Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen | Stapleton Realty

Get Ready: The Best Time To List Your House Is Almost Here

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2023-04-04T13:22:25-05:00April 4th, 2023|General, Lake Homes, News, Oconomowoc, Selling a Home|

If you’re thinking about selling this spring, it’s time to get moving – the best week to list your house is fast approaching. Experts at realtor.com looked at seasonal trends from recent years (excluding 2020 as an uncharacteristic year due to the onset of the pandemic) and determined the ideal week to list a house this year: “Home sellers on the fence waiting for that perfect moment to sell should start preparations, because the best time to list a home in 2023 is approaching quickly. The week of April 16-22 is expected to have the ideal balance of housing market conditions that favor home sellers, more so than any other week [...]

How to Make Your Dream of Homeownership a Reality

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2023-04-04T13:15:48-05:00April 4th, 2023|Buying a Home, First-Time Home Buyers, General, Lake Homes, News, Oconomowoc, Selling a Home|

According to a recent Harris Poll survey, 8 in 10 Americans say buying a home is a priority, and 28 million Americans actually plan to buy within the next 12 months. Homeownership provides many financial and nonfinancial benefits, so that interest is understandable. However, it’s unlikely all 28 million Americans will accomplish that goal in the coming year. Experts project a total of around five million homes will be sold in 2023. Why is there such a big difference? It’s partly because there can be challenges to buying a home. In the same survey, when asked, “Which of the following are preventing you from pursuing homeownership at this time?”: 34% answered, “I don’t have enough saved for a [...]

Mortgage Rates Are Dropping. What Does That Mean for You?

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2023-01-18T13:42:26-05:00January 18th, 2023|Buying a Home, First-Time Home Buyers, General, Lake Homes, News, Oconomowoc, Selling a Home|

Mortgage rates have been a hot topic in the housing market over the past 12 months. Compared to the beginning of 2022, rates have risen dramatically. Now they’re dropping, and that has to do with everything happening in the economy. Nadia Evangelou, Senior Economist and Director of Forecasting at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), explains it well by saying: “Mortgage rates dropped even further this week as two main factors affecting today’s mortgage market became more favorable. Inflation continued to ease while the Federal Reserve switched to a smaller interest rate hike. As a result, according to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.31% from 6.33% the previous week.” So, what does [...]

Sellers Market?

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2023-01-18T13:44:07-05:00January 18th, 2023|General, News, Oconomowoc, Selling a Home|

If you’re thinking about selling your house, you’re likely hearing about the cooling housing market and wondering what that means for you. While it’s not the peak intensity we saw during the pandemic, we’re still in a sellers’ market. That means you haven’t missed your window. Realtor.com explains: “. . . while prospective home sellers may lament that they missed their prime window, in reality, this is still a terrific time to sell. In fact, according to a recent Realtor.com® home seller survey, 95% of sellers who sold their home in the past year got more than they paid for it. Nonetheless, some of the more prominent pandemic trends have changed, so sellers might wish to [...]

Neighborhood Nicknames

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2022-10-05T10:41:47-05:00October 5th, 2022|Buying a Home, First-Time Home Buyers, General, Lake Homes, Oconomowoc, Selling a Home|

Reading an article earlier this month by Bob Dohr of NOW titled “ Why are Milwaukee’s suburbs called what they are?” had me thinking about how even within the City of Oconomowoc, the areas have official names and nicknames. West of Downtown and north of Wisconsin Avenue is “Merchants Plat” as it is currently known, where the houses designed by Roy Henszey for the Carnation Company executives are found along Woodland Lane Glenview Avenue. Just east of Fowler Lake you find “Presidential Row” or “The President’s Streets”, comprised of streets surrounding North Oakwood named Washington, Wilson, Madison, Harding, and Roosevelt. The flower patch is an array of flower names, Lily, Rose, Blue [...]

History of the Boat Parade

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2022-10-05T10:38:31-05:00October 5th, 2022|General, Maureen's Musings, News, Oconomowoc|

The Oconomowoc Boat parade has a long history of entertaining hundreds of people over the decades. A lot of hard work and creativity has gone into the creation of boats over the years. The parade‘s original date is uncertain as to when it began, but there was a day time parade with no lights in the 1970’s. In 1972 the Bill Chapman boat won 1st place with the “Good Ship Lollipop”. The parade then took a hiatus for a few years, and began again in earnest in 1989. That was the year the Reitbrock boat won 1st place. The next year, in 1990, the Zeutzius boat was decorated as a French Café and [...]

Is the Market Still HOT?

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2022-10-05T10:36:03-05:00October 5th, 2022|Buying a Home, First-Time Home Buyers, General, News, Oconomowoc, Selling a Home|

Many people watch the real estate market with great interest. It is fun to imagine what we could sell our homes for or to see what the houses near us are selling for. Without question, these past months have been some of the hottest months in real estate in the Lake Country in years. We have seen a much smaller inventory, which has driven the prices for what comes for sale up. On top of the increased prices, multiple offers have come in with greater than asking offer amounts, escalator clauses and no contingencies. Many buyers have thrown up the white flag for the moment in hopes “things will calm down.” [...]

De-Clutter

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2022-10-05T10:26:47-05:00July 26th, 2022|General, Selling a Home|

A rainy summer day is a perfect time to tackle some of the decluttering and prep work to get your home ready to sell. We don’t expect your closets to look like The Home Edit showed up to rainbow color-coordinated everything but items shouldn’t be falling out when people take a look…and they will take a look. Sorting things into categories: donate, re-home, trash, and keep will help you quickly move through spaces. You are sure to come across clothing or linens that are no longer in a state that should be donated but don’t toss them in the trash...start a bag to take to Goodwill and mark it “Textile Recycling Only” these [...]

How to Choose…

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2022-07-26T15:09:30-05:00July 26th, 2022|Buying a Home, First-Time Home Buyers, General, Lake Homes, Selling a Home|

When you are looking to start the process of buying or selling a home, what is your “step one”? First things first, you are going to need a Realtor. We believe that when it comes to finding your Realtor, it is very important to find someone you can relate with. The journey of buying or selling a home can be emotional, frustrating, and a bit stressful at times- but if you have someone you can trust and feel comfortable with during this process, it will make all the difference in the world. Take the time to read through different Realtor’s bios online, check out their Agency’s reviews, and maybe even meet for [...]

Olympia

Bonnie Lewis-Tschannen2021-07-16T11:22:48-05:00July 16th, 2021|Maureen's Musings, Oconomowoc|

Olympia Resort opened with great fanfare in 1974 with guests arriving in tuxedos for the men and flowing dresses for the ladies, some of which came from New York and other metropolitan areas as investors in the development. It was a grand hotel that offered several amenities that included an 18 hole golf course and ski hill (the dirt that created the hill came from a new highway they were building then, now known as I-94.) For years, young and old alike came from Chicago and surrounding areas to learn how to ski, or refresh their skills, before going out to Aspen or Vail. The resort provided luxurious accommodations for weddings, and [...]

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