Relocate to Wisconsin

    It was with a great sadness, I had to tell a good friend's prospective daughter in law and son that the home that the daughter in law bought 2 years ago on a very busy street  declined in value....to the point that the home she and her brother had most probably over paid at $163,000 with no money down would now list for $139,000....no other home in the last six months had sold for even close to that amount...so there was no choice since both brother and sister were gainfully employed with good paying jobs but to bite the bullet,...not ruin their credit  AND take out personal loans and come to closing with the necessary cash.What was that realtor thinking...the neighborhood was not on the rise and the street had no signs of getting less busy....she had certainly not done them a favor and I felt badly that this realtor had been the daughter-in-law to be's first introduction to real estate. I would do all the marketing and advertising I could to sell this house and have this young couple begin their lives together.

                                         BUT WAIT....the STORY GETS WORSE !!!!!! 

      I felt it in my bones as we left the house....they would call the other realtor...how could she possibly show them comps....would she continue her evil ways...this time, there would be no way out...the house would never sell for that amount...and it would certainly never, ever appraise.....Enter Realtor no. 1....sure enough....no comps of course but she KNEW she could sell it for the $174 she would list it at...and of course I had no clue what I was doing....and becuz people hear what they want to hear....and believe what they believe is less painful....I know they will list with this...........don't even want to use the word "realtor".  Does she sleep nights ?  Do they know she has a similar listing that has been on the market over 6 months ?  The groom's mother says let them learn the hard way....and I know that in the end they will learn I was the honest realtor....I just wish they could do it less painfully....and without learning that another realtor could be sooooo dishonest !

    Maybe you moved to or stayed in New Berlin because you believed it to be the community the  city slogan says it is....."A Little Bit Country."  The little bit will become bitsier unless you Just Say No to Sidewalks EVERYWHERE in New Berlin !  The few sidewalks that exist are not regularly cleaned of snow, ice and debris. The city council vetoed the Parks Dept.'s (responsible for snow removal) request for additional equipment for the few sidewalks that exist currently.

   Some of the council members have tried to romanticize the addition of sidewalks...giving them more "nature friendly" names...they call them side paths, bike trails...but they are SIDEWALKS.  Recently, the city, has spent thousands of dollars with consultants as to the construction of "Sidepaths" along 124th Street. The east side of 124th Street is Milwaukee County...Hales Corners, Greenfield, West Allis...the west side is Waukesha County. It has trees, bushes, berms...much of which has been purchased at great expense to shelter the backyards of rewsidents...from noise, unwanted visitors, traffic....and promote privacy and that "little bit of country" that the city brags is a part of the landscape.  It is a part of the landscape unless council members decide that they want to lessen the green space (unpopular with the Sierra Club, and many environmentalists.)

  What do New Berlin residents have to gain from the construction of sidepaths, trails,...SIDEWALKS ? Bills in the form of tax increases for construction, maintenance, cleaning, repair, equipment, manpower, etc., etc., etc., Recently the city spent thousands of dollars with consultants to explore designs for "sidepaths" along 124th Street...with careless disregard for the wishes of the residents. A few residents objected...and the path was changed from 30 feet to 10 feet from the west to the east and back to the west side of the street....clearly very little thought has gone into this plan.  The theory that some council members would have residents believe is that they are only following the "mandate" of the Alternative Transportation Committee....hmmm....what about a mandate from the people who elected the people trying to push this unpopular idea ?

                                                                       You Can Just Say NO...here's how....

• You can e-mail the Mayor (believed to support Sidewalks) and the whole city council with one e-mail:    

                                citycouncil@newberlin.org

•   You can call any or all of the alderman:

  And best of all....You can help during Privilege of the Floor of the Public Works Committee on Thursday,

February 21st 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.  Yes, we know that 5:30 is early for those of you who just get off of work at 5pm and trust us....the people at City Hall who viewed this time as a "compromise" know it too,,,,don't worry, we will be there long after that....and expressing our views,.make your views known...all you have to do is take the microphone, give your name and address and just say "NO Sidewalks anywhere in New Berlin."  'Not a public speaker ?  That's ok...we'll be there and give you a post card to complete and give to the City Clerk...or sign our petition....let's keep our little bit country...JUST SAY NO !!!!!

 Last night we were invited to have dinner at one of our first time buyers' new condo. The couple and their son  from Northern India and prepared a multi course meal with their native dishes...I passed on the goat but the rest of the meal was rich in vegetables and very good. We discussed many of the traditions of their native country from their own arranged marriage to family members putting other family members through school.

    Mrs. Buyers parents are coming later this month to stay for a few months and they wanted to be sure everything was in order...we gave them the names of someone for drywall repair...we showed them how to operate the gas fireplace with a flick of a switch and how the ice cube maker could be fiexed.

      Their young son loves the condo and the open concept is far more to his taste than the apartment they came from across town. If he gives any thought to misbehaving his parents tell him that the Hansons will be over to take back the condo and send him back to the apartment. No Wonder people are afraid to talk with Realtors...they are the bad guys who take away comfy condos !  Before we left, Mom and Dad told their son to thank us for finding them their new home....and that with the accompanying hug certainly made it all worth it !