Archive for the 'Rants' Category
LAND OF THE FREE
June 4th, 2010 categories: Buying, Market Trends, Rants, Selling
Isn’t that a wonderful sight? The deed to your very own property! My good friend Keahi Pelayo has a wonderful video about the importance of owning real estate as a part of living in our democracy and I thought you would enjoy seeing it. We all to frequently forget that owning your own home or farm or property has not always been possible for every citizen of every nation. We are truly blessed in this wonderful country to be able to own a piece of land. Realtors can make a good living and also help people enjoy the benefits of living in our country where pretty much anything is possible. The men who framed the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution understood that the right to own property is the part of thefoundation of a free society.
If you have Chicago real estate questions, just call me at312-607-1306, or e-mail me.
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TALK, TALK, TALK
June 3rd, 2010 categories: Buying, Lifestyle, Market Trends, Rants, Selling
Technology is grand and glorious and frequently overrated–witness yesterday when several of my computer functions just refused to cooperate and used up my blogging time. Since blogging is one of my most favorite things to do, I was really upset that one of my most favorite things didn’t happen yesterday. Technology rose up and gave me a punch in the nose.
This caused me to think about how our computers have changed our communications with others. When I began real estate, 21 years ago, there were no computers and no cell phones. To find listings we used books that came out twice a week and obviously, were never totally accurate. If you didn’t find a home in the book, you assumed it was under contract or sold. As cumbersome as that system was, I did talk to my clients more.
And I’m thinking that was a good thing. Since I had done a great deal of telephone customer service in my past life, I could pick up nuances in my clients’ voices and I am sure they could do the same. This made me think about the wonders of e-mail and texting–both ways of communicating that become more popular by the second. Sure they are instant communication–and there is no way to pick up on the shades of a person’s voice tones–either mine or my clients. There is something great to be said about a good old fashioned conversation–complete with hesitation, laughter, and real words–not CU or OMG. So please know that I love to talk to people and I love to write real words!
Call me at 312-607-1306–it would be my very great pleasure to talk to you real time on the phone!
Here are a few other posts you might find interesting:
Used Car Salesmen, Realtors, Mortgage Bankers. . .
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MEMORIAL DAY MUSINGS
May 28th, 2010 categories: Lifestyle, Rants
Chicago is absolsutely insane with Blackhawk Stanley Cup Fever–the Asian Foo Dogs in front of the Peninsula Hotel are wearing Blackhawk jerseys. The statue of Michael Jordan in front of the United Center is wearing a Hawk jersey, helmet and even skates! And I’ve heard a report that the Art Institute lions are Hawk fans too! I even ran into a mini-rally in the lobby of one of our toniest mixed-use buildings. This collective lunacy set me to wondering about Memorial Day. In Chicago it is the first warm weather holiday and this year’s weather seems to be extraordinarily fine. Are we as a nation so diverted by things like the Blackhawks and a perfect weather three-day holiday that we forget the real reason we have this holiday. I am old enough to have lived through a few wars and war really is hell. Hopefully we won’t be so caught up in our own pleasures that we forget the thousands of our nation’s finest young men and women who made it possible to live in this glorious country–not perfect–the best in the world. Do we want anyone else’s imperfections? I don’t and I bet you don’t either. So at some time in the next three days, let’s remember our fallen heroes either formally or informally. We owe them a debt of gratitude.
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A GENUINE RUTH RANT!
April 29th, 2010 categories: Buying, Lifestyle, Market Trends, Rants, Selling
And here we go. You all know that I love Chicago, I love doing real estate and most of my business is with condo and coop buildings. Many, in fact most, buildings have wonderful management offices. The kind I like best are the ones that are operated fairly–no preferential treatment for Realtors who live in the building or worked with the developer of the building–everybody works on a level playing field when working with the management office and the board of directors to get a transaction completed. That is a wonderful atmosphere for both the building management and the Realtors. Mutual respect for each other and a sincere desire to complete the transaction.
Now we come to the nasty part–some buildings regard Realtors as their sworn enemies. They fail to understand that their employer is our employer–we both work for the same people–the buyer or the seller. Many buildings now have their floor plans, declaration, rule book, financial statements, and board minutes on line–wonderful! In Illinois, according to our Condominium law, we have to provide all of the above except the floor plans to a buyer. I just took a listing in a really nice building–one I love to work in. Before I took the listing, when I was meeting with the seller, I stopped at the office and asked about getting a floor plan . I was told that they are on line–super! So yesterday I went to the building’s website and tried to register so that I could print a floor plan–I couldn’t register. When I called the building, they said that you had to be an owner or a renter to access that material. I just don’t understand why they couldn’t have told me that in the first place. This is the same management office that takes a very negative attitude about anything a Realtor asks for, not just floor plans. The immediate response to any question is “No, we don’t do that in this building.” I understand a strict management policy about leaving keys, about 30 days for board approval and all the many requests we Realtors can make. I just don’t understand every “NO” being delivered with an attitude–a humongous negative attitude–almost a how dare you even ask attitude. If they genuinely can’t accommodate a request–I understand–just don’t make me feel like a blithering idiot because I asked. Most buildings will at least give you an explanation, many will suggest another way to accommodate or answer the question. Let’s hear it for management offices who are truly understanding while still maintaining the rules!
