Sometimes I find myself wondering why I keep bothering to educate about and persuade people to go green.  I often get the roll of the eyes, a sigh, or they mutter under their breath that everything is bad for you or causes cancer anyway.  With my family and friends I have to be sure to pick my green battles.  I try to promote green to all my real estate clients.  Most people do care about energy efficiency (financial costs) and most have never really thought more about what a green home can mean for them.  Got asthma? They say "no carpets please" because of the dust.  Then I bring the topic of offgassing.  People rarely think about the paint or cabinets in the home as being dangerous.  We would never knowingly expose children (or ourselves) to these chemicals, yet that is exactly what... 07/27/2009

Just wanted to express my delight when the team received this testimonial. "Keller Williams has a "Guy" (Lofts) Whose limit is the Sky To help make your RealEstate Transaction turn out to be your Greatest SATISFACTION!!" Deloris Tollefson signed 7-13-09 This is what we strive for in every transaction.   Here is a fun photo.   I saw this scene the other day, can you see something strange?   Hint, look up on the roof.   07/23/2009

For the week ending July 15, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison remained consistent with a slight decrease of .6% from $255,088 last week to $253,599 this week. The median sales price for the quarter increased a bit from $192,100 last week to $192,800 this week. There are currently 2512 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2500.   Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate!     The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 07/22/2009

For the week ending July 8, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison remained consistent with a slight increase of .1% from $254,962 last week to $255,088 this week. The median sales price for the quarter slipped again from $192,500 last week to $192,100 this week. There are currently 2500 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2496.   Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 07/16/2009

  The Capital Times printed an article today about foreclosures in Madison. Trends have been showing the increase in foreclosures for months now. Locally, foreclosure filings were up 52 percent from May to June in the three-county Madison metropolitan area of Dane, Columbia and Iowa Counties, with 338 filings in June compared to 222 in May. Read more here >>> Capital Times Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Real Estate! 07/16/2009

It was a good day. Headed out to the suburbs to take some staging photos of a condo.All started easy - no problems. I ring the door bell - no answer. So I use the key box on the door to get inside the condo. Started taking pictures & mentally staging the house. Then out of nowhere a person comes down the steps. She needs to get her car out of the garage - so I follow her to the garage & move my car out of the way. It is wet, muddy, & snowy so I tell this person - I will just go out through the garage when I'm done so I don't track mud through the house. I finish up. Slide my feet in my lace up Lug shoes so they are half on - good enough to get to the car. I hit the button & start to head out the garage door. To my surprise, the garage door is really fast & is too far down so the sensors... 07/13/2009

For the week ending July 1, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison remained consistent with a slight increase of .6% from $253,305 last week to $254.962 this week. The median sales price for the quarter slipped again from $199,950 last week to $192,500 this week. There are currently 2496 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2531.         Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 07/08/2009

More reasons to relocate to the best city around…. Madison, WI. Once again, Madison has hit one of the top newspapers. This time around.... the New York Times. First up… a slideshow of various activities around the city – click here to view it. The article in the New York Times explores what you can do in 36 hours in Madison. Although most of the activities are food related, it’s still a good read. Check it out here! Make it a Great Day Everyone! Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! 07/05/2009

This post is important enough to re-post. First Time Buyers, Take Advantage if You Can!! Earlier this year, Congress passed a Bigger and Better Home Buyer Tax Credit. In an effort to stimulate the economy and revive the current housing market, this temporary tax credit is a welcome one to many. According to the Internal Revenue Service, first-time home buyers should begin planning now to take advantage of this new Tax Credit. A Tax Credit of up to $8,000 is now available for qualified first-time home buyers. Available for a limited time, here’s your glance at the credit: Who is Eligible? The credit is available to first-time home buyers only. A first-time home buyer is defined as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. For marr... 07/02/2009

For the week ending June 24, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison remained consistent with only a slight decrease of .2% from $253,832 last week to $253,395 this week. The median sales price for the quarter slipped a bit from $204,900 last week to $199,950 this week. There are currently 2531 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2601. Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 07/01/2009

This happened several years ago... it was a normal day. I had a full day of showings scheduled with some First Time Buyers. We hopped in the car & headed out to a suburb of Madison.  First house was a lovely bi-level with a nicely manicured yard.  As usual, I opened the door using the key box - rang the bell once for good measure and in we went.  It was summer - all of the windows shades were shut likely to try to conserve energy - at any rate the house is dimly lit. We view the kitchen, walk out & check the deck, yard then to the living room. So far this house has potential! The clients start thinking about how to arrange their furniture in the living room while I head to the bedrooms to open them up and get lights on. I head down a long hallway toward the bedrooms - I notice that all ... 06/30/2009

For the week ending June 17, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison made another slight increase by .6% during the past week from $252,398 last week to $253,832 this week. The median sales price for the quarter remained at $204,900. There are currently 2601 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2604. The trend with foreclosures continues to be positive and has been hovering around 150 during the past few weeks.   Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 06/24/2009

