As the department stores in Madison are reminding us, it’s never too early to start thinking of the winter holidays. Retail aside, it’s even more important to get an early start on holiday volunteer opportunities.

Of course, Toys for Tots can always use a new, unwrapped toy to distribute to Dane County’s kids during the holidays. But there are other ways to give back to the community as well.

 

Operation Christmas Spirit

The annual holiday project of Operation Help a Hero, Operation Christmas Spirit is celebrating 15 years of helping military families during the holidays. And, they offer several ways you can help:

  • Adopt a military family
  • Adopt a single service member
  • Make a monetary donation

See Operation Christmas…

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As we move closer to winter you’ll no doubt start hearing about how lousy winter is for the real estate industry. “Winter can be the toughest season to put a house on the market,” claims Adam Verwymeren at Fox News.

Most of us who actually work in the industry know better.

Winter has its advantages when it comes to buying and selling homes in Madison.

Consider the source

When reading stories about anything, it’s always good to consider the source. Mr. Verymeren at Fox News, for instance. There’s no bio that accompanies his article so we have no way of knowing if he is involved in the real estate industry and, therefore, no way to gauge the veracity of his information.

So, when the Associated Press’ Dave Carpenter says that winter…

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If you’ve spent the past few weeks or even months looking at homes for sale but haven’t found the one that’s just right for you, we have good news. Fall is actually one of the best times for homebuyers to shop.

The deals are better now

Home prices tend to peak in June and July. In fact, “May, June, July and August―account for 40% of an average year’s total home-selling volume,” Tian Liu, chief economist at Genworth Mortgage Insurance suggests at HousingWire.com. 

Not only does the volume of sales decrease when fall arrives, but winter and fall home prices inch down as well. Remember, there is often a difference between the list price and sales price of a home.

So, while list prices dip less than half a percent in fall, sales prices drop…

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Early last month, ApartmentList.com released their list of the top 75 metros in the U.S. for millennials. The criteria for inclusion fell into three categories: 

  • Jobs
  • Livability
  • Affordability

“Few metros offer the ideal mix of a strong job market, affordable rent and home prices and high livability scores,” claims Sydney Bennet, Apartment List’s research associate.

Madison, however, is one of only three others that offers that ideal mix, with a perfect score (A+). Provo, Utah and Pittsburgh were the other two.

Madison is a livable city

Although Madison came in third overall, we scored the highest in the livability category. Apartment List surveyed renters to come up with this metric.

They asked them about weather, access…

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