Home Selling Tips

Viking and Subzero Appliances cannot fully compensate for a messy home

August 3, 2009

Yesterday one of the houses I showed advertised a high end kitchen with Viking and Subzero Appliances. It also had 42″ kitchen cabinets and granite countertops which were very nice. However, what my buyers and I will remember the most about the home was the basement. The moment we reached it we all noticed the Click to continue...

Quoted in Chicago Tribune’s “How not to sell your house”

July 19, 2009

I was quoted a few times in today’s Chicago Tribune article, “How not to sell your house” by real estate columnist, Mary Umberger. I shared several stories with Mary about showings that didn’t go well or didn’t happen at all because of mistakes sellers made. First mentioned in the article was the seller who refused Click to continue...

Basement says “water problem” not “quality & care”

June 27, 2009

This morning I showed houses in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. The remarks in the listing for one of the homes included “quality & care”. Shown below is the “quality & care” we found in the basement. Several floor tiles were missing and the cord in the photo was for a large fan running in the Click to continue...

Bathroom Ranks Among the Worst

June 4, 2009

A house in the west suburbs sure looked nice online. Priced in the $300Ks it even featured a private tennis court. My buyers and I were intrigued, so I scheduled the showing first on our list of homes to see that morning. The basement bathroom (shown below) left us speechless. Yes, that’s pieces of wood Click to continue...

Home Selling Tips Are Back!

June 1, 2009

At the end of 2007 I focused this real estate blog on just the needs of home buyers. However, since then several people have still asked me to sell their homes and I did. I actually did pretty well last year selling every home I listed with an average market time of 61 days. Some Click to continue...

Survived a Badly Staged Home in Lake Zurich, IL

February 28, 2009

This morning I showed houses in the northwest suburbs including a badly staged house in Lake Zurich. Yes, the fake bread and cheese shown left greeted my buyers and I was we walked into the kitchen. Of course, there was also a bowl of small fake fruit on the counter. I understand that not all Click to continue...

Today’s ForSaleByOwner.com Press Release Misleading

February 11, 2009

Today while I was on Twitter, a couple of tweets (Twitter messages) caught my attention. ~Study from Realtors find that FSBOs sell quicker & for closing to asking price than agent-assisted sellers! http://bit.ly/F6Jc ~Realtors highlight the benefits of FSBO. Yes, I’m not kidding! http://bit.ly/3i0fLU As you can read from the link in the first message, Click to continue...

Why Real Estate Stats Can Be Misleading

November 25, 2008

In Sunday’s Chicago Tribune, real estate columnist Mary Umberger’s headline was “Near South Side homes selling, on average, for more than list price“. Mary reported Zip Realty’s finding that homes in the 60605 zip code had sold for an average of 106.4% of list price during the latest quarter! This is certainly the kind of Click to continue...

Messy Home For Sale in Arlington Heights

October 5, 2008

I feel bad for some listing agents. Some of their clients make it next to impossible to sell their homes. Such is the case for a house I showed yesterday in Arlington Heights. Priced in the upper $600Ks, the 4 bedroom 3 1/2 bath home in a nice neighborhood looked great online. It had nice Click to continue...

IRS Capital Gains Exclusion Less Now, If You Rent Your Home

August 23, 2008

Mortgage blogger Dan Green brings to light a little publicized impact of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 in his recent post, “With The New Housing Law, The $250,000/$500,000 Capital Gains Exclusion Is Gone“. This is a must read, if you are considering renting out your primary residence! 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...

Graciousness in Forest Park

June 6, 2008

This morning I arrived at a final walkthrough in Forest Park a few minutes before my buyers. Not only had the sellers taken care of all the issues from the inspection report, but the colorful plant shown left was in the kitchen. It was a gift with a lovely note from the sellers to my Click to continue...

Looking Beyond a Badly Staged Home

June 3, 2008

About a month ago I showed a house in River Forest to a couple. The house was nicely rehabbed, but the home staging detracted from rather than enhancing the look of the home. The furniture and accessories used to stage the home weren’t of the caliber one would expect for a home priced at just Click to continue...

Sellers, Don’t Lock Buyers Out of a Final Walkthrough

November 24, 2007

Last week a couple of my buyers had a closing for a house they bought in Bartlett. We scheduled a final walkthrough the night before so that they could verify that inspection issues had been resolved and that the house was in the same condition as when they last saw it. I arrived a few Click to continue...

How to Avoid a Closing Delay for Your Condo

November 13, 2007

I was supposed to have a closing this morning for one of my listings, but it’s delayed a few days. Every time I’ve had a closing delayed, it’s been due to the interaction (or lack thereof) between the buyer’s mortgage company and the seller’s condo association management company. Sometimes it’s the fault of the mortgage Click to continue...

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