Real Estate Information

One of the best things about summer, besides warm weather & sunshine, is all the fresh fruit & vegtables. For those of us with yards too small or shady, or for those who are just too busy to grow your own garden, the Wauwatosa Farmer's market is just the ticket.

Eagerly awaited by myself and most my neighbors, the market is opening this Saturday, June 5th, and will be open from 8 am to noon every Saturday through October. If last fall's preview event was any indication, it will be packed the whole time. Wauwatosa residents love to "live local"!

There are over 30 vendors already signed up (was glad to see Maxie's is one of them - their peacan pumpkin pancakes were delicious last fall) and there will also be live music and cooking demonstrations.

The market is located on Hart's Mills parking lot, just south of the historic Little Red Store (LRS) and along the Oak Leaf bike trail in the Village of Wauwatosa. (As a side note, be sure to stop in the Little Red Store and pick up the book, Images of America Wauwatosa by the Wauwatosa Historical Society.)

Usually I would walk up State Street and use the the pedestrian bridge adjacent to Café Hollander to reach the market, but be advised that the bridge will be closed for a few weeks in June, although it will be open on June 5.

According to the market's web site: "to reach the Tosa Farmers Market, drivers should take Watertown Plank from the west side of the Village to the end and turn left to park behind the LRS."

"Pedestrians and bikers can enter on the Oak Leaf Trail just north of Church Street on the Menomonee River Parkway and cross over the river into the parking lot behind the LRS. A short walk south along the bike trail and across the railroad tracks will take you to the market. Bike racks are available in front of the LRS."

For more info please visit: http://www.tosafarmersmarket.com/

I hope to see you there!

The 86th annual Realtors Home and Garden show opens today - a sure sign of Spring! Get out of the house (and off the couch) and check out over 10,000 square feet of garden, nursery, landscaping, sculpture and fountain displays.

If that is not enough for you, there are also workshops and demonstrations at the Solutions Seminar Stage. Topics include composting, unusual plants from around the world to your garden, and interior design trends.

Don't forget to check out the daily cooking demonstrations where Mad Dog and Merrill, the grilling buddies, will heat up the Cooking Stage. Using only a grill, they can make everything from appetizers to dessert!

Close to my heart is the Eco Living area, which will showcase environmentally friendly landscape elements and concepts, such as rain water harvesting, rain gardens, green roofs, composting, and urban gardening. (In case you didn't know, the city of Wauwatosa will pay you to have a rain garden. If you are interested, please contact me for more details.)

MPTV Friends Channel 10 Great TV Auction will also be hosting a preview of art, antiques and collectibles that will be available for bid during the televised auction which airs April 23 – May 1. Quilt entries from the “Quilting is Art” contest will also be on display and available for bid, plus Antique Alley will feature interesting items from antique dealers throughout the area.

Lastly, don't forget to bring the children! 12 and under are free, plus the Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens will host a variety of children’s activities, including story hours.

The show runs through Sunday, March 28th, but is closed Monday and Tuesday, March 22nd and 23rd. For a full schedule, please visit the web site: http://www.realtorshomeandgardenshow.com

If you would like to attend as my guest, please contact me.

Happy Spring!

Getting into the home of your dreams can be a challenge. Whether this is your first home purchase or your fifth, ensure a smooth home-buying process by working with an Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR).  An ABR has specialized knowledge and experience to make sure your home buying process is straightforward and successful.

The ABR designation is awarded by the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR).  To learn more about the council, please visit www.REBAC.net. 

It is important to know that the ABR designation is only awarded to licensed real estate professionals after they complete specialized training and demonstrate experience working with buyers.  The training helps the agent to better understand the buyer’s perspective, along with how to effectively represent the buyer-client.   

Working with an ABR means your agent has chosen to go above and beyond the normal license requirements and that you will be well represented in your purchase. 

