[See this post in original format at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago]
Mother.
It sometimes starts a phrase that ends in an unflattering term. An epithet if you will.
And sometimes it's the start of a most emphatic declaration. As in the "mother of all wars." But a day like today it is the center point of a sentence that embodies gracious love and recognition of the pivotal role played by one's mom, by one's partner, by one's loved one, by one's wife. "Happy Mother's Day!" 
Where I am today and who I am today in large part stems from my mom. Fragile and aged today, and minimally cognizant of her surroundings, my mom was a heavy lifter in her day, supporting seven kids with the proverbial "ne'er do well" husband. Somehow and someway each of us made free from our humble southside surroundings. That I made it out and down to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (where 40 years earlier my mom had made it as the salutatarian of her class from Canton High School) is in large part due to my mom. And so time passes and goes on and things shift and circumstances change and lots of things if not most things are taken for granted until the day after 9/11 came and my mom suffered a catastrophic illness that literally had her flatline at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. Somehow she endured, she survived, but she had been robbed of a great deal of the spark that previously did shine from her brilliant mind. And she became much feebler. And as anybody who has witnessed illness knows, this is unfortunate. And perhaps it is unfair. And yet it is life. My wife and I, before we had kids of our own, cared for my mom. Today that role is admirably and capably performed by my brother John and his wife Janet in Galesburg. And as old Frederick Nietzsche would claim, that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. In the moment, though, it is not about growing strong, it is about putting one foot in front of the other, establishing landmarks to achieve and setting out for them. It is about making breakfast, washing clothes, changing linens and diapers, and extending a hand. It is about caring. And that is what mothers do. 
My wife, Nicole, for instance. She is a stellar mother. Making the kids' baby food from organic ingredients, laughing with them (and me), loving them without reservation while ensuring that they always look great and simply being a center point in urging our sons to grow into and become the best people they can be. And it rubs off on me. Not that my wife is mother to me. That's far too Oedipal. She is, instead, my friend, my counsel, my resource and my lean-to. And its impact on me is significant and increasingly permanent. Today I am the man I am largely in part due to the wonderful impact that Nicole has had on me. It's hard, isn't it, to describe what it is that a person does when they do it with grace and equanimity. But should you want to see it, simply observe my wife. Perhaps you are so fortunate to have someone so central and grounded in your life. I sincerely hope so. And I trust that today you will hear the ringing of a bell that serves as a wake up call for you to say "Happy Mother's Day!"
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Do You Have to be Cruel to be Kind?What's the deal with kindness? A few weeks back my wife said that in response to a fairly unreasonable and charismatically vitriolic Chicago real estate professional (with the term professional used loosely) that I should smother her with kindness. Desiring to do neither, I simply gnashed my teeth until her toxic emails receded toward the back of my mind like a ship headed to sea. But things that recede don't really. Recede that is. Unless they are "nipped in the bud," as Barney Fife used to exhort on The Andy Griffith Show, they return, recur, and reverberate.
It smacks of the definition once told to me for revenge - revenge, I was told, was the sword that will slay me as I seek to slay another. Double edged, I suppose. Another definition I found useful was - when you seek to dig the grave of a foe dig two, for one shall be occupied by you. Or, if you try to get even, you'll get even sicker. Ouch! With these consequences in mind, the goal for today is to to have the eyesight and mindsight of a child. Meaning? Instead of drilling through google to find the pithiest quote, let me share an anecdote. As is typical for much of my narrative, it has to do with something I learned from one of my boys.
From My Son Jackson Came a Basic and Lovely TruthSeveral weeks ago we were invited to a birthday party of one of Jackson's classmates. Julia was turning four and her parents were hosting a to-do at "Pump it Up," an indoor kids' playground with inflated ramps, slides, bouncing rings and climbing walls. The place promised to be a hoot (which it was). Point being? When we asked Jackson what he wanted to get for Julia for her birthday, without missing a beat he chirped "Flowers and a book." Wow, both my wife and I thought, that's pretty charming. And, like most parents, to see if it was a fluke we asked Jax several more times the same question, only to get the same response. On the verge of sleep, when a child's truth seems to flow the easiest, "Flowers and a book," came the groggy voice. In the car on the way to a restaurant, "Flowers and a book" as he yelled out the colors of passing cars. In the playground at the top of the slide, "Flowers and a book," before he amassed a few more bruises on his leg as he bounced down the slide. No matter when we asked, the response was the same - a sweeter than sweet utterance from a child who knows nothing but to be kind.
