SOLD: 5926 W US Hwy 14

Bill Mears represented both sides in this million-dollar deal! Call (608) 752-6325 for more information.

SOLD: 535 W Wall St

Bill Mears and Kurt Egan represented the sellers in this industrial deal with a sale price of $940,000 - way to go, guys!

Roundabouts are OUT and Diverging Diamonds are IN

Janesville residents were first introduced to the "modern" roundabout in 2007, one at the intersection of Sandhill Drive and Sandstone and the other on Morse Street off of Hwy 26 at the entrance of the new Menards development. Two more roundabouts were constructed in 2013 at the Racine Street on/off ramps with I-39/90. The roundabout was such a hot topic during construction that the City of Janesville posted a "Roundabouts" selection under Department and Services tab on their website in hopes of helping drivers navigate around the central island. 

While I've never personally been in or witnessed an accident in these areas, I can't deny that the roundabout provides a safer driving environment by reducing speeds and conflict points and allowing easier decision-making for drivers. So maybe the roundabout is everything they said it would be. 

Courtesy of http://www.mikeontraffic.com/

But what is a Diverging Diamond Intersection and will the City of Janesville soon be providing us with yet another selection under the Department and Services tab? The Wisconsin Department of Transportation already has.

1031 Exchange Basics (Part 1 of 2)

The 1031 exchange is a popular tool used to defer capital gain taxes (or losses) for business and investment real estate transactions. It is derived from the Internal Revenue Service’s code Section 1031 and gives investors the opportunity to earn a rate of return on funds that would otherwise be paid to the IRS.

It is also great for portfolio adjustments: diversify, expand, risk averse, down size, location selection, etc. These details can be very important and help with major investor and business owner decisions. To start off, we will go over the types of 1031 exchanges:

Thinking Outside the Box: 7 New Ways to Invest

Traditionally, real estate investment has been in each of the five main property types: retail, industrial, multifamily, office, and hospitality. Yet in the last decade or so, investors have been branching out into more specialized endeavors.

Farms

The world’s population is expected to increase to about 9 billion people by 2050, while the UN predicts a steady decline in the amount of arable land per capita from 0.218 to 0.181 hectares in that same time. In the Midwest, there has been a 128% rise in average farmland values over the last decade, shooting up from $1,270 an acre in 2003 to $2,900 in 2013 (by USDA estimates).