BusinessWeek recently reported their best affordable suburbs in America, naming a best suburb in each state based on communities where “families can live well for less and enjoy good schools, low crime and reasonable commutes.” And our state’s best affordable suburb just happens to be right here in Southeast Wisconsin! Hales Corners, a suburb just southwest of Milwaukee, was chosen as Wisconsin’s most affordable suburb thanks in part to all the conveniences the town is surrounded by.

Here’s what BusinessWeek had to say about why Hales Corners was chosen:
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Yesterday we announced a new way to search for Coldwell Banker homes on your mobile device, but today we share yet another exciting way to search for the home of your dreams. Homebuyers in Southeast Wisconsin now have the simplest way to search for homes by visiting CBMovesWI.com. Directly targeted to buyers in Wisconsin, CBMovesWI.com is your source for simple searching, information about the homebuyers’ tax credit, open house searching and more.

Have you heard our new radio ad airing this week on WMYX (99.1 FM) in the Southeast Wisconsin region?  The ad promotes CBMovesWI.com as Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s new online home for Southeast Wisconsin, and also lets the listener know there are less than 60 days left to take advantage of the homebuyers’ tax credit.

Check it out by clicking here.

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Have you ever been out and about and noticed a “for sale” sign on what seems to be the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood for you? You desperately want to learn more about the home for sale, but the only problem is you have to wait until you’re home to go online to find out more.

Well now you can search all Coldwell Banker properties right on your mobile device at any time, from any place. ColdwellBankerOnline.com can now be searched instantly from your cell phone, and you don’t even need to download an application to do so. Simply type in ColdwellBankerOnline.com on any mobile device that can connect to the Internet and search away

Benefits of the new mobile site include:

• Scaled back design and images that allow visitors to view on web-enabled mobile devices quickly and easily
• Eliminates long load times or the failure to load pages
• Easier access to Coldwell Banker listing information and agent profiles at any time
• Allows for direct contact to the listing agent at the time of interest
• A mobile site, unlike downloadable applications, reaches out and is accessible to anyone who has a mobile device that has web surfing capabilities

Searching for your new home just got that much easier.

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So, you took advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, or the $6,500 repeat-buyer tax credit, and you’re sitting pretty in your new dream home. You can’t wait to claim your credit on your 2009 taxes, but you’re not exactly sure what documentation you’ll need to do so. What do you do now?

The Internal Revenue Service has posted on its web site the revised Form 5405 that you’ll need to file when preparing your 2009 taxes. The new guide describes exactly who qualifies for the credit, what documentation you’ll need to submit when filing and how to go about filing for your 2009 taxes.

Read on to learn exactly what you’ll need to claim the homebuyers tax credit on your 2009 returns.
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As brides and grooms-to-be make important decisions about the wedding day, they should also be planning their new living arrangement as husband and wife. Closing the deal on a first home marks the beginning of independent living, in the same way that a wedding is the start of a marriage.

Read on for valuable tips on how you can make “happily ever after” even happier by finding the home of your dreams.
“Couples starting their new life together often want to begin fresh in a new home,” said Fran Broude, president and COO of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. “Now is a great opportunity for couples to negotiate and secure a home that will last them well into their future.”

The future Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner should keep these recommendations in mind when looking for their “happily ever after” dream home:
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Buying a home can feel daunting, and it’s no surprise considering the amount of paperwork that goes into searching for a property and securing a loan. And if you’re trying to close on your home before the April 30^th tax credit deadline, you might be just a little overwhelmed with so much happening so fast (especially during tax season!).

Read on for ways to keep your sanity when it comes to tackling the necessary home-buying paperwork:
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Southeast Wisconsin is currently in the midst of what forecasters are predicting to be a 30-hour snowstorm. As of 1 p.m. today, the average amount of snowfall in the area is at around six inches, and it’s not expected to stop until early Wednesday morning.

Call it Snowmageddon, Snowpacalypse or the Snownami –  either way, it’s bad out there. If you must leave your home, please travel safely. Use common sense, plan for travel times to be around twice as long and don’t rush on the roads.

And if you’d rather stay safe inside, you might as well keep yourself busy (and warm!) with some fun, family-friendly snow day activities:
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Waiting a few extra days or weeks to purchase a home this spring could cost buyers thousands of extra dollars as the office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implements several changes for loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

Coming just weeks before the April 30 deadline for the Home Buyer Tax Credit and just days after the March 31 expiration of the Federal Reserve Board’s mortgage backed securities purchase program (which has kept home loan rates artificially low for over a year), these FHA changes make it even more important to act now to save big.

Here are a few reasons why:
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It’s Groundhog Day, the annual holiday where we anxiously await Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his burrow to predict what the weather will hold in store for us for the next six weeks. Did he see his shadow and scurry back inside? Six more weeks of winter. Was his shadow nowhere to be found? An early spring for us! From the outside, it may seem like an awfully strange holiday to celebrate, to say the least, but you can be sure it was the talk of the water cooler this morning, as it is every February 2^nd.

And if, around that water cooler, you want to share more than the “shadow report” (ol’ Phil was reported to have seen his shadow this year, by the way…), here are a few fun facts about Groundhog Day you may not have known about:
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When it comes to real estate, there are some rules of thumb that have been passed down through the ages. Even a layman could spout off a list of real estate truisms (location, location, location, for instance) without having ever been involved with any kind of transaction. However, do all of these old standbys still stand up in today’s market? Which tips should you take and which should have been thrown out with your acid-wash jeans? It’s time to brush up on what you thought you knew about real estate.
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