Barrington, IL

Barrington homes with basements are more common than not, but let's first decide which kind of basement you want.

Barrington Homes With Basements - SLAB

No basement at all. The house is built on top a slab of concrete. Of course if you've never had a basement then you cannot miss what you've never had. The question is, are there pros and cons to buying a Barrington without a basement? The answer is yes, especially if you are buying at the median price and above because future buyers looking at Barrington homes with basements are likely not going to want to look or buy your home. Slab homes are typically cheaper due to lower construction costs.

Start your search for Barrington homes with basements.

What About Crawl Spaces?

Not quite that slab of concrete but they are as described. You can crawl into them and often the base is mud, or gravel laid on top op mud. Mostly used as storage areas they can be lined with thick vinyl to keep dry. They also allow access to the underneath of a home where a lot of the heating ducts run as well as plumbing, electric etc.

Barrington Homes With Basements - Dungeons

OK so I am being unfair they are not really dungeons. This is an entry level basement, full height, some are partial basement and partial crawl. When finished these basements can add more living space to the home and there will always be egress windows (escape) to let some light in. The better your light fixtures they better they are. You'll often find full bathrooms in basements adding to their value. A full basement will add value to a property and even more if it has been finished. It is very common to see these types of basements in homes in Barrington.

Start your search for Barrington homes with basements.

English Basements - Lookout

Moving up the value ladder will be Barrington homes with basements that have windows, the kind where you can actually see out. Referred to as English basements, one or two sides to the basement are partially higher than the grade of the land, allowing for windows instead of walls and lots of natural light to come through. To allow for this there is usually some sloping of the lot on one side and at the back of the lot.

These can be full or partial, full being the most common. More desire-able due to the natural light when finished it's not unusual to find great rooms or large game rooms with sofas, even mini bars added. Adding an additional bathroom can add even more value.

Start your search for Barrington homes with basements.

Time To Escape! Walk Out The Door.

Barrington homes with basements probably count for more than 95% of the housing stock but if you want the best and highest usage as well as value look for Barrington homes with basements called walk-outs. But be careful. Walk-out means simple there is an exterior access and exit. This can be a door or sliding doors or mutliple sliding doors. If you just have a door and then meet steps to walk up that to me is not the best option. Older Barrington homes with basements may have this type of walk out but I have seen new construction done this way too.

If I wanted to find Barrington homes with basements that were walk-out I would be looking for the grade to be below the door and any windows, giving you the feeling of being on the main level. Hilldside ranches offer this type but builders have got more creative and you'll often find newer homes that offer full walk out basements. This type adds the most value to a home.

Start your search for Barrington homes with basements.

Why Do I Need a Basement?

What do Barrington homes with basements get used for? If the basement is un-finished they are mostly used for storage. Full basements can be finished with drywall, flooring and dropped ceilings, adding great rooms, playrooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, bars, really anything you want, adding a lot of living space, great for families.

In case you have not already started searching, if you are in the market to buy, Barrington homes with basements will sell better down the road, so think about what you choose and let me know if I can help.

If you want to start your search for Barrington homes with basements, you now know what to look for.

South Barrington Real Estate - 2011 Year End Review

January 18th 2012 already! This month is flying by so I must get the remaining market reports done for 2012. Today we'll review South Barrington real estate sales during the last year. In case you are a first time reader or not a local, South Barrington real estate is known for it's luxury homes in the zip code 60010. South Barrington real estate has suffered alongside the rest of the zip code. Values have fallen, sales have slowed and while not a majority of the market, we have not been immune to short sales and foreclosures.

South Barrington Real Estate Market Report-Absorption Rate

This chart has a few tales to tell. The difference in South Barrington real estate sales between the two halves of the year is astounding. In the first 6 months there were only 9 sales. The second half had 37. Thankfully the last 6 months had a more balanced sales activity. In 2012 we have 10 South Barrington homes under contract so sales in the first half of this year should be better.

