Viroqua Wisconsin: January 2009

313 E. Park Street

City Living ~~ Country Appeal! Here is a real Cozy Ranch home with a lovely open floor plan between the kitchen, dining room and the living room. The home has oak hardwood floors throughout and a gas parlor stove in the spacious living room. Two good sized bedrooms with a hallway bath with laundry are found at one end of the home. There is a bonus family room off the kitchen, which could be converted into a 3rd bedroom if more bedrooms are needed. The property has nice size lot and is also the last home on the street! If you want country living, this one has a great location.

For an appointment to view be sure to contact 
Mary Strang in Viroqua
608-606-2999.

 

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

 

8 commentsMary Strang ~ Viroqua, WI Real Estate • January 27 2009 02:27PM

I am BACK to BLOG!!!

I was going to post a reason for not blogging much lately, but Norma J Elkins Realtor Elkins Home Selling Team blog post said it very well!

Via Norma J Elkins Realtor Elkins Home Selling Team ( Exit Triple "E" Realty):

WOW - Thanks for all of you that took the time to check on me - I have not blogged in quite awhile and have to say that I have just been busy (which is a good thing) ---- We can see a rise in business just since the first of the year and we are excited!!!   It is always good to play in the rain and I always leave from this site excited and ready to work a little harder ---- 2009 is going to be the best year ever!!!!  Keep the faith!

8 commentsMary Strang ~ Viroqua, WI Real Estate • January 27 2009 10:40AM

Congratulations to Tim and Emily!

They are the new owners of this lovely Ranch home over in the Skyline area, which I helped them find.  Both were wonderful to work with and knew exactly what they were looking for in a new home! After previewing numerous listings both in the Viroqua and Westby area; their choice was an easy one. With a closing only last Thursday they are eager to get settled in and start living in their new home. I know that they both fell in love with the Master bedroom with the spa bath and, of course, the updated kitchen was also a hit.

With all the negative news about the house market being in a slump, it is actually a terrific time to be a buyer.  It's even a better time to hire a buyer's agent to go to work for you and get the best possible terms on your buy. Together we were able to negotiate a very favorable price. It was even better than we actually expected.  I think both Tim and Emily are still smiling!   

In this market there are many good reasons to work with a qualified real estate professional. Especially a trained professional who has earned the Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR®) designation like myself, so feel free to give me a call to find out how I can help you too find the home you are looing 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

7 commentsMary Strang ~ Viroqua, WI Real Estate • January 10 2009 03:56PM

2009 Green Resolutions for the office

So here's the deal... I decided to work on my 2009 budget and my yearly business plan. With my nose deep into my plan; I had to go retrieve a file from our storage area. Upon entering that room, it hit me. The enormous amount files... They plainly have now outgrown the available storage area and are overflowing from the file cabinets, extra cardboard files boxes and in some cases table tops. They needed, again, to be downsized. Begging the unanswered questions... to shred or to burn... in someones wood stove?

That's when I decided that this would be a good time to figure out a new storage solutions and to green up the office a bit. We will be filing with scanned PDF files saved on Cds starting now and a backup on our intranet site for easy access. Gee that ought to do it. Besides, there is no better time for some Green Resolutions than at the start of a new year. So besides solving our storage problem for me, it also turns out that going to Digital Storage just might also help out our planet a little bit.

 

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

9 commentsMary Strang ~ Viroqua, WI Real Estate • January 05 2009 09:58AM

Did your Listing Expire?

If it did... this year you are not alone. Record numbers of homes in the past 6 to 8 months, that were listed, expired unsold as the housing market experience a melt down across the country. In some cases the Sellers of these unsold homes, still preferred to blame their agent for the home not selling. In truth some agents may be at fault for having poor marketing skills. However more often than not, the real reason was pricing, as sellers had to struggle and come to terms with the reality that home prices were dropping and fast. There are some agents out there that will tell you what you want to hear to get the listing, which that is called "Buying a Listing". Careful selection of an agent is more critical now than ever before. Today homes are in tougher competition and they need to be in tip top condition, you need an agent who specialized in the area your home is in and one who is a skilled marketer that can correctly price your property. If a home is overpriced it will languish unsold on the market and become stale in the buyer's eye.

Not too long ago I lost out on a listing due to price. I also suggested a few cosmetic fixes which also were never done by that seller. I was totally surprised when another agent took that particular listing for over $80,000 more than what I thought was ever possible. Turned out they were not area specialist, had less marketing experience than I have and also had a very limited marketing budget to get the job done. As it happened the home eventually expired unsold. Even thought that seller decided initially to go with another agent they ended up calling me back after their listing period expired. So if you are interested in a straightforward opinion on price and understand that the market is the market; it is not last years market anymore, here are a few suggestions for you... the seller.

Get your home in excellent condition by making sure it is sparkling clean inside and out, neutrally decorated and in good repair. No matter how much marketing and advertising we do, if the home is not priced right and in good condition the Realtor will only be advertising that they have an overpriced Listing. The buyers of today's market will pass it by for that better buy down the block. So carefully listen and try to recognize how your home stacks up to the competing homes that are also for sale. Your home will be judged by buyers who will form their own opinion. No matter how much you might think it is the best home, as it turns out, those buyers who are looking may just pass it by.

 

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

7 commentsMary Strang ~ Viroqua, WI Real Estate • January 01 2009 04:50PM