Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this December 12, 2023.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff here.
And right now we are jumping into let's talk real estate
with our friends at Cole Banker, see your realtors.
We have Lindsay Shider with us, director of business
and development over there and real estate professional.
Lindsay, thank you so much for joining us.
Thanks for having me, James.
Always good to talk with you.
Love talking with our friends at Cole Banker.
And especially this time of year, Lindsay, I know busy you are.
So I want to jump right into the topic.
It's winter, it is upon us.
The holidays are right around the corner.
Some owners, some homeowners, my question,
is this a right time to sell?
Is December is before Christmas?
Is this a good time of year to be doing this?
Can we jump into that topic, Lindsay?
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
So selling a house in the winter months,
it really can have both advantages and disadvantages.
And this decision to sell during this time
really can be based on a lot of different factors,
including the local market conditions,
which we're going to talk about today, personal circumstances,
and then also the time of year.
But just kind of answering some reasons
why the selling a house in the winter
can be a great idea for our local homeowners
is there tends to be less competition.
There's typically less inventory on the market
during the winter months and with fewer homes available
for sale, your property can stand out more
and attract more serious buyers.
So that's always a positive for sure.
It's a great point to make.
I wouldn't have thought of that one.
That is a very good point to make interesting.
What are some other advantages of this time of year?
Yeah, so buyers that decide to go out in the cold
and trek through the snow, these people that are actively
searching for a home during these winter months
are often more motivated.
Sometimes they can be relocating for a job
or they have a specific time frame for moving,
making them more likely to bring a serious offer.
In addition, the holiday season, as we talked about,
it can kind of filter out some of those casual browsers,
like just the nosy neighbors or people
that are just kind of looking to look,
really leaving you with potential buyers
that are genuinely interested in finding a home.
So that's a really good advantage for our home sellers.
And due to, oh God.
I was just going to say, when you're trying to sell a home,
you want the serious buyers.
You want people that are really going to.
That's another interesting end of this
that I wouldn't have thought of this time of year.
Yeah.
And I mean, due to the decreased competition
and increased buyer motivation,
some homes can actually sell faster during the winter,
which is kind of contrary to the normal thought
process of what that looks like.
But if your property meets the needs of winter buyers,
you can definitely find a buyer more quickly,
which is also great for our home owners.
Is this one of those things, Lindsay,
where it's just a matter of the time of year
and circumstances, why that's the case,
that people are a little more serious
and maybe a little more, let's get this done?
I think that it does kind of come down
to personal circumstance is just those buyers
that are out there, like I mentioned,
and that are looking right now.
If you're not a serious person shopping for a home,
you're probably distracted with the holiday things
and all the events that happen during December
and during the holiday months.
But if you're seriously looking,
you, in general, those buyers are not taking their foot
off the gas just because it happens
to be the holiday season in month.
Lindsay, this type of year, it is the backdrop season.
It is a screen-saver season,
that the backdrop almost anywhere you go in this state
is beautiful.
So that seems like another advantage.
Yeah, I mean, winter provides an opportunity
to really showcase a home is kind of cozy
and warm features, right?
You have a beautiful fireplace
that you want to be able to flip that on
and really have your home feel cozy and warm.
And that also goes with the opportunity
to kind of stage it in that way, right?
Like people go to the nines to sometimes decorate
for the holidays so that can really invoke
kind of a welcoming and atmosphere
during these colder months, which is awesome.
Yeah, the backdrop, the way that you can set these things up
are so beautiful.
And our friends at Coal Bank are professionals at this
that can help you out with that a lot.
There's also online searches that are a part of this,
this time of year.
Yeah, well, I mean, many buyers begin their home search
online no matter what the season, right?
And they continue to do that during the winter.
So online listings with, like we talked about,
attractive winter photos can really capture the attention
of potential buyers.
And that's a way that we can kind of actually,
you know, as we kind of dive into some of the,
the drawbacks possibly of listing in the winter
is maybe a solution as well to get your property
in front of people without having to travel
to see it in person.
Yeah, even people that are looking to buy local
are probably, you know, doing the online search this year
just because of the weather for any other reason.
So having that online presence
and having it, you know, a strong online presence
with your home, it seems very vital this time of year.
Yeah, and I mean, just to take the opportunity
to kind of plug Coal Banker,
we are a full service broker that does full service marketing.
So there is just so much that we can do
to maximize the exposure here property
and therefore maximizing the audience
that you get to see the property
and hopes that we can reach that buyer
that is the one that is going to fall in love
with your home or your land.
You going, if you've got a broken leg,
you go to a doctor.
You don't, you know, go to YouTube and see,
how do I figure this, how do I take care of this myself?
