Judy Chapman

When it comes to real estate, Baby Boomers should sell sooner rather than later.

Really? Baby Boomers should sell sooner rather than later? With the market so low and the buyers so scarce?

The answer just might be ‘yes’, since the largest generation of our time is poised to put an even greater strain on the already fragile real estate market.

Think about this:

Beginning this year, 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65 every single day.

2 MILLION

Remember another number.

According to a special report in Crain’s Chicago Business, more than 2 million Chicagoland Baby Boomers began turning 65 in 2011.

Even if 65 is the new 45, this is still the time of life when people begin to think about retirement. It’s also the time when they begin thinking of when and how they’re going to move on to the next stage of their lives.

Will they stay on in the house they’ve lived in for decades?

Or will they pull up stakes to find another dream?

In demographic terms, the Baby Boom Generation began in 1946 and ended 18 years later in 1964.

However, if you’re a Baby Boomer at the leading edge of the Baby Boom Generation — and are now in the exalted 55+ category — then you were born between 1946 and 1955.

If so, now is the time to start thinking of retirement. More importantly, you have arrived at the crossroads when you’re going to have to make a big decision one way or another.

THE FUTURE COMES SOON ENOUGH

Maybe you love your home and plan to stay put. You’re not alone. Many Baby Boomers treasure their neighborhood, their community, and their homes. If this is you, don’t even think about moving. You found your dream, and there’s no need to move on.

But maybe you’re one of the more practical, or even more adventurous kind, of Baby Boomer.

You might have already thought of unloading your empty nest and downsizing into something smaller and easier to take care of. If so, you’re a practical Baby Boomer.

If you’re the adventurous kind, you might be thinking of moving to a place where it never snows.

Whether you’re practical or adventurous, the time to start thinking about the future is now, not later.

COUNTING ON THE FUTURE

As Baby Boomers begin to retire and start collecting Social Security checks, they’ll have to be penny wise.

Spending priorities will shift from ‘moving up’ to ‘winding down’. They’ll switch from buying new cars to purchasing Medicare supplemental insurance. From punching the clock from 9 to 5 to doting on grandchildren, playing golf, and seeing doctors.

Where they live will play the biggest part of their retirement years.

THE GRAYING OF CHICAGO SUBURBS

In the Post World War II Baby Boom, families began to migrate from the city out to the suburbs.

The children of The Greatest Generation — the Baby Boomers — stayed on, moving out of the tract homes they lived in as children and into larger, more affluent neighborhoods.

As a result, the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago contain many communities with the highest populations of the Baby Boomers.

Suburb	% of Baby Boomers
Bannockburn	34%
Evanston	20%
Glenview	20%?
Highland Park	22%
Hoffman Estates	22%
Long Grove	31%
Northfield	28%

What does this mean for you and your community?

Think about it.

Real estate will experience the greatest impact in ‘aging’ suburbs. When Boomers decide to downsize or move to warmer climates, there will be a glut of houses in these Boomer communities

With a glut of homes on the market and fewer buyers to pick up the slack, home prices will be forced down … possibly even more than we’ve been experiencing.

Unfortunately, this will occur just as Boomers want to cash out their homes. For many, their single biggest investment is their homes. But now, with the real estate crash reducing equity, Boomers will face an even greater impact on their highly coveted equity.

INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

Boomers will not go quietly into that good night.

Sixty used to be threshold of ‘old age’.

Not with Baby Boomers. For them, the best is yet to come.

You earned it. You bought it. You loved it. Now you want to sell your Winnetka home.

Last month, 26 Winnetka homeowners sold their homes.

Currently, 226 are for sale.

9 months are required to sell current inventory.

Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC (MRED) multiple listing service and includes properties listed and sold by various participants in the MLS. Data supplied does not reflect all market activity in the area.

What does the future hold for Winnetka real estate?

Only this …

You can’t change the past.

You cannot predict the future.

