Mary Nack, REALTOR - Chicago IL

In 1977, I was a young bride and a young mother, we moved to East Ravenswood because of the amount of space we could find for the money. Little did I know that 32 years later, Ravenswood - now morphed into Lincoln Square - would still be my home! What are the things that have kept me here all these years? Compare your notes with mine and see if you agree:

1) I love Lincoln Square/Ravenswood because of its easy access to the Brown Line:
It took me years to get over calling it The Ravenswood Line. The Brown Line arm of the el system snakes through the neighborhood making access to downtown easy and convenient.

2) I love Lincoln Square/Ravenswood because I can walk to anything:
Welles Park, the Sulzer library (the first regional library in the city that replaced the Hild library - now the home of the Old Town School of Folk Music), The Davis Theatre and within the last 5 years the revitalization of Lincoln Ave. as the incubator of fabulous food - there is little reason to ever leave!

3) I love Lincoln Square/Ravenswood because the merchants know you:
This one might be my favorite. Just like living in an small town, after 3 or 4 visits, most merchants recognize you, call you by name and give you that extra service reserved for "regulars"

4) I love Lincoln Square/Ravenswood because of all the community activities at little or no cost:
From the "greening of Ravenswood" event in the Spring, the Ravenswood Art Walk, the Old Town School of Folk Music "Folk and Roots Festival", the Ravenswood 5k Run - the list goes on - there are so many opportunities to meet your neighbors and play with them for next to nothing.

5) I love Lincoln Square/Ravenswood because of thefantastic housing at still affordable prices:
I realize that this is a relative thing. However, we enjoy the amenities of Lincoln Park at 1/3 the price without the congestion. We can still park our cars in front of our homes. And, unlike Lincoln Park, we know our neighbors. We feel safe raising our kids and coming home late from work.

6) I love Lincoln Square/Ravenswood because of the fantastic schools:
There are so many excellent private and public school options - and at affordable prices: Pilgrim, North Park, Waters, Ravenswood, Bell, St. Ben's, Queen of Angels. Parents are involved and children receive lots of individual attention for the best learning environment.

I know you will agree with me: Lincoln Square is a neighborhood where we can "still park the car, walk to the corner bistro, raise the kids and even send them to Harvard." Share with me what YOU love about Lincoln Square - Ravenswood...

Serial entrepreneur extraordinaire Howard Tullman was interviewed awhile ago by Crain's Chicago Business. I just rewatched it again. It is worth watching, re-watching and taking notes. The man is brilliant. Check it out:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/TalkingManagement/Tullman.html

Howard has owned 11 businesses and is still involved with 5 of them. In this interview, he discusses some of the aspects of starting and managing a business. He teaches entrepreneurship at Kellog.

"All Things With Exuberance!"
mary!

Over the past 5 years or so, I have noodled around with different notions on how to help my clients invest shrewdly yet prudently in real estate. Believe it or not, when the market was so hot, it was difficult to find a "good deal". Apartment buildings were just ridiculous expensive. The prices at which they were selling had no basis in the amount of rents they were getting. That's because condo developers seemed willing to buy them at any price. Yeah, the condo market was blistering. Even so, I don't know how those guys made money. You know - the old "supply and demand" thing. Demand was high, but there was plenty of supply (as we now know). I suspect a lot of them lost their shirts - or maybe just their lenders did, since they probably financed 110% of the project and had themselves personally protected behind their "corporate veils". But that's another story for another day.

I have never wanted to be responsible for putting my clients into an investment that didn't accomplish their goals. The idea, after all, is to not just sell them one property but many. That can only happen if they are successful in achieving their goals. With the down-turn in the economy, the deals are much easier to find. Yes, financing is harder to get - but cash is always king.

(BTW - as a complete sidebar - a "sure thing" long term investment opportunity now may be investing in companies that make mortgages. Most of the bad loans have already been written off and the mortgages that they are making these days are crazy A+ paper! They really use any excuse they can manufacture not to make the loans. Pity they weren't 1/10 as scrupulous just 18 months ago!)

I have always maintained that if you're going in the opposite direction of the herd, you'll probably do just fine. People are afraid to jump into the market now - when they SHOULD have been afraid 2-3-5 years ago!! NOW they should be buying as much property as they can!! Prices (in Chicago) have rolled back at least to 2004 levels. With the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bail-out, interest rates may be coming down even lower. As I've already said, it's an inverse formula: a 1% INcrease in interest rates translates into a 10% DEcrease in pricing to offset that increase. Vice versa - if rates come down another 1/2%, a purchaser can easily absorb a 5% price increase. Even if we aren't at yet at the bottom of prices falling, it gives you plenty of buffer. The general consensus is that prices may drop another 1or 2%. Certainly not 5 or 10%!

I'm thinking we have about a 60 day window before interest rates start to climb. That window starts to close on election day.

To help my clients take advantage of current market conditions, I am instituting an "Income For Life" investment program. I will coach my clients all the way through from purchase to sale to assure their success. I am partnering with other financial service providers to create education forums in general financial literacy as well as specific real estate investing education. (We launch our first program on Thurs even, Oct 2. "News at 11".) I've always loved "Rich Dad's" materials. However, when you put the book down, you don't know where to begin or what to do. I want to remedy that. I want to move my clients from the theoretical to the practical achievement of their goals.

My current client base will serve as my "guinea pigs" as we refine the pieces of the program. And as such they will receive my services free. Once we have the kinks worked out, that will no longer be true. This is a program that can literally transform your life and be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in passive income! If what I'm saying makes sense and you want to participate, I urge you contact me today!

"All Things With Exuberance!"
mary!