Madison Wisconsin Real Estate News - Jolenta Averill

Happy Thanksgiving!

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You don’t have to cook this Thanksgiving – check out these alternatives

Thanksgiving is creeping up on us and if you want to dine out, and hope to get a reservation, you’ll need to act quickly. And, we have a few places you may want to call for those reservations.

Essen-Haus

For some Madison families, Thanksgiving dinner at Essen Haus is a tradition. They serve a family-style dinner with all the usual favorites, including stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams and more. “All of the sides are bottomless,” they promise on their website, “and you take the leftover turkey home!”

Adults eat for $22.95 while dinners for kids between the ages of 6 and 10 are $8.95 and the wee ones, age 5 and younger eat for free. Get additional details online at essen-haus.com.

 Essen-Haus is serving Thanksgiving dinner from 11…

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Is buying a condo for your college student a stupid idea?

A couple of years ago I read a news story about a woman from China who bought an apartment in New York City for $6.5 million. She bought it for her two-year old daughter and plans to hold on to it so that when the child grows up and attends an American university, she’ll have a place to call her own.

Must be nice, right? How many of those 8,200-plus students who pay $9,000 to more than $10,000 to double up in one of UW’s 19 residence halls would like a sweet deal like this?

Let’s take a look at what the experts say.

Fears of creating a financially-dependent monster

Many parents worry about fostering financial dependency when helping their adult children financially. How your child deals with your generosity, however, has to do with his or…

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Fun things to do in Madison in November 2017

November 1

The Porchlight 2017 Annual Recognition Dinner

If you’re looking for a way to give back to Madison, consider attending the annual Recognition Dinner. You’ll enjoy a cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner and touching stories from Porchlight clients. This event runs from 5;30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. and you can learn more online at porchlightinc.org.

November 1 through November 5

Wisconsin Science Festival

Science Festival events will be held in various locations across the state, but the kickoff party is happening November 1, right here in Madison at the Madison Children’s Museum. Kids can enjoy free science-related activities and more. The museum is located at 100 N Hamilton St. in Madison and you can find the full…

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Ways to give back to Madison during the holidays

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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Winter is NOT the “Off Season” for selling a home in Madison

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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What you need to know about fall homebuying in Madison

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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Madison chosen as one of the best metros for millennials

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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Fun things to do in Madison in October

October 4

Spotlight Cinema

This year’s Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) Spotlight Cinema series includes tonight’s “The Unknown Girl.” Released in 2016, this Belgian film stars Adèle Haenel as Jenny, a physician who receives a late-night caller at her office and refuses to open the door. The next morning, it is revealed that the caller was a girl, found dead outside Jenny’s office. The police are unable to identify the girl and Jenny, guilt-stricken, makes it her mission to learn who the girl was. If you’re a member of MMoCA you won’t pay for a seat, non-members will pay $7 and you can buy tickets in the lobby starting at 6:30 p.m. The film begins at 7. Get details online, here.

Farm to School Night Out

From 6 a.m.…

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Yes, you can buy a home on Lake Mendota for less than $650,000

One of the most common requests we get from newcomers to Madison is about our lakes, and how to buy a home on one of them. By far, Lake Mendota, the city’s largest lake, seems to be the most popular and most homebuyers assume you need at least $1 million to buy lakefront property.

Au contraire, our water-view lusting friends. Just today, we’ve found three homes and a gorgeous buildable lot for sale on Lake Mendota that you can purchase for less than $650,000 – two of them for a lot less!

$320,000

Condo living does offer perks, and a condo at The Cove offers more than most. How does private lake access and a boat slip right on Lake Mendota sound? But, that’s only the beginning of what this home has to offer.

Lake views, underground…

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