PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! © PAT TASKER, 2008. Photograph was taken by PAT TASKER and may not be used or reproduced without written permission of PAT TASKER, Shorewest Realtors celebrating my 20th year in real estate in 2009. I will usually grant permission with proper credit and a link back, ask for permission and you shall receive!  My son, who took this photo was amused by the guesses, but said it was unfair for me to not have any hints...So thanks to Tad Peterson, the first clue is Europe... Looking for a REaltor in the Milwaukee Metro Area?  Call Pat Tasker at 414-588-4907     Pat Tasker is your Milwaukee area Real Estate specialist.  Her knowledge of the Milwaukee area and surrounding communities allows her to thoroughly assist you in meeting all of your real e... 03/24/2009

The Annual TreeTops Round Robin held March 14th was a great success!  Almost 25 neighbors participated, ranging from parents of newborns to empty nesters, owners who bought in 2002, and owners who just moved in this past year.  What a great way to meet neighbors in a casual setting. As  hosts at the first stop, we found it incredibly easy!  All I had to do was clean the house and light the candles and fireplace.  One third of the couples brought cold appetizers to our home.  Plates, cups and ice were dropped off earlier in the day.  All I had to do afterward was spend 10 minutes picking up.  No dishes,  just clearing empty bottles and cans.  (everyone brings their own beverages).  What could be easier!   Cheri & Jerry Bakula hosted the second stop, with hot appetizers.  Some talent was... 03/24/2009

St Patricks Day was always one of those FUN holidays at our house...Since it is my name's day (Patricia....Patrick....maybe this is a religious thing?)  it always stuck out on the calendar... When my kids were little, the Leprechauns ALWAYS visited and played tricks on them!  Being a crafty fun loving mom, I was up early, planting the necessary drops of food color in strategic places... When the kids got up, the first one to flush the toilet saw the new fresh water GREEN!  When pouring milk for breakfast, all of a sudden the gallon of milk turned the prettiest emerald GREEN!  What was up with that?  It must have been a Leprechaun!    Of course the Leprechauns were always too fast, and we never saw them. By the time the boys got to middle school, they thought it was lame, but the Leprech... 03/17/2009

© PAT TASKER, 2008. Photograph was taken by PAT TASKER and may not be used or reproduced without written permission of PAT TASKER, Shorewest Realtors celebrating my 20th year in real estate in 2009. I will usually grant permission with proper credit and a link back, ask for permission and you shall receive!  My son, who took this photo was amused by the guesses, but said it was unfair for me to not have any hints...So thanks to Tad Peterson, the first clue is Europe... Looking for a REaltor in the Milwaukee Metro Area?  Call Pat Tasker at 414-588-4907 www.PatTasker.com                     03/10/2009

The Friends is a group dedicated to building community support for the Germantown Community Library. Since 1963, the Friends have worked to raise funds for materials, programs and services for the Library. Their annual Spring Book Sale is a much anticipated event!   If you are looking for a fun activity and the chance to meet new neighbors, join the Friends!  Share your love of reading and books with others and the entire community!                                          The friends'Annual Spring Book Sale is our largest fund-raising event, and a good time too!   Over 10,000 gently used book titles, videos, tapes, CDs, and DVDs. in dozens of categories are for sale.  We  invite donations of books and materials from the community. friends volunteer their time to sort, move, and organi... 03/05/2009

                                                                                   HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION     TONITE!!!!                                                       ANNUAL MEETING                         TONITE!!!                                                TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009                                                                 7PM                                                    GERMANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY   Be sure to attend the annual meeting.  Make your opinions known on the management of your association.  Topics of the annual meeting will include:  election of new board member, review of 2009 operating budget, and review of 2008 expenses, assessment approval,outlot usage, walking paths, post and plaque markers.  Volunteers are needed for various committ... 03/03/2009

                                                                                               Once again Tree Tops Homeowners will gather at 3 different neighbors homes for the Annual Round Robin! Saturday March 14th, 6pm-???? The first home will host cocktails & hors d'oeuvres from 6-7:30pm                    The second host will feature main dishes from 7:30-9pm                  The third will feature dessert from 9-??? This event promises to be another great gathering of neighbors in the Tree Tops Subdivision.  Details with hosts and their addresses will be sent to all who RSVP'd.     Just one of several annual events, those who attend rave about the food served and the friendships made.  If you didn't register for this year, be sure to next year.  Annual events can be viewed on the... 03/02/2009