It's a lot more fun to hear a story rooted in the open truth of a smiling child than to be tied down as if by Lilliputians whose vexing negativity pins you to the ground on their terms of engagement. So step back you Lilliputians. Or else? Or I might roll over and, as my wife admonished me a few weeks back, smother you with kindness in the truest possible sense. I will be practicing my philosophy and reality of kindness through the day as I market Chicago real estate at an open house of my Roscoe Village condo for sale at 2801 N Oakley until 1pm. And from 2p-4p I will be at Belmont and Southport in a Lakeview new construction condo listing while my colleague Mitch Aronson will host my Lakeview condo for sale at 3118 N Sheffield at the same time. Caio!
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Seek and ye shall find. Age old advice. But it begs the question of when you seek how do you seek? Bottom line in our culture typically has been we want what we want when we want it. And so we become devotees of rapid provision. We go online with the ease of using our cell phone. Get it on the web. Turn to Amazon or Ebay or zappos or whatever purveyor you wish to insert in the blank line. It's no different with real estate. Or is it?
Folks seeking Chicago real estate initiate and maintain their searches to buy a Chicago home or condo at a rate of more than 9 of 10. That's astounding! But because for most of us this sizable expenditure is done maybe three or four times in a span of an average person's lifetime it strikes me as something that needs to be conducted with perhaps a bit of solemnity. Both on the part of the person doing the buying and on the part of the person doing the selling. What I mean by solemnity is a phrasing to yourself the question - "So, who do I trust?" And hand-in-hand with trust, is the implied question of where do you turn? For straightforward information. For facts steeped in knowledge. For someone capable and able to provide professional insights that truly bear in mind your interests. For a change. I'd like to say trust your gut - but in the disembodied world of email communication and stylized versions of a million me's online, what's the truth? Where does it rest? And who is dispensing it?
Follow the Trail - Paper or DigitalA good lawyer, as several of my clients are, will advise that you follow the paper trail. In an electronic age we can interpret the paper trail as the digital finger print intimating much about the person who really wants your business. In other words, what are you able to find out about the real estate professional who really wants you to be his or her next client? If you've registered online you know what I am talking about. You want to look at a house and you go to a Chicago real estate website that requires that you register with your email address. And all of a sudden your inbox is bogged down every day (sometimes multiple times a day) with needless detritus from an agent about which you know little except that he is polluting the broadband mostly with listings that bear little resemblance to the idealized home that you want next to be yours. What to do, what to do... The first place to turn is google or yahoo - plug in the agent's name and see what search results come up.If scant little shows up that may be a good indicator that the agent is not very rooted in the market (and that you may be better served finding somebody with more of a digital imprint). If a ton of stuff shows up, sift through it to figure out if the agent generating these results correlates with what you want and where you want to go as you buy a new home or condo. At the beginning and end of the day as you search for a single family or condo to purchase in Chicago or anywhere you are engaged in not only a home choice but also a fairly monumental business decision. Given the importance of this decision, the advice of The Real Estate Lounge Chicago is that you view it through the prism of determining who will best and most effectively serve your needs.
My strongest suggestion as you get ready to dig into the Chicago real estate market, affiliate yourself with a Chicago real estate professional who is skilled and experienced. In other words, make sure to work with somebody who has made it into the end zone. If you watch any sports, especially football, you hear broadcasters cajole the guy who celebrates too much upon scoring a touch down. Often these criticisms are punctuated by the phrase, "Act like you've been there before." In a very real sense the same admonition has a strong pragmatic application with respect to your choosing a Chicago real estate professional to represent you.What do I mean by this? By aligning yourself with a Realtor who "has been there before" you avail yourself to a skilled professional who will...