You can only deal with the present.

I know this isn’t the answer you were looking for.

But if I told you anything else — like real estate is about to explode and prices will skyrocket through the roof — you wouldn’t believe me.

I could tell you to sell now by arguing the market will get even worse next year.

But I really don’t know what the market will be like next week much less 12 months from now.

I could tell you to wait until the market bounces back.

But I don’t know when it’ll bounce back. Or bottom out. Or how fast … or slow … the recovery will be when it finally happens.

This I do know.

When the market reaches bottom, it could take less than 10 years to regain the top. Or more than 30 years. Or anything in between.

You earned it. You bought it. You loved it. Now you want to sell your Glencoe home.

Last month, 6 Glencoe homeowners sold their homes.

Currently, 123 are for sale.

21 months are required to sell current inventory.

Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC (MRED) multiple listing service and includes properties listed and sold by various participants in the MLS. Data supplied does not reflect all market activity in the area.

What does the future hold for Glencoe real estate?

Only this …

You can’t change the past.

You cannot predict the future.

You can only deal with the present.

I know this isn’t the answer you were looking for.

But if I told you anything else — like real estate is about to explode and prices will skyrocket through the roof — you wouldn’t believe me.

I could tell you to sell now by arguing the market will get even worse next year.

But I really don’t know what the market will be like next week much less 12 months from now.

I could tell you to wait until the market bounces back.

But I don’t know when it’ll bounce back. Or bottom out. Or how fast … or slow … the recovery will be when it finally happens.

This I do know.

When the market reaches bottom, it could take less than 10 years to regain the top. Or more than 30 years. Or anything in between.

The Bahai Temple in Wilmette IL

Sometimes taking the scenic route along Sheridan Road in Wilmette can take you off the beaten path.

I was on my way into Chicago, but when I saw the dome of the Bahá'í Temple, I had to take a detour.

Bahá'u'lláh said, The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”

In a word, the Baha’i Temple in Wilmette IL is stunning.

As you drive along Sheridan Road, the dome rises up, unmistakable in its power and beauty.

The building was designed by Louis Bourgeois and built in stages between the 1920s and the 1950s, and formally dedicated in 1953.

In 1978, the temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The day I pulled off Sheridan Road was a fine, sunny day. A wedding was taking place inside, so visitors weren’t welcome. But there were many tourists wandering around the grounds, every one taking photos.

The building is a symmetrical wonder, and the surrounding gardens mimic the same geometric design.

The Bahá'í religion was born 150 years ago in Iran based on the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. Born of an aristocratic family, Bahá'u'lláh emphasized spiritual unity of all humankind.

According to Wikipedia, there are about five to six million faithful around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.

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You earned it. You bought it. You loved it. Now you want to sell your Glenview home.

Last month, 55 Glenview homeowners sold their homes. Of homes that sold for $500.0 or more (shown below), 10 homes sold in 3 months or less, and all of those homes sold within 12% of list price.

What does the future hold for Glenview real estate?

Only this …

You can’t change the past.

You cannot predict the future.

You can only deal with the present.

I know this isn’t the answer you were looking for.

But if I told you anything else — like real estate is about to explode and prices will skyrocket through the roof — you wouldn’t believe me.

I could tell you to sell now by arguing the market will get even worse next year.

But I really don’t know what the market will be like next week much less 12 months from now.

I could tell you to wait until the market bounces back.

But I don’t know when it’ll bounce back. Or bottom out. Or how fast … or slow … the recovery will be when it finally happens.

This I do know.

When the market reaches bottom, it could take less than 10 years to regain the top. Or more than 30 years. Or anything in between.

Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC (MRED) multiple listing service and includes properties listed and sold by various participants in the MLS. Data supplied does not reflect all market activity in the area.

More Glenview statistics

700Current Homes for Sale

55Total Homes Sold Last Month

13 Months Required to Sell Current Inventory