Viroqua Wisconsin: December 2008

A belated Christmas Carol for Realtors which is cute and shows a good snap shot of what life is like when you sell real estate for a living! Enjoy

This morning I thought it would be interesting to revisiting my blogs for 2008. Reflecting back over the past year just seems like such a natural thing to do, since in only a few days, the year will end and 2009 will begin.  I would imagine many would be thinking over their' past year as well.

For the most part, my 200 plus posts were generally about my marketplace, many of my newly listed country homes & tracts of land, plus bits and pieces of what life is like when working in a rural real estate market. My blogs attempted to covers small town living, farm life and events, as well as tips on selling or buying homes in the country. One learns early in small towns, it not as necessary to sing your own praises and it is generally better accepted if you simply let your marketplace recognize the fact that you are skilled, knowledgeable and well acquainted with what is going on around your county. 

January 2008  started with explaining what exactly is the difference between a township and a town?

Feburary 2008 I talked about some of the things that get left behind on a rural property.

March 2008 I had a post that that attempted to explain but seems to confuse many about country roads.

In April 2008 I spent a lot of time building my localismposts by blogging about many of the small towns I serve such as DeSoto, Genoa, Coon Valley, and Westby,  right at the time AR changed that format...

May 2008 with spring in full bloom I took many on a tour of showing rural property and also posted about the historic round barns of our area.

June 2008 I must have been very busy selling country property my blogging slowed down with only time to post about a few of my other local towns, Hillsboro and Ontario, WI.

July 2008 was all about an Amish Barn house which was just posted for sale. 

August 2008 told about some unique sights around the county, how some road crews don't know how to place rural street signsand that Viroqua made Mother Earth'slist of places you never heard of, Big Surprise!

September 2008 was all about fall colors, my tomato garden and what gets left behind when selling a farm.

October 2008 saw the end of the golf season, some interesting homes, and Halloween costumes.

November 2008 I blogged about cabins, the number of not so ordinary homes and a thank you note to Mother Earth, as I made a sale as a result of that magazine article!

December 2008 is almost over, but thoughts of friends, Christmas Parties and Santa Clausetaking a little break brings me to the end of the year. To all those who have read my blogs I wish you a happy New Year and I have many hopes that 2009 will be a wonderful year and better than 2008!!!!!

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

As 2009 shortly rolls in it is natural to start thinking about if you will be making a New Year's Resolution and what it will be. The most common resolutions made, are to stop smoking or to lose weight. The fact is many resolutions fall apart long before the end of January.  Of course, that's not a big surprise to anyone because it is just so darn hard to keep them. It requires that you change old habits. It takes a plan, ambition and a commitment to see it thought to the end for results. So if you end up breaking it, most likely you have a lot of company so don't feel bad about it.

I do, however really hope you succeed, especially if your resolution is to sell your house. Here are a few suggestions for great resolutions for Home Sellers.

These 4 resolutions just may help you toward getting it SOLD.

Stage a home from curb to the attic is a 2009 absolute seller's clean it up resolution
Offer in 2009 might be even lower! Resolve to have a good sence of humor!
Listing at a price that is right will be important in 2009 so resolve to listen to advise!
Don't get uptight, sit back and relax in 2009, it will be important to be paitent!

If you do plan to sell land, a farm or a home in Vernon County, you can always depend on my team in Viroqua, WI. Just give me a call! Happy New Years 2009!

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

"Merry Christmas! The old place was so pretty this a.m. when the sun was coming up - this picture doesn't capture it, but I tried!   Hope the new year is a great one for you and yours, with lots of swimming for you and me. C"

I got this email and photo from my good friend and swim pal. Besides my friend, she happens to also be my listing client too. It came with a Christmas wish on Christmas day... thanks!

We are still searching for a buyer for her old country home. She and her husband have already moved into their brand new home, which is only across the road. From their new deck they can watch over to the home they now want to sell.

If you like this view, I know you will like the house (pictured here) because my friend does not know that I am blogging this. So Happy New Years to you, C, & lets hope this home gets sold and that you will have a new neighbor soon.

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

The idea of burning wood for a primary heating source was once completely foreign to me.  I can recall many years ago when my husband and I first moved to Wisconsin, we planned to live off the grid. We built a bermed home; with the intentions of heating it with wood we would cut ourselves. Freeing us from energy costs by installing many passive solar systems into our home was the goal of that time. As it turned out the house was extremely efficient, but heating with wood was not a real joy. It was a lot of physical work to "Make Wood". The task of using a chain saw to cut the trees down, the work of tossing chucks of logs into a wagon and hauling it down the hill to the shed was brutal. It was backbreaking labor, splitting the whole pile was more than I could endure. It was then, that I first learned as an X-city girl, that old country saying... "If you heat with wood you'll heat yourself twice".  That was very true... a few years later we installed a gas furnace thus ending my "Wood Making" career.

