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

The purchase of an investment property brings a lot more to your plate than merely paying the mortgage and insurance payments. If you plan on renting out the home, you open yourself to a new set of problems, many of which are avoidable with common sense and knowledge. The following tips may seem basic, but it’s surprising how many landlords, especially new ones, neglect even the most basic tasks.

1. Know the laws

It is important that you learn Wisconsin’s laws regarding your rights and duties as well as tenant’s rights. You can find additional information here, here and here. Then, sit down with your attorney if you have any legal questions, questions about Fair Housing Laws or about your rental agreement.

2. Learn how to screen tenants

There was a story in the news a couple of years ago about a woman from China who paid $6.5 million for an apartment in New York City -- for her daughter ― who was two-years old. No, the tot won’t be living in it now; it will be held until she grows up and attends an American university, according to Mom.

While the child from China won’t have to worry about struggling to pay for her first home, hundreds of thousands of American first-time homebuyers do. When parents are willing and able to help, should they?

Even if you don’t have millions to plunk down on a Madison crib for your grown child, let’s take a look at some of the ways you might give what you can.

Fostering Dependency

If you are worried about creating a financially dependent

There’s nothing quite like the lifestyle afforded by living on a lake – a lifestyle intertwined with nature. If you enjoy boating, lakefront property is ideal for you. But, even as investment property, lakefront homes offer a lot to the buyer, fetching top dollar as a vacation home or as a full-time rental.

Like any unique setup, however, lakefront property does come with a few disadvantages. It can be demanding to those who are not prepared. However, if you love nature or are looking for a good investment, lakefront real estate does not disappoint.

Your backyard

Scientists have been telling us for years how much healthier it is living within view of a body of water, but that’s not all lakefront property affords. Your backyard becomes your

We recently worked with a couple who just couldn’t find a house for sale in Madison that fits their needs. We looked for months, one house after the other, but none of the floor plans were just right.

I finally suggested we look at fixer uppers, otherwise known as "fixers" in the Madison market. This is a scary suggestion for many homebuyers who instantly get visions of beater houses dancing in their heads. My clients, on the other hand, were at the point where they were more than willing to entertain the suggestion, especially after I explained to them how they could finance the purchase and end up with the home of their dreams.

Like my clients, you may not know just how easy it is to get a loan for a fixer and, if you get the right loan, it

Lake & City Homes Realty is proud to announce a new page called All Today's New Listings designed to help you quickly focus in on the newest listings to go on the South Central WI MLS during the previous 24 hours. Simply go to the Listings tab (or the Buyers tab) at the top of the home page and choose "All Today's New Listings" from the drop-down menu or choose the link entitled "ALL Today's New Listings" under Popular Searches on the right-hand side of the home page.

Be sure to check this new listings page frequently - that way you'll be one of the first to know about the latest property listings (homes, condos, and other real estate for sale) to go on the South Central WI MLS and you'll be seeing those listings before they hit the national listings

After what has amounted to a real dry spell, this week has reaped more calls about  income property than about any other type of real estate in months. Specifically, I've been getting a lot of calls about owner-occupied income property. My question is: could this signal the beginning of a turnaround in income property?

There were 87 income properties sold in Madison in 2008. That's an implied absorption rate of about 7.25 properties sold per month. The median sales price was $233K. So far this year, there have been 7 sales of income property in Madison at a median price of $191,666. So the median price is down and so far this year the absorption rate is down too. At the moment it's .583 properties per month. Admittedly not very impressive. But it's