For the week ending June 10, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison made another slight increase by 1.2% during the past week from $249,486 last week to $252,398 this week. The median sales price for the quarter remained at $204,900. There are currently 2604 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2596. The trend with foreclosures continues to be positive and broke the 160 mark during the past week.       Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net B entley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 06/17/2009

Madison, WI Weekly Report June 15, 2009   Week Ending 15-Jun Inventory 2009 2008 %Change Downtown Houses 28 37 -32% Downtown Condos 223 191 14% West Houses 744 829 -11% West Condos 809 932 -15% East Houses 503 580 -15% East Condos 408 447 -10% Total Houses 1275 1446 -13% Total Condos 1440 1570 -9% Grand Total 2715 3016 -11% Market Indicators UWCU 30 Mortgage Rate 5.75% 6.38% -11% Keller Williams Listings* 263 471 -79% # of showings on KW Listings 153 135 12% 3 week trend 149 124 17% 6 week trend 98 133 #DIV/0! % of listings with showings 58.17% 28.66% #DIV/0! Av DOM for KW ACT Listings 117 190 #DIV/0! *KW Listings in Dane County for 09 and WI for 08 06/15/2009

For the week ending June 3, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison made a very slight increase of .3% during the past week from $248,634 last week to $249,486 this week. The median sales price for the quarter dropped from $208,500 to $204,900. There are currently 2596 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2616. The number of foreclosures continues on it’s downward path (yea!) and has been hovering around 170 during the past couple of weeks.     Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 06/09/2009

Madison, WI Weekly Report June 8, 2009   Week Ending Inventory 2009 2008 %Change Downtown Houses 28 41 -46% Downtown Condos 218 185 15% West Houses 750 788 -5% West Condos 820 936 -14% East Houses 496 576 -16% East Condos 425 403 5% Total Houses 1274 1405 -10% Total Condos 1463 1524 -4% Grand Total 2737 2929 -7% Market Indicators UWCU 30 Mortgage Rate 5.00% 6.00% -20% Keller Williams Listings* 261 487 -87% # of showings on KW Listings 130 103 21% 3 week trend 98 130 -33% 6 week trend 49 140 -34% % of listings with showings 58.17% 21.15% -34% Av DOM for KW ACT Listings 115 183 -34% *KW Listings in Dane County for 09 and WI for 08 06/08/2009

For the week ending May 27, 2009 The average listing price of homes for sale in Madison made a very slight decrease of .4% during the past week from $249,644 last week to $248,634 this week. The median sales price for the quarter remained consistent at $208,500. There are currently 2616 homes for sale in Madison compared to last week of 2629. The number of foreclosures is moving in the right direction (down!) and have been hovering around 170 during the past couple of weeks.     Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! The real estate market data provided was obtained from Trulia.com Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 06/03/2009

May 2009   Single Family Homes Condos All New Listings 235 142 377 Currently Listed 894 1010 1904 Average List Price $370,999 $241,971 $302,555 Number Sold 130 66 196 Average List Price – Sold $275,437 $179,323 $243,072 Average Sale Price $268,536 $173,454 $236,519 Average Days on Market 86 183 118 Compared to Last Month (April)   Single Family Homes Condos All New Listings 235 125 360 Currently Listed 869 1008 1877 Average List Price $375,469 $237,661 $301,462 Number Sold 83 36 119 Average List Price – Sold $284,850 $212,583 $262,988 Average Sale Price $271,183 $204,087 $250,885 Average Days on Market 94 94 94 Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! Information obtained from the South ... 06/02/2009

May 2009   Single Family Homes Condos All New Listings 159 50 209 Currently Listed 640 541 1181 Average List Price $278,176 $206,491 $245,338 Number Sold 87 17 104 Average List Price – Sold $194,044 $137,529 $184,806 Average Sale Price $186,769 $134,101 $178,160 Average Days on Market 74 142 85 Compared to Last Month (April)   Single Family Homes Condos All New Listings 184 79 263 Currently Listed 610 540 1150 Average List Price $283,280 $204,112 $246,106 Number Sold 54 18 72 Average List Price – Sold $197,467 $159,027 $187,857 Average Sale Price $187,611 $149,816 $178,162 Average Days on Market 79 103 85 Bob 608-235-6701 bob@bentleyrealtygroup.net www.bentleyrealtygroup.net Bentley Realty Group is Your Clear Choice in Madison Area Real Estate! Information obtained from the South Centra... 06/02/2009

Brent's top ten of free things to do in Madison (click on hyperlink for more info) 1. Henry Vilas Zoo. On June 30, 1904, Col. William F. and Anna M. Vilas gave a large tract of land to the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association "for the uses and purposes of a public park and pleasure ground." in memory of the Vilas' son, Henry, who died at a young age due to complications from diabetes. One of the family's stipulations was that admission to the park remained free.   2. Concert's On the Square. Every Wednesday night from mid June to Late July the Wisconsin Chamber led by Maestro Andrew Sewell hosts a free concert on the capital lawn. Attendees are welcome to put down a blanket and enjoy an nice picnic dinner wile enjoying beautiful classical music.   3. Geology Museum. On your visit... 05/28/2009