Sell my house fast in Waunakee, Wisconsin.

The railroad village at the center, and the older houses around it

Waunakee owes its location to a deal with a railroad. The local chamber's history tells it this way: when the line was being extended toward St. Paul, two settlers, Lewis Baker and George Fish, platted a village on their land and persuaded the railroad to stop there in exchange for $1,500 and two miles of right of way. The first building went up on Second Street in 1870, a general store opened on Main Street in 1871, and the village was formally incorporated in 1893. The slogan, still in use, is "The Only Waunakee in the World."

The houses on the blocks around Main Street are the oldest in the village, and they sell differently from the subdivisions around them. Some have been beautifully kept. Others have passed through several owners, each of whom added or updated something in their own decade, and inspectors are good at finding where one era meets the next. Expect notes on the foundation, the age of the electrical service, old plumbing materials under the floors, and lead paint on any original trim, since the federal lead disclosure applies to every house built before 1978.

When one of those houses comes up for sale because the person who lived there for decades has passed away or needs care, the family often wonders whether to put money into it first. Sometimes that is the right call. Sometimes the work would take most of a year and the result would sell for little more than the house as it stands. We can give you an as-is written figure to compare against a contractor's estimate, so the decision rests on real numbers. See the inherited property page for how heirs sell to us.

With only the two of us, both working from Appleton, Waunakee is a visit we schedule. Dan or Diana comes on the day agreed with you and goes through the house from top to bottom.