Need info about condo buildings in Chicago? Just call me, 312-981-2360 (direct), or cell, 312-607-1306. E-mail is great also
Other posts you might like:
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CHICAGO – MY KIND OF TOWN!
March 22nd, 2010 categories: Buying, Lifestyle, Rants, Selling
This has not been a spectacular winter for this blogger and the flu–I spent several days last week absolutely wiped out–canceled more appointments than I usually cancel in an entire year because I just couldn’t shake the bug. Blessedly I am back at full strength today and wanted to share with you some of the thoughts I had about Chicago while I was getting better. Part of this has to be an expression of my gratitude that I live in Chicago. How lucky I am to walk through a park on my way to and from my office each day! It makes me feel like I am going to work in Paris! In winter the park benches are snow covered and the bare branches are overhead with their bare and lacy arch . In late spring there are several extremely fragrant lilac bushes at the north entrance to the brick sidewalk that crosses the park. Driving north on the Outer Drive last week past the Lincoln Park Lagoon, I noticed that the weeping willow trees sported that chartreuse haze that precedes their leaves–all the other trees were black and bare and didn’t even have that fullness at their branch ends that tells us that there will be leaves and maybe blossoms.There are also some wonderful orange and yellow fake trees that the Chicago Park District and a local artist have placed along the lagoon at the south end–their purpose is to brighten the winter landscape! What a great Park District to cheer us through our inevitably gray Chicago winters.
The three days of sunshine brought up our tulips–just the tips of the leaves–and wouldn’t you know, on Saturday they were all covered with a blanket of heavy wet snow! Ah, well, that’s spring in Chicago! My eye found one other new thing last week. Isn’t it amazing how you can perform the same action many, many times and never see something? As I pulled our car out of our garage one day, I noticed that there is a door immediately opposite our garage door that says “Stage Door.” And it is just that–I have seen semis unloading scenery there several times–I had just never seen the sign that designates it as the “Stage Door.” Even though the Drury Lane Theater is dark right now–it’s kind of cool to walk to work past a Stage Door and through a park! So there you have it–a few reasons I am grateful to be living in Chicago that have nothing to do with the Matisse exhibit currently at the Art Institute or the new Weather presentation at the Museum of Science and Industry–the museums are just added benefits!
Questions about Chicago real estate? Call me, 312-981-2360 (direct), or cell 312-607-1306 (cell phone). E-mail works too!
Other articles you might enjoy:
A Stimulus Package for Realtors! Fabulous!
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words
A Healthy House Is A Green House
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SQUARE FOOTAGE NOT SO SQUARE
March 9th, 2010 categories: Buying, Market Trends, Rants, Selling
Frankly, square footage gives me the willies. It makes about as much sense to me as a square watermelon! In one of my early years in real estate, I was nearly sued for misstating the square footage of a condo. I had quoted the developer’s number, which virtually every other listing in the building used, a perfectly normal thing to do. Or so I thought. The problem arose when the buyer of the unit measured the home and came up with a different figure. Square footage was extremely important in the buyer’s part of the world and totally irrelevant in the the seller’s native land. So there I was stuck between the two. With some skillful negotiating by the attorneys (there are times when it comes in handy to be in an attorney approval state), the matter was resolved without a law suit. Lesson learned! I am still very reluctant to quote square footage on a listing.
Why do I feel square footage is a poor way to measure the value of a home?
- No reliable uniform standard for measuring–no rules. Does the balcony count? Are we measuring from the outside of the front door to the outside of the front wall? Or, are we measuring from the inside of the front door to the inside of the front wall?
- Think of some of our vintage condos here in Chicago–what do you do with a hall that is six feet wide and thirty feet long? How much of that space is usable unless you have a lot of pictures and need a gallery. You might prefer a larger living room over a long hall! And don’t even think about that rounded turret on some of the buildings–how do we measure that?
- Lots of deals are coming apart at the seams right now–inaccurate (according to the appraiser) square footage can result in an appraisal being rejected.
- Square footage is extremely subjective and most agents know that buyers want the biggest home they can get for the money–this can result in an overstatement of the square footage by the selling broker. When you check the Multiple Listing Service for properties, you can see square footage variations that will curl your hair–another reason to know the broker you are working with.
So there you have it–square footage is not a reliable measuring tool for figuring the price of a home. So much depends on who furnished the numbers and how the square footage is measured and who measures it.
If you need to talk about Chicago real estate, plese call me–direct dial is 312-981-2360, cell phone is 312-607-1306, e-mail works too!
Other posts you might enjoy are:
Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Too!
