Archive for the 'Rants' Category
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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CHICAGO ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS? WHY?
July 24th, 2009 categories: Buying, Market Trends, Rants, Selling
Why should you work with a member of CAR? Here are a few of the reasons I think membership has value to buyers and sellers.
- All members of the Chicago Association of Realtors must abide by the code of ethics. If you work with a non-member agent and feel that you have been treated unfairly, your recourse is a law suit or registering a complaint with the Illinois Office of Banks and Real estate.
- If your Realtor is a member of CAR, they are subject to arbitration and the loss of their privileges. The fear of losing their membership can keep scuzzy Realtors (yes, we do have a few) from doing too many naughty things.
- Membership in the Realtors association gives your Realtor access to all of the listings and the entire pool of buyers (if you are a seller).
- Education–there are many seminars and lots of on-line training for Realtors. Many of us enjoy learning in order to increase the value we give our clients.
- The cost is minimal in the big picture of real estate–if an agent is not a member one of four things may be taking place:
- They may have been asked to leave the board because of a disciplinary action by the board.
- The fees for membership are too high. Perhaps the agent has not been doing enough business to be able to afford membership. An agent gets better with the number of sales they make. Perhaps the agent who cannot afford CAR membership is not able to best represent the client’s interests because of a small volume of sales.
- They don’t understand the value of the Chicago Association of Realtors membership–to me this is pretty basic ignorance.
- The focus of their real estate business does not require CAR membership. Since your home is usually your biggest investment, do you really want someone who does not concentrate on the buying and selling of residential real estate to represent you ?
As you might guess, I am a member of the Chicago Association of Realtors. If I can help you please call me at 312-607-1306 or e-mail me.
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IS REALTOR BASHING A NEW HOBBY?
May 20th, 2009 categories: Buying, Rants, Selling
Sometimes I think it is. I do hear some pretty horrendous stories from my cients and I often wonder how that unfortunate situation could have been avoided. I hear some equally horrendous stories from the Realtors in my office and wonder how the story could have been prevented. Realtors are not all created equal. We’re different from each other in a lot of ways. Sometimes a client will ask to work with me after an unsuccessful attempt to buy or sell a home with another Realtor. When this happens I wonder if they thought to qualify their former Realtor in any way. I don’t and won’t listen to a client with a litany of complaints about another Realtor.
My suggestion is that we go over some basic thoughts before we enter into a buying or selling relationship. I don’t want to hear that the former Realtor only showed them properties that were $25,000 to $50,000 over the top price that was the client’s comfort ceiling. I don’t want to hear that they never got feedback on showings. I don’t want to hear any of the negative experiences that the prospective client might have had–I want to start fresh!
If the prospective client is a buyer, I like to have them come into the office for a meeting so that we can go over some of the important parts if the process of buying real estate. I want to assure the buyer that I won’t raise the price of the properties we see without their telling me to do so. I truly want the client to have a wish list and then prioritize the list–is it a condo with a washer and dryer, is it a condo where they can have a dog–just what are their dreams and how do they rank. By having the client come into the office, I can show them how I search for properties for them.
If the client is a prospective seller, part of my listing presentation is to ask them what is the most important thing about their listing agent–is it feedback, is it open houses, is it advertising–just what is it they want their agent to do for them. I like to go over the process of getting ready to sell, what happens while they are on the market–what it is that I am doing to sell their home. In downtown Chicago, we do not use lock boxes so that means we have to show our own listings–I like my sellers to know that I WILL be there unless they have given me permission to share their key. I want them to know that showing appointments can run late, that showing appointments can be canceled at the very last minute after they have spent two hours getting their home in model home condition for the showing. I want them to know how the selling process goes–it’s ups and its downs.
So I guess that the point of this rant is for the client to qualify the prospective Realtor by making a priority list of the things you expect from your Realtor and for the Realtor to help the client understand the process. If just a little bit of time, say an hour at the most, were given to this pre-qualifying process a lot of realtor bashing and client bashing could be avoided.
I really don’t have any related articles for you to look at–this blog is sort of a half breed–half rant and half buying and selling.
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CHICAGO REAL ESTATE NEWS vs NATIONAL REAL ESTATE NEWS
May 19th, 2009 categories: Rants
Last October I ranted and raved on this subject and I am about to do so again. There is no such thing as national real estate news! All real estate is local–that piece of ground with or without a building on it is location specific. The downtown Chicago market is different from the suburban market is different from the far south city of Chicago market is different from the northwest side of the city of Chicago market. It really is that specific! In some areas of the city, Realtors use lock boxes. In downtown Chicago Realtors don’t use lock boxes. In many areas of the country, even very expensive single family homes are on lock boxes. I know that lock boxes can’t qualify as news–they are just an example of how things are different by area, even very small areas. Our downtown market seems to be much more active the past few weeks–more inquiries, more e-mails, more of everything that says real estate is reviving! What I am hearing from suburban Realtors is that their market activity has not picked up yet.
This goes along with my certainty that real estate news is just as local as weather. Having lived in Chicago for almost all of my life, I know that I can be walking down the lake front very comfortable in a jacket and walk even just a half mile west away from the lake and be comfortable without the jacket. We’re getting such mixed reports from the media about the national real estate market that I think we should just ignore those sources–keep up with things in Chicago and let the rest go. FORGET THE NATIONAL NEWS ABOUT REAL ESTATE!
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PAINT THE BLAHS AWAY!
February 9th, 2009 categories: Lifestyle, Rants
Your new home is wonderful–you love everything about it except the neutral paint–the get-it-sold-blah. Easy to remedy–figure out a basic color scheme and go to work. Paint is probably one of the easiest cheapest ways to add spice to your home. And paint to day is so eco friendly that you will feel responsible when you use it. Just one wall in a brilliant color can make a huge difference. Paint is still the best way to a new look!
Use the some of the same shade in accessories and upholstery–more and more people are recycling their old upholstered pieces by slip covering or reupholstering. This is the time when we all need to think about our environment and our impact on it.
Related Articles: Do What To Sell My Home?, 1-09
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CLOSETS, CLOSETS, CLOSETS
January 27th, 2009 categories: Lifestyle, Rants
There are never enough and never too many. Organizing your closet can be inexpensive or over the moon in cost. Probably the first order of business is to clean out and throw out all the clothes you haven’t worn in a year. Closets are sort of like hardwood floors and granite countertops–they have worked their way down the amenity chain until now they are an expected amenity.
- Wire is probably the least costly way to organize your closet–all the big box stores have it and there are drawers that can be fit into the systems. This type of organizer can frequently be installed by the homeowner.
- Melamine is popular–it is sort of like a kitchen counter top in appearance. It is available in white and colors. A skilled do-it-your-selfer could probably do the job.
- Veneer is the next step up in price. The cabinets and drawers usually have composite wood insides but veneer fronts. This kind of cabinet can be stained to match your floors. Probably best professionally installed.
- Solid wood is of course the most expensive–this kind of cabinet is just like a custom made kitchen cabinet. Also probably best done by a professional.
- Accessories can make the heart of the most compulsive neat freak happy–shoe cupboards, tie and belt racks, baskets, divided drawers for lingerie, locked drawers for jewelry, hampers, fold-down ironing boards.
If you are really, really serious about getting your closet act together–hire a professional closet organizer. A professional can help you understand your needs and clothes storage habits and take your foibles into account–all the little personal things that you don’t think about. And do remember–an organized closet will definitely help make your home more attractive when you decide to sell it.
Related Articles: Clean Your Closets–A Great New Year’s Resolution!, 1-09
Need to talk to a real estate professional about finding a home with lots more closets–call me at 312-981-2360.
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