We love helping our Madison area clients invest in long-term buy-and-hold real estate. And one very helpful tool we offer our clients is our multifamily property analysis spreadsheet (see example below). Our clients use our tool to evaluate a property's financial performance based on different purchase price and financing scenarios.

Contact us for your own spreadsheet, or for a conversation about your real estate investing goals. It would be our pleasure to assist you. 

Comparing income property performance -- 3 scenarios

When it comes to selling your home, there is no substitute for planning and preparation. And we have a number of clients who are signing up right now for our fall exterior and aerial photos, which we'll be using for their spring sale.

The autumn colors in Dane County are optimal right now, perfect for capturing some beautiful neighborhood shots. Thank you Step Inside Media for the photos below; we love partnering with you. 

Cardinal Point Estates

Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood

Downtown Madison Isthmus and Skyline

Goals can be a great thing, but when they become unbalanced and extreme they can be fraught with unintended consequences. In the field of real estate, these unintended consequences often begin as relatively benign events.

Two common examples are occasionally working longer hours, and working with people who don't realize we have family lives, too. They're a part of helping our clients reach the finish line. They come with the territory. 

But if the pressure to sell ramps up and goes unchecked, the occasional long hours and late work night can turn into a regular affair. This is when the more serious unintended consequences can pop up and reveal some uncomfortable truths.

Like the truth that we're short-changing our own wellbeing, and some of our

If you're in the market to buy a condo, it's important to know that much of our condo inventory in the Madison area was built in the last 20 to 30 years. Over the last few decades, many of the local associations have done an excellent job of budgeting for and addressing ongoing maintenance. The most common example is replacing a roof. 

However, some condo associations have not been as proactive with budgeting for and addressing their maintenance needs. In some cases, these associations have accrued a sizable amount of deferred maintenance. Now these associations are in fundraising mode to address future projects, either by increasing the monthly condo fee or by levying a large special assessment. 

As a condo buyer, how do you know which associations

Our Madison area clients are loving Ed Johnson for his lawn and yard care services. Ed handles a wide variety of outside needs, including: mowing, trimming, mulching, yard clean-up, various landscaping projects, and even power washing.  

We encourage you to call Ed at 920-691-2097 to discuss your lawn and yard care needs. We're confident you'll be glad you called Ed! 

Ed recently spread 15 tons of river rock throughout our clients' perennial beds on their one-acre lot. 

It may seem like new homes are popping up all over the Madison area, but the numbers paint a slightly different picture. According to our latest housing start data through the month of September, the current home building pace in Dane County is down by more than 50% from the peak home-building years in the early 2000's. As the chart below shows, a total of 937 Dane County housing starts were initiated through the first 9 months of 2025, compared to 1,950 through the first 9 months of 2004.

At the same time, Dane County's population continues to grow at a rapid pace. According to the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission, Dane County's population is projected to grow to 887,000 residents by the year 2050 (more than 325,000 residents more than

We're happy to report we have many first-time buyers whose dreams of homeownership are coming true this fall, and with some very favorable financing. For example, we have one young couple who just bought their first home with a low down payment USDA loan, and three other clients who just became homeowners with some very generous down payment assistance. 

The key for each buyer? Working with a dedicated realtor/lender team who loves helping first time buyers.  

Have you been thinking of buying your first home in Madison, Dane County, or South Central Wisconsin? With lower mortgage rates, improving supply, and a variety of financing options to choose from, right now is an excellent time to explore the possibilities.

Contact a Mad City Dream Homes

When you think about it, our real estate careers offer us an amazing opportunity to help people during what is always an important time in their lives. A time that can be full of excitement and anxiety, and a roller coaster range of emotions. 

So our job isn't really about being the loudest voice in the room and always shining the spotlight on ourselves. It's about becoming known as people who serve others with kindness, skill and care -- through our basic daily intentions and simple everyday actions -- in both our personal and our professional lives. 

This is what our family, friends and neighbors want from us. It's what our clients, community, and culture need from us: to keep showing up, keep doing the right thing. 

Dane County home prices rose for 2 out of 3 measures in September, as home sales and new listings increased. Here's our transparent view of the September Madison area single family home market, along with our year-to-date review covering the first 9 months of 2025. 

Note all of our statistics are sourced from the South Central Wisconsin MLS database. 

Dane County home prices 

September Madison area home prices

• The price per square foot dipped slightly from $250 in September of 2024 to $249 in September of 2025, down three-tenths of a percent. 
• The median price increased from $462,500 to $482,000, up 4 percent.  
• The average price moved higher from $535,468 to $550,768, up 3 percent. 

Year-to-date home prices through

If you own a home with another person, there is a designation on your deed about how you “hold title.” In part, this refers to who would get ownership of the home if you were no longer living. Would the ownership be fully transferred to the other person (Joint Tenancy with Survivorship Rights)? Or would your ownership in the home be passed on to your next of kin (Tenancy in Common)? This is an oversimplification, but an important piece of the homeownership process to have recorded correctly or addressed in your estate planning. Reach out if you’d like help finding out how you “hold title” - we’d be happy to refer you to a reputable title company or attorney.