BrewFest 2008! Fundraising Event for the Green Bay WI Humane SocietyIf you had the opportunity to sample great local micro brewery beer, wine from local wineries, decadent food from leading area restaurants, while supporting a great cause raising money for a first class organization the Green Bay WI Humane Society I would think you'd have a hard time saying no. Last year’s Brewfest was a roaring success, raising over $25,000 of support to protect and care for nearly 6,000 pets for a year.  I can venture to bet with the wonderful support from the Greater Green Bay area we can band together to raise even more money and show our support for the Green Bay WI Humane Society. The event is taking place at the KI Convention Center/ Hotel Sierra on 333 Main St., Green Bay WI.  Friday, October 24... 09/12/2008

  Want to become a better speaker?  The Green Bay ToastMasters Club Welcome's Guests!Talk of the Town Toastmaster's a new chapter in the city of Green Bay Wisconsin is opening it's door to invite guest's into our meetings to see what we're all about. So why should you consider joining?  Are you the type of person who gets the butterflies in your stomach when your asked to speak in front of a large group of people or even presenting in a small setting?  I personally have felt these.  These feelings are normal and the majority of people have them.  Getting comfortable and building the confidence in your ability to speak can help overcome these uneasy feelings.  Toastmaster's International is in place to provide a place for people to practice and learn how to become better speakers.  The e... 09/12/2008

Wildlife Art Display at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay WisconsinI'm always looking for new creative activities for my three year old son. The Little Man has a huge passion for animals so when I ran across information about the new exhibit at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin I was extremely excited.The Neville Public Musuem is host of the world premier of the International art exhibition Art and the Animal. The musuem has 120 peieces of animal art on display.  Everything from animals in the jungle, to house hold pets and everything in between. Green Bay is the only city in the Midwest to host the whole exhibition.  The exhibit will be open through November 2nd.  To view museum times visit Neville Public Museum website.  If you are interested in other fun activitie... 09/12/2008

Green Bay Wisconsin Howard residents in the Howard /Suamico area has something to be excited about. A brand new Park! Located at the Hidden Creek Trail Subdivision in the Wayne Williams Conservation Area, the recreation department is planning to create picnic areas, open play spaces, walking trails, and plenty of parking. Most of the park will remain natural and serve as a passive recreation area, however, over 5,000 sq.ft. will be developed and new playground equipment installed. The Village of Howard held and public forum on Sept 2 and received some great input and lots of ideas from the neighbors in the Green Bay Wisconsin Howard area. They discussed different types of playground equipment and took suggestions on what type of playground apparatus they should bring in. Proposed plans ... 09/08/2008

Well today was the first day of the rummage sale.  If you're a steady reader of my blog, you know that I and my six brothers and sisters are in the process of downsizing my mother into a bigger home than she currently has. (you may have to read that sentence again). After setting up the tables and the merchandise, I was amazed and the amount of knick knacks, picture frames, romance novels and various jelly jar glasses she has collected over the years.  Almost every item had a story and she remembers most of them.  It was at that point that I realized that that collection of items I saw as junk was really pieces to the puzzle of her life.  What would the pieces to the puzzle of your life look like?  It's not that any of the items had any real sentimental value. It's just that they repres... 09/05/2008

I am in the process of developing a new program for educating home buyers on home construction.  My first seminar will be held in October.  The exact date has not been determined.  Please watch my blog for further details. In the past, I have spent most of my time educating buyers on a one on one basis.  Some of them have listened and learn so well that I can practically open the door to the house and go back and get in the car.  They know what to look at to determine the value of the property. Further details will follow. 09/05/2008

We've talked about short sales and bank owned foreclosures in the Green Bay Real Estate Market.  We now get to talk about my favorite kind of foreclosure's.  HUD Homes (Housing Urban Development).  A HUD Home is a property that was previously financed with an FHA insured mortgage and where the owner has defaulted on the loan. The lender, then, forecloses on the home. FHA pays the lender what is owed; and the lender transfers ownership of the home to FHA/HUD. Then, HUD sells it at market value.  You can view HUD homes in Wisconsin here. For anyone that has had any dealings with trying to purchase foreclosures, you already understand how difficult and cumbersome of a process it can be.  Short sales can take months to move forward with no guaranteed end in sight.   You may have experience ... 09/04/2008

Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis know that I'm in the middle of downsizing my mother.  No I'm not making her shorter.  I'm just trying to get her to part with some of her prized possessions before she moves into her new home. We have left the dumpster phase and are now entering the garage or rummage sale phase.  As a compromise, my mother has agreed to part with a few thousand things if we first attempt to sell them in a garage or rummage sale.    The only rule is nothing goes back into the house.  If it doesn't sell, it gets donated to charity. This approach may be of value to listing agents who are having a hard time getting their sellers to declutter.  I have even suggested to some sellers that I would pay for the newspaper ad and that they could use one of my sign fr... 09/03/2008

Hidden Creak Trail is a premiere subdivision located in Green Bay Wisconsin in the Village of Howard.  There is are some unique qualities that really should make this subdivision first on your building locations for your Green Bay Home.  There is a public park and a walking trail within the subdivision.  The Village of Howard is planning on implementing a playground in the Wayne Williams Conservation Area.  Can we say close fun for you and the whole family.  If you like mature wooded lots with  and lots that back up to a retention pond Hidden Creek Trail may be for you.  Feel Free to watch the video below to view the subdivision.  I strongly suggest that you see it in person.   VideoAd by Mixpo   If you are interested in the restrictive covenants you can get those here.  You can also ge... 09/02/2008

Everone, no matter the situation, but especially in my line of work as in real estate sales, must be honest. Evidently, people who stretch the truth or just right out lie must be desperate or just don't give a crap. And when the real estate business is challenged it seems some practitioners will do whatever they have to make a dime. I've got news for some of those bone-heads. It's going to come back to haunt you. The stories I hear from buyes and sellers tells it all-they say just be honest. I say the same thing. Whats the deal? I had this gal, whose from another country, come up to me the other day and said I shouldn't even try to compete with her because she would do whatever it took to beat me-and that meant EVERYTHING. I just hope for the sake of the poor buyers and sellers out ther... 08/22/2008

Being young father can be extremely challenging and rewarding. I spent last weekend with my family visiting a playland for kids called Monkey Joe's. It was a breath of fresh air from the usual Chuck E Cheese experience. This air inflated playground was the perfect challenge for my 3 year-old The Little Man. From a young age I have tried to inspire my son to try new things and not be afraid of making a mistakes. This has allowed him to be quite the adventurer when it comes to parks and playgrounds. I love seeing him try new things and challenge himself and seeing that big smile when he completes something he hasn't done before. Monkey Joe's is the perfect safe place for kids to push themselves to try new things. There is many obstacles that create all different kinds of challenges. The ... 08/18/2008

It's almost fall!  I don't know where the summer went.  It is now time to begin planning our second annual real estate expo.  If you are a steady reader of my blog, you will remember that last spring we held the first expo in the Green Bay area that focused strictly on real estate.  We are excited at the possibilities next spring of expanding our vendors and offering the general public the opportunity to talk to representatives of all aspects of real estate. At the last expo we had a bank, a mortgage company, a title company, a builder and an insurance agent, etc.  We provided a one stop shop for anyone interested in remodeling, buying and/or selling. Our spring expo will involve more real estate companies.  I'll have more information in the coming months so if you are thinking of remod... 08/13/2008

From my experience in dealing with foreclosures the most important thing for me as an agent to do is to educuate my clients as best as possible on how the process works. Foreclosures are a different animal than typical real estate transactions. The unique thing about foreclosures is that there any many different kinds of opportunities. The first opportunity that i'll touch on is short sales. What are short sales? A short sale A sale of a house in which the proceeds fall short of what the owner still owes on the mortgage. Many lenders will agree to accept the proceeds of a short sale and forgive the rest of what is owed on the mortgage when the owner cannot make the mortgage payments. By accepting a short sale, the lender can avoid a lengthy and costly foreclosure, and the owner is able ... 05/30/2008

In the last 2 years I would say the hot button real estate word would hands down have to be foreclosure. When I have a random conversation with someone and they find out that I sell real estate, you can bet that foreclosures will come up. This popularity has had an impact on the foreclosure market. When everyone's familiar with an opportunity to get a good deal, It creates a very competitive arena. We have been seeing a huge amount of traffic to our foreclosure opportunities within our company. The more traffic they get generally the quicker they sell and sell near asking price. The late night infommerical's have been leading us to believe that you can turn rags into riches with buying foreclosures. Don't get me wrong there is plenty of opportunity to make money with foreclosure's but i... 05/30/2008

