Offer Pending - 2865 North Shore Road, LaPointe WI 54850 - Buyer Procured by Madeline Island Realty
We're proud to announce that we have an accepted offer on our Madeline Island listing at 2865 North Shore Road. This unique accessible home happens to be one of our most photogenic listings and we had fun photographing it!
The home has numerous luxury features and it shows like a fine home you'd find anywhere in the country. Yet the price will surprise you, especially once you notice the superb construction quality and amenities inside.
The kitchen is a cook's dream, with SubZero refrigerator freezer, dual ovens, center island, marble baker's table and ample adjacent walk-in pantry. You'll find similar quality elsewhere throughout the home, like the comfortable master suite and bath with a roll-in Italian marble tiled shower. Wall-mounted television sets are another elegant feature.
I could go on and on, but this one has a pending offer. So contact me at Madeline Island Realty and let me find you something that's just right for you!
It doesn't happen all that often, but properly priced (and well-marketed) listings on Madeline Island do sell during the winter months. When an offer comes in on one of our home listings, it's cause for celebration. And while any time of year is a great time to make a sale, a serious offer is even more welcome in the month of January.
The prospective buyer tells us she found this listing on our Madeline Island Realty website. She and her husband also viewed this home quite a few times on our YouTube channel and they tell me they scouted the home's exterior using Street View in Google Maps.
I was at the WRA Winter Convention when this offer came in. Wisconsin Realtors Association conventions have always been pretty lucky for me. I received an offer on a Minneapolis home last autumn while I was at the Kalahari Resort for WRA Convention and the year before, I negotiated an offer for a $450,000 waterfront home on Madeline Island while I was attending the WRA Annual Convention.
I frequently tell sellers that it may be a mistake to pull their Madeline Island property off the market during winter months. Even though winter sales are infrequent, there's no reason why a correctly priced home can't be sold during winter.
Wisconsin CRS Chapter Luncheon last Friday at WRA Winter Convention
We had an amazing group of people at our Wisconsin CRS Chapter luncheon last week at Lake of the Torches Convention Center in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin!
There were nearly forty attendees at the Friday January 27th luncheon during the Wisconsin Realtors Association Winter Convention. Our Wisconsin Chapter President, Cindy Ulsrud, was unable to attend, so I wound up taking her place at the luncheon.
For me, the most enjoyable part of the hour was the opportunity to present a half-hour "mini-course" on real estate photography. This included some of the same material which I delivered during a RealBird webinar on January 20th and which I earlier presented last March at the CRS Region 6 & 7 Meeting in Chicago.
Attendees were given an introduction to using wide-angle photography as a tool for achieving superior results in home marketing. Two dozen of those at the luncheon left me their business cards and I'll be emailing them a couple of eBooks on real estate photography as a thank-you gift on behalf of the Wisconsin CRS Chapter. We appreciate our members attending these annual events and we try to show that appreciation by bringing added value to them.
Below are some of the websites and materials I shared with the guests at our Wisconsin CRS Chapter luncheon:
Buyers Are Using Google Street Views to Preview Madeline Island Homes
Many prospective buyers may not realize that they can get a street view of Madeline Island homes for sale (or many property listings across the United States) simply by using Google Maps with Street View.
You'll need to create a Gmail account, of course. And you can set up Google Maps once you've done that. Not all properties will have street views available. But it makes sense to search Google Street View before you drive three or four hours to look at properties in a vacation destination area like ours.
The street view photo wasn't taken in HD and it certainly isn't all that sharp or detailed, but it gives the viewer a very good idea of the street view of this home. And it gave prospective buyers (who had already viewed a virtual tour of the home's interior) enough information to satisfy their curiosity about what the lot and yard looked like, which led to their submitting an offer.
Google Maps and Google Earth also offer satellite and aerial views of some properties. From a consumer standpoint, I find these street views more valuable as a marketing tool.
A street view of your home for sale probably won't sell the property on its own, but it's another piece of the puzzle that may lead to finding your buyer.
Today’s Real Estate Buyer is Often the Strong, Silent type - Mostly Silent
Oh, these prospective buyers we're encoutering can be stealthy.
Here's what I mean. We receive an email lead or inquiry about one of our listings. The prospect has obviously been lurking a bit, looking at the property listing information on the Web. They know the square footage, number of bedrooms and so on. They've watched one of our virtual tours and they can probably recite an inventory of the furnishings in the house, room by room.
So we respond with a cheery email, sometimes a phone call (if the buyer prospect actually provides us with a phone number). And then we wait. And wait.
