search the South Central WI MLS by waterfrontLake & City Homes Realty is proud to announce that we've expanded our MLS Search to include a dedicated Search By Waterfront page!

Choose Your Waterfront Options

Choose from a variety of waterfront options such as water frontage or water view, on a lake, river, or other type of water, whether or not a dock/pier is included in the sale, and how much frontage you need with your lakefront property.

Choose Your Location

You can choose from a list of locations that updates dynamically depending on what's currently available on the market. For example, if there are properties for sale on (or with a view of) Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Kegonsa, or Lake Waubesa, any or all of those lake names will show up in the list of locations. Of course you can…

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Boomers will represent 25% of the total U.S. population by 2010. Although most baby boomers prefer to stay in their own homes as they age, an increasing number - an estimated 1.2 million households intotal - plan to move to "active-lifestyle communities", according to arecent study by the National Association of Home Builders and theMetLife Mature Market Institute. As a result, as boomers get closer to retirement they're expected to have a huge impact on housing trends.

What's an active-lifestyle community? Generally it's considered an attractive, resort-style community that's restricted and specifically geared toward active adults aged 55 and over. Such communities often seek to emulate the amenities found at luxury resorts, such as golf, fitness…

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San Francisco was recently named "Best Walking City in America" by Prevention magazine in conjunction with the American Podiatric Medical Association and Sperling's Best Places. Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago competed for the remaining top four spots. Among the 19 criteria utilized for comparing different metro areas was "population density per square miles of public parks". Prevention also published a list of honorable mentions - cities considered best for families, nature walks, fitness walkers and walking commuters.

Lake & City Homes recently integrated WalkScore into its MLS search criteria. As a result, you can view how high the walkability factor is for properties that interest you right on our Property Details page. Read about how…

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Middleton WI, The Good Neighbor CityMiddleton WI, dubbed "The Good Neighbor City", was ranked No. 4 this month in Money Magazine's 2009 Best Places To Live for towns and cities with populations between 8,500 and 50,000 (Middleton's population is currently estimated at about 16,900). Located just 7 miles from thriving Madison WI, Middleton ranked No. 1 in 2007 for cities with populations under 50,000 and No. 7 in 2005 for cities with populations of 14,000 or more. Middleton's largest employers include the U.W. Foundation and medical research development firm PPD thus helping Middleton maintain an unemployment rate significantly below the national average at 5.9%. Since winning the top spot from Money Magazine in 2007, Middleton has added several important developments, most notably Greenway…

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Folks, this has got to be the best short sale fixer opportunity I have seen to-date! $129,900 for all this:

Enormous 3-4 bedroom, 2.25 bath Mediterranean style home featuring an open layout including large living room with oak floors, eat-in kitchen, two full baths on the main floor, mudroom, finished walkout basement with 4th bedroom and bathroom, and a gigantic walkup attic. And if that weren't enough it sits on a whopping .52 acres less than five minutes from downtown! Want more? How about a 700 square foot 2-car detached garage in addition to the attached 1-car garage? Talk about being spoiled for choice for storing your RV, gardening implements, equipment, workshop, or home-based business! Note also that each side of the detached garage has its own…

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The following market summary pertains to single family homes in Madison WI for the first six months of 2009 vs the first six months of 2008:

Listings of single-family homes in Madison were down 12.6% for the period January through June of 2009 vs. the same period in 2008.

Sales of single family homes in Madison were down 14% for the period January through June of 2009 vs. the same period in 2008.

The average sales price for a single family home in Madison from January to June 2009  was $224,572 vs. $247,378 for the same time period in 2008 (down 9.2%).

The average DOM (number of days on market) was virtually unchanged at 79 for the first six months of 2009 vs. 76 days for the same period in 2008.

The above data pertains only to single…

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In May 2007 Madison WI was ranked one by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine as one of the “Best Cities for Empty Nesters”. As a sign of the changing times, there is now a list of “Best Places for an Entrepreneur to Retire” and, you guessed it, Madison made the list at #8.

According to a recent study by the Kauffman Foundation, the world's largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity during the past decade was among people aged 55 to 64. Those aged 20 to 34, on the other hand, were the least likely to start their own businesses. Dane Stangler, a senior analyst at the Kauffman Foundation and author of a recent study published by U.S. News & World Report, thinks that the number of baby boomers starting…

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The travel section of the New York Times just published a wonderful article, if not a tad ambitious, about the variety of fun things you can do in a mere 36 hours in Madison, WI.

The hard-driving itinerary consists, among other things, of: a tour of Camp Randall Stadium, visiting the Memorial Union Terrace on the U.W. Madison campus; sampling Wisconsin cheeses or local culinary delights at one of several ethnic restaurants and dining spots featuring organic, locally grown food; exploring Madison’s many bike paths; getting to know Madison’s famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright by touring Madison’s beautiful Monona Terrace civic center (and taking in the city’s best water views from its roof garden and café); grooving to some live music at one of several…

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There have been increased problems related to appraisals in recent months. On May 1, Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) rules were adopted regarding mortgages that will be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Based on what we are experiencing as of late, I am concerned that the rules could delay or actually eliminate a number of potential home sales. In addition, the rule changes are costing consumers where they can least afford the extra expense.

What is HVCC? HVCC is where the federal government is requiring there be a "break" between the person working the loan and the person doing the appraisal.  In theory this is a good idea because it makes it difficult for a lender and an appraiser to be working together to commit loan fraud. It…

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Yet another reason to breathe easy in Wisconsin...

In a bipartisan effort in May 2009, the Wisconsin Legislature passed legislation that will make all bars and restaurants in the state smoke free. The law will go into effect in July 2010.

“Now, Wisconsinites will be able to enjoy a night out or a meal with their families without breathing in dangerous secondhand smoke,” said Bruce Speight, WISPIRG advocate.

For the past year and a half, WISPIRG has built public support for this measure and exposed the false claims of Big Tobacco that smoke-free laws are bad for the economy. In 2008, WISPIRG released a new report which found that communities and states that had gone smoke free had not experienced negative economic impacts.

WISPIRG supporters rallied with Lance…

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