Relocate to Wisconsin

Hellow southeastern Wisconsin Agents...Does this blog chock full of more information than you have ever seen in one place make you wonder what being a Keller Williams agent would be like ?  We can tell you...it is the best thing you can do for your career...your clients and customers...give us a call...we will tell you first hand...and you can only imagine the difference ! Sally & David Hanson - Proudly...Agents with Keller Williams

Wisconsin's No Call List
Sunday, February 28 is the last day to sign up for the state's No Call List. 
To register, call 1-866-966-2255 or go on-line at https://nocall.wisconsin.gov/web/home.asp.
Click here for more information: http://thewheelerreport.com/releases/feb10/feb19/0219datcpnocalllist.pdf

Unclaimed Property
Is the state holding your Unclaimed Property from sources such as lapsed bank accounts, stocks, certificates of deposit, mature life insurance policies, uncashed death benefit checks, utility deposit refunds, and paychecks, etc.? 

To learn more, click here and type in your name:  http://www.statetreasury.wisconsin.gov/section.asp?linkid=1381&locid=155

** Special Note:  Be sure to check for deceased family members, maiden names, business names, etc.

2010 State of Wisconsin Blue Book
If you would like to know more about state government, the 132 legislators enacting public policies for Wisconsin, and historical/statistical information about our state, then you might like a copy of the 2010 State of Wisconsin Blue Book.

To order your book, contact the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-362-9472 or via this website http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx. 

The Blue Book can also be accessed on-line by going to:  http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/bb/09bb/index.htm

   We got a call from a divorcing man who was concerned about the provisions of a listing contract his divorce attorney had sent to him. He had good reason to be converned on a number of issues, He called the realtor who said she would make the changes to the contract...including that the offer only needed his soon to be ex-wife's approval and return the contract to him for his signature.  No contract was returned and the property was listed.

   Wisconsin is a marital property state and while in the strictest sense, the listing contract does not require both spouses to sign the contract, the offer does....a listing contract does not override marital property laws.

     The soon to be  ex husband asked me to contact his attorney with our analysis of the situation....after some investigation, we had the husband contact the bank...the house is upside down...the attorney believed there was equity because "the assesssment is so much more than the list price."  Yicks !

      The property is not listed as a short sale...the attorneys know it is. The realtor who listed it without the input from the man who owns half the property has never listed a short sale and never asked for the mortgage balance or if the mortgage was current.

        Fairy tales are wonderful things....not when the apply to the rest of your financial/credit future. Not when a realtor has not done her due diligence to learn about the property she is barely marketing with no interior photography....Not when you don't know as a realtor is taking the sellers into foreclosure.

  We were recently referred to a young couple. Both had good jobs....and had just started a family and wanted to move to a larger home and continue growing their family. We went through each room of the home discussing staging, removing furniture, reducing clutter.  Yes, they knew the housing market wasn't what it was and this was the perfect time to move a little further west and replace their cute first time home with a little room to roam and some of the ammenities they wanted...a fireplace, larger garage, more storage space.  They bought the house at the height of the market. Later research shows...they also paid the most of any buyer for comparables homes that year.  They had finished some of the lower level...maintained, painted, polished hardwood floors and updated the bathroom.  Their house was "market ready to sell."

   Then......they KNEW what their improvements were worth...more than any home had sold for in recent history. "The market can't have changed that much in a year or a year and a half....my friend paid more......" The market can't have changed ? Yes ...it could and did. unhappily, many first time buyers, now ready for their second home did the best thing they could do at the time...make a real estate investment they could afford while making improvements and saving money.

     You don't always win on the sale end.....but the same "bargains" are on the upside...the side you are moving to ...UP...larger...bigger yard, more features....No one can expect to win on both ends...selling and buying...

   "Welll....maybe we should wait till we have more equity."  That is after all, all part of what some people have learned in today's real estate market....waiting doesn't necessarily build equity. More short sales and foreclosures that as they close, become comparables WILL and DO influence the value of your home. If more homes come on the market for whatever reason...job loss...."pick a payment" option arms....more inventory more competition...get less of a price....competition may improve the quality of the product/home/staging/condition....not the bottom line.

    A Wisconsin storm brewing almost always means a trip to the store for mega soup fixings to fill the freezer and friends with the latest Hanson home brew frozen in sealed plastic bag blocks. Today was no exception...and the store was approaching the end date for bread and burger buns.....so we emptied the shelves. Ninety  packages...loaves of bread and buns that tomorrow will be delivered to the Womens' Center of Waukesha County. 

    You can do this in your community...spend 2 minutes talking to the manager of your local grocery store...let them know you want to help with their help.  Leave your card...ask them to call you when they find they are overstocked and have usable food at regular prices.

  You will be helping people who have never needed it more...or appreciated it as much.

   Do it because you ar a caring member of your community. Do it because it is the right thing to do. Do it easily, it is effortless, inexpensive and needed in every community, every day in every state somewhere...you will not have to look hard to find a charity deserving of a gift of food.

  It is our primary choice as a charity we support. The Center provides valuable community services to the county including:

     To us, taking a listing at the same price at which it expired....with no change to the property...the foundation is still not reinforced, roof still not replaced....the shag carpet remains shaggy....the pink tile in the bathroom awaits "your decorating touches" is just the same as an agent "buying a listing."    We have often wanted to be mice in the corner with the new agent when the listing presentation is being given.  How DO they convince a seller that somehow it must have been the other agent...and their magic marketing program...with the same price and no property change will bring a buyer and an acceptable offer shortly thereafter.

    If you are a seller....we understand your disappointment ...the market has done some things to the price of homes that no seller likes...we all wish that we had marketing wands that would enable us to sell a home for the price you want....and not the one that the market has chosen.  Know that the property has to appraise....that your buyer has to get financing to make your house, their new home.  It is not your fault...and it may well not be the agent's fault either.  If no advertising and marketing was done...you never got feedback from showings...or got no showings....maybe you do have the wrong agent. You want one that answers the phone...is on top of e-mail...aggressive promotes your house and has verified the price with recently sold comparable homes in the neighborhood. 

    There are good, bad and better agents like there are of everything...ask for the track record...how many prie reductions over what period of time...what were their sales figures...what is the marketing plan. How do they monitor market and how often will you get reports on your listing and the market you are in ?

     If an agent wants to list your expired listing at the same price...with no changes to the property....and a promise of a Magic Marketing Wand,...just say no and find an agent will tell you the truth with verifiable information amd comparable recently sold homes.  The truth and the market decide.

In lots of different scenarios....realtors find themselves in the middle of the "chain of demand"....the Sellers demand their home should be listed at $X. This is always above the market....Just say no.

   There are buyers who want you to behave as a buyer's agent...tell them the "right price"....advise them....but don't really want to sign the "loyalty oath" of a buyer's agent....Just say no.

     There are agents who write ridiculous half price offers on short sales because "the bank will take whatever we write"  Just say no.

       There are lenders who in approving a short sale, will approve the home for sale....and want to "discuss the deficiency later in specified amount for no particular terms  Just say no.

  There is NO time...NO economic condition NO pleading seller No demanding buyer to whom NO is not the very right answer. Compromising ethics for the sake of a "maybe sale....No.

  We recently closed a short sale that had been listed by five previous agents over the course of a three year period.   The very distraught sellers told us that they listened to everything every agent before us had told them....they knew that real estate was not their business...they knew what they didn't knew. They painted, fixed, staged and priced the house as the agents suggested....and as the market slid and values took a dive, each agent listed the house either at the same price as the previous agent...because of course, their plan for marketing/advertising  would make all the difference...OR just a tiny bit less...and the sellers waited and waited for all the highly recommended realtors to bring them an offer. No offer ever came and they now owed more than the mortgage. It didn't start out that way.  Had the first...even the second...or possibly even the third, agent moved with the market, the home would have had some equity and the sellers could close the transaction with some profit.

    In some cases, we see selllers who want to hang on and want to believe, that the "market will be back"...and that is true of course...real estate has cycles...The cycle will not peddle fast enough, hard enough to bring back the equity that was snatched in time to have the sellers make a profit...or just break even.

   Sellers: Beware if you have to sell your home, the price you are given may not be what you want to hear...it may be what you have to hear...ask the agent you have chosen about their list to sale ratio.....ask for proof, ask for references...be safe...know that you have gotten the best experience a realtor can offer...you deserve the best.

  That is an echo that many of us will hear this spring.... The comment to "the other agent" by the seller should be...let me see the rationale using recent comparable sales to verify the difference in the price. 
   Would one agent give you a price 10-20-30 or more percent lower to make less money ?  Probably not.

