% decrease from the peak year of 2006, when the average was $128 per square foot.

Many of the homes on Madison's north side were built in the middle of the century, a time when many high-quality, moderately-sized houses were constructed. If you're a buyer seeking an old-fashioned bungalow or ranch-style house at a reasonable price, the northeast side of town offers a good selection of real estate for your review.

Today's lower prices, low interest rates, and rising rents are