Discount Realty Works Blog 
New Gadgets Coming Soon!
Saturday, November 12th, 2011 at 8:37am. 90 Views, 0 Comments.
Happy November! Today I'm excited for a few reasons:
- New camera equipment on order! Thanks to Jeff Thompson for letting me pick your brain on how to improve my photography skills. New super-wide angle lens and external flash are on the way! If you thought my pictures were good now, just wait!
- I have a graphic designer working on a project for the homepage that will blow people away by its intuitiveness and simplicity. It will make searching homes by neighborhood fun!
- I have two offers waiting to close yet this month, and three more that should close by the end of the year.
Mortgage Rates Hit All-Time Low!
Thursday, October 6th, 2011 at 11:12am. 57 Views, 0 Comments.
It's never been a better time to buy a home around Eau Claire if you qualify for a mortgage. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell to 3.94% this week, the lowest rate since mortgage giant Freddie Mac began tracking it. Meanwhile, the average for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also hit a record, falling to 3.26%.
Also, keep an eye out for price drops over the next several weeks as sellers look to make a deal before winter comes.
Eau Claire is Top-Ranked WI City in Forbes List
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 12:05pm. 127 Views, 0 Comments.
A list of the 200 best small cities for businesses and careers was just compiled by Forbes magazine. Eau Claire ranked 38th on the list, and was the top-rated Wisconsin city in the list. See the entire list here.
Inman News Releases Survey -- A peek 'Behind the Curtain' at real estate practices
Saturday, August 13th, 2011 at 5:00pm. 91 Views, 0 Comments.
Inman real estate news service has just released results of their online survey of agents and brokers -- "Real Estate: Behind the Curtain." Inman asked real estate professionals about not only the frequency of more than three dozen customs and practices, but whether they thought such behavior was acceptable or not.
More than 500 respondents rated the acceptability of those practices. Interesting nuggets:
- Nearly 58 percent of those surveyed said it was common for major listing brokers in their market to charge the same rate or roughly the same rate for services. This can be taken as a sign that consumers have little power to negotiate commissions, and that there's a lack of competition based on pricing structure.
- 56.2% of…
View Michael Paul's Real Estate Resume
Friday, August 12th, 2011 at 2:40pm. 123 Views, 0 Comments.
I decided to start using a resume in my marketing materials...If people will be hiring me to sell their home, it just makes sense to give a detailed background of who I am and how I got here. Take a look here if you wish!
Summer Buying Season is Here!
Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 1:44pm. 144 Views, 1 Comments.
Ok, folks...the last two homes we have listed both now have accepted offers in less than two weeks. We had a few closings last week, and several more scheduled for the next week or so. I think it's safe to say that the summer buying season is here!
We listed 409 Summit Avenue on June 4th and the sellers had accepted an offer from one of our relocating buyers on June 13.
Then we listed 2504 Avery Lane on June 9...seller just accepted an offer today, June 17.
The point is that houses are moving! If you are on the fence about either buying or selling, give us a call -- this is the time!
Discount Realty Works' QR Codes Featured on WEAU 13 News
Saturday, May 21st, 2011 at 7:20am. 437 Views, 0 Comments.
Last night's first story on WEAU 13 10pm news was on QR codes (must have been a slow news day!). I was interviewed regarding my innovative use of QR codes on real estate yard signs. Here is a link to the story with video on WEAU's website:
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Scanning_for_a_deal_122375074.html
Please Welcome Ben Galecki!
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 at 8:57pm. 441 Views, 0 Comments.
This week I am proud to announce the addition of a new agent to Discount Realty Works LLC -- Ben Galecki! Ben has years of real estate experience right here in the Chippewa Valley. He is a hard-working, detail-oriented person and a welcome addition! Call him at 715-379-1978 to discuss the advantages of buying or selling with Discount Realty Works!
Two New Search Fields Added
Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 9:23pm. 268 Views, 0 Comments.
In our never-ending quest for creating the best real estate search engine in the Eau Claire area, we have added the ability to search listings by two additional criteria: Condo and Minimum # of Garage Stalls.
Condo Checkbox
If you are trying to narrow down hundreds of listings by condos, it can be a tedious task. Fear no more, weary-eyed condo seekers, for the condo checkbox is here! Check the box and only condos meeting your other criteria will be returned.
Minimum # of Garage Stalls
Men, let's face it: Most of us could live just about anywhere if the garage is up to snuff. For buyers seeking the perfect man-cave to call home, we now have the ability to specify the minimum number of acceptable garage stalls. Just another tool to…
Eau Claire County Foreclosure Numbers
Monday, February 28th, 2011 at 8:31pm. 245 Views, 0 Comments.
People often ask me how the foreclosure market is affecting our local housing scene. It seemed like whenever I ran some numbers in the MLS database, foreclosure sales ended up being about 10% of the total sales volume in Eau Claire County.
I heard on the news this morning that about 14% of all homes sold in Wisconsin in 2010 were foreclosures. This data came from RealtyTrac, and was reported by WQOW. So I decided it was time to run the numbers for Eau Claire county again.
According to Northwestern Wisconsin MLS data (which is aggregated from 3rd parties, assumed accurate, but is not guaranteed), there were 949 residential home sales in Eau Claire County in 2010. Of those, 116 were REO sales...more commonly known as foreclosures. This calculates out…
