Illinois

When in Glenview, Visit the Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago

02-09-10

Marla Schneider - Move with Marla: Real Estate Agent in Glenview, IL

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Office: (847) 657-3790

Mobile: (847) 682-9750

The Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago can be found in the Chicago suburb of Glenview in the middle of The Glen on 8.8 acres. Opened in 2005, the museum is located at 2100 Patriot Blvd., Glenview. It's the perfect place for every child 8 years old and under to learn all about the world around them.

The Kohl Children's Museum offers 17 hands-on learning exhibits geared to kids from birth to age 8. The many available programs and exhibits all meet the Illinois State Learning Standards. All generations of families will enjoy learning together with their children, and all children will find the exhibits equally accessible, despite differences they may have in their physical, visual, social or other abilities.

Two of the 17 Available Exhibits

While the Habitat Park area of the museum is located outdoors and dependent on the weather, at least parts of it are available almost all year, weather permitting. Such things as special climbing and spinning structures teach kids how animals move, there is an underground tunnel to explore, a prairie grass maze and small animals, birds and bugs who live in the Habitat. During the spring, summer and fall months, visitors can even learn about the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly.

In the Powered by Nature exhibit, kids will learn about turning wind and sunshine into energy. Youngsters will be able to push buttons that make wind which turns turbines to make energy to create lights.

A Great Reason to Move to the Glenview Area

If you already live in Glenview or Wilmette, you're probably familiar with the Kohl Children's Museum. If not, and you have young children, what are you waiting for? If you're just thinking about moving to the Glenview area, the Kohl Museum is just another great reason, on a list of great reasons, why this area is a wonderful place to raise a family.

Let the Marla Schneider Team help you find the perfect home in Glenview, Wilmette or Northbrook so you and your family can take advantage of the wonderful experiences available in the area. Marla has lots of homes suitable for families of all sizes and ages, so contact her today and find what you've been looking for.

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Buffalo Grove Real Estate Appraisal Information

02-09-10

Sharron Kelley, CRS, ABR,CDPE

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Office: (847) 465-3638

Mobile: (847) 980-0426

Here is some great infomation that will help out buyers when looking in Buffalo Grove or any Lake County Illinois Area. I was featured in Chicago Agent Magazine this month and was lucky enough to get some great answers about appraisals in the Buffalo Grove and Lake County Illinois Market and wanted to share it with everyone.

Q: SHARRON KELLEY CRS, CDPE, The Sharron Kelley Team, Coldwell Banker Buffalo Grove, 847.465.3638, sharron@northernillinoshomes.com

Q. How has the appraisal process changed and why are appraisals coming in low?

A: SHERYL ACKERSON, Vice President of Mortgage Lending, Guaranteed Rate, Inc., Skokie Branch, 847.972.5707, Sheryl.Ackerson@guaranteedrate.com

The prevalence of foreclosures in the current market is the major reason for the decline in appraised values. In the past 18 years, when there was a foreclosure an appraiser would typically be able to explain that this property was an uncommon exception to the market. In other words, both appraisers and lenders ignored this comparable. Now, nothing can be ignored and short sales and foreclosures are dominating the marketplace. Not only are appraisers using three sold comparables, but typically most also will show three current listings. If one of the new, current listings is a REO bank-owned property, it is there to serve as an indication of where the market is going.

In addition, in the past, upgrades or improvements to a home such as a finished basement or a new state-of-the art kitchen could easily add $35,000 to $50,000 to a home. Now upgrades seldom matter. In this manner, every house is affected.

Q. How do we get buyers to understand the appraisal process in today’s market?

When working with a potential buyer, we educate them that an appraisal is an independent, impartial evaluation. Only facts and figures matter; square footage and above grade bathroom counts have more to do with determining the appraised value than if there is a finished basement, new carpet and custom paint. Additionally — the timeliness of the sale — the closing date — is a principal, controlling factor. In today’s market, a comparable sale over 90 days is old news. In the past, lenders would allow comparables up to a six month period.

Another issue is the concept of “declining market.” An appraiser states that a house is in a declining market or in a market with an oversupply of inventory. In these instances, some investors are requiring an additional 5 percent down payment. This is happening more in the high-end market.

