All Blog Entries by Jolenta Averill 
There are currently 148 blog entries published by Jolenta Averill.
LakeandCityHomes.com Celebrates!
Saturday, January 16th, 2010 at 12:25pm. 168 Views, 3 Comments.
This week Lake and City Homes Realty celebrated the one year anniversary of its flagship Madison real estate website LakeandCityHomes.com. We want to give a shout out to all the wonderful people that made this possible including our amazing web developers, talented designers, as well as the many helpful fellow Realtors around the country who so generously gave their time and knowledge. We want to especially acknowledge and thank our patient families who supported us through the many hundreds of hours of coding, data compilation, and testing that went into putting together the best possible suite of real estate tools and information for Madison area buyers and sellers. Not a single city has been removed from the database so you can still search for real…
Employment Trends Looking Up Over the Holidays
Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 11:47am. 222 Views, 2 Comments.
Officials are reporting that the number of workers in the United States who are filing new applications for unemployment benefits actually fell last week to the lowest level it has been in about 17 months. While some experts caution that this unexpected drop may be due to the fact that the week was shortened by the holiday, which may have prevented some people from having the opportunity to file for benefits, others are optimistic that the drop is a sign that new jobs are finally cropping up during these troubling economic times. Cause for optimism seems to be warranted given the fact that the Labor Department reports that there is typically an increase in the number of applicants during this time of the year after the figures have been adjusted based on…
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 6:20pm. 308 Views, 5 Comments.
2009 has been quite a year. Whether I like it or not, it's not one I'm likely to ever forget! For me, the highlight was launching my own real estate brokerage in the midst of a housing crisis, a mortgage meltdown, and a near financial and economic meltdown the likes of which the United States hasn't seen since the Great Depression. And yet, despite the many challenges all that confluence of craziness presented, I can honestly say it's been a terrific year. A year of tremendous learning and yearning...a yearning to strive harder each day to make LakeandCityHomes.com the best resource for Madison area home buyers and sellers - bar none. My heartfelt thanks goes out to my Mom, my valued clients (both past and present), and to my growing base of site visitors.…
Holiday Greetings
Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 12:16am. 216 Views, 2 Comments.
We at Lake and City Homes Realty would like to send you warm wishes for the holidays, as well as wish you a Happy New Year!
Thank you for your patronage, for your participation on our site (including your entertaining and insightful comments on our blog), and for entrusting us with your business. We truly appreciate the opportunity to serve you.
During the holidays, especially in light of the challenging weather the country has been experiencing, we urge you to drive safely (ie slow down!), make merry, and most of all, remember to love those around you - after all, 'tis the season!
On a personal note, I would also like to thank those of you who have expressed concern for my father who had a mild stroke last week. He was released from the hospital two days…
Why I require my site visitors to register
Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 12:48pm. 847 Views, 8 Comments.
Today I received an interesting email from a visitor to my website who had just registered. I had tried to call her which, as you may know, is something I do with every person who registers on my website. I like to personally thank each and every person who registers on my site for their visit and see how the site is working for them. I get terrific feedback from people this way, have interesting and enjoyable conversations with people about what's prompting their home search, and in general learn a great deal about what people are looking for in the way of real estate. In fact I find that many of the choices people are making when it comes to real estate are linked to lifestyle choices (living on the lake, walking the kids to school, downtown Madison…
Madison Ranked #25 Strongest Economy by Businessweek
Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 6:29pm. 312 Views, 4 Comments.
In yet another one of its "best of the best" lists, BusinessWeek magazine recently bestowed another honor upon the City of Madison Wisconsin, ranking it the 25th strongest economy out of all the major metropolitan areas in the United States.
Oklahoma performed well with Oklahoma City and Tulsa both landing in the top ten and Texas really cleaned up, grabbing five of the top 10 spots with San Antonio finishing #1.
Madison's government and education job base were cited as being "relatively recession-resistant" and home prices grew in Q2'09 compared to the same period a year earlier.
Read the complete article for a list of the criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.
Here is the complete list of the 40 cities with the…
FHA to demand more of borrowers
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 1:05pm. 248 Views, 2 Comments.
Things are about to get harder for first-time home buyers who have their sights set on an FHA (Federal Housing Authority) home mortgage. Borrowers will soon be required to have "more skin in the game", according to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. Donovan is scheduled to announce the following FHA policy changes when he testifies next Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee:
New blog comment policy
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 10:30am. 407 Views, 6 Comments.
I'm against censorship as much as the next person but I've really had to do a double-take lately at the sheer number of insipid, vapid, and gratuitous comments I've been getting on my Madison WI real estate blog. I'm not referring to comments that any of my site visitors and clients have posted, of course, but the comments posted by other bloggers merely looking for backlinks. You know the kind of comment I'm referring to; the ones where you're showered with compliments about a post or your blog or website in general without referring to anything specific and without adding anything of any real substance to the conversation. So at the suggestion of my good friend and Davis CA Realtor Carloyn Gjerde-Tu (and at the risk of ruffling a few feathers in the…
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 11:47am. 375 Views, 3 Comments.
I just wanted to take a moment to wish each and every one of you a very Happy and enjoyable Thanksgiving. I hope that you're soaking up this special day with your family and friends if you're fortunate enough to be with them today. I also wanted to let you know how very grateful and appreciative I am for all the friendship, love, and support you've shown us this year at Lake & City Homes Realty. I have been so very touched by the many stories you've shared with us and the trust you've placed in us to assist you in achieving your real estate goals. We know it's not easy to buy and sell property while juggling work, family, and life's many challenges so as our way of saying THANK YOU and showing our gratitude, here is our gift to you for this Thanksgiving…
What's the frequency, Kenneth?
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 5:20pm. 461 Views, 3 Comments.
You may or may not like the song or even the band (seriously though, who doesn't like R.E.M.?), but we're sure you're gonna love our new MLS data feed!
Starting today, instead of new property listings hitting our site every 24 hours, they're going to hit our site every three hours. That's right, LakeandCityHomes.com now receives data (new listings, photos, price updates, etc) from the South Central WI MLS every three hours rather than once a day! How do you like that frequency?!
Why is that important, you might be asking yourself? Simply put, if you're looking to buy a property in a popular neighborhood or sought-after area, you're going to have some stiff competition, even in a buyer's market. But now that the listings on our website are updated every…
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