When you think of closing on your home, you might envision yourself signing paperwork around a big conference table, followed by getting the keys to your new home. Just like most parts of the real estate buying and selling process, the closing process has been adjusted to keep you safe. Read below for the many options Homestead Title is giving our clients for closings. They also have shared tips for buyers and sellers who will be closing soon.

A new venue for closing - your car!

Some title companies have made minor adjustments to the closing process by offering clean pens, scrubbed tables, more distance between parties, and limiting the number of people attending closings. Homestead Title has gone a step further to protect clients, offering

Many parts of the real estate process can be done virtually, including staging. Staging is an important part of the home selling process. A staged home tends to have better listing photos, which attracts more buyers and helps it sell faster. For a while now, a home's first showing has been on the internet. But in this unique time of social distancing, listing photos and a virtual tour may be the only ways a buyer can see your home before writing an offer. It's more important than ever to showcase your home through great staging, photos, and a virtual tour.

Debbie Lea of Showcase Home Stagers has been helping clients virtually for years, so staging a home without ever stepping inside isn’t a new challenge for her. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,

Real estate practices and consumer expectations have shifted dramatically over the last few weeks, and we're learning almost every aspect of the buying and selling process can be done virtually. The real estate market is changing for sure, but buyers are still buying, and sellers are still selling. Many of our clients are still achieving all of their dreams and goals; they're just going about the process in a whole new way. 

Do you have questions about buying or selling during these turbulent times?

Whether you need to buy or sell right now, or you just want to start planning for the future, we can help you move forward with your goals as we practice social distancing. You're likely to have a lot of questions, so please reach out to us and

These are challenging times, and our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. To all of our past clients, please know we're here for you. We'll be checking in with you to see how you're doing, and we encourage you to reach out to us whenever you need someone to talk to. We'd love to hear from you. 

We also want you to know we're working very hard right now to assist all of our clients who need to sell their home, as we incorporate social distancing into the home-selling process. Here are a few examples from the last week that show how we're working creatively and getting our listings under contract in our new era of social distancing.  

Seller success stories during coronavirus/COVID-19

Our sellers on the

In early 2019 our real estate team made one of the smartest decisions we've ever made: We hired Tracy Kapela as a photographer and visual media specialist for our team. Then we set her loose and let her go to work. Her work over the last year has exceeded all of our expectations. Among her many contributions, she's taken our marketing materials for our home-sellers to the next level, in a way that makes our sellers feel proud of their listing. 

In early 2020, Tracy has upped her game by re-designing our listing photo process. First, by helping us select and invest in the latest, state-of-the-art equipment. And then by implementing a whole new photography and photo editing system. The results have been amazing. Here are just a few examples of Tracy's

Real estate practices are evolving quickly as we all adjust to a world with coronavirus/COVID-19. One new practice that is coming soon is the digital closing. In a digital closing, the parties to a transaction sign their paperwork via e-signature from the comfort and safety of home. To learn more about how a digital closing works for buyers and sellers, please check out this article from the Homestead Title real estate blog. Thank you Peter Zarov for being a leader in the real estate field and for helping to spread the word about this important development.

We're all adjusting to new ways of living, and for our clients and team, new ways of buying and selling real estate. During this period of social distancing, here are a few of the measures that we're evaluating and implementing in order to protect the health of our clients, staff, and the larger community. We understand we'll need to continually evolve our practices as we adjust to the events around us. 

How we're practicing real estate and social distancing

Working remotely and meeting virtually

Our agents and staff are now working from home and using conference calls and Zoom to conduct our team meetings. We're also carrying out buyer and seller consultations with conference calls and Zoom. 

Using technology to conduct staging consultations

A staged home sells much faster than a vacant home, because it helps buyers imagine their belongings and lifestyle there. Sometimes, staging a home is not possible when the home has been vacant for some time. That was the case with a recent condo listing. The sellers were not living in the area, and their daughter had been living in the condo. After she moved out, they were ready to put the condo on the market.

Maureen Moran met with the sellers to see the unit. The unit was nicely maintained, but had the risk of presenting as bland or too small because it was empty. Based on the price point, it wasn’t financially feasible to furnish the unit before putting it on the market. Maureen suggested virtually staging the condo. Our team took photos of each of

Hundreds of homes are sold each month in Dane County, but if your goal is to sell when the market is hottest, then you should list your home during the 4-month window that spans from March to June. Take a quick look at the market data below. Year in and year out, the months of March, April, May and June have more buyers writing offers than any other month of the year. 

If you're planning to sell in 2020...

Then right now is the time to schedule a consultation with your favorite Mad City Dream Homes agent. Have a quick conversation about timing, pricing, staging, and marketing -  as well as the low-cost improvements that will add real value to your home. Our team is well-equipped to help you make the most of your investment in this year's

Now that the holiday season has passed, we're receiving a lot of calls from folks who want to discuss what they need to do to prepare for a successful sale. This is a fun time of year for us, because we're helping a lot of clients come up with a clear set of steps that will help them sell for top dollar in this year's hot spring market. 

Creating value with staging and cosmetic updates

Many of our clients are preparing for their sale right now by working with our stager, Debbie Lea. In many cases Grant Priehs, one of our favorite contractors, is also a part of the collaboration. These are proving to be incredibly productive meetings. Not only are we working as a team to create a great staging plan for each property, we're also implementing the