    We would like to think that all the agents from the days of old...have disappeared into the expired category....we know there may be fewer...but they are not completely extinct.  Like dinosaurs, at some point, we can all hope that they disappear and no longer give sellers false hope of inflated prices for which their homes will never appraise...buyers will never offer cash without an appraisal...the listing will age...not gracefully and not sell.  While the sellers may get tired of waiting and may change agents...that's it...it must be the agent....certainly it isn't the condition, location...the house that they have lovingly cared for...updated, painted, remodeled and called "home" cannot possibly be worth less than the price that they have in their mind.  It's the price "they need" to buy the next house, retire and move, divorce and move on...whatever the situation, the seller doesn't decide...the market does.

   Sellers know this....if you choose a realtor based upon the one who gave you the highest price they believe your home will sell for.....make sure the realtor has not given you the price you want...and really "bought your listing." As difficult as it may be, be sure that your home compares well with the homes sold recently that are comparable. It is not likely that yours will sell for tens of thousands of dollars more. You want a good marketing plan...an agent that stays in touch with the market...that watches the new listings, the ones that have sold and the ones that have expired. The agent that knows how to position and promote your listing in the marketplace.

   You want to hire the agent who WANTS the LISTING not the agent who NEEDS the LISTING. Successful agents will have the time and resources to put your listing first and foremost in the minds of potential buyers and selling agents.  Part time agents and agents who do not have the financial resources or the technology to support a marketing program will not be able to get Home sellers the greatest return for their real estate investment. Sellers...ask for the marketing plan, ask for references, know their sales record...not what they SAY it is...but what it REALLY is....and then hire the agent who can deliver the highest number of qualified buyers based upon your evaluation of these criteria.  Have a successful sales experience with a qualified professional, you will be glad you did.

       The story of the soon to be divorced man who did not realize his wife had not paid the mortgage...just keeps getting better..or rather, worse.  We told him to go to the bank and get the straight story from the lender's mouth as to what "the state of the state" was concerning the mortgage on his marital property.   He left the home in November....and he trusted that his wife, who had always taken care of the bills, had been taking care of the mortgage as he believed she always had done.

   A brief talk with the banker was very revealing.  The mortgage had not been paid in 10 months...even though he had proof of deposits to the account that should have been used to pay the mortgage...Yicks !

   I encouraged the husband to have his lawyer call me and I would explain a short sale if necessary and why we must proceed as soon as possible.  In addition, "Agent Suzy" had mentioned that there were large holes in the drywall and the house was in serious need of a good cleaning. I explained to the attorney that this part of the story was "heresay" at this point but that the house...short or traditional needed to be cleaned and drywall repaired to entice any sort of offer....he agreed....and then,....said..."But, Mrs. Hanson....no matter how long the mortgage has not been paid, I don't think that the balance is anywhere near the assessment so they can't be upside down."

   Golly gee whiz....I am thinking...and you agreed to Agent Suzy....what a surprise...

    Stay tuned...more to a come..most probably a listing to take....or at least, put it in a short sale listing agent's capable hands and out of reach of Agent Suzy and the attorney....who knows the assessed value which of course will erase 10 months of non payment.

  Ah yes...the start of Mardi Gras...and Fat Tuesday is celebrated at every grocery store bakeryl...every bakery and every kitchen in the area that has a baker of note with the oh so famous Paczki recipe !  In case you are wondering...you pronounce Paczki...Poonch Key...yeah...I know...Who Knew...BUT what you DO know is that it as melts in your mouth...it will probably melt to your hips and other parts from the sugary exterior...powdered, regular or frosted to the tasty cake and on to the filling in the middle...which can be a variety of things.  Some people would say it is traditional to have prune filling...I will skip that tradition....and on the ooey gooey raspberry....mmmm...sugary sweet with the frosting combination...it makes your teeth hurt !

There have been places around town that have been known to have lines around the block and down the street with piles of Paczkis piling up on plates and disappearing at office break rooms and kitchen and dining room tables everywhere...

   From the "I never met a donut I didn't love"

 and the bottom of my slightly greasy but  OH soooo tasty heart...   HAPPY FAT TUESDAY !!!

 While we were out on appointments, we got a panic call from the mother of a gal in our sphere. Her son had been served with divorce papers, was unemployed and currently living with her and due to a physical problem was unable to find other gainful employment.  His wife, at the urging of her divorce lawyer, had hired ....oh yes, Agent Suzy...to list their home.  Wisconsin is a marital property state and while it is not required that both parties sign the listing agreement, it is "usual and customary" and it IS required that both parties sign the offer.   Son "John" had gotten a listing contract in the mail from his attorney...he was to sign it and the listing was to begin in a few days. He was not comfortable with several parts of the contract and asked us to review it on his behalf.