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, Long Grove or anywhere else in the Lake County Illinois area please contact me, I would love to help you out.

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Rental property can have very stable, respectful and reliable tenants. Chicago, IL

02-09-10

Alf Gizzo

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Office: (303) 679-0634

Mobile: (303) 350-9488

Rental property can have very stable, respectful and reliable tenants. Chicago, IL

Yes, that’s right! It all depends on product, location and first rate tenant screening. If you don’t have all three, your vacancy rate will be too high. Let’s discuss product first. We advise our students that they furnish their properties with clean serviceable items, new linens and art work on the walls. What you are creating is an environment that is very agreeable to the tenant, one that not only the tenant will look forward to coming home to, but also one, through pictures on flyers, web sites and word of mouth, will draw new inquires. We are all for building and keeping a pipeline.

Lots of furnished rooms for rent are not clean and be full of old, thread bear chairs, sofas, and soiled mattresses. Would you want to stay any longer than you had to in a place that does not support a healthy sense of self-esteem? Nicely furnished rooms engender good paying tenants, who stay for long periods.

Our preferred tenant populations generally do not have their own transportation so proximity to public transportation is necessity.

Key to this equation within our program is good tenant screening, which oddly enough does not include credit or traditional background checks. Our tenants are referred to us, so we learn about them and their history though direct questioning of people who are familiar with each possible tenant individually. We discover personal background information and work experience. This type of screening done systematically will produce good paying renters who stay for long periods creating a stable house.

To discover more about setting up transitional housing, please download our free Ebook from the side bar on our main blog site.

Don't hesitate to contact us with questions. Learn about us. Learn our system. Learn what others have to say about us and our system.

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FOR BOOMERS, YOUNGER HOMEOWNERS - Is Staying Put Going to be a Lasting Trend?

02-09-10

Dean Moss - Dean's Team Chicago IL Real Estate Team

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Office: (888) 770-8326

Mobile: (773) 290-8393

From Snowy Chicago, Good Evening, All!

You must remember - it wasn't all that long ago - the seeming never-ending cycle of homeowner migration and move-up. Young singles and newly-married couples around Chicago would start with a small condo as their first home. They would move up to a townhome, with more room, and more amenities.

When children came, the next move often involved a larger house in the suburbs, with shopping malls nearby, top schools aplenty, and lotsa room to grow.

Often, further prosperity and job security led to the purchase of a larger home, with even more deluxe features. Then another. Perhaps a third "trophy" home.

Many purchased second homes. A summer home in Rural Wisconsin, in the woods, or near a lake. Later on, a Retirement Home or Condo in Arizona, Florida, or The Carolinas. A ski condo in Utah, or Colorado. A timeshare in Costa Rica, even Panama.

Times have changed . . . yes?

According to the Urban Land Institute, in their study, "Housing in America: The Next Decade," and as reported in the Chicago Tribune by Real Estate Reporter Mary Ellen Podmolik, many older Baby Boomers - those in the Age 55-64 Group - have seen their home values slip dramatically. Many have little home equity left, and some are underwater - their current market value is below what they owe on their home mortgage (or, in many cases, MORTGAGES)!

Many Suburban Homes - especially those with larger homes distant from Chicago - are now not as appealing to younger buyers. Many prefer houses closer in to the city, to reduce commuting time and expense. Homeowners of every age may find the larger homes too big for their needs, and too costly to maintain.

Virtually every homeowner has seen the value of their investment and stock portfolios - those with components not related to real estate - dramatically fall in value. The additional disposable income needed to upgrade to a larger, more deluxe home, or add a second vacation property, is simply not there anymore!

All homeowners still in the labor force see their incomes have flattened - the promise of unbridled income growth, taken for granted just a few years ago, is not guaranteed now for most. Unemployment is still excruciatingly high, and a new air of frugality seems to have come of age.

So, what will result?

Those staying in their homes longer will now make improvements and upgrades that might not have been made when changing homes was so easy. Second home markets - beach towns on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan, for example, and those warm-climate golf-course communities in AZ or FL - may not quickly and permanently recover.