If you're selling your home, you go to the people
who are the pros at it and the best at it
and you go to Coal Banker, you get that,
you get the real help and the real assets you need there.
With this time of year, there are people that are certainly
in a position where they have to help sell their home
or maybe their home has already been on the market
and we want to certainly acknowledge
some of the other parts of this time of year
of selling a home.
Yeah, I mean, obviously we would be a miss
to just ignore the fact that winter weather
can pose some challenges for both sellers and buyers.
You know, the snow and the ice,
sometimes it can make it difficult for buyers
to visit properties and weather conditions.
Also can change the curb appeal of a home,
but as a seller in the winter,
it's of course important in a way that we help guide
our buyers and sellers through the process
as a reminding them that it's how important it is
to have, you know, the driveway plow,
the sidewalk shoveled, all of that just for safe
and easy access for everyone
if you are one of those people selling during this time.
It's something that certainly you want to keep in mind
in general, but especially if you are trying
to sell your home.
It isn't, Lindsay, you would know this way better than I would,
but to me, just looking approaching this
from a third perspective, if I've got the home online
and I'm looking at it and I'm, you know,
within a shouting distance or even an hour away,
I may want to go drive by and check it out,
especially this time of year, people are driving around,
looking at holiday light displays and people's front yards
and everything, why not?
We're already doing that.
Let's go check out the house.
You go check out the house
and it doesn't look like it did in the pictures.
They do not take care of the front yard
or they're not shoveling or something like that.
That seems to be a part of this as well.
Yeah, I mean, the holiday season can be busy
and distracting and some buyers do choose to postpone
their home search until after the holidays,
but I think for sellers, just making sure
that that home is ready to show.
So when a buyer wants to see it,
whether it's a drive by, like you mentioned
or they want to see the interior,
that can make all the difference
to be able to be ready for those showings
when they do get requested.
Yeah, this time of year is certainly full
of plenty of distractions and gets you
thinking about a lot of other things.
So you may be, okay, I got a shovel, I got to do this
or I got to do that and then something else comes up
and something else and before you know it,
you didn't get that done.
I think that giving yourself a checklist
is always a great way of kind of making sure
that you get all these things done as well.
Mm-hmm, absolutely, absolutely.
Well, and the last thing I wanted to just mention
about just the holiday season is of course,
like we said, it kind of changes that curb appeal
of the house, you have snow, you have bear trees
from all the leaves that have fallen
and that can kind of change the look of the exterior.
However, as a real estate professional,
myself and my team believe that they're, you know,
proper winter landscaping, exterior maintenance,
and then even I think, you know,
some of those cheery winter decorations
can really help mitigate some of the change
of the curb appeal in the holiday,
or I should say in the winter season.
It really can add a bit of a little bit more to a home.
These kind of little touches that you can make.
Oftentimes we're so close to this that we don't see it,
especially if it's our own home
and a home that we've lived in for many years.
What might not seem as new and fresh to you
could be to this new homeowner?
Absolutely, absolutely.
Well, and I guess just a reminder to all of the listeners,
you know, before deciding to sell in the winter,
or you know, any important real estate decision,
it's very important to consult with your trusted
local real estate professional.
Of course, we would love to be that for you
at co-wielding care family of companies,
at our locations, at Seward in the Wisconsin Rapids area,
advantage in the town of Rome,
and bell of power in the Adam's Friendship area locations.
And we can provide insights into the specific dynamics
of the market and offer guidance on the best timing,
you know, based on your individual circumstances.
So we would love to be a teammate and a partner
with our community members, you know,
if that is the time for them.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I don't know if a lot of people know this
or not, Lindsay, but I wanted to share the information
you did with me that agents are the number one
most useful source in the buying process.
Yeah, I love hearing that, right?
And I'm going to do the favorite vegetable.
Yeah, the latest annual report
from the National Association of Realtors,
which we refer to as the NAR,
finds that recent home buyers agree
that the number one most useful source of information
they had in the home buying process was a real estate agent.
So that's amazing to hear.
We love to hear that, you know,
our agents at our company as well as a cross-bination
are doing our job to help guide consumers
during, you know, through this process.
And, you know, when you think about a real estate agent,
some people might think, oh, you're,
you know, just someone to open the door
and take you on a showing or put together some paperwork.
But a great agent, such as ours at Coal Baker,
really do so much more than that.
It's not just being the facilitator of the purchase,
but more kind of being your guide
through the process and through each step.
It Lindsey, if you don't mind,
if I just could add a piggyback
on what you're saying there,
when it comes specifically to Coal Banker,
see your realtors and the history of that great business,
especially here locally.
