You don't need an open house to sell your home, but holding an open house can be beneficial to your sale in three important ways. For starters, advertising an open house can bring more attention and momentum to your listing when your home first hits the market. Holding an open house also makes viewing your home easier for buyers who might struggle to schedule a private showing during the work week. 

And one surprising benefit? Scheduling an open house can create a real sense of urgency for some buyers. Some buyers will notice the scheduled open house and be motivated to submit a quick and strong offer, in hopes that their offer will be accepted before the weekend open takes place. 

We're always happy to hold open houses as part of your marketing

We've just updated our 2024 home and condo selling statistics using objective data from the South Central Wisconsin MLS. Here's a quick look at how Mad City Dream Homes compares to the rest of the Dane County realtor community. 

Sold price vs original list price

• Mad City Dream Homes: 103.1% 
• Dane County average: 99.6% 

Percent of listings receiving competing offers

• Mad City Dream Homes: 60% 
• Dane County average: 34% 

Days on market

• Mad City Dream Homes: 9 days 
• Dane County average: 26 days 

There's no doubt, our clients reap the benefits of professional marketing and expert negotiation. We'll have more to share about these two topics real soon. 

A slew of development projects are in the works for the city of Madison, including a number of proposals that will add thousands of new apartments to the downtown area. The Department of Planning, Community & Economic Development publishes all of the current proposals on its website and this interactive map. 

No doubt, Madison's population will continue to grow, and we'll continue to see more large-scale projects and urban infill in the years ahead. The vast majority of these projects will be for apartments, not condos, leading to condo values continuing to appreciate.  

(click for interactive map)

More new construction homes are coming to Madison, with two large subdivisions in the works for the far west side. Both neighborhoods will be developed by Veridian Homes: 

• Midpoint Meadows will include 148 lots for single family homes, and 96 lots for two-family, side-by-side duplexes.
• Hill Valley will be much larger in scale, with approximately 1,500 housing units planned for a walkable neighborhood with an extensive network of parks and green space. 

We'll have more info to share as both of these neighborhoods take shape. In the meantime, check out our guide to 60 emerging neighborhoods in Dane County, and reach out anytime you have questions about buying or building a new home. We'd love to assist you. 

Hill Valley Subdivision from

If you’ve enjoyed an afternoon on Willy Street, you’ve likely passed by Luke House. Their mission is simple: to feed the hungry no questions asked. If you haven’t heard of Luke House, it is because they go about their mission work quietly, serving free meals nine times a week, year-round, rain or shine. At each meal Luke House serves between 60 and 120 guests. All guests and volunteers are treated with dignity and respect, a major value of the Luke House. This organization has been feeding Madison’s hungry since 1986. Guests show up and are fed, no questions asked. The facility is set up like a restaurant with volunteers serving a healthy meal and beverages to guests.

The atmosphere is very pleasant, and the guests have a chance to socialize.

Staging is a key step in getting a seller’s home ready for professional photos and showings. But sometimes it just isn’t possible to leave behind furniture and decor during moving preparations. In these situations, we often suggest “virtual staging," which involves adding these items to each photo digitally.

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Virtual staging allows buyers to visualize how a room could be arranged and lived in. Including furniture in the image also makes most rooms feel bigger, ironically, as does traditional staging. 

We’re proud to work with Step Inside Media who consistently does a high-quality job selecting furnishings and color palettes that accentuate the beauty of each home. 

We’re always sure to include a note that a

Here are the latest, unfiltered trends in the Dane County condo market, updated for the month of December, 2024. 

Dane County condo prices

Madison area condo prices were mixed in December, but up across all measures for the entire year. Do the December numbers suggest condo prices will be falling soon? We don't think so. Condo prices are subject to some variability due to the relatively low number of sales that occur each month. In the condo market, a few low-end or high-end sales can have a large impact on monthly prices. For this reason it's important to pay more attention to the overall trend rather than the individual measures in any given month. 

December condo prices 

• The price square foot decreased from $224 in December of 2023

Here's our latest single family home report, covering all of the latest trends in Dane County. First, we begin with home prices. 

December 2024 home prices

Madison area home prices were up significantly in December, and were significantly higher for the entire 2024 sales year, too. 

December prices

• The price per square foot rose from $228 in December of 2023 to $243 in December of 2024, up 6 percent.
• The median price increased from $414,900 in December of 2023 to $441,250 in December of 2024, up 6 percent. 
• The average price increased from $466,512 in December of 2023 to $520,112 in December of 2024, up 11 percent. 

2024 annual prices

• The price per square foot increased from $225 in 2023 to $241 in 2024, up 7

We invest a significant amount of time, effort, and expertise into selling your home. But what about your location? 

At Mad City Dream Homes we love creating neighborhood, condo association and community guides to help us sell your unique location. We're also big believers in capturing community photos that help us sell the amenities and attractions in your neighborhood. 

Buyers, especially those from out-of-town, want hyperlocal information. And our community content helps prospective buyers get excited about your listing. As one small example, here's a sneak peek at some of the media that we'll be including in our upcoming listing near Monroe Street.  

We currently have hundreds of guides and thousands of photos covering locations

When it comes down to it, you really have just 3 basic steps for buying your dream home in the coming year: 

#1) You tell us about your dream home. 

#2) We create a customized home-buying plan for you. 

#3) Then we guide you through your financing, showings, offer, negotiations, and contingencies until you receive your keys at closing. 

Of course it all begins with a meeting.

Contact your Mad City Dream Homes realtor when you're ready to start working on your dream home. In the meantime, we encourage you to learn more from our clients about how our home-buying process has worked for them. We can't wait to help you make your big move in the new year.