All agents who work with a buyer should do the following:

• Ask questions to help understand your specific needs and wants from a home.
• Help you determine how much you can afford, and assist you in getting pre-approved for a mortgage.
• Preview properties for you, and accompany you to viewings/showings, even open houses.
• Provide a list of qualified service providers, including home inspectors, attorneys, mortgage lenders, radon test operators, etc.
• Concentrate on the details of the process and keep accurate records so you can focus on and enjoy your new home.

 An ABR will do even more however, including the following:

• Help you establish the market value of the home you are interested in purchasing, by doing a comprehensive market analysis for you.
• Help you to estimate the costs of improvements, changes, or needed repairs and/or updates.
• Advise you in creating/making an offer on a home, along with mapping out a negotiation strategy.
• Put your interests first throughout the process.
• Give you advice, counsel and their professional opinion.

If you are looking to purchase a home, make sure you seek an agent with the ABR designation to help make your home-buying process easy and successful.  If you have any other questions about how an ABR designated agent can help you get in to your home, email me or call me today!

Two new restaurants opened in East Towne Tosa recently and both delighted me on my first visit. The Daymaker Cafe opened this fall at 7225 W. North Avenue, the former site of the East Towne Cafe. On the recommendation of my waitress, I ordered the homemade corned beef hash. Real corned beef and yummy fried potatoes. True comfort food and great on a cold winter's day! The prices are also reasonable, staying in the $5.95 to 11.95 range for breakfast and lunch, with some dinner selections going a little higher.

Cosmos Cafe, located just a half block down the street at 7203 W. North Avenue, opened in November. I love Greek food and am excited to have a local place to get it. Mark and I both ordered gyros and split the Greek Village salad. The lamb on the gyros was very light and flavorful, perfectly done. Portions were generous and prices very reasonable; almost everything on the menu is $6 or under. I will be back to try the Spanakopita and their Friday fish fry.

We are extremely fortunate to have so many fabulous restaurants on North Avenue, from Juniper 61 to Ted's to Cranky Al's to Il Mito and now 2 more gems have been added to the line up!

There is a lot of uncertainty and misinformation circulating about the newly extended and expanded home buyer tax credit. I will try to end some of the confusion here, by highlighting the main criteria and answering some frequently asked questions.

First of all, who is eligible? You qualify for up to an $8,000 tax credit if you have not owned a principal residence for the last 3 years (the IRS uses this definition of a "first time buyer").

You qualify for up to a $6,500 tax credit if you have owned a principal residence for five consecutive years, out of the last eight years, and now purchase a "replacement" principal residence.

I say up to because the credit is 10% of the purchase price, with a maximum of $8,000 for "first time" buyers and a maximum of $6,500 for "replacement" buyers.

There are also income requirements that all buyers must meet. A single buyer can make no more than $125,000 in "modified adjusted gross income" and those filing jointly cannot exceed $225,000. There may be a portion of the credit available to those singles filers who make between $125,000 and $145,000 and joint filers with income between $225,000 and $245,000; check with your accountant for exact amounts, if your income is within that range.

There are also a few new rules. First, the new home cannot cost more than $800,000. Also, you must be at least 18 to be eligible and lastly, anyone who is counted as a dependent on another's tax return is not eligible for the credit.

All buyers must have a written accepted offer by April 30, 2010 and must close on that transaction no later than June 30, 2010.

Once you have closed on the new home, use IRS revised Form 5405 (will be downloadable from their web site www.IRS.gov late 2009) to claim the credit.

Please feel free to contact me with specific questions. This is a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the current market! 

HO, HO, HO! Don't miss Santa! He will be in the village, at Root Common Park (located at the intersection of Wauwatosa & Harwood Avenue) for the annual tree lighting this Saturday, December 5th at 5 pm. You'll also enjoy carols by the McKinley School children's choir. Don't forget to bring a nonperishable food item for the Tosa food pantry also. For more details on all the holiday festivities, visit http://www.villageofwauwatosa.com/

I'm often asked if this is a good time to buy a home. Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall further than they have already. They are assuming that the best course of action is to wait for the bottom in the market and then buy. The problem with this approach is that you don't know where the bottom is until you see it in the rear view mirror, meaning until you've missed it!

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates go up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.