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Evanston Artist who Deserves Attention

07-08-08

Jack Lewitz: Real Estate Agent in Evanston, IL

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Office: (847) 674-6710

Mobile: (708) 309-5334

Michael J. Johnson is a local artist from Evanston, Il who deserves attention. I am allowing Michael the opportunity to describe who he is on my blog because I find his work absolutely beautiful:

” I am an artist. I paint animals, nature and portraits. Art is my job. When I was four years old the doctor told my family that I have Down syndrome. It’s no big deal! Sometimes I have to work harder but I get the job done. You can see more of my work on the Internet. Just search for Michael Jurogue Johnson.”

That is what I did and here is some of the work you will find by Michael.

Victorian House Portrait

Sunflowers

Summer Vacation

Golden Tunnel

These pictures and many more of Michael’s art can be seen at Michaels own website.

You can also learn more about Michael on youtube.

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Short Sales Make Headlines

06-02-08

Jack Lewitz

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Office: (847) 674-6710

Mobile: (708) 309-5334

Short Sales was the lead article in the Chicago Tribune this Saturday May 31, 2008. The article" Break for Sellers: Banks settle for less" defined short sales as the process where homeowners owe more than the house is worth.It went on to say that the housing crisis is so severe that both lenders and home owners see short sales as an acceptable alternative.

It is good to see an article open to discuss a difficult topic and it is even harder to give accurate information on the subject. For instance, the article interviewed a realtor who feels short sales is "screwing up" a lot of stuff. This realtor went on to say short sales in his market was the healthiest part of the real estate market now along with bank owned property. The article also accused short sales of scewing the market data, bringing home values down, and making neighborhoods look less valuable. I thought about this long and hard and decided to see some data in my own real estate market of Evanston, IL. Right now, Evanston has 360 single family homes for sale. There are 15 homes listed as short sales, and another 3 listed as bank owned properties. These 18 homes represent a total .05 % of the real estate market in Evanston. Clearly, it will take a long time for short sales to take over the real estate market in Evanston, Il. During the past couple of months 1 short sale has gone under contracct, 1 short sale has closed, and 1 bank owned property has closed in Evanston, IL. I cannot blame the loss in value to all homes in Evanston, Il to these few sales.

Further down in the article it stated it can take up to six months for lender approval for a short sale and this alone is removing potential buyers from considering non-short-sale home listings. While it is taking longer for banks to approve short sales it is not taking them away from normal real estate transactions. In Evanston there are 83 homes currently under contract and only 1 of these is a short sale. Clearly there are buyers looking to purchase homes that are not short sales in my market of Evanston, IL.

I think I am going to end this by saying that short sales are a realty and need to be dealt with but it should not be blamed for all of the problems we are now facing in the real estate market.

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Mitchell Museum Hosts the 2008 Golden Apple Awards Winners

05-19-08

Jack Lewitz

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Office: (847) 674-6710

Mobile: (708) 309-5334

On May 15, 2008 the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian was host to the 2008 Golden Apples Foundation Winners. Attending the event were all 10 award winners for 2008, Golden Apple Selection Committee and Northern Trust members who sponsored the event. Congradulations to all 2008 Golden Apple winners:

Holly Bontkowski, 8th grade Kennedy Middle School in Plainfield
Carol Broos, Music teacher 4th-8th grade Sunset Ridge School in Northfield
Monica Gil, 7th grade Gray Elementary School Chicago
Samina Khan, science teacher 6th-8th Clark Academic Preparatory Magnet High School Chicago
Nancy Kontney, 5th grade Sunny Hill School Carpentersville
Daniel Moravaji, 6th grade Lake Zurich North Middle School
Natalie Neris-Guereca, 5th grade Pershing West Magnet School Chicago
John Nieciak, Language Arts, 6th & 8th grades Sheridan Math and Science Academy Chicago
Brooke Thompson, Music teacher K-8 Pierce School of International Studies Chicago
Donnell White, Math teacher 7-8 Clark Academic Preparatory Magnet High School

Each of the 10 winners will receive a tuition-free spring term sabbatical at Northwestern University so look for them on the campus this coming spring.

The Mitchell Museum of the American Art was a wonderful place to host this event. Present at the event was John N. Low
the New Executive Director of the Museum who happens to be the first Native Director as a Pokagon Band Potawatomi Indian. I encourage those of you who have never visited the Mitchell Museum to attend one of the upcoming events:

June 1 12-4 pm: Mike Zoller -guest presenter: demontration of cordage making and fling knapping crafts

June 8 1 pm: Ben Secunda, PH.D Notre Dame: Lecture on the Podegon Potawatomi Indians

June 14 10:30-12:00: Kids Craft Morning: Bear Claw Neclaces and Fringed Anklets

June 21 6:00pm-8:00 pm: Drumming Circle-participate in the healing from sharing in music

June 22 1:00 pm: Documentary “Long Journey Home-The Return of the Delaware”

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Downtown Evanston

03-09-08

Jack Lewitz

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Office: (847) 674-6710

Mobile: (708) 309-5334

Downtown Evanston has something to offer everyone. It seems that new construction is everywhere. Central to the revitalization of the downtown was the Century 12 CineArts 6 Movie Theatre at Maple and Church Street.

Century 12/ Cine Art 6 Theatre

In the past 4 years new condominum projects have followed and more are on the way. A 40 story building is being proposed and this will be the tallest building outside of Chicago. This new building will add to the already occupied new units surrounding downtown. Some of these newer buildings are pictured below:

Optima Towers

Sherman Plaza

Mathew Backus of LA Fitness standing out in front of the new health club at Sherman Plaza.

Site of Propossed 40 Story Tower is near Fountain Square where Jenna, Tom and John are sitting during their lunch break.

Across the street from each other is the Orrington hotel and the new Evanston Public Library. The Orrington Hotel is currently going through a 34 million dollar renovation and will have 269 hotel rooms along with conference facilities and fine dining.