July 2008

How a Plumbing Inspection Paid for Itself Many Times Over

July 29, 2008

A month ago I wrote about a buyer’s inability to have a house’s plumbing tested during the home inspection in “Inspecting a Winterized Home for Sale in Aurora“. The city of Aurora had turned off the water since the seller hadn’t paid the water bill. After the seller’s agent paid the bill, the agent, an Click to continue...

Why Now is a Great Time to Move Up to a Larger Home

July 26, 2008

One of the things I’ve noticed about my real estate business this year is that I’m working with a lot more home owners moving up to a larger home. Instead of letting the negative news about the housing market keep them in a home that no longer meets their needs, they’re taking advantage of the Click to continue...

Beware and Be Patient When Buying a Home From a Corporation

July 23, 2008

Yesterday a buyer’s home purchase finally closed – a week late. The huge delay was entirely due to the seller, a corporation, not being ready to close. Other buyers I’m currently working with had to wait 3 days for the seller, another corporation, to sign their contract. Just this morning, another Realtor in my office Click to continue...

SunTimes.com & ChicagoTribune.com Join Real Estate Search Test

July 17, 2008

I am quite flattered that the Chicago Sun-Time’s SearchChicago-Homes Editor, Kay Severinsen, wrote about my post yesterday, “How Good are National Real Estate Websites for Searching for Homes for Sale?” in her article today, “This site tops for search results“. Kay ran the same search for a house in Evanston priced between $400K and $500K Click to continue...

How Good are National Real Estate Websites for Searching for Homes for Sale?

July 16, 2008

Monday’s Wall Street Journal included an article, “How to Sell a House When You Have to Sell it Now“, by David Crook. Mr. Crook is the author of “The Wall Street Journal Complete Real-Estate Investing Guidebook”. In the article Mr. Crook tells home sellers to list their homes on leading real estate websites which include Click to continue...

Delivery Delays Not Uncommon with New Construction

July 11, 2008

Recently I helped a couple of women buy a 3 bedroom condo at Library Tower in the South Loop. Library Tower is just across the street from the main branch of the Chicago Public Library (shown left). When they signed the sales agreement in May, they were told that the condo would be ready around Click to continue...

Northfield, IL

July 5, 2008

Recently, I’ve bee researching the Northfield housing market. Northfield is a small suburb just west of Winnetka sharing Winnetka’s zip code (60093). Only 40 houses sold in Northfield last year with about half of them selling for over $1 million. More than half of the houses in Northfield sit on lots of an acre or Click to continue...