    The price on the contract for openers....appeared high though I had not done a CMA so I put hat in the suspicious category of my mind.  Had there been a CMA with the contract ...how did Agent Suzy arrive at the list price ? John didn't know....no CMA. The agent had then written in that the offer was not subject to agreement by John, only by his soon to be ex-wife...gee Suzy...that's not even legal....it's a marital property state...gee ...both lawyers...how did that one get passed you...Oh yes, you said you weren't responsible for the content of the contract, neither of you were real estate attorneys...geez !

    It just gets better...or worse....John mentioned that when he was visiting the children, there were mailers at the house about foreclosure and short sales...should be be concerned about that ?  Well John...who is paying the mortgage....He "thought" his soon to ex was "probably" paying it....Probably....well John...best find out...most direct mail campaigns on foreclosures and short sales are not sent randomly to homeowners.

    Making a long story longer....the soon to be ex-wife was the only player in this game who knew the mortgage was not paid....neither attorney, the realtor or the soon to be ex-husband knew that the house was uʍop ǝpısd∩.

  Sometimes in Short Sales... after an offer has been accepted as primary....buyers come out of the woodwork and offers are written higher than the primary offer submitted. It is our responsibity, as agents for the seller, to submit the other offers in a secondary position to the lender.  All listings always include the famous disclaimer:

     "All Offers and conditions are subject to approval of the lender."

          Lenders of course, want to re-coup as many dollars as possible within  appraisable guidelines,  As a matter of professional and ethical courtesey....we let the agent who has written the primary offer know that other secondary offers have been received. To me, this is an indirect "Agent Suzy" kind of heads up.  If I were the selling agent and heard that secondary offers were received....and I knew that my buyer had not written the strongest offer I had ever seen...I may be tempted to withdraw it and moooove on to a listing with less competiion or a lower price to secure the buyer a home.   We can't of course, tell Suzy or any other agent the amount...the number of offers....if the offers were for or over the asking price...listen carefully..."...Other secondary offers were submitted."

   Think hard...would a listing agent submit other offers that were less money...had less of a down payment...were less qualified...Hmmmm.  Maybe, as a "Plan B"....but Agent Suzy, as a buyer's agent, I would think hard about looking at what else the market had to offer to insure a new roof over my buyer's head. Because your offer was first...doesn't mean your buyer is next in line to own the house.

  Everyone has their favorite places to celebrate...we love to cook....but we do have a few favorite places scattered throughout the four county area to celebrate with a glass of wine and a "few of our favorite things." One of our favorite things at the Venice Club  is the deep fried eggplant sprinkled generously with fresh parmesan cheese...If you can't wait till July where you can get heaping helpings at Festa Italiana, the lakefront celebration held every July on the Summerfest Grounds along the shores of Lake Michigan.  The menu offerings range from the infamous eggplant to the pasta entrees you would expect...the pork, beet and chicken entrees you can't forget and a wine list that compliments all that is Italian, American and tastefully presented. 

        You will find the Venice Club conveniently located just north of the Brookfield City Hall on Calhoun Road, just south of North Avenue and the Ruby Isle Shopping Center:

Come for the Eggplant....stay for the Tiramisu....and Enjoy !

  Long ago and far away when the D.A.R.E. program began...I always thought they should have called it D.E.A.D. (Don't Eat Any Drugs) but they didn't ask me...soooo D.A.R.E. it is...

The New Berlin Police Department’s D.A.R.E. Program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is  teaming up with area Fast Track Oil change centers to raise money for the D.A.R.E. Program while saving you money on your oil changes and other automotive services.  Whenever you stop in at Fast Track and mention the New Berlin D.A.R.E. Program, Fast Track will not only give you $5.00 off a full service oil change,  but they will also donate $3.00 to D.A.R.E.  You will also get 15% off any other service your car needs and an additional $3.00 will go to D.A.R.E. 

No coupons or vouchers are needed, just mention New Berlin PD and D.A.R.E.!

There are several Fast Track locations near where you live and work:

15400 W. National Avenue in New Berlin

3130 S. 108^th Street in West Allis

5400 S. 108^th Street in Hales Corners

14245 W. Capitol Drive in Brookfield

1557 W. Moreland Blvd. in Waukesha

D.A.R.E. has been taught in all New Berlin Schools since 1990 and it teaches 5^th and 7^th grade students how to say no to drugs and helps them learn important life skills that will help them make good decisions for the rest of their lives.  Please help  keep this  a strong program strong in New Berlin. 

If you have any questions about this ongoing fundraiser, please contact Lt. Mike Glider at (262) 780-8109 or e-mail him at glider@nbpolice.org.

  While the snowflakes may still be drifting into snow banks outside...let your mind wander to thoughts of spring which really IS just around the corner...or that's what the calendar says !  

    We encourage our sphere in our newsletter to contract with landscapers now for retaining walls, trees planting, garden plots, hedges and bushes they may wish to add to their landscape.

   In Brookfield, a Waukesha county suburb, the city encourages residents to plant Rain Gardens. Sooo...what is a Rain Garden ?       It is a sunken garden 4 - 8 inches deep
   • Has a flat bottom
   • It measures about 1/3 the size of the area draining to it –
      usually 75 - 300 square feet in size
   • Can be formal or informal in design
   • Drains within two days, so it does not  provide
      breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other insects
   • Utilizes native plants to better infiltrate the    water    

                                         Why use native Plants?                             
                                      Native plants have  root sysrms that grow  twice as deep as the plants are tall, native  plants are very efficient at absorbing water which is their purpose in this eco-friendly nature display.

“Rain Garden How-To Manual”

  For those of you who were just tooo busy, toooo lazy....wanting to send the "very best" but  didn't know how to say it...what to say...where to buy it....I will share with you my graphic creation that I gave my husband...Now you will understand why I didn't pursue writing or graphic arts as career....From Both the Hansons to ALL of Active Rain...Happy Valentine's Day !

   This weekend will abound in the warmth of red...the expressions of feelings...the extra reminders...floral bouquets...sugary confections...special dinners... shiny bling...all the ways that make a loved one feel special. We are suggesting a way this year you can make people feel special...it doesn't have to be a huge amount of money...it doesn't even have to be money at all.

   How about being the anonymous Cupid who shovels the neighbor's walk...blows the snow off the driveway...(are there any lawns anywhere that aren't snow covered ?)  Putting an extra few nion-perishable food items in the collection barrel for people less fortunate...Leaving the mailman a soft drink or hot chocolate in the mailbox...anonymously dropping off a sweet treat to someone who may be house bound...recently lost a loved one or has experienced some other "life got in the way" situation.

     Go ahead...be creative...the opportunities to pay it forward, give it back, be thoughtful...are everywhere....What will you do to honor this holiday of loving expression ?

Locally....at this point in time...Keller Williams and southeastern Wisconsin is not huge...the marketing, technology and education are what is GIGANTIC and that is the important element for any buyer or seller....Thank you Loreena...we appreciate your insight from outside the market adding credence to our expansion.

    The other day we were fortunate to have a number of offers on one of our listings.  We always let agents know when they are not the only ones writing...and of course, as Sellers Agents, we hope that  produces the "highest and best" offers with every agent on their best writing behavior. The house was not a first time buyer's house and the sellers realized that an offer with no home sale contingency would be harder....though not impossible to get for the home they had loved and meticulously maintained as well as upgraded and updated in every way possible. 

      One of the offers, from Agent Suzy's cousin, Agent Sandy.  The price was wonderful...Agent Sandy heard correctly, there were multiple offers....highest and best she was thinking...good job Sandy...the Sellers like that.  Next....closing date....well.....a little out there Sandy...not sure the lender will hang on to a rate for that long.....Did you ask when the sellers wanted to close...that may have sharpened your offer.  Earnest money....good job Sandy...within 3 days of acceptance and an amount appropriate for the price of the price of the house. Whoops....now it says, this is a home sale contingent offer...I go to MLS and find the Buyer's home....not yet listed.

 "Hello...Agent Sandy....Thank you for the offer on our listing on Park Drive....I see it has a  home sale contingency and I don't see their home listed, " I said .

"That's right....the Buyers don't want to list their home until they find one they like and have an  accepted offer....then they will list it."

  "Golly gee Agent Sandy...if your buyers had their home on the market and a good offer, our sellers would be more inclined to give the offer greater consideration."

  "Well...my buyers have to have the house they buy in the same elementary school area, and all of the features that the home has that you have listed. Their lender said he had not done any bridge loans for almost 2 years...and he wasn't going to start now."

  "Well Agent Sandy...our Sellers have never seen the house you don't have listed and are asking them to take their home off the market in the hopes that it is a great house in good condition, well priced and that it sells quickly....that's a lot of  mystery....a lot to hope for when they know nothing about your Buyers' house," we explained.

   "Your Sellers just need to a take a Leap of Faith," Agent Sandy responded.