On Sunday a gentleman called me inquiring about contemporary homes in the north suburbs. I immediately suggested he and his wife consider Highland Park. I’ve shown many contemporary houses there. Shown left is a contemporary home a couple of my clients were very interested in. Unfortunately for them, the sellers accepted an offer before my clients could fly here to see it. It sold for $752K a little over a year ago.

It isn’t that there aren’t contemporary homes in other northern suburbs. It’s just that Highland Park has more than its share of them. Currently in our multiple listing service there are 42 houses for sale in Highland Park where the style is contemporary. The next highest is Deerfield with only 13 contemporary houses for sale. Similar Posts:

• Highland Park – More Contemporary Homes Than Neighboring Suburbs
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Houses and Refrigerators
• Highland Park’s Access to 5 Metra Stations
• Highland Park House Prices Up or Down Depending on Lot Size
• 4 Bedroom House Prices in the North Shore

Want a home near a mall with top name brands and the level of service you expect from them? Then consider, Northbrook, IL or its neighboring suburbs of Highland Park, Glencoe, Wheeling, Deerfield, and Glenview. Northbrook’s Northbrook Court is home to numerous top brands including Tommy Bahama’s, Crate and Barrel, Ralph Lauren, Cole Haan, and Louis Vuitton.

Yesterday I went to the Tumi Store in Northbrook Court to exchange a small bag I received as a Christmas present. (Yes, I know I should have gotten to this sooner! ) As I walked in the store the clerk said, “You’re the Realtor!”. I was stunned! I hadn’t been in Tumi in 2 years since I bought my laptop backpack there. Even more impressive, she wasn’t the clerk who helped me 2 years ago.

The Tumi clerk remembering that I’m a Realtor and the fact that she took the time to acknowledge it is the level of customer service I hope my clients will remember me for. I also now have an awesome Tumi bag that holds my essentials and slips in and out of my laptop backpack very nicely! Similar Posts:

• Northbrook Median & Average House Prices Increasing, So Are Market Times
• Northbrook 2 Bedroom Condo Market Stats
• Chicago Area Whole Foods Map
• Highland Park’s Exceptional Service Grocer
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Homes Than Neighboring Suburbs

Recently I showed houses in Highland Park to a couple who first visited Highland Park with me a year ago almost to the day. Depending on how you look at the data, the Highland Park real estate market has been flat or significantly up or down in the past year.

The median sale price of Highland Park houses for the past 6 months is $650K, up just slightly from $644.5K for the same period a year ago.^*

In my last post on Glen Ellyn and Lombard I found an inverse relationship between lot size and median house price so I looked at median house prices for smaller and larger lots for this North Shore suburb. The median house price during the past 6 months for larger lots (0.25 acres to 1 acre) is significantly higher than for smaller lots (< 0.25 acres) with $714K for the larger lots verses $565K for the smaller lots.

However, the median sale price of the homes of larger lots was down 17% from the same period a year ago while the median sale price of homes on smaller lots was up 13%!

^{*Based on Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) Data.Similar Posts:}

• Highland Park – More Contemporary Houses and Refrigerators
• 4 Bedroom House Prices in the North Shore
• Highland Park’s Access to 5 Metra Stations
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Homes Than Neighboring Suburbs
• Where to Look for Contemporary Homes in Chicago’s North Suburbs

Today I showed houses in Highland Park to a couple relocating from Reno, NV. One of their requirements is a home within a mile of a train station. As you can see in the map below, Highland Park provides plenty of neighborhoods that meet this requirement with 5 Metra Stations on the Union Pacific District North Line within walking distance of various parts of Highland Park. Three, (Braeside, Ravinia, and Highland Park) are actually in Highland Park. Two (Highwood and Fort Sheridan) are in the tiny suburb of Highwood surrounded by Highland Park and another tiny suburb, Fort Sheridan.

Similar Posts:

• Highland Park – More Contemporary Homes Than Neighboring Suburbs
• Highland Park House Prices Up or Down Depending on Lot Size
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Houses and Refrigerators
• Highland Park’s Exceptional Service Grocer
• Where to Look for Contemporary Homes in Chicago’s North Suburbs

During the past 2 days I showed over 20 houses in Highland Park. As I mentioned in a post a month ago, Highland Park has more contemporary homes than its neighboring suburbs. Shown left is one of them in east Highland Park which I showed on Sunday.

Contemporary homes are distinguished by large windows (or lots of windows) and unusual shapes. That’s certainly true of this home. With so many windows, my buyers left the home wondering how they would arrange their furniture so as to not block windows and fit some irregular shaped rooms.

One another note…The folks in Highland Park love to eat! The overwhelming majority of houses I showed had an extra refrigerator, freezer or both.Similar Posts:

• Where to Look for Contemporary Homes in Chicago’s North Suburbs
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Homes Than Neighboring Suburbs
• Highland Park’s Access to 5 Metra Stations
• Highland Park House Prices Up or Down Depending on Lot Size
• Highland Park’s Exceptional Service Grocer

Looking for a contemporary style home in the North Shore? Try Highland Park. The past several days I’ve been searching for houses in Highland Park and the surrounding suburbs of Lake Forest, Deerfield, Northbrook and Glencoe for buyers relocating from Seattle. They have a preference for contemporary style homes. There are several nice choices in Highland Park, but very few in the surrounding suburbs.Similar Posts:

• Where to Look for Contemporary Homes in Chicago’s North Suburbs
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Houses and Refrigerators
• Highland Park’s Access to 5 Metra Stations
• Highland Park House Prices Up or Down Depending on Lot Size
• Highland Park’s Exceptional Service Grocer

Sunday a couple from San Diego and I started their home search by visiting some open houses in Highland Park. One of the local businesses that gives Highland Park its unique character is Sunset Foods. The grocery store differentiates itself from the competition by providing curbside loading of groceries and getting items for customers even if Sunset Foods doesn’t stock them! NorthshoreInsider.Com has produced a few videos about Sunset Foods that are available on YouTube.Com and its own site. Here’s one on Sunset Foods’ 70th Anniversary:

Similar Posts:

• Highland Park’s Access to 5 Metra Stations
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Homes Than Neighboring Suburbs
• Highland Park – More Contemporary Houses and Refrigerators
• Highland Park House Prices Up or Down Depending on Lot Size
• Where to Look for Contemporary Homes in Chicago’s North Suburbs

Saturday I was back in the North Shore showing 4 bedroom houses in Northbrook, Wilmette, and Highland Park. Here’s a visual representation so you can see how the average sale price for 4 bedroom houses in this area in the period 04/01/2005 to 03/31/2006 compares by suburb. The darker the green, the higher the average sale price. Average sale price is based on data from the Multiple Listing System of Northern Illinois (MLSNI).

Similar Posts:

• Glenview house sale prices drop the least in the middle of the market
• Northbrook Median & Average House Prices Increasing, So Are Market Times
• Northbrook 2 Bedroom Condo Market Stats
• Highland Park House Prices Up or Down Depending on Lot Size
• Cook County sees uptick in house sales between $650K and $700K