By the way, as you are right here, right now, The Real Estate Lounge Chicago is a perfect place to start and finish your Chicago real estate search with some of the best advisers in the Chicago real estate market. Our digital fingerprint is evident. And our reputation is unparalleled.
200 North Jefferson features a new and attractive price. This stylish River West one bedroom condo in a full amenity highrise with city and river views is now listed at $269,900. A deeded garage parking space is available for $25k. 2801 N Oakley will be open Sunday from 11a-1p. This spacious Roscoe Village condo includes a heated garage space in its $399,900 list price. 3118 N Sheffield will be open Sunday from 2p-4p. This high-end Lakeview condo offers three beds and two baths along with a garage space. New list price is $599,900.
[See this post at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago blog]
Late Night Phone CallIt rang. The other night, late at night, my phone rang. Actually it shimmied. Several weeks ago in a meeting I silenced it and found the resultant absence of chittering such a balm to my soul that I have maintained the silence. So two nights back when the call came the phone vibrated. And then it vibrated again, a battering ram of sorts against my shepherding of the initial call to voice mail. Thinking that perhaps there was an emergency, I picked up the second call and had poured into my ear from the other end a rough-edged voice that snorted, "We are so screwed." Half asleep I pieced together the words from the other end of the line but they made no sense to me until the voice on the other end continued,"And they're blaming the pigs... they're blaming the pigs..." "Little Pig?" I offered, taking a stab at who I thought was calling. Oblivious to me and anything I might say my sleep-interrupting caller kept up the monologue as I shifted to another part of the house where I wouldn't wake my wife or kids. With every step I took away from my warm bed my ears were weighed down by his complaints about life being unfair. Finally able to speak with a bit more volume I tried to stop his self-absorbed cascade, succeeding in getting a word in edge-wise only after several times brusquely raising my voice and saying, "Stop." "Little Pig," I said, gaining one his little pink ears, "I don't have the time or the patience to deal with this now." From the other end of the phone came a plaintive "snort."
Having captured his attention and waking up just a little bit, I went on, "I've been scouring websites trying to make sense of this. And I can't. All I know is that what's going on is crazy, like a bad sci-fi movie that would be on channel 32 when I was a kid. The other thing that I know is that Jackson was supposed to go to school Monday but we have kept him out for three straight days." Which is true. Because the school for the previous two weeks had been on holiday and there was a good likelihood that kids and their families had been south of the border we just didn't want to chance cross-pollination of this nefarious spreader. Some might say we are treading in the area of overkill. But the way we look at it is "what if?" Because the strain is particularly insidious with kids and older people and because it takes a few days to manifest and even after symptoms appear we as a culture tend to "tough it out," making our way even when bleeding, limping, coughing or on the verge of debilitation. Bear in mind, I am not advocating paranoia. But think of all the incubators you/we occupy... crowded elevators, planes, buses, classrooms... even uncrowded places like door handles. After wending my way through various websites for explanation and explication I feel as if I have been exhorted to extricate myself from the wind-blown path of the virus. Duck and cover. And stay covered!
And while the White House has urged that there be no panic, it becomes a bit more difficult to do just that when it looks as there's Swine Flu in a second school in New York a half-mile from St. Francis Preparatory School where the first cases were detected several days ago. And the European Union is urging travelers to postpone all but essential travel to the States and Mexico. This as the first report of Swine Flu has been indicated in Spain. So through today and likely through the end of the week we are acting cautious, keeping Jackson at home, extending his two-week holiday into a third.
And all of this takes place amid the swiftest pick up in the Chicago real estate market in well more than a year. Two listings have gone under contract for clients of The Real Estate Lounge Chicago, including a Wicker Park condo and a Lakeview condo. And showings have significantly upticked, including a Lakeview condo, a West Loop loft, an Andersonville condo, a Lincoln Square sfh, a River West condo and a Roscoe Village condo. And buying clients are taking good, long looks with the intention of making home purchases. You can sense in the air a wind of change, a sense of greater optimism and a feeling of hope for the future. But amid this cultural sea change is a deep hope that what is not also in the air is a perpetuation of the Swine Flu.
