Wisconsin Rapids Real Estate – Wisconsin Rapids Homes For Sale

The weekend of July 8, 9, 10, 11 marks the 38th Annual Iola, WI Old Car Show and Swap Meet.

Teaming with thousands of cars–from the early 1900′s through the 1990′s this car show offers something for everyone.

Calling the festivities the “Midwest’s greatest old car show and swap meet” truly is an understatement and must be seen to be believed.

I haven’t been back for years, but my dad and at least one of his brothers head over there every year. Mom is always concerned with any “bright” ideas he may come back with… And the definition of “bright” obviously changes depending on if you talk to my dad or my mom…

The gates open each day at 6:00 am and you can peruse the grounds until 6:00 pm.

Tickets are $8 per day or $15 for the entire weekend. Bringing your children? Any child 10 or under gets in for free.

For more information please check out the Iola Car Show website.

Will you have to trust your GPS to get you there? The grounds address is 130 Jenson Drive, Iola WI 54945.

Planning for the future? The upcoming dates for future Iola Car Shows are:

• 2011: July 7-10
• 2012: July 12-15
• 2013: July 11-14
• 2014: July 10-13

And do you want more information? Click here to see the official Iola Car Show program. Better yet, head on over to the official website.

First, the definition of the term ‘absorption rate’ is:

How long it will take all properties currently on the market to sell.

For example the Wisconsin Rapids area has 397 properties currently for sale. Over the past year 481 homes have sold, which averages out to 40 sales per month. Dividing monthly sales by number of homes for sale gives you 9.9 months to absorb all the homes currently on the market. Make sense?

The absorption rate is a significant indicator of the health of a real estate market. The goal is to be around 6 months. A number less than 6 indicates that it’s a sellers market. Why? Because homes are moving at such a rapid pace sellers have the ability to be picky when choosing to accept an offer.

Obviously over 6 months means that we’re in a buyers market. With homes moving slower buyers are better able to draw a line in the sand in regards to a final purchase price.

Following are the absorption rates for all of our surrounding areas:

• Wisconsin Rapids: 9.9 months
• Stevens Point: 9.2 months
• Marshfield: 11.5 months
• Wausau: 13.2 months

Individual communities within these areas can have significantly differing absorption rates. For example a few reasons can be the local school district (or individual school), the proximity to large employer, or even how close a community/subdivision is to various amenities.

They’ve been talking about it for a few weeks. It seemed like a done deal, causing many buyers and sellers to breathe a sigh of relief… Then it stalled, held up by other ‘stuff.’ Then it looked dead, causing even more stress as people attempted to get their home closed by the Wednesday deadline.

The last thing area buyers and sellers needed was a ‘slight’ delay. Any delay could have resulted in not being able to close before the June 30 deadline. Numerous title companies and lawyers were booked solid on Wednesday, June 30. Often for weeks…

But after separating the tax extension from other parts of the bill (like railway spending) the bill picked up steam and Congress nearly unanimously passed the bill.

Next the Senate passed the bill after, once again, separating it from another larger bill.

But, here’s what’s important to you:

You OFFICIALLY have until September 30, 2010 to close on the sale or purchase of your home.

Almost 200,000 homeowners can take a huge sigh of relief knowing that closing on their home just became a lot easier.

Its been more than half a century since mortgage rates have been this low.

The average rate for a fixed 30-year mortgage shrunk to 4.69% last week.

If you have the Big 3:

1. Job Security
2. High Credit Score and
3. Cash

You can qualify and secure a loan that will save you thousands of dollars over the entire term of the loan.

Did you know that a 1% decrease in a mortgage rate can increase your purchase power by 10%? So for a loan of $100,000 you can increase your purchase price by $10,000…for a $200,000 loan you can increase your maximum price by $20,000…all for the same monthly payment as your neighbor with the less expensive home than yours.

Along with a lower interest rate remember that home prices have been stagnent the past few years too. Leaving you with the ability to purchase a “better” home for the same amount of money as you would have in 2007.

Starting the buying process is as easy as contacting your favorite Wisconsin Rapids Realtor and meeting with a lender to get pre-approved and lock in this especially low interest rate.

That’s always a very popular question. It goes without saying that you want your home sold in the quickest amount of time for the highest price possible…

Right?

But can anyone or any brokerage deliver the goods? Are all Wisconsin Rapids Realtors created equal?

Can you expect the same results from First Weber, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, NorthCentral or Newlun Realty?

Wisconsin Rapids says NO.

See the results from 2009.

As you’d expect, 2010 is shaping up the same as well.

If results are not important to you, call anyone. If you want the best, call the best.

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