We had a tragic passing of a fellow Realtor in Wisconsin.  I'm shocked at what has occurred and very heartbroken when I found out more about Ann. Ann Nelson was very active in her community she had 6 children and 16 grandchildren.  She was an active Realtor for 10 years.  My thoughts and prayers are with this family I cannot even begin to express my feelings on this.  Please support this family any way you can.If you would like to send a card or note to Ann's family, you may send it to RE/MAX Community Realty, 112 S. Main St., Lake Mills, WI 53551Ann's obituary is posted at http://www.wra.org/Communications/105319/8410235/5021216 Contact Greg Dallaire, Realtor®, Micoley and Company. Licensed Realtor® in Green Bay, Wisconsin at 920-217-2647 to list your property for sale or to purchase a... 03/27/2008

The USA Today recently wrote an article on the Green Bay Real Estate Market. I'm extremely excited to see the national media talking about our Green Bay real estate market.  The article touches on some interesting statistics that I'll expand on.  You can go directly to this article at Real estate: It's a buyers' market in Green Bay, Wis.            In my Green Bay Real Estate Market Report post I looked at the Wisconsin Realtors Association yearly sales volume reports. I found that the best year to date was 2003 and that numbers were in line with those numbers in 2007.  There were increases in 2004 and 2005, over and above the record breaking 2003 year.  The USA Today is utilizing the same statistics that I used to establish my opinion of the Green Bay Real Estate Market.  Green Bay is ... 03/23/2008

Green Bay Real Estate Market ReportOur media outlets have been extremely aggressive in talking about the slowdown in real estate in the nation.  While I'm having a conversation with someone there is an extremely high probability that they will bring up how bad our Green Bay real estate market is.  What are the people I'm talking with saying?   Some buyers have the perception right now that sellers are stuck, and that they're going to give homes away at a huge discount.  Some buyers also think lowball offers are suddenly going to be seriously considered.  I hear agents talk about how nothing's selling and they can't find buyers.   The nation may be in a real estate slowdown but how do we know that Green Bay is the same?  That's the question we need to evaluate if we're going to refer to ... 03/13/2008

Accepting new clients! The busy buying-and-selling real estate season is here and I am now accepting new clients. That's right! If you know of someone in the market to buy or sell a home, I can help. Now is a great time to buy or sell a home and I am in a good position to devote my experience and time to new buyers and sellers. I would appreciate your recommendation to anyone you know interested in buying or selling. And as you all know, not all agents are the same. Let me show you how my real estate marketing system works. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding real estate or for a free Broker Price Opinion of your home. I offer a 24-7 approach and am available for any question you have, at anytime you have it. I offer a fast, fair and hassle free approach to... 03/11/2008

Now that we've laid out some guidelines to help prevent some rookie mistakes, lets look at a real life example that is going on at this moment. I analyzed the market and came up with some results that led us to focus on Allouez and East De Pere areas. These two areas had higher movement in the past 6 months compared to others in Green Bay. When I look for properties I step into the shoes of today's buyers. Being active in selling real estate gives me a big edge. I know what the general public is looking for. The general public is really looking for homes with at least 3 bedrooms, a 2 stall garage, and 1 bathroom minimum. Depending on the price range your focusing on I'd recommend 1.5 bathrooms at least. I found a property in Allouez that was a Government HUD Forclosure that had been on ... 03/09/2008

The last two weeks my primary focus has been on working on the Hidden Creek Trail Development in Howard Suamico.  www.hiddencreektrail.com   We have a wonderful new construction home that i've been having open in conjunction with the Show Case of New Homes.   Traffic has been unbelievable the past two weeks.  It's great to see people motivated about buying new construction homes in the Green Bay area.  I'm so excited to see people excited about real estate again.   For the most part Green Bay has been hit probably the least comparative to the rest of the nation as far as home values declining and just slowing down overall.  We should be in store for a great real estate season we should be proud to own in Green Bay Wisconsin.Agenda for my blog for the following week:Continue Flip this Ho... 03/08/2008