Sometimes the prospect completely goes off the radar, never to be heard from again. In other cases, it may be days, weeks or months before we hear back from them. In the meantime, they're dreaming and scheming.
Being cagey and coy might be your style, but it probably won't move you any closer to your dream of owning a second home or vacation cottage. If you truly have an interest in a property, the best course of action is to ask questions, lots of them. Soak up all the information you can and then arrange for a showing.
We don't SPAM our customers and clients. We won't pester you or use high-pressure tactics to induce you to do anything outside your confort zone. What we will do is give you information, so you can make an informed decision.
Yes, you have the right to remain silent. But we wish you’d talk with us.
Bayfield WI Prices Headed North, According to Trulia
Trulia reports that Bayfield, Wisconsin real estate prices have been trending upwards over the past month. Prices are up 0.4 per cent over the past week, according to Trulia's "Bayfield WI real estate overview" page.
The current average listing price in Bayfield is $200,200. This figure is up from $197,000 in mid-December of 2011.
There's also less available inventory in the 54814 zip code area. Listing inventories have dropped slightly since mid-December.
By contrast, prices on nearby Madeline Island have dropped by over 3% during the past month. And the average home price in the 54850 zip code (Madeline Island) dropped by 1.7 per cent ($6184) for the week ending January 11, compared with the previous week.
The four important items listed below constitute what I call a "Buyer's Bill of Rights"
You have a right to choose your own buyer’s agent and to be represented in a transaction by your own agent.
You have the right to know about all the Madeline Island homes and properties that are currently available for sale, not just the listings that a listing agent wants to tell you about.
You have the right to request a home inspection before you commit 100% to buying a home.
You have the right to work with a full-time real estate professional, not a part-timer or a hobbyist or a seasonal agent who works four or five months per year.
I recall speaking with an area agent last autumn who boasted to me that he was able to keep both sides of the commission in a recent transaction because he managed to talk the buyer out of working with a buyer's agent.That’s sad, because using a buyer’s agent wouldn’t have cost that buyer a single cent in this situation. A good agent, an ethical agent wouldn’t pull the wool over your eyes in order to make a few extra bucks.
When you visit our Island and find yourself dazzled by all the scenic beauty and you begin to consider the idea of owning a home or cottage here, stop for a moment and consider the value of working with your own agent. It might not be the best idea to just walk into a real estate office and begin looking at homes with the listing agent. Remember that a buyer's agent looks after your interests, not those of the seller. It's your right to be represented in a real estate transaction.
Bayfield County, WI Market Report - Wisconsin Realtors Association Statistics Recap for 2011
WRA has summarized the 2011 real estate market for Bayfield County, Wisconsin, reporting that 2011 was a year with the lowest annual median price in the past five years.
Bayfield County, Wisconsin did considerably better in 2011 than neighboring Ashland County. Ashland County reported thirty per cent fewer sales than Bayfield County in 2011, with an annualized median sold price of approximately one-third lower than reported for Bayfield County during the same period.
The 2011 median price for Ashland County, Wisconsin was $120,000. The 2011 annualized median price statistics were based on a total of 199 sales in 2011.
There were eighteen sales reported in all of Bayfield County, WI during December of 2011.
Ashland County, WI Market Report - Wisconsin Realtors Association Statistics Recap for 2011
WRA has summarized the 2011 real estate market for Ashland County, Wisconsin, reporting that 2011 was a year with the lowest annual median price in the past five years.
The 2011 median price for Ashland County, Wisconsin was $79,000. The 2011 annualized median price statistics were based on a total of 138 sales in 2011.
There were only seven sales reported in all of Ashland County during December of 2011.
[Map of Ashland County, Wisconsin. Madeline Island is located at the northernmost tip of Ashland County]
Breast Cancer Recovery Offers Breast Cancer Recovery Retreats on Madeline Island
An organization located in Madison, Wisconsin is offering summer retreats for women breast cancer survivors on Madeline Island and in Door County, the Wisconsin Dells and in Eagle River.
Breast Cancer Recovery is hosting two "Infinite Boundaries" survivor retreats for women on Madeline Island this summer. The first 2012 Madeline Island survivor retreat will take place on the Island July 19-22 and the second will be July 26 through 29.
The mission of Breast Cancer Recovery is to "provide environments for women breast cancer survivors to heal emotionally".
The statewide Wisconsin retreat schedule for 2012 may be found here. Online registration is available at http://www.bcrecovery.org.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.