Germantown, WI

Being the home of Miller Brewing (the birthplace, but noweaten up by larger world breweries,nka:Miller/Coors) Milwaukee is still hometown to a production facility. Every year we have a great light display accompanied by music in "the Miller Valley"....a pleasant ride through the center of the complex reveals the original Plank Road Brewey building, including the caves, that were filled with ice cut from the river in winter and stored in the caves to cool the beer through the summer months...

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MILLER (COORS)

Just continuing down State Street, you go under the bridge that connects one section of the brewery to another, and you can see the conveyor belt, carrying bottled beer down the line...YES, just like on the opening of Laverne & Shirley!

If you are looking for a fun tour, take the Miller tour...it finishes in the pub with FREE SAMPLES! Root beer for kids, adult beverages for the parents :) and kids also get beer can banks for souvenirs!

Hey all you realtors out there! I need your help. It's been a tough year and I could really use a pick-me-up. I have started blogging (unfortunately I can't talk about real estate) on a local website. They are currently having a contest for a $200 football prize package. I have submitted a picture of our son in his Packer uniform and he was chosen as one of the finalists. I need help voting for him. You can vote once per day and the contest goes through December 21st.

With the way my year in real estate has gone (down 50% from last year) and the way the Packer season has gone, I could really use a good finish to 2008. Could you go to the following link, register and vote? We'd really appreciate it!

You can find the entry here:
http://jsonline.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?contestid=4114&pagetype=VOTING&SubmissionID=348781

Thanks!
Bill

Well, today is St Nicks Day! Did he visit you last night? What did he leave for you in your stocking? I am hoping for some buyers and listings!

No, seriously....coming from a German family, living in Milwaukee, He did visit us every year. We hung our stockings on our bedroom door knob when we went to bed December 5th. In the morning our stocking would have been filled by St Nick with a fresh orange, some nuts still in the shell, some hard candy raspberries, and a pencil or other treat. Of course if we had not been good, it was filled with a lump of coal.

I just received a St Nick email from a friend who taught our kids at the German Immersion School. She said St Nick left a brown paper bag inside their door, after their chores were finished. It was filled with peanuts in the shell and peanut brittle. All the kids and the parents sat at the family table (that's an old idea isn't it?) and cracked peanuts and finished off the peanut brittle.

When our kids attended the German School (K4-5th grade), St Nick visited in person every year. Let me tell you the kids were bouncing off the wall. They all gathered in the gym, and sang traditional German Christmas songs, and soon they could hear bells ringing. St Nick visited with the kids, and had a gift of learning tools and toys for each classroom.

St Nick was always dressed in his holy garb. You see he was a bishop of Myra (Greece), and that is where why he wears religious garments. Being an orphan himself, he helped the poor. The story goes that he helped one family by dropping 3 gold balls down the chimney, and they fell into the child's stocking which was hanging on the fireplace to dry out. St Nick is the patron saint of many, including children, mariners, bankers, pawn-brokers, scholars, orphans, laborers, travelers, merchants, judges, paupers, marriageable maidens, students, children, sailors, victims of judicial mistakes, captives, perfumers, even thieves and murderers! He is known as the friend and protector of all in trouble or need.

See more: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38

What did St Nick bring for you this year?

My family moved to Germantown when I was starting the 2nd grade. That was about 33 years ago. I lived there until I got married in 1991. During that time, Germantown has grown significantly both in size and in population. The population in 1980 was 10,729 (I still remember the signs announcing it along the roadsides). By 2000, it had grown to 18,260. They call themselves the Gateway to Washington County. Neighbors to Germantown include Mequon, Menomonee Falls, Richfield and Milwaukee.

SCHOOLS - Germantown now has four elementary schools, one middle and one high school serving almost 4,000 students. You can visit http://www.germantown.k12.wi.us/ for more information about the school system.

BUSINESS - The Village of Germantown is home to several business parks. The most recent one to be developed has 250 acres and is located between Mequon and Donges Bay Roads approximately 2 miles west of US HWY 41/45. Visit http://www.mlgcommercial.com/services/ourServices.cfm?page=BizParkDetail&BPPrefix=GER for more information about the Germantown Business Park.

RECREATION - Ten parks are within the borders of Germantown. They include everything from sand volleyball courts, playground equipment, baseball diamonds, tennis courts and even a small water park. You can visit http://www.village.germantown.wi.us/ and click on the Park & Recreation link for more information.

LIBRARY - The Germantown library is part of the SHARE program which means your Germantown library card can be used in every library in Washington, Doge, Jefferson, Walworth and Racine counties making it one powerful card! The library was first opened in 1963 and has grown from about 2,000 to over 100,000 volumes. The current location on Mequon Road has been the library's home since 2002. You can go to http://www.germantownlibrarywi.org/index.htm for more information about the library and even search for your favorite book.

If you're interested in more information about the Village of Germantown, check out the following links:

http://www.village.germantown.wi.us/

http://www.americantowns.com/wi/germantown

http://www.germantownnow.com/

The GOOD NEWS IS: Germantown has experienced increasing sales for 4 out of the last 6 months. The numbers for September and October were slightly below the 2007 sold numbers.

October Sales in 2008 were 5. This was a slow month. The election may have had this effect. The stock market tanking may also have had a little to do with it.

New listings in the last 3 months were down form last year. Since January we have seen 18.5% fewer homes coming on the market than 2007.

This indicates the market is getting better, with fewer homes in inventory and a little quicker sales for the properties that are on the market.

Current inventory is 52 homes on the market. This means that there is more than10 months of inventory on the market currently indicating that it is still a "buyers market" in the marketplace.

If you'd like help with buying a selling a home, contact me anytime!

Information provided by April Hayden-Munson Your Real Estate Expert

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You can find great local Milwaukee Wisconsin area real estateinformation on Localism.com April Hayden-Munson Realtor, Southeastern Wisconsin is a proud member of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free online community to help real estate professionals grow their business.