I've shared this story before,
I just because it fits so perfectly this time of year,
it was a mid-December or something like that
when my mom was in a rough situation
and needed an apartment.
She got in the apartment as she was able
to find one through Coal Banker.
And once they did, it was great,
but it was exactly the price they needed
and it was the only one that was gonna work.
But there wasn't a refrigerator there.
And my mom told JR this.
And so, you know, we'll make it work.
We'll figure it out somehow.
Thank you very much.
And she left and about, I wanna say,
maybe four or five hours later or something like that,
when we came to start dropping things off
and start moving in, there was a new refrigerator there.
That didn't ask for that.
They did that.
They didn't, she didn't have to.
These are the kind of people.
This is why you go local.
This is why you go to Coal Banker, see your realtors.
It's not just the little things that they do
or all those things that you may not think of.
It's the stuff that the heart of it.
These are community members.
These are people, these are neighbors of ours.
And you're working with people that know that and get that.
You know, I love hearing that story.
And yes, we do care about our customers and clients
and myself is going from sales
and now into a leadership role within the company.
And not only do we care about our agents
and our, literally, our family of people
that we've worked together on a daily basis
but also extending that to the community members
that we help and we care about.
Where, you know, this is a huge transaction.
It's a huge purchase for people or sale.
And it is mind blowing actually how close you can get
with people as you're helping them through this process.
I have personal friends that started as customers of mine
and you just make that connection
and then you go on to actually having an actual friendship
with people.
So it's an amazing profession and industry
and we're excited to be serving the central corridor
of the state with our cold anchor brand and power, yeah.
This is one of the reasons why I love working with you, Lindsay.
It's not only that I can hear it in your voice, you know,
it's certainly with your words, we get it.
But whether you're in studio or not with us, I hear it.
I hear how much this job means to you
and how much you care about your clients
and the people you work with.
You're killing it in this position.
You're really doing a great job.
Oh, thank you.
If you don't mind going back to that annual report
and agents of being the number one useful source,
can we get a breakdown why that is?
Yeah, absolutely.
So a little bit of context on that survey results,
they kind of really did dig into a few different ways
that agents are helping buyers.
And so the first one is helping buyers
understand the process.
You know, when we're talking to a consumer,
maybe somebody who hasn't bought our sold
in, you know, a good number of years,
knowing the difference between the different inspections
and the appraisal and which report is telling you what?
And why is it important?
And what do we do with this information?
And where do we go from here?
And all kinds of questions that can happen and that can arise.
An agent knows all of these best practices
and can share with you along the way
just so that you as a consumer are not missing any key steps,
getting you to the closing table with the least amount
of, you know, stress or hurdles along the way
and just helping make that home buying process
as stress-free as possible.
That is really our goal.
Mm-hmm.
And just a little bit more to add to that
with the process there.
Not only do they do that, but they're going to be,
when you, there are stressful times,
they're going to help you through them.
You know, it's a key thing to this, I think,
of knowing that you're not alone in this process.
That, you know, just because maybe you leave that
at the house or, you know, hang up the phone
that you're still there.
That's a really nice part of what you guys offer over there.
There's other pieces of this too we want to point out.
Yeah, so another thing is, you know,
an agent has a little bit more time experiencing
and evaluating homes and, you know,
we've kind of seen it all, seen the gamut.
So as trusted real estate professionals
we're able to point out some things
that consumers may not have noticed about the home,
whether it is a positive or a negative feature
or false or whatever of the home,
but just to make sure that you as a consumer
are assisted in, you know, informing
whatever is the best decision is for you and your family
and what that can look like so that you,
you know, you go into these decisions
with your eyes light open, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
You're also able to provide a list of service providers
for things?
Absolutely.
Being in the real estate industry and also the history
that not only are individual brokerages
but also our Coal Banker family of agents has
in this central Wisconsin area.
We have built up literally lists of service providers
that we trust, that we've worked with in the past,
that we can, you know, provide to our consumers
and recommend as professionals to assist us
during the process of whether it is a sale
or a purchase, actually.
You guys know your stuff, you know, your area,
you've got an improved knowledge of this area
when it comes to searching for things as well.
Yeah, well, I mean, some people move to our town,
it's a new town of them, they're not familiar
with the area and, you know, maybe they're unsure
which neighborhoods are, you know,
make the most sense for their family or location
or logistics of different things or the amenities
that come along with a certain area.
And so an agent really, we do know these local areas,
kind of like the back of our hand
and we can help find that perfect location for their needs
as well as when we're in a market as we are now
where we still have a little bit of decreased inventory
if the consumers not finding anything
that they're interested in within their, kind of,
their initial thoughts of where they want to be
or what they want in a house.