Today I do still have some wood-burning going on in my home but it is a much cleaner. I have a pellet stove in our family room.  It is very eco-friendly and enormously back-friendly too. Basically you buy bags of pre-made pellets at the local Tractor Supply Store or similar store. No muss No fuss, just tear open a bag and dump it into the stove, push the on button and let the little auger do its job.  Instead of throwing another log on the fire, the stove automatically deposits a steady stream of pellets into the little fire chamber. The pellets look a little like rabbit food; burn clean because they are low moisture and basically there is very little ash, after-wards to clean up.  With the deep freeze of sub zero temperatures already here, we are staying toasty warm and saving lots of energy, as well as, our backs. So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, as long as the pellets don't run out.

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

At this time of the season, I am hearing a lot of "Thanks goodness my Christmas shopping is done!" Yesterday we had more snow along with sub-zero weather and Main Street was deserted. I feel really sorry for anyone who still has the job of hunting down a few last minute gifts.  

All mine are wrapped and residing neatly underneath my Christmas tree. I always find it easy to buy for the men and children on my list and much more difficult to buy for the women. I would guess the why, is too often I end up finding things I like to buy for myself, which was not my objective. When you ask someone their advise on gift buying you usually just get more questions than answers... what do they want, what do they need or what are their interests.  

So while hunting the on-line sites for gift ideas, I found this site where you can take a test & find out about Gift Giving Etiquette.  Surprisingly, I did not do as well as I thought I would, hope your gift skills are better than mine!

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

You can see from these early morning street scenes in Viroqua, many holiday shoppers seemed to have made other plans for the day. The entire area was hard hit; the snowstorm brought an accumulation of 6-10 inches. The snow was steady and persistent ending around noon. We are expecting some more snow tomorrow with a final accumulation of around 13-16 inches.

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

additional snow on Saturday too.

A Home Especially for you at Christmastime... here is a Viroqua listing which is homey and comfortable and has seller's that are all set to move! I have been as busy as Santa's Elf's working hard to find a buyer for this home. You might just be the perfect one!  So, if you are seeking lots of living space, a big fenced backyard for privacy, and also would like a home that is located on a tree-lined street, call my Christmas Home Hot-line at: 800-851-8711. This Maple Street home is pleasantly offered at a very affordable price, it has so many of the extra features that many of you buyers have told me you want; such as a formal dining room, a home office, hardwood floors, plus 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths. Make plans to view it soon, I am sure the comfortable living offered here in this home will bring you many years of joy and happiness. I am wishing you the special things that this season brings... the opportunity to own this home!  Currently asking only $116,000

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

"Tis the Season to be Merry"... As Christmas Day draws nearer and the year begins to wind down, it is time once again to reflect upon the past years business of 2008. I would have to say 2008 has been a more challenging and demanding year than any other year I can actually recall.  For most of the year we in the housing industry have had to listening to the entire news media, filled daily with bad news about failed banks, home foreclosures and now the Auto industry woes; we can only hope that 2009 will be better. We have watched home prices drop and worked longer hours, daily to find buyers for our listings and service our buyer clients. Perhaps a little silver lining in all these dark clouds will be many families will be drawn closer together over the holidays with less emphasis on material things and more emphasis on caring and being there for each other.  

All of us on my team and in my office wish you a Merry Christmas and a big Thank You for the business of 2008. We also have again received so many wonderful gift boxes, baskets of fruits and trays of cookies dropped off to our office from our wonderful suppliers, many local bankers, past clients, new clients and friends. We have been enjoying these treats and are very much appreciative of your thoughtfulness. And...again a special thank you also to the WCCU Credit Union for another huge Wine and Cheese basket! It is a certainty that we will be enjoying this over the holidays.  

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599

Don't you just love it when everything is just right?

Only if all my transactions were as trouble-free as this one was. With a home inspection scheduled for yesterday, and 5 inches of snow on the road, I made it to the home just as the inspector was finished. My client the buyer drove up from Milwaukee and arrived only shortly after I did. The inspection was prefect, not really any thing noted on the report so everyone was pleased. All that was left to do was for the buyer to start planning what furniture he would bring along to his new downsized home and spend a little time taking in his new View! Best of Luck Dave in your new home!  

If you are interested in other homes with similar great views of the River, homes on a trout stream or perhaps an Organic Farm just call Mary... 608-606-2999. I am sure that I can find you what you are looking for!

Are you searching for homes to buy in Viroqua or Vernon County Wisconsin

call Mary Strang  therteam.com  RE/MAX Hill Country Realty 608-637-3599