The Accunet Mortgage and Realty Show (8-31-2025) Episode

# Real Estate Reality Check: Why National Headlines Don’t Tell the Milwaukee Story

*Insights from the latest Accunet Mortgage and Realty Show with Brian and David*

If you’ve been reading national real estate headlines lately, you might think the housing market is in disarray. But as Brian Wickert puts it on this week’s Accunet Mortgage and Realty Show, he’s ready to combat the truth-adjacent headlines any of us come across online.

## The Numbers Game: Brian’s Reality Check

That scary headline about record-high contract cancellations? Brian wasn’t buying it. After doing some detective work on the math, he discovered the “record high” was actually just 15.3% compared to 14.5% a year ago.

“So it’s up less than a percent, and that would be about 3,000 more canceled contracts this July compared to last year.”

David added too: “The Brian version of that… well, 85% of contracts kept going.”

Even better for Milwaukee? “We are at 8.3% cancellation rate for July, so darn near half” the national average, making Milwaukee the third lowest in the country. As Brian concludes: “We are not the headline.”

## David’s Take: “So When Are We the Headline?”

Milwaukee is a mismatch with national news, perfectly capturing why local knowledge matters. While websites run headlines, Brian further breaks down what that really means for Milwaukee buyers:

– National inventory: 4.6 months (balanced market)

– Milwaukee: 2 months (still seller’s market)

– Milwaukee homes selling above asking: 55% vs. 31% nationally

– Price cuts in Milwaukee: Only 15% vs. 26.5% nationwide

“Do not believe the national headlines,” Brian emphasizes.

## Real Client Stories: The Brothers and the “Old Gallon of Milk”

David’s storytelling really brings the market to life. His two brother clients just got an accepted offer on a condo, and their strategy was smart. The property had been on the market 20+ days, and as David colorfully explains:

“By the time you’re getting to the third weekend of your listing, buyers are looking for a deal… you’re an old gallon of milk [as the Seller]. It’s like, you want me to buy your gallon? Like, can I get a discount? Because, like, I can smell the curdling.”

But his clients were savvy: “They wrote over the list price… I was thrilled that they wrote an offer that a seller at day 20 plus would be like, how fast can I say yes to this offer?”

The lesson? Sometimes being slightly generous gets you what you want. As David puts it, “it was more important to get the accepted offer rather than try to get that last squeeze.”

## The Cash Offer Fantasy

Brian had to deliver a reality check to a friend whose son wanted to write a cash offer without, well, having cash:

“He’d like to make a cash offer, to which I said great, who’s cash?”

David’s translation is perfect: “When someone says, I want to write a cash offer, I hear, I love this house… make me as strong as possible so the seller says yes to me.”

The reality in Wisconsin? “If you write a cash offer, you have to prove that you have the cash to make good on that.”

## Why People Still Move: Life Happens

Despite any and all bellyaching, people keep making moves. Brian’s friend’s son wants to voluntarily abandon his 3% mortgage for a bigger house because, as David notes, it’s “not because of what the bond markets doing… but because he wants a nicer house in the neighborhood he wants to live in.”

## David’s Financing Wisdom: “I Know All the Ingredients”

For his brother clients buying a condo, David shared a key insight: “There is a big improvement in pricing when you are financing a condo purchase when you get at or greater than a 25% down payment… [pricing can be] a half percent better in rate.”

## The Bottom Line

Whether you’re ready to move to what comes next or trying to figure out down payment for that condo, Accunet’s team has both the personality and the expertise to guide you through whatever curveball the market throws your way.