An agent can really assist with knowing other neighborhoods
that we could maybe consider based on budget,
what they're needing or wanting or the amenities
that their family needs as well.
We got about five minutes left with Lindsay Scheider,
Director of Business Development
and Real Estate Professional at Cole Banker,
see your realtors.
Lindsay, what's the bottom line on this?
I mean, the bottom line, I guess,
if you're looking to buy or sell a home,
don't forget that there are so many ways
that an agent is essential to that process.
And you heard all that pops up,
but negotiation that needs to take place
and more, your agent will know how to handle it
when it's just really minimized the stress along the way.
So don't be shy, connect to it's a local
Cole Banker real estate agent
to kind of tackle it together and love that.
Yeah, Lindsay does an amazing job gathering
local information about market conditions.
As we're wrapping up,
can we get into the conditions in the Rapids area?
Absolutely, absolutely.
So in Wisconsin Rapids,
we currently have 37 active listings
in the greater Rapids area,
five of which have had a recent price reduction.
So some homes are sitting on the market
a little bit longer.
Those excessive bidding warns seem to have subsided
depending on the type of property.
So we're very similar to the number
that we had available as far as inventory last month.
Along with that, we have 18 properties
that are under contract with the average days
on market being 39 days.
So again, this is consistent with last month's data
that we reviewed together.
The average sold price year to date here in 2023
is stabilizing.
So it's now just over 196,000
with 101 list to sale price ratio.
So sellers are still seeing apps
or slightly above asking price
when we come to an accepted offer term.
Something new to talk about actually expired.
So in the month of November,
there were four listings that did not find a buyer
and ended up expiring.
So this is something that rarely was happening
in the last few years and something to pay attention to.
So general sellers are generally still
in a favorable position, well priced homes
in good condition are selling.
However, it's essential for sellers to remain realistic
and work closely with their real estate professional
to set appropriate listing prices
and to maximize that interest and secure a buyer.
So that is an interesting tidbit
that we haven't talked about in previous months.
Yeah, it's been a while since something like that
has come up, that is really interesting
and I appreciate the feedback on that.
That's really important notes.
How about the Rome area, Lindsay?
So in Rome, we currently have 19 active listings.
That's higher than we've had in a while.
We have one property that has had a recent price reduction.
The properties that are under contract,
there are seven of them.
And the average days on market,
meaning from the time that something is listed
to the time that it secures and offer is 64 days.
So that is a little bit longer than we've been accustomed to.
So again, properties are kind of sitting a little bit longer
than they have in the past.
The average sold price in the town of Rome
continues to slightly increase.
We are at just over $390,000 in the town of Rome
with again 101 list of sales rates ratio.
So selling at or slightly above asking price.
And then also to just remind everyone about the expires,
we do have one expired listing in town of Rome
in the last month.
So again, a property that we didn't have a meeting
of a seller and a buyer and those terms come together.
And how about the Adams friendship area?
So in Adams friendship, we have 19 active listing,
one with a recent price reduction,
and four that are under contract with 75 days on market.
So the market time is continuing to increase slightly.
The average sold price year to date
in the Adams friendship area is $207,000.
So this has hardly changed at all
since we reviewed this information together last month.
The market is stabilizing and properties are selling
at 98% of list price.
So just slightly below asking price on average.
And there were no expired listings
in this segment of the market,
the Adams friendship area in November.
So I think that sellers are understanding
the shift in the market,
listening to their trusted real estate professionals
about pricing, which is kind of added a trickiness
as the market shifts and changes.
All the more reason you want to get a hold
of our friends at Cole Banker,
so your realtors, the people you can trust
when it comes to this field.
Lindsay, if people do want to get in touch with you
or the great staff over there,
how can they reach out to you?
Yeah, absolutely.
So yep, don't discount the value
of a trusted Cole Banker real estate professional
and what we can bring to the table
when deciding to purchase or sell real estate.
It really is more important now than ever before.
So remember to call Cole Banker family of companies
located in Wisconsin Rapids, Town of Rome
and Adams friendship.
We can assist with a free market analysis
to find out what your home is worth in this current market
or to enlighten you about the ins and outs
of the market as a buyer.
So we're here to help.
The phone numbers for Cole Banker seawater realtors
is 715-424-4800.
The number at Cole Banker advantage
located in the Town of Rome is 715-325-735.
And the number at Cole Banker Bellevapar
and Adams friendship is 608-339-675-7.
Always good talking with you Lindsay.
Thank you so much for the time.
We'll talk again real soon.
Happy holiday, Steve and yours.
Thank you, you two James.
We'll have more Midday Magazine for you tomorrow right here
at WFHR, locally grown radio.
