Alan May, Coldwell Banker Evanston Realtor, North Shore Realtor

Sometimes, there's just nothing you can do to make it look better... "heart designer frames", "your mother's pearls", and "lipstick" won't make this pig look any less like a pig.

There are those who tell us that we have to be circumspect, when talking with the public about our housing market. We've all heard our managers, and regional managers telling us when the public asks "how's the market" the stock answer is "Unbelievable". We're never supposed to tell the public that the market is down, or the market is slow, skittish, sporadic, or any terminology that would mean anything less than wonderful.

But the public is pretty smart, and perceptive. And there's no hiding what's been going on in the financial markets recently. The truth is, people have been holding their breath, waiting for something to happen, and the best thing we can do is to be honest with them, in my opinion.

When asked that question, and everyone is asking these days, I've begun telling people "it could be better". I've had a decent year, better than many, and worse than some. My family won't go hungry this year, and we're not in danger of losing our home, or cars so I consider ourselves lucky.

But it hasn't been a "banner year" for me, and the market is a bit skittish, and I don't think there's any harm in telling our clients. That doesn't mean there aren't deals to be had... there are. For properties, in our area, that are priced competitively they are selling. The house behind ours, just sold in 9 days, and the house down the street is under contract after 90 days. Homes are selling, and there are still buyers out there. They are just a little more skittish, and are searching for the perfect property.

So don't try to put lipstick on that pig. (It's not particularly popular these days) Call a pig a pig... there are a lot of positive things about the "other white meat". I've even heard that some of them have special skills.

What do you think? What are you telling your clients?

Happy New Year, or L'Shanah Tovah!

Today is Rosh Hashanah. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "head of the year" or "first of the year." Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year... (and according to the Jewish Calendar this is the year 5769). This name is somewhat deceptive, because there is little similarity between Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days of the year, and the American midnight drinking bash and daytime football game.

There is, however, one important similarity between the Jewish New Year and the American one: Many Americans use the New Year as a time to plan a better life, making "resolutions." Likewise, the Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year.

One symbol during this holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year. This was the second Jewish religious practice I was ever exposed to (the first one: lighting Channukah candles), and I highly recommend it. It's yummy. We also dip bread in honey at this time of year for the same reason.

So to my friends and colleagues at Active Rain, I say "L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevu" (Happy new year, and may you be written in the book of life!)... and if you know someone Jewish, and want to tell them happy new year... it's safe to say "Shanah Tovah" (Shanah rhymes with Wanna, and Tovah with Nova)

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! (Pay no attention to the financial debacle that's going on behind the curtain... because even as I write this... the DOW has recovered almost half of yesterday's loss). Next week, we'll delve into Yom Kippur and atonement. But I'll think about that tomorrow.

Many years ago... my sister-in-law lived in a home in Beverly Hills on Whittier Drive that came with a singularly pedigreed history. It had once been owned by Telly Savalas, and prior to that by Paul Newman.

At the time Telly Savalas was still a recent star, having starred in Kojak, with his cue-ball head, and ever-present sucker. There was a certain cachet to Telly and his family having lived in the home.

But Paul Newman was approaching legendary status at the time... by the time my sister-in-law lived in Paul's former home, he already had a long list of movies under his belt, Long Hot Summer (1958) Rally Round the Flag, Boys (58) Exodus (1960) (My mother loved that one!), From the Terrace (60), Paris Blues (61) The Hustler (61), Hud (63), A New Kind of Love (63) Cool Hand Luke (67) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (69) Winning (69) WUSA (70) The Sting (72) and Towering Inferno (74) The Drowning Pool, (75) Slapshot (77) along with many, many others... some whose names you know, some whose names prod a memory, and some who've disappeared into obscurity.

He went on to act in over 65 movies in a career spanning 50 years, and managed to remain a major star even into old age. His last on-screen role in a major film at age 77 was as Tom Hanks's gangster boss in Road to Perdition which was filmed, at least in part, right here in Evanston, using Charles Gates Dawes (vice president to Calvin Coolidge 1925-1929) family mansion as a backdrop.

OKAY... BACK TO MY SISTER-IN-LAW, JUDY.. one day, while looking out her bedroom window, which overlooked the driveway, which lead up to the wrought iron gates, that kept back the curiosity seekers and tourists who liked to photograph (and sometimes take a souvenir) from Paul Newman and Telly Savalas's former home, she saw a gentleman sitting on the hood of his mustang convertible, sitting in their driveway looking at the house.

She immediately called her husband, and said... "look, there's someone sitting in our driveway. Go shoo him away!" Her husband looked out the window... squinted a bit, and stated "That's Paul Newman!". Judy didn't believe him, so she peered out the window herself, only to see that he was right... at which time she made a sound that only dogs can hear!

"C'mon, we'll go downstairs and let him in... he used to live here, he'd probably enjoy seeing the old house". Judy, declined saying "no... I'm not dressed, I don't have any makeup on"... so her husband went outside... had a nice conversation with Paul Newman in the driveway. Indeed Paul was having a bit of nostalgia, he'd driven by the house and just wanted to stop and admire it. He declined an invitation to come inside. But gave his thanks and drove on.

