Marla Schneider - Move with Marla

Novice and experienced antique collectors alike will want to pay a visit to Chicago's Merchandise Mart's International Antiques Fair, running from October 2-5. Tickets are $15 each and may be purchased online or at the door.

The Fair includes over 100 international dealers offering a wide range of antique styles including 20th Century Design, Americana, Asian, Folk Art, Furniture, Glass, Paintings, Jewelry, Tribal Art and much, much more. There will surely be something to thrill every collector who visits the Fair.

To celebrate this year's Lincoln Bicentennial, the Fair is hosting a special display of several historic flags and banners, as well as the only original bed from Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois, home that has survived all these years. Also on display will be the table that was used to write the surrender document that ended the Civil War.

This will be the perfect venue for attendees to ask questions of expert antique collectors, learn what it is that makes these items one-of-a-kind, and see for yourself fabulous antiques from days gone by. For links to more info about the Fair, including where to purchase tickets, visit the Fair Overview.

To find the perfect home to house all your beautiful antiques, visit the Marla Schneider Team and look at some of the homes offered in Glenview, Wilmette, and Northbrook.

It's not news that 9 out of 10 of today's prospective home buyers use the Internet to scope out homes for sale in the area of interest to them. If you're one of these house hunters there are several sites you may want to look at in your search.

Two of the most famous are Trulia and Zillow. They're both well-known and pull in about 3 to 4 million unique visitors a month. However, there are some others that are not so well-known that are worth looking at for the things they offer home buyers.

The first one is Listingbook. It's data is fresh as dew on the morning grass since it comes directly from MLS. You can easily find local listings and open houses in the area you're shopping. An account does have to be set up through a broker, but nothing says you can't work with other brokers as well. This site isn't available yet in all states, but it probably soon will be.

Another great newer site is Doorfly. Just submit what you want in your new home and agents will compete to serve you by offering an incentive rebate. So far these rebates have ranged from $200 to $6,500.

Market Snapshot is worth a look too. You'll find it on the home page of Realtor.com. It's claim to fame is current market trends. Put in an address and get back a free report about nearby areas. You'll learn about asking prices as well as selling prices for homes in the area, available inventory and much more.

My last suggestion is Walkscore. This site is perfect for those moving to a neighborhood that is unfamiliar. Type in the address you're considering to get a list of nearby stores, schools, restaurants, movies, libraries, parks and other places of interest.

If Glenview, Northbrook, Wilmette or the North Shore is your intended purchase area, another great site to visit for all kinds of info and help is the home of the Marla Schneider Team. Marla and her agents are all familiar with this area and can quickly track down the answer to any question you may have.

If you're living in Glenview, Wilmette or Northbrook, you're close enough to enjoy all the great names in entertainment Chicago has to offer, practically on your own doorstep.

To purchase tickets for some of the many upcoming entertainment and sporting events coming to the Chicago area, visit American Towns Chicago Tickets.

Local sporting events available in the next few weeks include baseball with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, football featuring the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, more baseball from the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field and even hockey with Chicago's Blackhawks at the United Center.

Entertainment includes a relatively new but highly popular group, recently featured on America's Got Talent, Jersey Boys, singing at the Bank of America Theatre. The Blue Man Group, a favorite in Vegas and other large venues, will be performing at the Briar Street Theatre. Join Dennis Miller at Park West or Bruce Springsteen at the United Center. Later in September Van Morrison will be performing at the Chicago Theatre and Mikhail Baryshnikov can be seen at the Joan W. Irving B. Harris Theatre.

Talent like this and many others you'll want to see are in the Chicagoland area all year round. Living in Glenview, Northbrook or Wilmette can be a very entertaining experience! Let Marla Schneider and her team help you find the perfect home for you near all the fun of Chicago.

For our seventh tip, we're going to discuss the basement. If you missed any of the previous six tips, here are links to each one for your reading pleasure: Remodeling the Bathroom, Updating the Landscaping, Updating the Kitchen, Updating the Exterior, Adding Another Room, and Upgrading an Outdoor Area. If your house has a basement, here are a few thoughts on what you might do to it to add more liveable space to your home.

While homesellers in the western United States may be able to recoup around 100 percent on their investment in updating a basement, those in Wilmette and other midwestern areas will usually be more likely to only get about 73 percent of their investment back when selling a home with a remodeled basement. So you may want to really consider this improvement carefully before putting this much money into a house you're planning to sell.

On the other hand, if you want to stay in this house for a few more years and enjoy the basement remodel before selling, it might be the perfect remodel for you. Expect to spend as much as $51,000 to add a 20 x 30 entertainment area to the basement. This would include a wet bar, recessed lighting, laminate flooring and even a small bathroom so guests don't have to go upstairs to visit the facilities.

If you decide to go this route, be sure to assess and fix any flooding problems your basement may suffer from first. After the problems are fixed, be sure to test them before spending the money for new flooring only to find out that there's still a leak.

For a less expensive upgrade, consider just adding the wet bar with cabinetry and laminate countertops. Add a stainless steel sink, under-counter refrigerator and subflooring to eliminate cold concrete floors, and then cover it easily yourself with self-stick carpet squares. This type of redo would run around $2,500, quite a difference from our earlier remodeling suggestion.

If selling your Wilmette home is on your mind, visit the Marla Schneider Team for lots of info and tips on how to get the best price for your house. If you're thinking of buying in Wilmette, Glenview, Northbrook or on the North Shore, see what Marla's team can do for you.

Everyone loves being outside in the fall of the year. The weather is cooler and crisper and great new smells fill the air. This year a visit to the Wagner Farm, located at 1510 Wagner Road, near Glenview, has several different fall activities your family is sure to love.

The Wagner Farm is a real farm that was owned and operated from 1855 until 1997 by members of the Wagner family. When the last Wagner passed away, the Village of Glenview was able to purchase 18.6 acres of the property to use for educational and interpretive purposes. If you've never been to Wagner Farm or if it's already a place you love to visit, you won't want to miss the activities they have planned for the 2009 fall season.

Beginning on September 12th, the Wagner Farm first fall special event is a picnic supper, barnyard dance and ice cream social. Bring your own picnic and enjoy live music and square dancing, wagon rides and ice cream sundaes. This event is from 4 to 8 p.m. and is free for kids under 2 and $6 for everyone else.

On September 26th, the Wagner Farm is hosting a Harvest Bonfire from 5 to 8 p.m. Enjoy cider and s'mores around the crackling bonfire for only $3 per person.

Bring the kids or grandkids to Build Your Own Scarecrow from 1 to 4 p.m.on October 10th. Bring your own old clothes to create that special scarecrow. A pumpkin head along with the straw needed to stuff your scarecrow and scarecrow-building expertise if you need it, is provided. The charge to participate depends on how much straw stuffing you use in creating your scarecrow.

From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on October 17th, you can enjoy the Corn Harvest Festival at the Wagner Farm. It's free to those under 2 years and $3 for everyone else. There'll be farm animals to see and smell, harvest activities such as picking corn by hand, horse-drawn wagon rides and apple pressing.

For directions to the Wagner Farm, questions, or just to learn more about them, be sure to visit their website.

Living in Glenview or in nearby Wilmette or Northbrook will put you close to great activities and fun places like the Wagner Farm all year long. Talk to the Marla Schneider Team about homes for sale in the area or see what other area information is available on her website.