Thinking of selling your Madison home or condo? It's a seller's market this year and prices are rising. With lower inventories and increased demand, many Madison area sellers are learning they can win back much of their equity that was lost during the real estate downturn.

So how can you knock your sale out of the park? Below are 5 ways you can maximize your selling price in this year's market. The first two tips focus on market analysis. The last three tips involve specific marketing strategies.

5 Tips for Selling at a High Market Price

1. Know the months of inventory in your neighborhood. Your listing agent can assist you with this when he performs your market analysis for you. Neighborhoods with low months of inventory are prime locations for

Thinking of building a new home in Madison, Wisconsin? You're not alone. Housing starts in the Madison area are up by more than 75% through the first two months of 2013. And we see the trend toward more home-building continuing throughout the year.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. The inventory of existing homes is at its lowest point since 2005.
2. Foreclosures continue to decline rapidly, which well help to keep inventories of existing homes low.
3. Demand is high. Madison homes are selling at their fastest pace in the last 6 years.
4. There is a large, pent-up demand for real estate, which suggests we'll continue to see robust sales in the year ahead. Contrast this to the last several years when home sales were at depressed levels and consumers

"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

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

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

Many Madison area home buyers gravitate toward bank owned properties and short sale listings. In the right situation, an REO or short sale property can offer the prospective buyer an incredible value. We've assisted many clients with their purchase of a foreclosed home or condo, and we've seen our buyers achieve some amazing deals. But there are some caveats related to buying foreclosures in Madison. If you've been thinking of buying a distressed property, here are five things for you to keep in mind.

Before you Buy, Keep these 5 Things in Mind:

1. Distressed properties represent only one piece of the market, and the supply of foreclosures is decreasing. If you limit your search to REOs and short sales, you're missing out on the possibilities that

Searching for a Madison home or condo? Our new polygon search tool allows you to customize your property search according to the boundaries that you define on our MLS map.

Our polygon search works in conjunction with all of the other search settings that we make available, so you can customize your search by property type, price range, and size - along with the map boundaries that you specify. Even better, you can save your polygon search settings and receive email updates new listings hit the MLS and when existing listings undergo a price change.

Try our property search now. Or sign up for our home finder, and we'll locate your properties and coordinate your showings for you. We're here to help!