If you're a buyer, you love a quiet sale because with a quiet sale you don't need to compete.
As a seller, you might choose a private sale if you'd prefer to sell your home to someone you know, or if you want the convenience of working with only one buyer.
BUT, if your primary goal is to maximize your return on investment, then fully marketing your home and exposing it to the entire market is the clear choice. Here's why.
When you fully market your home and expose your listing to the entire market, you reap the benefits of competition. As an example, during the first three and a half months of 2024, we have several sellers who are accepting offers from 5 percent to as much 26 percent over the list.
The bottom line: Sometimes there are good reasons to consider a "quiet sale". But if your primary objective is to maximize your return on investment, then marketing your home to all potential buyers is the clear choice.
Mad City Dream Homes accepted offers over the list (January 1st - April 18th)
Being a nice person who strives to be of service to others may be necessary for a rewarding career in real estate, but it's not sufficient. You also need to have a plan that you're willing to embrace over the long run.
If you're a realtor, and you'd like some help identifying a plan that's a good fit for you, please feel free to contact us. We'd be happy to meet with you and offer you a little outside perspective.
Dane County home prices continued to appreciate in March, as listings decreased. Here's our latest update on the Madison area single family home market.
The price per square foot increased from $218 in March of 2023 to $240 in March of 2024. That's a 10 percent increase year-over-year. Note the price per square foot is up 10 percent through the first quarter of the year, too.
The median and average price were also higher in the month of March:
After
…Recently I started helping my friend who has been looking for a cute little condo on the west side of town. And we came across the perfect match. Two bedrooms. Full of natural light. And walkable to all of the shops and restaurants in the area.
And we wrote a great offer, too. But unfortunately there were 8 other offers and my friend's offer was the runner-up.
This was a huge disappointment to my friend...BUT...after we absorbed the setback, we came out of our conversation with a little more knowledge and a renewed commitment to her goals.
Next up, we'll be sending letters to all of the owners at my friend's favorite condo development. With a little persistence and patience, my friend will find the right condo. We will get her into a new
…Professionally staging your home is one proven way to increase your home's value. Making smart cosmetic updates is another time-tested approach, and this house on Madison's westside is just the latest example.
By investing only a few thousand dollars into their kitchen, our clients were able to increase their home's value by tens of thousands of dollars more. Their work included a few custom carpentry projects, new and affordable countertops, new cabinet hardware, and fresh paint for the cabinets and walls. Mad City Dream Homes was there to help our clients define the scope of their project, and line up all of their contractors, too.
Would you like some guidance as you prepare for your own home improvement projects? We would love to be a
…Dane County condo prices rose from $200 per square foot in March of 2023 to $223 in March of 2024. That's a 12 percent year-over-year increase. Note the price per square foot is up 13 percent through the first 3 months of the year.
Prices were up by other measure, too:
Condo listings increased for the second straight month. This is an encouraging sign, but it's important to note that buyer demand still far exceeds the supply of available condos. A total of 179 Dane County condominiums were listed for sale in March, compared to
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In our latest real estate careers article we cover the basics of growing and nurturing your database, or "sphere of influence". Growing and nurturing your database is the single most important thing you can do to guarantee a rewarding and long-lasting career in real estate. Many agents are intimidated by this task, but the good news is our team offers a ton of support in this area. You can also make the "nurturing" part of your database a lot of fun - by staying in touch with your database in ways that are authentic to your personality.
Your real estate database is your network of friends, family, clients, and other people in the community that you stay in touch with. Ultimately these are the people who come to know
…Madison area home sales continued to lag in March.
While condo sales were lower, too.
And due to low supply, both home and condo prices were noticeably higher. Stay tuned for our complete updates on the Dane County home and condominium markets, which we'll be publishing real soon.
One proven way to enjoy a long-term career in real estate is to make a habit of helping other people, and to help others without any expectation for reciprocity.
So, if someone I know wants to know what their home is worth, even though they have no plans to sell, I help them. If another person wants to know how much they can rent their home for, I help them, too. And if another person I know wants help finding a contractor to remodel their bathroom, I help them find a good contractor.
I gladly help all of these people even though they have no plans to sell.
If I only help people when I hope to receive something in return, that's not helping. That's transacting.
The big irony here is that it's the agents who transact, the ones who are in it
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