Fred Hookham

Milton Food Pantry Drive

News of the Milton Food Pantry drive for the Christmas Meal and the Childrens Gift Program reached me late today, and I wanted to publish this worthy cause even though the distribution date was December 17th. The community's donations enabled the pantry to serve Christmas meals and gifts to 160 families. They were also able to provide hats, mittens and new scarves as well as quilts to all new pantry users. Volunteers, businesses and donations from the community made it all possible.

This is the Milton Food Pantry, at the North end of Hilltop Drive. Their mailing address is P.O. Box 471.

Beside giving credit to those who worked hard to pull this all together, the purpose of this blog is two fold;

First, to let you know that the Christmas Meal and the Childrens Gift Program are annual events worthy of your support every year. I'll get a blog out as well as a letter to the editor in the Milton Courier asking for your help BEFORE the event next year.

Second, to let you know that the Milton Food Pantry would welcome your donation on any day of the year. 100% of your donation goes directly back to the people in our community. Their needs are ongoing, and the needs of the people they are serving in this economy are increasing. According to the Food Pantry Board, the requests for help have increased by more than 25% this year. The unemployment levels in our area remain too high, and while they rate of unemployment is declining, it is improving at a snail's pace. Please do whatever you can to help.

December's Season of Celebrations & Sharing: Holiday Light Show, Janesville, WI

The Rotary Botanical Gardens have been decorated with lights for the Holidays! In what has become an annual tradition, the Gardens are lit with over 200,000 holiday lights. They are open evenings from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm, and are located at 1455 Palmer Drive in Janesville, WI. I took just a few pictures to show the after-dark beauty of one of my favorite parks.

The walking paths are lit with multicolored foot light. After a walk throught the grounds, there is nightly entertainment, a model railroad display, quilts, and gingerbread houses on display inside the buildings at the park.

More information at this link:

http://rotarybotanicalgardens.org/gardens

MARKET REPORT FOR MILTON, WISCONSIN - December, 2011

The winds of change are still blowing across the local real estate market in Milton, Wisconsin. Considering the numbers for the last 30 days across the Milton School District, we are getting back to a "normal" market, rather than a "Buyer's" or "Seller's" market. Some of the price ranges will vary as you'll see from the actual numbers.

Single Family Residences - Milton School District - December 10, 2011

Price #Sold #For Sale #Month's Supply

0 - 50K 0 3 -----

50 - 100K 1 10 10.0

100 - 150K 7 25 3.6

150 - 200K 3 28 9,3

200 - 250K 3 24 8.0

250 - 300K 1 19 19.0

300 - 350K 2 7 3.5

Over 350K 2 17 8.5

Total 19 133 7.0

A 6 month supply of homes for sale is considered a "normal" market, with 7 months supply or more considered a Buyer's Market, and a 5 months supply or less considered a Seller's market. This means that as the supply gets below 6 months, sellers will find it easier to sell their homes, and they may even see multiple offers. As you can see, this does not apply to all price ranges yet.

Looking to the future, we are seeing forecasts of additional foreclosed properties being released for sale by the Banks, possibly increasing the number of homes on the market in the lower price ranges. We are hopeful that the current low interest rates will keep sales from slowing, and will keep the inventory of homes on the market from growing.

Look for another blog in the next few days about the market conditions in Janesville, Wisconsin. Information courtesy of the Rock-Green Board of REALTORS.

A Victorian Breakfast in Janesville Wisconsin

The Lincoln-Tallman House in Janesville is the site of a Breakfast on Wednesday, December 7th. The continentail breakfast starts at 8:45 am, with a program to follow. Laurie Fant, the collection Manager for the Rock County Historical Society will speak on holiday decorating customs from earlier eras, as well as holiday traditions that are still being used today.

The Lincoln-Tallman House has been specially decorated for the holidays in a historically correct manner.

You need to sign up immediately because reservations are due by Tuesday, December 6, 2011. The Breakfast Bunch from the Gathering Place in Milton is handling the sign-up for the event. The cost to attend includes a small amount to defray the cost of the breakfast, and a small donation to The Lincoln-Tallman House. The museum has been having funding struggles and has recently reroofed, so it would be nice to give them a little support.

Real estate continues to be a tough and stressful business, and the weather up here in Wisconsin hasn't been very cooperative either. So when we finally got a decent day a week ago, my wife wisely suggested we take a hike. A brisk walk outside always clears my head and sharpens my focus...

This is a small state park that sees few visitors just a short distance away from our house, so we "beat feet" and soon had the woods and trails all to ourselves. It was a beautiful morning to be outside. A walk in the park usually has a few fringe benefits besides the fresh air. I do some of my best business thinking when I'm away from the business itself, and today was no exception.

I always like to see a big, strong, healthy tree. It is a symbol of something permanent, something that has survived the elements for a lot of years. Windstorms, disease, and even firewood cutting seemed like sad events until I saw the fallen log along the trail. The end had been sawed off to clear the trail, but it was covered with new life. The moss and fungi were going to turn the log back into soil, making it into nutrients for the trees around it. The circle of life in the woods is not about the death of a tree, but about the conversion of one form of life to several different forms of life.

Our state's real estate business has some similar things going on. We have seen some good brokerages close, and those closings have been sad events. Fortunately, a number of displaced but productive Agents have found new life. These Agents have changed brands, locations, and advertizing methods, but the circle of life in the real estate business can go on if the Agents are willing to change.

The alternative is to change, or become dead wood.....