How Not To Sell Your Home and How To Sell Your Home
The Closing Is The End–The Very End
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VALENTINE MUSINGS
February 12th, 2010 categories: Lifestyle, Rants
Sometimes Valentine’s Day seems to be just another one of those Hallmark Holidays–we’re bombarded with ads selling us chocolate and flower combinations for $19.95, No offense to Hallmark it’s just that I find this sort of activity a big turn off on the whole idea of Valentine’s Day. That is why I was so happy to find my daily post from Jerry Hannon. My good friend, Jerry Hannon, has the best, coolest, funniest, thought-provoking website ever. It is called “It’s Great To Be Me.” His license plate is IGTBM–he is the embodiment of a positive, kind, generous man, His Valentine’s day poem follows:
Oh please, please,please! Can it finally be mine
That elusive and slippery Valentine
You know the one, it makes us complete
And gives meaning to living, that no easy feat
So while roses are red and violets are blue
There’d be no one more happy, if all this were true
But I sorta suspect that the love that’s our goal
Is always within us. . .it makes up our soul
Next Jerry quotes Ogden Nash, “I claim there ain’t another Saint as great as Valentine.”
His closing comment is “What about Saint Godiva?!
If you would like more information about this quirky inspirational site, just click here.
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FRIDAY! IS FRIDAY A DISEASE THIS WEEK?
December 4th, 2009 categories: Rants
Somehow I do feel that I have the Fridays this week. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend–full of love and family and food. The week until today was pretty normal–usual round of phone calls to return. One of the nicest clients I have ever had, a young first time buyer, is having a very hard time getting his property to closing–that has taken hours of phone calls and more hours of phone calls. And that’s OK–it’s part of my job. I don’t really have much to complain about and I just don’t feel like I made much progress with anything this week–no Christmas shopping was done. I am enjoying the pictures of our friends children and grandchildren as they arrive. Our washing machine broke and I guess I’ll have half a washing machine as one of my Christmas presents! One of our favorite restaurants, Boston Blackies, has gone into Chapter 11. My e-mail is totally our of control–I don’t even feel that I have been putting out e-mail fires very effectively! I can’t explain it–I just have the Friday blahs! So bear with me and I’ll find some scintillating subject for Monday’s post, I promise! And it isn’t even Friday the thirteenth! Have any of you ever had the Friday blahs? Let me know–thanks!
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COMMON SENSE FOR THE TAX CREDIT EXTENSION
November 2nd, 2009 categories: Buying, Market Trends, Rants, Selling
Just as the woman in our picture is climbing a ladder, the tax credit has helped our economy climb the ladder out of the hole it has been in. The very, very best analysis of what the tax credit for first time home buyers has done and what an extension and/or an expansion of that credit could do has been written by Kay Severinsen and can be found in the Chicago Sun Times. Kay is one of the few people who recognizes that housing is a huge economic engine for our country. Just think about it–even with the most modest home purchase, the new home owner will buy a gallon or two of paint, a couple of paint brushes, perhaps some wire closet accessories or a new garbage can. And that is for the low end buyer–obviously, many, many thousands of dollars can also be spent on remodeling, new window treatments, etc., etc.,etc. This money sifts through our whole economy and is essential to the recovery of our nation’s financial system. Please, please, please read the article and contact your representative and your senator. Click here and read the whole article.
Here are some posts you might find helpful and/or interesting:
Would you like some help sorting through Chicago real estate questions–just call me, direct is 312-981-2360, cell phone is 312-607-1306 or e-mal.
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.COM! BAH, HUMBUG SQUARED!
October 5th, 2009 categories: Rants
If any of my faithful readers have wondered what happened to me last week, I did not fall off a cliff. Here we go on a tearing, raging rant. I have written about how the internet has enabled buyers to weed the possible from the impossible without traipsing around all over kingdom come viewing homes. I appreciate the blessing of e-mailing listings that I have screened to buyer clients. I love having the MLS on line instead of going to the big fat books that were the source of information twenty years ago when I began as a Realtor.
What I do not appreciate is the total mess that technology makes of my life and my business now and again. To start with, my company changed phone providers. For some unknown reason my headset doesn’t work and there are two other phones with headsets in the office and they don’t work either. This still isn’t fixed–hopefully this week the headsets will work again. The next technical glitch last week was when the Multiple Listing Service changed the way we sign-in. I couldn’t access any MLS information for my clients or for me. The tech staff was totally overwhelmed–this happened about noon on Wednesday last week. On Thursday I was able to backdoor access to the Multiple Listing Service. During those two days I could not get into the program that enables me to write this priceless prose either. I was within seconds of lying on the floor screaming and kicking–an unseemly act for a kindly grandmother! Finally on Friday, I connected with someone at the MLS tech desk who restored sanity to my .com life. By then it was four p.m. and I was fried, totally fried. I like my blog! I like to write my blog! I love receiving people’s comments–so here I am, back at it again!
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