All Blog Entries by Jolenta Averill

Happy New Year! We hope that your 2012 has gotten off to a great start. As a token of our appreciation for your business we have just rolled out a brand new look & feel for our flagship Madison real estate site, LakeandCityhomes.com. Please bear with us while we work out the kinks. We think that you're going to love the new functionality and improved readability.

Some of the more noticeable changes include:

• new & improved Quick Search at the top of the home page
• radius and polygon searches (included with Search by Map)
• more readable property details pages
• links to virtual tours (without leaving the site)
• create Saved Searches instantly 
• featured neighborhoods, communities
• rotating testimonials
• our new mobile site:

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Today Inman News announced the results of its 10 U.S. hotspots for smallest house sizes. Included in its top ten list were six cities located in the Midwest, notably the great state of Wisconsin. The list was based on the median square footage of homes listed for sale on Realtor.com during the month of September 2011. Note: not all homes for sale are listed on Realtor.com.
Realtor.com reported that the median size of homes for sale in Wisconsin was the 10th smallest in the country for the month of September 2011, at 1,669 square feet. Like the other top ten finishers (with the exception of our nation's capitol which only has two), Wisconsin's homes have a median of three bedrooms.
In addition to Wisconsin, the other Midwestern states cited as having…

NEW! This lovely 3-story colonial built in 1926 is located on a quiet side street in the Franklin/Randall School district in sought-after University Heights. University Heights is a beautiful West Side Madison neighborhood filled with older homes just a ten minute walk to Monroe Street, Trader Joe's, the U.W. Hospital, and the west end of the U.W. campus. This 3-5 bedroom home features living room with archway and wood-burning fireplace, formal dining room with archway and arched "nook", and remodeled eat-in kitchen with full suite of appliances including dual fuel range with convection oven. Tiled airlock entries front and rear keep out the elements and the screened-in porch is great for entertaining on those long summer nights. Loads of original

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Ever wondered if there's an app for searching for Madison WI real estate? Well, you're in luck! Lake & City Homes Realty is proud to announce the launch of iLakeandCityhomes.com, the mobile edition of our flagship Madison WI real estate site LakeandCityhomes.com. The mobile addition of our site has some really cool features that our desktop version does not have that we think you're really going to love.

For starters, scroll down and click on a community that interests you. The app loads all the listings for that community in chronological order. That means the latest listings always appear at the top of your screen. That way you can stay on top of which listings are the newest to the market in that community. This is doubly helpful for quickly checking

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In a recent study of the nation's metropolitan areas, Madison Wisconsin came out on top for having the lowest average unemployment rate for the first 11 years of this century. The average unemployment rate for Madison from 2000 to 2011 was 3.5 percent, the best unemployment average in the country. Not surprisingly, the current rate of unemployment in Madison is higher than its 11 year average, however, at 5.3%. 
Honolulu's job market tied with Washington D.C.'s with an average unemployment rate of 3.7% for the last 11 years. Honolulu's current unemployment rate is 4.9% and D.C.'s is 5.7%. Fresno, California came in last with an unemployment rate of 10.7% for the years 2000 to 2011. So, like the cold weather or not, if you're seeking full-time…

 

Living by the lake is one of those things that a lot of Americans dream about. Who wouldn’t want such a tranquil life? A clear view of the placid lake greeting you from your breakfast table every morning. Spending the entire day fishing or reading by the lake shore—yes, lake living seems like a paradise. Unfortunately, high property prices often put this dream out of reach for many ordinary citizens. That is, until now.

Given current trends, buying real estate has never been more affordable, and new homes on the lake are no exception. Lake home buying, however, does have its share of special considerations, and it’s important to go through them in order to make the best choice in buying your own property. Here are just a few things to consider

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Lake & City Homes is proud to announce our newest listing located on Madison's East Side at 5121 Butterfield Drive in the popular Ridgewood neighborhood in the 53704 zip code. This attractive, impeccably maintained, four bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, 2-car garage, two-story has a fantastic floor plan and an incredible walkout lower level.

Open Sunday June 26th from 1-3pm, you won't want to miss this transitional that's priced to sell. Main floor features include formal living room, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen with new stainless steel appliances, family room with fireplace, and huge newly-refinished deck. Upstairs you'll find three nice-sized bedrooms including a Master suite with walk-in closet and full bath with granite countertop. The walk-out lower

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A small but critical omission has been corrected on the Property Details pages of LakeandCityHomes.com. First, some background info to put things into context:

Recently I added Lot Size to the search criteria for all the available searches on the site, however when a site visitor looked at the Property Details page for any given property, Lot Size/Acreage was nowhere to be found in the information displayed. But thanks to a very observant visitor to the site, this was pointed out to me and I corrected the issue as quickly as I could. My heartfelt thanks to Jessica for her valuable feedback!

Below are screen shots showing where you can specify one or more Lot Sizes to your property searches, as well as where you can now see Lot Size/Acreage displayed

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Are you trying to sell your home? While it may still be a buyer’s market, it certainly doesn’t mean your home has to remain on the market for several months. In fact, by implementing a few simple seller tips, you will be far more likely to get your home sold quickly and at a reasonable price. Here is a look at 5 basic tips that all home sellers should keep in mind.

Tip #1: Curb Appeal is Key

Curb appeal, or the way your home looks when a potential buyer drives past it, is essential to getting your home sold. Not only do many buyers keep an eye out for homes as they cruise the streets, but the way your home looks from the street will give the buyer his or her first impression. First impressions are long lasting, so you want to be sure yours is a good

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Looking for a home in a mature neighborhood where all the work's already been done? You're in luck! This completely updated three bedroom, 2 bath ranch in Monona has everything you need but, more importantly, everything you want! There's the sunny, updated, eat-in kitchen with new stainless steel appliances and tile floors, the bathroom with dual sinks, jetted tub, and main floor laundry, the spacious four-season porch with vaulted ceiling and separate entrances from both the house and Master bedroom, not to mention an exposed lower level family room with room to relax, a second full bath and loads of storage.

The entire house has been complete repainted (including the ceilings), every piece of trim work and molding has been carefully replaced, the

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