And homes will sell, buyers will still buy them - but it will likely take longer than it used to, stalling those impetuous "I want it all - NOW!"homebuyers so prevalent just a few short years ago. At least in the mid-term, many in Real Estate predict, those old-time, incredible gains and profits will be muted, even after the Chicago Real Estate Market truly recovers.

Perhaps that means a bit of a resurgence for Home Remodeling Contractors, trades people like plumbers and electricians, and those working, and running, the Home Depot and Menard's down the street.

We'll see!

Please read our post today via BlogChicagoHomes.com.

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

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Ex-Bull Chandler lists Northfield mansion

02-09-10

Helen Oliveri

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Office: (847) 967-0022

Secondary: (847) 967-0044

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Charlotte Bobcats and former Chicago Bulls center Tyson Chandler has placed his 20-room, brick-and-limestone mansion in north suburban Northfield back on the market for $3.395 million.

Chandler, 27, joined the Bulls in 2001 and was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in 2006. Just weeks before that trade, Chandler had paid $4 million for the three-story mansion.

In 2007, Chandler had listed the six-bedroom mansion for $4.9 million. He later cut his asking price to $4.5 million, $4.3 million and $3.75 million before pulling it off the market in May 2009. Now, clearly anticipating a steeper loss, Chandler relisted it Jan. 15 at a lower asking price.

Custom-built in 2004 and containing about 11,000 square feet of living space, the mansion sits on a 0.91-acre lot and has six full baths, two half baths, three fireplaces, a two-story great room, custom travertine and walnut floors, a chef's kitchen with a large breakfast room, a wine cellar, a home theater, an exercise room, a spa, a mud room, a four-car garage and a first-floor master suite with a large onyx bath.

"It has a French chateau-type exterior, with soaring ceilings and a very dramatic foyer that leads into a two-story great room," said listing agent Camille Bass of Coldwell Banker, who has co-listed the house with two other agents: her twin sister, Millie Weinberg, and Judy Pitek. "It also has all the bells and whistles that you'd expect."

Chandler is one of a small cadre of celebrity homeowners in Northfield, which has 5,400 residents. Other owners include Northwestern University head football coach Pat Fitzgerald, whom Elite Street exclusively reported last week paid $2.3 million for a 10,000-square-foot mansion on just over an acre, and Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who paid $1.055 million in 1999 through a bank trust for his 4,778-square-foot house on nearly an acre.

Grossman sacked for loss

Former Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman has taken a major loss on the sale of his 36th-floor condominium in Chicago's Trump International Hotel & Tower, unloading it for $2 million.

Now with the Houston Texans, Grossman, 29, closed on the sale of the 3,437-square-foot unit Jan. 20. The buyer is not yet identified in public records.

Grossman purchased the two-bedroom Trump unit in September 2008 for $2.681 million. Less than a year later, after the Bears informed him that he was not in their plans for the 2009 season, Grossman signed with the Texans and then placed the unit on the market for $2.349 million. He later reduced its asking price to $2.295 million. Features in the unit include Snaidero cabinetry, upgraded appliances, his-and-hers baths, hardwood floors and two parking spaces.

Grossman continues to own a three-bedroom town home in Lake Forest, which is listed for $849,000.

Sale for Kashul

Chicago sportscaster Steve Kashul has sold his three-bedroom, ranch-style house in Naperville, complete with a basement bowling alley, for $475,000, and he is renting a house in the same neighborhood.

The veteran Chicago sportscaster, who works as a radio host for Chicago Bulls broadcasts on WMVP-AM and hosts a weekly golf show on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, said he plans to buy a house somewhere closer to his full-time job as director of membership for the private Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer. However, in the short term, he said he and his wife are waiting to sell their second home, on Lake Holiday near Sandwich, which is listed for $429,000.

"Our goal is to sell that house on Lake Holiday and then buy one home," Kashul said.

Elite Street wrote in August about Kashul's listing of the Naperville house for $524,900. Built in 1956, the renovated 2,049-square-foot house has 2 1/2 baths, hardwood flooring and a kitchen with custom cabinetry, granite and stainless steel appliances.

The house's piece de resistance is the full-size bowling alley in the finished basement.

"The bowling alley is fully functional with an almost antique-style pinsetter," Kashul said in August.