From the monthly archives:

April 2006

House Bargains in Glen Ellyn!

April 26, 2006

Today I did a market analysis for a modest 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch home in Glen Ellyn. The suburb isn’t known for inexpensive real estate, but there is a surprising supply of moderately-priced 2 and 3 bedroom houses in Glen Ellyn.
The average price for a 2 bedroom house in Glen Ellyn in the [...]

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When It’s Time for a REALTOR® to Search for You

April 22, 2006

There are currently over 75,000 houses, condos and townhomes listed on the Multiple Listing System of Northern Illinois (MLSNI). Online real estate search sites such as Realtor.Com and BairdWarner.Com can help you narrow down the field to homes that are in your price range in the suburbs or city areas you are interested in. Both [...]

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A Good Thought on the Value of a Home

April 20, 2006

Chicago area mortgage banker, Dan Green, sent me a nice note regarding my post 2 days ago, “Buyers, Beware of Zillow“. Dan also included a link to a post on his blog about Zillow, “My Zillow Hangup“. In the post, Dan makes an important point about the value of a home. It depends on the [...]

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Google Search for Chicago Area Properties

April 19, 2006

While browsing other real estate blogs today I came across a post “Google Makes Its Move” on the blog, LA real estate. Type “chicago real estate” into Google and at the top of the search results (below Sponsored Links) you’ll see a small “Search housing” form where you can specify a location and listing [...]

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Buyers, Beware of Zillow!

April 18, 2006

In the last 2 weeks I did a market analysis for 3 different buyers to help them decide what to offer on homes. After doing my analysis, I checked each home on Zillow.Com, a much hyped home value estimator.
For a house in Evanston, Zillow had zero data. The house appears on Zillow’s satellite view, [...]

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Attend Your Home Inspection

April 16, 2006

Yesterday two couples I’ve been working with had home inspections done on the homes they intend to buy. Both couples also attended the home inspections which I recommend, if at all possible. Attending a home inspection is a great way for buyers to learn about their future residences. Good home inspectors will take the time [...]

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Don’t Risk a Lawsuit. Disclose!

April 15, 2006

Clients I helped buy a house in Arlington Heights in January called me yesterday with am interesting story!
Back when they had the home inspected, the inspector, Kevin Fulara, recommended that the furnace and air conditioner be replaced. For the price they were paying, the buyers weren’t expecting a heating and cooling system that might [...]

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Oak Park Home of Mr. Twinkie!

April 14, 2006

Today’s Chicago Tribune has a great story on what a couple discovered when they bought an ordinary-looking Oak Park bungalow last year. “Delicious discovery: Mr. Twinkie slept here” details how the owners, Nelson Taruc and Cara Hanson, discovered that the inventor of Twinkies, James Dewar, was a former owner and resident of the house. [...]

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Buyer Seeks House with First Floor Bedroom and Bathroom in Park Ridge

April 13, 2006

This morning I was searching for a house in Park Ridge for a woman and her mother. We’ve been looking at ranch houses in the Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect area for a while. This week the daughter asked me to expand searches to include Park Ridge.
The mother is 84, so they need a [...]

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Second Showings

April 12, 2006

Yesterday I was back in Evanston with buyers taking a second look at a house we viewed during the weekend. When you have a serious interest in a home, doing a second showing is a good idea. You’ll notice things you didn’t notice the first visit. It also gives the buyer’s agent a chance to [...]

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