If I were from Boston (which I am not), I might say this - "It was a wicked busy day." I love the way those guys from Boston talk and use the word wicked. Maybe it stems from the fact that I have enjoyably witnessed my lovely wife repeatedly watch "Good Will Hunting." Or perhaps it's the parallel universes that Boston and Chicago occupy in my mind. Whatever the case is, Saturday was "wicked" busy. I had showings at four of my listings while I showed a buying client (whose condo just went under contract) six homes. And as the hands on the clock wound their way in a furious frenzy as I spun from River West to Lakeview to Roscoe Village to Oak Park to Lincoln Square to Wrigleyville I found myself face-to-face in my truck with a little green critter who called himself Jiminy.
I kid you not. It started with a subtle tingle along my left arm. "Just that sore arm" I thought. But I'll be darned if that rascal didn't read my mind and chirp, "Hey fellah, it's not your arm." Shocked in the way that you're shocked when you're driving and that precious container of coffee is tipping the wrong way and threatening to either besmirch your trousers or the passenger side floorboard, I jumped in my seat and nearly squished a sun-bathing squirrel in the process. Standing on my dashboard next to the happy Buddha who is front and center in my vehicle as if to ensure that the road I am traveling is safe stood this impish cricket, dressed to the nines and sporting a monocle that may have been fashionable pre-WWII. But on him it looked good. As did a certain churlish scowl that I suppose was meant to freeze me in my tracks. Instead I just chuckled and muttered "WTF." "Huh," said the little green rascal. "WTF? World Trade Federation?" deepening his scowl as he directed his beady gaze my way. "Not quite what I had in mind," I responded. And went saying, "Who are you - how'd you get in my truck - what do you want?"
"What I want," his voice swirling in a slow chittering, "is to know who is writing your copy?" My copy, I thought to myself as I said, "I have no idea what you are talking about." "Don't play coy. It's unattractive and it portrays me as something of a sap." Considering that my itsy bitsy counterpart likely had a brain less sizable than something my three-year-old might find on the tip of his finger after a moment of nasal exploration I thought that such a portrayal wouldn't be difficult to accomplish. But lacking the desire to be mean-spirited I simply said, "You've gotta help me out here." "The blog," he said. "And..." I responded, with a disjointed pause after the single word utterance sounding too much like a pained teenage girl who was rolling her eyes while flinching when asked a painfully redonkulous question by an obtuse parent. Fortunately the cricket was too enraged with my reticence to be affronted by my simpish call out to things teen. He just maintained his interrogative course as I directed my 4-Runner to the next appointment.
It turns out he had been training his monocled eye online to read The Real Estate Lounge Chicago blog for quite a while and he was certain that I was relying on some unidentified others to gain what I was calling my voice. Bristling with more indignation than Rhett Butler could have imagined I lifted my chin, thrust out my chest and issued a haughty sigh. "I have no one on retainer - my copy is my own." Sensing the sincerity of my tone and probably recognizing that I would easily silence his piercing voice with the flick of a finger or swipe of the hand the little dude started to whistle a different tune. "Your own copy! Your own copy! Remarkable! Adventurous! Tremendous!" "Hey, look, I don't need you to wax my back." I guess the sheer oddness of this combination of words replaced what may have been previously fear-induced as it dawned on him that ever run-on sentence, dangling participle and double entendre really did traverse the corridors of my mind as it made its way out through the tips of my typing fingers. Who else but somebody that said a thing like "wax my back" could conjure up Moses as a realtor or 2-year-old children issuing Zen-like aphorisms or "burying" St. Joseph images online
?
Partially Satisfied, His Inquiry PersistedAnd though I could tell he was satisfied I could tell that it was only a "pretty much" satisfied - something still was tickling his chirper. "There's something more?" "The photographs?" "Mine." "Yours?" "Entirely." "And the kids?"