Our absorption rate shows we are still in a buyers market with about 9 months of supply. A small increase in list to sales ratio was seen but we really need to pull this up a little to 95%. If listing your South Barrington home in 2012, your average days on market hovers around 200 days. Ask me to make suggestions on how to beat that number. Corinne: 847-363-3686

Was 2011 good for Barrington real estate? Will 2012 be better? Well I don't have a crystal ball so I cannot answer the last question so lets look at 2011. It's interesting to look at the year as a whole to find average marketing times, average sales prices, and what our inventory status is.

I am only reporting single family homes here, adding attached homes like condos and town homes would skew these numbers too much, so they'll be available shortly in their own report.

I have looked at sales during the whole year but also compared them with the last 6 months and last 3 months to see if the trend is the same throughout the year. The numbers tell me it's pretty steady with little variation.

You can see that the average sales per month in Barrington doesn't vary much, the last 3 months of the year showing only a slight slow down. Maybe that's the mild winter we have had to date, keeping buyers in the market.

We still have well over a years worth of inventory, but had I taken out the upper quarter of the data, i.e. the homes over $2 Million this would likely decline to about 9 to 10 months. It's the high priced homes that are still sitting and with long market times it can paint a bleaker picture overall.

Our average marketing times are a better measure for sellers to go by, especially if their home hovers around the average sale price with in 2011 was just under $580,000. If you have a high priced home, buyers are scarce and you need to be patient.

Overall 2011 was firmly on the side of a buyers market here in Barrington Illinois.

My thoughts are this is unlikely to change much in 2012. Hopefully with the very low mortgage rates we have right now, the first time buyers will continue to buy and this will create the domino effect of moving sellers up to our market.

I am seeing a positive sign. December is usually a slow month for my Barrington web site traffic. This past December bought over 2000 visitors to my site, with about 25% being repeat visitors. So interest is high and I for one am encouraged by that.

More market reports will be published here, or visit my Barrington real estate blog and subscribe to them all.

I recently read a comment online from a consumer on another web site that got me thinking about how contracts and earnest money work differently in every state. Today I am talking about Illinois and the reason I want to get this in writing is because the writer thought there was unethical behavior-which in fact there was not. Let's answer the first question.

When Is Your Contract Secure. I am of course talking about your contract to buy a home. In the business we refer to them as Purchase Offers. Why? Well because to begin with that is what they are. So here is the process:

1. You find a home you want to buy.
2. Your Realtor writes up a purchase offer and you sign it.
3. Your Realtor presents your offer to the listing agent.
4. Listing agent presents and discusses offer with seller.
5. Seller either rejects, accepts or counters the offer.
6. Any negotiation concludes and terms are reached. Changes are made on the offer to reflect changes.
7. Purchase offer goes back to listing agent.
8. Seller signs document.

If your Barrington home is for sale, it's likely part of a subdivision. With the exception of homes in the center of the village of Barrington, it's an important piece of information about your home for sale. Which Barrington subdivision is it in?

While not all buyers know which subdivision/s they would like to live in this does not apply to every buyer. Local buyers may know the area well enough to have not only a target village but a target subdivision. They may go online and search for homes using the subdivision as part of their search criteria. So what happens if they search by subdivision, your subdivision, and your home does not come up in the results?

Simply they don't see your home for sale.

Taking this one step farther a buyer might contact a Realtor and ask to be sent a list of homes in a specific subdivision. I can search my MLS adding all their criteria including the subdivision name. Our system relies on the data input by the listing brokerage/agent. If the subdivision is not input, your home would not be returned in the results, and therefore not included in that list I just sent out.

Estates at Lake Barrington - A Subdivision Entrance

Our MLS input forms have mandatory information needed, like address, price and a lot of other data. Subdivision name is there but it's an optional field. Your subdivision is freely available information. Even if you are not sure, or it's not obvious, the tax records generally have the information. All Realtors using our MLS system have access to the tax records, it's linked directly by PIN - Property Identification Number.

I highly encourage you to check with your listings agent to find the Barrington subdivision your home is in and publish it as part of our MLS data. You never know, it could grab your buyer!