GERMANTOWN MARKET SNAPSHOT, FEBRUARY 2009 # ACTIVE         ASKING PRICE               This chart gives you an idea of what is on the market, in different 0                    Under $150,000            price ranges at a given time.   You can see what the competition 6                    150,000-200,000          is within each price range.  11                  200,000-250,000 15                  250,000-300,000          For a list of homes for sale in Germantown, WI, please contact 20                  300,000-400,000          Pat Tasker at Shorewest Realtors at ptasker@shorewest.com, or 12                  400,000-500,000          check out my website at www.PatTasker.com 4                    500,000-700,000 2                    700,000 and over                                            ... 02/28/2009

                                                                                                HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009 7PM GERMANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY   Be sure to attend the annual meeting.  Make your opinions known on the management of your association.  Topics of the annual meeting will include:  election of new board member, review of 2009 operating budget, and review of 2008 expenses, assessment approval,outlot usage, walking paths, post and plaque markers.  Volunteers are needed for various committees, including annual  clean up of outlots, social events, holiday decorating.  Your ideas are always welcome!    Thinking of buying a home in Germantown?  Call Pat Tasker @ Shorewest REaltors for a list of properties now available.  www.PatTasker.com ... 02/28/2009

While virtual tours have been around for quite sometime now, Good Morning America featured a spot on the new videos being done to sell homes.  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6907472&page=1 This is really next level....look at that equipment....not something any agent will purchase....But, yes something we might hire out on the right home.... My Company has launched a channel on YOuTube where they have loaded ALL our property videos. Originally added to each property tour on our www.Shorewest.com, YouTube takes it next level.  It has been a big hit so far.  Amazingly all those videos (over 2,000) were loaded within a week or ten days. Leave it to Shorewest Realtors to be the leader when it comes to selling Wisconsin real estate!    02/27/2009

Germantown's 2008 Real Estate Market Review shows the following: Number of homes sold:                     230 Average Price sold for:                     $231,593 Number of days on market:             80* *days on market does not factor in any prior listing contract periods, which would increase this number for ACTUAL days on market.The charts below show, at a glance, the changes over the past five years.      To find out what your home is worth in today's market, please call me!   Germantown has also been named one of the top 100 best places to live by Money Magazine in 2007. The city was in this distinguished list for many reasons, some of which are: Air Quality Index:                               97%Personal Crime Incidents (per 1000):    0Median Commute Time:                      ... 02/13/2009

The hot spotlight has been on Michael Phelps for about a week now...He was even the subject of a Saturday Night Live skit this past weekend. Isn't it amazing how the media can do a fabulous job of spreading the white hot BAD NEWS, when someone famous is caught doing something really bad or shocking?  Isn't it also amazing that just last week when they were soooo busy printing the now famous photo of Michael Phelps smoking something illegal, they didn't even mention this event in Michael's week: MAKING THE DAY OF CONNOR BURKE?                      Thursday, February 5th, Connor James Burke, a young swimmer from Jefferson, Wisconsin was set for a big meeting!  He was off to Baltimore to meet his idol, Michael Phelps. Connor is not your average swimmer.  He is a member of a swim team, and ... 02/12/2009

                                                             Tree Tops  Subdivision 2008 Real Estate Market Review  2008 Single Family Activity  17 New Listings                            Average List Price        $473,041     10 Homes Sold                            Average Sales Price     $444,960    Average Days on Market*   195  3 Currently Active Listings             Average List Price        $432,900    Average Days on Market*   129 *Days on market is a total of days on market for current and prior listing periods for same home   Of the 10 SOLDS IN 2008, 3 were foreclosures, 3 were Relocation Transfers. HOMES SOLD IN TREE TOPS IN 2008: ADDRESS                                           STYLE                            ROOM COUNT          SALE PRICE      DAYS ON MARKET* N99 W14692 T... 02/08/2009