As soon as he had said this I could tell he regretted it, and if to assuage my irritation he reached into the tiniest briefcase I had ever seen and pulled out an official looking document. It looked like a diploma and it read "Coalition to Eradicate Totally Asinine Internet Nonsense." "WTF," I said again. And he raised an eye over his monocle. "No," he interjected, "CERTAIN." "CERTAIN," I responded. "Fine. Whatever. What's the point?" "The goal of CERTAIN is to draw attention to those folks engaging in online chatter and to ensure that the chatter in which they engage is chatter that they create." "Really," I said. "You're telling me that purveyors of online thinking are kicking out canned content?" "They are." "The bastards" I muttered. "Don't they know about authenticity, value, voice and personal branding?" "What they know is the old paradigm" he said, exhibiting the wisdom of the majority of insects and animals in martial arts cartoons. "Your role? You've showed up here for a reason."
"I teach the path of the empty hand," he said. "Meaning?" "That if you had been one of what I refer to as the insentient gleaners I would have made you an offer you couldn't refuse." "Sounds serious," I said, briefly imagining that Prthe cricket resembled Don Corleone. "Making the internet safe for decent human beings to read original content related to the Chicago real estate market or any market where condos or homes are bought or sold is serious." "And the empty hand?" "Just like it sounds - I make the transgressor realize that putting down his laptop, emptying his hand, is his best and only option." "Any luck?" "There's the rub," he said as he appeared to chortle to himself. "The folks using canned writing or ghostwriters aren't creative enough to witness me." I was going to say something along the lines of all of it sounding crazy but in the current conversation it really did sound crazy and it was entirely possible that it was yours truly serving up both sides of the dialogue. So I simply opted for "WTF." "Yeah, it creates something of a pickle." Feeling somewhat defeated and a bit hopeless I asked, "So what now?"
"Give 'em enough rope." Baffled by that little nugget I looked over my shades to the cricket and said, "I don't follow you." "Precisely. Follow. Or to not follow. The thing is the reading public, the buying public, the selling public, they are smarter than these characters perceive. Let neophytes who think that society is so vapid as to accept or appreciate canned writing keep polluting the airwaves with content created in a sweaty cube half a continent away and they will find out the truth that the reading public, buying public and selling public will drop the canned content quicker than they'd upchuck Hormel Spam." He went on, "Blogs are today's version of a campfire. They are where we gather and tell stories, exchange parts of ourselves, where we get to the truth. It's where we add to and construct a stronger, more vital society. And the folks who try to take a shortcut and use stories that are written by others will violate the precept of finding and speaking the truth." He paused a moment, perhaps overtaken by the weight of what he was saying and what he was teaching me. After clearing his throat and with the solemness of a cricket-version of James Earl Jones he continued by saying, "And those whose voices are the product of outsourcing and canned content, they will find themselves to be wandering ghosts, with no audience except the occasional few who peer like those observing an accident site before they shield their eyes." "I like what you're saying," I veritably shouted at the tiny critter who had said such a mouthful.
To which he simply replied, "And I like what you are saying." And as he scrunched down on his haunches and readied to hurl himself into the "wicked" Chicago Saturday out of my 4-Runner he swiveled his itsy-bitsy head and over his green shoulder said, "So keep saying it my friend. Let your conscience be your guide. And when in doubt know that CERTAIN has a way with the empty hand." I nodded as he departed and vowed to do just that, to keep saying it.
Chicago real estate professional Thomas McCarey and his team at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago provide outstanding services to buyers and sellers of real estate in Chicago.
Going online is a smart way to start your search for real estate in Chicago. But as useful as the online search is, it is limited.
For instance, information tends to be out-dated. And sometimes descriptions of properties are simply inaccurate.
Because for most of us the sale or purchase of real estate is among our most significant financial activities it is important that this activity is not left to chance. As you get ready to sell and/or buy your next home, it is critical that you be able to turn to a realtor who you can trust.
Tom McCarey is that Realtor. I am one of the 160+ elite Chicago Realtors that Century 21 Sussex & Reilly employs in four Chicago locations. Since January of 2002, Century 21 Sussex & Reilly has grown into the number one Century 21 real estate brokerage company in the Midwest.
Here's why.
Ask my past clients and they will tell you that I am among the top realtors in Chicago because I work harder, know the market better, and I listen to them - allowing me to more aggressively and intelligently advocate for their interests.