By the time Judy had made her way downstairs and to the driveway she was just in time to view Paul's mustang turning the corner onto Sunset Boulevard, an opportunity missed, a legend passed.

Many buyer's agents, give a gift to their clients, at the closing... and then become invisible. They hold their breath, after the closing, because they don't want to hear their clients complain about the new house. They don't contact their clients in that critical first week after moving in, because they're concerned they'll hear...

"The water heater cracked and ruined the basement carpeting ... the light on the front porch doesn't work - how did we miss that? ... the dishwasher doesn't go through all the cycles, shouldn't my inspector have found that?"

This is the entirely wrong approach. If there are, indeed problems (complaints), you have three opportunities, to be the Greatest American Hero!

1) Make that phone call, listen intently to their complaints, lend a sympathetic ear... then when they're done... go to work... see if you can broker some repair work... call the listing agent... explain how their clients must have known about the leaky basement... clearly they knew that the light on the front porch doesn't work, since the light switch was covered with duct tape, and marked "do not turn on".

See if you can negotiate a satisfactory settlement of the situation. If you can, your client will view you as the Greatest American Hero! And it didn't cost you a dime. If you can't manage to broker a settlement...

2) You still have an opportunity to save the day! Have them bring a serviceman in, to give them an estimate on the repair... tell them that you don't want their first days in their new home to have a "sour taste"... tell them that you'd like to pay for the repair (of course this only works if the repair costs are reasonable, compared to the commission you've received)... if the repair is a very expensive repair you can limit your dollar amount on it... "I'd like to give you $500.00 toward having this repair done".

If you're really lucky, your client will say "This isn't your fault, you shouldn't have to pay for this." "I know" you respond "but this just isn't right... let me pay for it" you plead." "No, no" they insist "you worked hard on this sale. Lord knows my wife called you umpteen times during the last 30 days... you earned your money. But thank you very much for the offer. You're one of a kind". "Well, yes, yes, I am" (toe kicking the dirt, and blushing ever so slightly). You're the Greatest American Hero and it didn't cost you a dime.

3) Now, of course there's the risk that your client will take you up on your offer... and if they do... you're still the hero!! You've saved the day, made your client feel better, diffused the situation, and earned a client-for-life, along with everyone they tell this story to... (and they WILL retell this story) "Can you believe my real estate agent paid for my water heater? It wasn't even his fault, but he paid for it, and actually upgraded the 50 gallon that broke, to a 75 gallon, because he said we have 3 daughters, and 50 gallons wouldn't begin to be enough. Wasn't that sweet? Hey, YOU guys should use him!"

Win, Win, Win! Make that call!

In my e-mail today, was a letter from the Chicago Tribune, of which I am a subscriber and have been for the last 30 years or so. Chicago used to have 3-4 outstanding daily newspapers. The Chicago Sun, the Chicago Daily, the Chicago Times and the Chicago Tribune. At some point, the Daily & the Times merged, to become the Chicago Daily Times, and then they further merged with the Sun, to become the Chicago Sun-Times.

Eventually, the Chicago Sun-Times bent to pressure, and became a clone of the USA Today style of reporting, using large colour photographs, and huge headlines to capture attention, and setting content to the wayside. It's the modern "instant gratification" generation, and they can't compete with television.

That left one decent daily newspaper in Chicago, still immersed in a proud Journalist heritage.... the Chicago Tribune. The Chicago Tribune was founded in 1847, and while many have never read a copy of the Chicago Tribune, you're probably all familiar with the infamous front page that announced, incorrectly, in 1948 that Dewey defeated Truman.

Okay... back to the e-mail from the Trib. In the email, the Tribune announced they were reinventing my newspaper in ways they hope will enlighten, provoke, entertain and surprise me every day. They’re introducing new sections and content to make the Tribune even more relevant and useful to me in my daily life, while they maintain their commitment to compelling storytelling, blockbuster investigative reporting and illuminating analysis and commentary

Additionally, they provided a link and asked me to go check out the redesign, and please provide them with feedback. I clicked on the link, and found myself staring at a USA Today or People magazine style clone. I am aghast.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-tribune-redesign-htmlpage,0,7090729.htmlpage

I cannot clip any part of the new redesign... please click on the link, and let me know what you think. I recognize, that with today's instant gratification consumer, newspapers are falling by the wayside. My daughter (and her compatriots) does not have a subscription to a newspaper, and probably never will... She occasionally picks up a copy of the RedEye (a free Tribune publication the caters to the USA Today type-crowd), but gets the bulk of her news from the television, or the Internet (Yahoo's front page).

I know, I'm sounding like my own father, here. "When I was a boy...", but this dumbing down of a national icon saddens me greatly. I don't have the answer for the Tribune, or other nationally known newspapers. I know they're losing readership every day, and they're bleeding cash. Real estate is partly to blame, as we pull print ads by the thousands from print media, because it's an ineffective method of advertising listings and open houses. We've propped them up for years with full page ads of listing after listing, and open houses galore. Today we list everything on-line, which is current (live), allows for more descriptive text, more color photos, current open house information... at a much reduced cost.

btw... both of these images have been around long enough to be considered "public domain" today.