May 2007

Do Buyer Agents Know Your Corner Unit is a Corner Unit?

May 31, 2007

Today I searched for 2 bedroom condos in the Loop, Near North Side, Near West Side and Near South Side for a Microsoft employee relocating here from Seattle. Loving lots of light in her home, she has a strong preference for a corner unit. So when I started searching for her last week, I specified Click to continue...

University Village Neighborhood Map

May 29, 2007

Last week a couple and I checked out condos in the University Village Neighborhood in the Near West Side area of Chicago. There seems to be a lot of disagreement on the neighborhood’s borders. Some real estate websites describe the borders as Monroe and Roosevelt on the north and south with Halsted and Western on Click to continue...

Commissions When a Buyer and Seller Use the Same Real Estate Broker

May 26, 2007

I received an email from a reader, Pete, this week asking about commissions when the listing agent and buyer’s agent both work for the same real estate broker. Pete wondered if the commission the seller pays would be adjustable in such a situation. Mostly likely, no, for several reasons, Pete. The real estate broker still Click to continue...

Best Real Estate Blog in Illinois!

May 24, 2007

Finding Grocery Stores in the Chicago Metro Area

May 22, 2007

Aurora vs. Naperville

May 20, 2007

This morning I showed houses for sale in Naperville and Aurora. My buyers got a good idea of the amount of house you get in the same price range in the far west side of Aurora (west of Orchard Rd.) vs. the northeast side of Aurora (east of Eola Rd.) vs. the northwest part of Click to continue...

I’ll Be More Careful When Recommending Real Estate Attorneys!

May 18, 2007

This has not been one of my more pleasant days. I let a real estate attorney that I had recommended to a couple of clients know that I wouldn’t be recommending her anymore. I had used the attorney for some personal business. She mentioned that she did real estate law, so I recommended her. The Click to continue...

Edgewater Beach Neighborhood in Chicago

May 15, 2007

While checking out videos on YouTube.Com, I came across the video below by YoChicago about the Edgewater Beach Neighborhood in Chicago. The neighborhood is in the southeast part of the Edgewater area of Chicago, just east of the Andersonville neighborhood. It’s bordered by Hollywood and Foster on the north and south and Sheridan and Broadway Click to continue...

Mount Prospect House Prices Down, But the Food’s Still Good!

May 13, 2007

Yesterday I showed houses in Mount Prospect and Niles. The median and average sale prices for houses in Mount Prospect in the past 3 months were $370K and $386K. This is above 2005 levels which were $352K and $367K, but below 2006 prices at $383K and $414K for the same time period. Mount Prospect has Click to continue...

Metra Express Trains

May 10, 2007

Park Ridge, IL

May 8, 2007

While Park Ridge native Sen. Hillary Clinton was in Chicago yesterday to raise money for her presidential campaign, I was showing houses in Park Ridge and neighboring Niles. With all that Park Ridge has going for it, home prices aren’t cheap. The average sale price for a Park Ridge house in the last 12 months Click to continue...

Skokie 3 Bedroom House Prices Around 2005 Levels

May 6, 2007

This weekend I worked on a market analysis for a 3 bedroom house in Skokie, so I thought I would share with you some of the statistics I came across. Please note that the numbers for this quarter (Q2 07) are partial since we’re just over a month into the quarter. As you can see Click to continue...

How NOT to Stage Your Home: Disgusting Shower Floor

May 5, 2007

I showed a house in Glenview today that had great curb appeal and showed well until my buyer and I reached the master bath. The photo shown left is a close-up of one of the corners of the shower floor. ICK!!! The mass of hair is bad enough, but the accumulation of crud between the Click to continue...

Condo Inspections

May 3, 2007

As I write this I’m on my way home from a condo inspection in the Loop. Even though condos don’t have as many components to check as houses, a home inspection by a licensed home inspector shouldn’t be skipped. The condo was recently updated so you wouldn’t expect many problems, but the home inspector found Click to continue...

Buyers Cannot View a Home by Themselves

May 1, 2007

This morning I attended a presentation on real estate legal and ethical issues by Illinois Association of Realtors® Legal Council, Stephen Bochenek, and Realtor/educator, Lynn Madison. Stephen and Lynn covered several topics including: recent legal cases related to real estate, the top 10 professional standards complaints, agency disclosure issues, mortgage fraud, and changes to the Click to continue...