Twenty years ago today, I started in this crazy business!  I was going to do a cute post card with all my photos over the years, but am going to save that for the 25th!  Roses were delivered to my office today from the owners of our company, with a very nice note.  When you think of working for one company for 20 years, that is actually a feat these days!  I spent 19.75 years at the same office location!  Just this September I moved to another of our offices closer to my new home in the burbs....I do love it! Looking back over twenty years I thought of a few highlites to share.  MY FIRST DAY ON THE "JOB" I showed up dressed nicely, a challenge as I had been a stay at home mom for several years....I was wearing matching pink shoes....not so great in Wisconsin in January when we left for ... 01/09/2009

Are you a local  Washington County business woman, looking for ways to increase your business?  The Joy of Connecting is coming to Germantown!  Joy of Connecting is a once a month gathering of business women looking for a chance to showcase their business, and trade referrals.  No yearly dues, no weekly meetings, no early hours!  The setting is more social, and includes food and good conversation! Interested?  Contact Pat Tasker for details of the February launch of Germantown's Joy of Connecting group!  Only 1 businesswoman from each profession, so respond before your spot is taken. Contact Pat Tasker at ptasker@shorewest.com or 262-437-5853  01/04/2009

Does it irk you to have to pay 50 cents or a dollar just to have an operator look up a phone number? Well here is a free way to get the info!  GOOGLEGOOGLE!  Ever hear of that?  Yes, just text the name, and city, state of what you are looking for to googlegoogle    466453  and amazingly within 10-15 seconds you get a reply with the number!  It works almost 90% of the time!  If you have unlimited texting, it is essentially free!   so it is not only cheaper than dialing 411, but it is WAY faster! 12/20/2008

And what do we get for this?  Many photo opportunities....take a walk in your favorite park and get this view of something you see all the time, only now it is caked in snow and totally changes the pix......it is really beautiful...It looks good enough for a Christmas card.....This is park lagoon is where I skated as a child....enjoy the blizzard.. So I got up this morning, looked out the window, and this is what I could hardly see....ALL WHITE..it is what they were predicting! I don't have the best camera, so it is a little hard to capture the snow, low visibility and the overall blowing and drifting...but hope this helps all you who have never seen snow... I planned ahead, and my grandson slept overnight anticipating the closing of schools, and we will spend the day baking for Christmas! 12/18/2008

Being the home of Miller Brewing (the birthplace, but noweaten up by larger world breweries,nka:Miller/Coors) Milwaukee is still hometown to a production facility. Every year we have a great light display accompanied by music in "the Miller Valley"....a pleasant ride through the center of the complex reveals the original Plank Road Brewey building, including the caves, that were filled with ice cut from the river in winter and stored in the caves to cool the beer through the summer months... MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MILLER (COORS) Just continuing down State Street, you go under the bridge that connects one section of the brewery to another, and you can see the conveyor belt, carrying bottled beer down the line...YES, just like on the opening of Laverne & Shirley!  If you are looking for a f... 12/18/2008

Hey all you realtors out there!  I need your help.  It's been a tough year and I could really use a pick-me-up.  I have started blogging (unfortunately I can't talk about real estate) on a local website.  They are currently having a contest for a $200 football prize package.  I have submitted a picture of our son in his Packer uniform and he was chosen as one of the finalists.  I need help voting for him.  You can vote once per day and the contest goes through December 21st.  With the way my year in real estate has gone (down 50% from last year) and the way the Packer season has gone, I could really use a good finish to 2008.  Could you go to the following link, register and vote?  We'd really appreciate it!You can find the entry here:http://jsonline.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?cont... 12/15/2008

Well, today is St Nicks Day!  Did he visit you last night?  What did he leave for you in your stocking?  I am hoping for some buyers and listings!                                                               No, seriously....coming from a German family, living in Milwaukee, He did visit us every year.  We hung our stockings on our bedroom door knob when we went to bed December 5th.  In the morning our stocking would have been filled by St Nick with a fresh orange, some nuts still in the shell, some hard candy raspberries, and a pencil or other treat.  Of course if we had not been good, it was filled with a lump of coal.  I just received a St Nick email from a friend who taught our kids at the German Immersion School.  She said St Nick left a brown paper bag inside their door, after the... 12/05/2008