Archive for August, 2008
Empty Nests are Glorious!
August 29th, 2008 categories: Lifestyle
An empty nest can filled with glorious golden moments. No wakeful nights waiting up for the car to come home, the ability to have scrambled eggs or a bowl of soup for dinner if you want. What a relief–they are all gone–finally! When our last son left for college, my husband, Jim, and I sat around and listened to the clocks tick for a few weeks. We were living in Beverly, a lovely suburban-like neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, in a four-bedroom, three-story plus attic home. It was great for a family of four sons–we all enjoyed it a lot. And when it was over, it was over. We have never looked back. Our first move was to a large old co-operative apartment that needed a total renovation–it was fun and we loved the space and the neighborhoods, Lincoln Park. And then our sons were beginning to be married and to establish careers in other cites so it was time to move. We moved into a rental condo in Streeterville, a very crowded, urban neighborhood just east of Chicago’s famous Michigan Avenue shopping area, and after a year or so, bought a home in the same building. This has also worked well for us.
Probably the best part of moving in from a suburban area is the availability of restaurants, movies, theaters, shopping of all sorts. A car is not even a necessity unless you commute by car to work. It is different and much more adult than the child centered lives we all led before and if you MUST have a place to grow things in the summer–buy a condo with a balcony or a townhouse with a small yard! We have loved living in the center of activity–sure the fire engine and ambulance sirens can be annoying–after the first month or so you (at least we) don’t even hear them. It is exciting, interesting and absolute bushels of fun! The availability of restaurants, movies, theatres, museums–everything is right at your fingertips and frequently within walking distance!
Deciding if you want to sell your present home or not is the first step. Deciding where you want to live is the next step in the process. There are soooo many wonderful neighborhoods in Chicago! Many people like to rent a place for a year or so to try out the idea of living downtown, and to try out a neighborhood and just generally becoming acquainted with the lifestyle–trying it on for size. That is a very good beginning. One of my blog posts is called SOS! Real Estate Info Help. Click on Ruth Karel to read the post and do feel free to call me at 312-981-2360 if you have questions.
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Real Estate Conversations
August 23rd, 2008 categories: Buying, Selling
This is a direct steal from a friend of mine in Honolulu, Keahi Pelayo, I have changed a few things to reflect our downtown Chicago condo market. For some really good information about Honolulu real estate, visit Keahi’s blog.
Real estate is a great business. As a Realtor, I have the opportunity to represent people in the sale or purchase of one of their most significant assets. As a result, I am required to have ongoing consulting and advisory conversations concerning various aspects of a transaction. I classify these conversations into two groups, easy and hard.
Almost anyone can have the easy conversations. These include things like the following:
- Congratulations, your offer was accepted.
- Your loan is approved.
- You received a lower interest rate than we expected.
- The seller took our price on the offer.
- The seller agreed to close earlier and this will allow you to move in when you wanted to.
- The seller agreed to pay $5,000 of your closing costs.
- The buyer is willing to pay full price.
- The buyer is paying cash.
- The city has bought that empty lot for a small park–nothing can be built to block your view.
- There are lots and lots of other “good news” conversation.
Hard conversations that I don’t want to have with my buyers and sellers and I HAVE to have them are:
- Your loan was approved, but it’s at a higher rate than you wanted.
- The buyer will be using a VA loan and this means you will be paying more closing costs.
- Based on the condominium minutes, it appears that there may be a special assessment in the near future.
- At this time nobody knows what will be built on that vacant lot. If it is a high rise condominium building, your view will be blocked.
- The buyers loan approval was due on Monday the the loan process doesn’t apear to be going well. You may want to consider canceling the sale.
- We’ve been on the market 30 days and have not had any offers, based on this activity level, it is time to consider redcing the price.
- If we don’t reduce the price now, you could end up getting less money six months to a year from now.
While almost any real estate agent can havea the easy conversations, it takes an experienced professional to have hard conversations. By now you’re thinking what’s the point?
The point is this. A professional real estate agent is good at both conversations and goes out of their way to make sure that any required hard conversations are handled in a timely manner. Timing is key because the longer a hard conversation is put off, the greater a potential issue can grow in magnitude. In my experience, many agents “go underground” when it is time to deal with difficult conversations, especially about price reductions. A true professional wants to deliver a clear picture of the situation, possible solutions and potential outcomes of a course of action. Ultimately, the client is the one responsible for making the decision concerning their transaction. A Realtor’s job is to guide the process so that the client has the information to make the best decision for himself or herself.
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SOS! REAL ESTATE INFO HELP
August 11th, 2008 categories: Buying, Selling
There is a wealth of information for buyers and sellers of real estate in the Chicago area. Here are some places to go for help in understanding today’s real estate market in the Chicago area.
The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times have Friday and Sunday Real Estate sections complete with articles about all kinds of real estate related topics.
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Baird & Warner won Chicago Magazine’s best real estate website award this year. ALL of the listings in the area are included in our website, not just Baird & Warner listings.
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For more general information than most people would use in a lifetime try Ilyse Glink. She has a wonderful wealth of information on her web site. One of Ilyse’s books, “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask,” should be a must read for every first time home buyer.
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realestate.com is another commonly used site. The difficulty with that site is that not every realtor posts their listings on it so it is better to look in the Baird & Warner site.
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And of course! If you like what you are reading, you can subscribe to my blog by enhtering you e-mail address in the blank space to the left of the copy on the first page of my blog, or you can call me at 312-981-2360. I would love to share my ninetten years of experience with you!
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First Time Buyers Welcome!
August 9th, 2008 categories: Buying
First time buyers are wonderful! I have enjoyed them during my whole career of real estate sales. Today’s first time home owners usually come equipped with a good idea of where they want to live, what they can afford to buy and a wish list. Most common items on the wish list:
- View
- Washer and dryer in the home
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Doorman
Today’s first time buyers are educating themselves before they begin looking with a real estate agent. There is so much information availabae on the interneet for everyone. They most frequently know the area, the price range, and how their wish list can be filled. All of this knowledge is thanks to the internet. Frequently they have calculated their mortgage payment on line. The Baird & Warner site has all of the listings in Chicago land and was voted the best real estate website by Chicago Magazine. After they have searched on their own, most first time buyers want the guidance of an experienced professional to help them through the hurdles of first time home ownership. I would also suggest that they look at my previous post about where to find information.
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