When you are ready to buy or sell a property in Chicago, I would love to hear from you.
I specialize in the new construction and resale single families and condos and multi-unit buildings with an emphasis in Chicago's north and northwest sides. My clients often select the following Chicago neighborhoods:
When you are ready to make a move, contact me directly at 773.848.9241. And feel free to refer me to your family and friends when they are looking in Chicago.
We had searched for a home for over two years and had worked off and on with several brokers. None of them were able to come close to meeting our needs.
And then we met Tom. He was the only one willing to go the extra mile to find us the perfect place.
His patience, dedication and service went above and beyond the call of duty. Not only did we gain a beautiful house in a wonderful neighborhood, we also gained a lifelong friend.
When my husband and I decided to buy our first home, we contacted Tom for help. We were interested in several neighborhoods in the city, we liked several different styles of home, and we had a lot of flexibility in budget. While we were excited by the possibilities, it was very hard for us to narrow our focus and we became overwhelmed. Tom stuck with us and went above and beyond the call of duty to help us narrow our search.
Thanks to Tom, we were the first on the scene when new properties hit the market. Once there, Tom used his excellent eye for detail and knowledge of construction and design to provide counsel, many times providing more insight into properties than the selling agent!
Through all of our searching and indecisiveness, Tom was patient and steadfast until he found the perfect home for us. Because the property was new construction, the contract process was complex. Tom was able to guide us through this process and was a fantastic advocate for us. He is a skilful negotiator and his detail orientation is invaluable during the closing process.
I can’t imagine how we would have survived the experience without Tom - he is quite simply the best realtor in the city.
When my husband and I were checking out Chicago neighborhoods we were not even sure we were going to buy and we certainly were not going to use a realtor as this was neither of our first purchases. Then we met Tom McCarey at an open house. We ended up speaking to him for some time and he listened to us. We were impressed with his knowledge of the market and the area. We told him we had found a house that we would like to see but were having problems getting in touch with the developer.
Tom aggressively pursued the situation, which was important since another couple was also interested in the house.Tom negotiated the contract like a pro and thought of items to include in the rider that we did not. Tom batted for us the entire way through the process and ensured the developer did what he promised.
When it came time to sell our home, I turned to Tom McCarey. My discussions with him prior to signing a listing agreement assured me that he knew the market-place and knew what it would take to sell our property quickly. We had another property under contract and had to sell our home at top dollar fast.
He priced it right, made himself available for all showing requests and sold it in days.
And, while I was working 24/7, he took care of all the details to ensure a smooth transaction and provide us with a stress-free experience. Tom took a personal interest in making sure we got the best possible deal - going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that we had a rewarding experience. I highly recommend using him as your realtor.
I met Tom at an open house nearly a year before I purchased my home. He made an impression, so when I was ready to come back into the city from the north suburbs, I called him.
We talked about what I wanted in a house, what I wanted in a neighborhood, and what I wanted to spend. Tom was the best at providing me with timely information and in arranging showings. He also made sure to not only answer my questions but to show me properties that helped me make my decision.
Ultimately I decided on a new construction single family. Even after the contract was in place Tom's involvement continued, ensuring my satisfaction and a smooth closing. I couldn't be happier. I love my new home.
Approximately two years ago, my husband and I began our search to purchase a condo in Lakeview. We were already renting in the area and wanted to remain in the neighborhood that we had grown to love. Luckily, we met Tom who took the time to understand what we were looking for in a home and was undaunted by the challenge of finding us the perfect place within the very tight radius that we had defined as our ideal location.
Immediately, we were impressed by Tom's professionalism and knowledge of the properties and their amenities; he had had extensive experience with both vintage and new construction and was able to provide information about the properties and neighborhood that we had not considered.After looking at numerous properties - including negotiating contracts on two properties that we terminated due to inspection issues - Tom located the condo that we had been searching for and it was only two blocks from where we were living. He recommended an inspector and attorney who were both personable and professional to help us close the deal.
Tom was with us for every step of the process - we could not have done it without him. We are glad that we had the opportunity to meet him and would highly recommend his services and experience to anyone interested in looking for a home.
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