Shelly Sprinkman

It's funny the way life works. Every morning I wake up grateful that I get to spend my days doing what I love, yet I got into real estate rather by chance. After having lived in Boston, San Francisco and Denver, my husband Trey was accepted at the UW - Madison. So back we went to our Wisconsin roots. I had just graduated from Harvard with a degree in psychology and anticipated returning to school for my master's degree, but a small ad in the Sunday classifieds altered that plan forever. The ad was for a real estate class. I remember so clearly; the class cost $79. As I've always loved real estate and thought knowing more about it may come in handy in the future, I signed up immediately. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now I find guiding buyers and sellers through the real estate process extremely gratifying. I love that I get to work with a wide array of people, whether Madison natives or those relocating from far-flung places like Africa, Bombay, Paris, and Lebanon, or closer cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Introducing people to Madison is always fun because our beautiful city never disappoints. It offers year-round recreation, from sailing, biking, golfing, and swimming, to both downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, sledding and snowshoeing. Madison also offers an impressive arts scene with numerous theaters, galleries, museums, music venues and endless programs and speakers sponsored by the University. You are never lacking for something to do here!

While we concentrate on lake properties, older urban neighborhoods and pedestrian-friendly areas with high walkability scores like downtown and Middleton Hills, what we ultimately specialize in is helping people transition from a house to a home. I derive great joy from filling in the blanks for people and sharing my local knowledge about their new neighborhood, whether it's the name of a dependable mechanic or which restaurant has the best sushi. I consider myself a cradle-to-grave resource for my clients when it comes to all things Madison.

As for how I spend my time here, it's most often surrounded by family and friends. Trey and I have three children and live on Lake Mendota in Maple Bluff where we can be found sailing, skiing, kayaking and biking around the lake if we're not on an international adventure. Besides travel,  I am also a pilates devotee and am always searching for new ways to make my family home and business more sustainable.

Testimonial:

"Nick (my husband) and I have had a lot of experience with different realtors, having purchased three homes in four years. Shelly by far was the easiest to work with and the most reliable. She sold us our current house when we were like deer in the headlights because we had to put our house in Washington on the market and move back to Madison so quickly. She guided us through the process, handled all the details, made sure we were where we needed to be, etc. I was so shell shocked from the moving ordeal, there is no way I could have done what we did (move across the country, look at 80 billion houses in Madison, and buy one - all in about six weeks of time!) without her. The best part about the experience was that if Shelly said she'd do something, she did it. We never had to keep bugging her to get us listings, etc. We've since referred her to a number of other friends and neighbors, who were equally pleased with her service." - Kristin Jackson

• Wisconsin native
• Lake Mendota homeowner since 1996
• Maple Bluff resident since 2000
• Harvard University, B.A. in Psychology
• Member of the Greater Madison Area Chamber of Commerce and the Mendota Yacht Club
• Madison Children's Museum board member