I deal with lots of rural property in an area that is quickly changing to residential. I just showed a 13 acre beautiful property that was zoned residential with $8500 per year taxes. The owner claimed it could be zoned for horses just by putting horses on the property. That is not the case. The zoning department is not necessarily the friend of land owners and more likely friends with the tax assessor.

The zoning department was originally created to protect unknowing potential buyers from unscrupulous builders and developers. They established minimums and maximums for such things as setbacks, building size, usage of the property and safety for the general public. 

Today to change a property from one zoning to another you can look at the tax basis to ascertain how a property is likely to be zoned. The higher the tax rate the easier to get zoning changed to that higher rate. It is fairly difficult to get zoning down zoned hence from business to residential or in our case residential back to agricultural. These are questions that you should ask your realtor and possibly need to retain an attorney to straighten out before closing on properties today. 

Home warranties today range in price from $375 to $500. When paying out fees for title, attorney, loan app, flood certification do I really need a home warranty? The answer is yes. The average home buyer is usually pressed to make their payments and have enough money to live. The last thing a young home buyer needs is an unexpected major appliance to fail. A furnace is $2000 and up same for an air conditioner. The $400 is a great assurance for a new home owner.

The other side of the coin is, more and more the courts are filled with litigation from consumers being taken advantage of. The best way for a seller to avoid any implication or impropriety is to offer a home warranty to the buyer. It will give you peace of mind.

Third, real estate agents, the purchase of a home warranty will protect you from further litigation and a great incentive to offer your buyers.

The Yorkville real estate market continues to ease amidst fed loweering prime rate and imploding mortgae market. The average home price in Yorkville is 3.28% below last years mark and is just under $241,000. The market peaked back in August of 2005 when home sale prices average $280,000. That is a 32% decrease in home prices and rivals other hot markets like Phoenix Arizona, Las Vegas Nevada and Port St. Lucie Florida. The number of homes that sold this month totalled 41. The average number of days on the market was 87.

If you would like statistics on your neighborhood or town please give me a call or email me and I will get your inofrmation to you ASAP. 

The Oswego Illinois real estate market is back to normal. The price of  an average priced home in Oswego Illiniois has skyrocketed this month to 15% higher than a year ago this time. Granted a year ago the market was in the tubes. The numbers this month are 1% below where the market was back in August 2005.

A year ago the following month of September was 16% above August if this scenario holds true then this year for September the average home price will be well over $300,000. for the first time ever. The one factor that has continued to worry home sellers is the market time. Surprisingly , again our Oswego market continues to run between 8-10 weeks that is an acceptable and helathy number.

Call your realtor today to find out if the time is right to sell your home. Should you need the services of a full time seasoned realtor then please give us a call.

 Click picture for more photos and virtual tour of 2755 Lahinch. Broker tour 10-3 September 20th. On Supra.

Leava a card for a gas card drawing. Price reduced to $249,000. three bedroom 2 full and 1 half bath. full basement brick paver patio and a wooden playset from Menard's. Thanks for showing.

The reduction in the amont of FSBO (for sale by owners) on the market today is an indication of the seriousness of the declining housing market. The seller would like to cut out the fees realtors work hard to earn. I do not blame them for wanting to save money and when the market is hot they have a chance to save thousands of dollars. It is in these tough times that the true value of a professional realtor is understood.

The price is still the number reason why homes sell or sit. Mr seller price your home to sell or your neighbor will. You will help him sell his home because you are over priced.

The number two reason is condition with home prices averaging over $250,000 why would anyone want to spend that kind of money to do lots of work on it. Buyers are looking for a nice home for their family not another project. The professional stagers here on Active Rain can for sometimes just a few hundred dollars make your home stand out above the formidable and large cintengency of homes for sale.

Both of the above reasons have nothing to do with realtors. They are up to the seller but the third seller mistake is directly attributed to realtors. That is marketing. I can not tell you how many times I have received phone calls from sellers who ask what is your commission rate. I have never been asked what do you do to market my home to sell. Do you have a system to get my home marketed quickly and efficiently and thirdly what do we do after we list our home in the MLS.

The 12 Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank will meet today. They are meeting amidst a gone crazy media hype which has caused fear in the housing industry. This was followed by a market adjustment which has caught anxious buyers/sellers to lose their vehicle for moving up to larger/better housing in 2 years. This is coupled with a very aggressive lending segment that has answered the uniquely American question of providing affordable homeownership for anyone who wants it.

I have not heard anyone in the media sigh a large, ahah. The truth of the matter is not everyone wants to have the responsibility of homeownership.

The lifestyles of the middle class can be benchmarked by the day they bought their first house. Life changed for many, it was part of maturing and starting families. The majority of us found additional tax incentives. None of us found less maintenance and more free time. Homeownership is a responsibility but I digress.

The drop in interest rates will probably be .5%. This along with new FHA higher standards may help many of the marginally capable homeowners find a window of opportunity to get out from under their adjustable rate mortgages. It may have a slight impact on the real estae industry as rates will float down to around 6%.

The market will probably improve by next spring but will not be changed much because of a lame duck presidency and the fall election. So the Fed will lower interest rates today I say 1/2%. The wise money will be on a 1/4%.

 As we go into the fall season you may want to know what the housing market has done this spring and summer in Earlville, Illinois. There have been 10 homes enter into contract since March. These numbers have been calculated from the information available through the MLS of Northern Illinois. Since Earlville is a cross market these numbers may not be complete. There are two other MLSs that serve the Earlville community. The Illini Valley board and the Lee/Dekalb county boards may also have information.

As for the numbers from the MLSNI $1.84 million dollars of real estate have closed. The lowest priced home was $124,900 and the most expensive home was $415,000. The average price of a home was $183,500. There were 8 homes that sold for under $200,000 which makes Earlville an excellent value for affordability in the Chicago metro area and throughout the U.S.  

This is an excellent time to purchase a home and with a 700 FICA score  interest rates are at 6.5%.  The average mortgage in Earlville would be under $1200 and well below most rentals in the area based on 3 bedrooms and 1.1 baths. Consider tax savings and this makes owning a home very attractive.

If you want a list of homes in Earlville contact me and I will see to it that you receive an up to date list. There is a new home coming on the market tonight for under $150 k call to see it tomorrow.

The numbers are in and the Sandwich real estate market is showing signs of life. There are 95 homes currently listed for sale and 5 under contract. There were 5 homes that closed in the month of August with an average sales price of $261,100. The low was $165,000 and the high was $336,000. The most expensive property is currently 1,049,000. The fair is going on through Sunday I'll see you there.

The month of July in the Fox Valley has been good. The market conditions have upturned in the Valley. We had 911 properties sold in July that is a surprising 21% increase from the same period in 2006. That puts the total number of homes sold in 2007 at almost 5300 properties. That is an increase of 700 units over last year. The total sales for July alone were over one quarter of a billion dollars.

The news of the Fed considering dropping rates again and the sellers who have caught on to the market make this a great time to buy real estate. If you are looking to purchase September may be the right month to do so.

This information ws compiled from the statistics from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois