(McHenry, il) - Advantage Realty announced today that it has merged with Prudential First Realty. With the completion of this transaction, Prudential First Realty further strengthens its presence in McHenry, Lake, and Northern Kane Counties.

"By joining Prudential First Realty, we now have access to greater resources, a state-of-the-art technology platform, plus expanded reach through a national referral system, enabling us to serve buyers and sellers even better," said Iver Johnson, Owner of Advantage Realty.

All Advantage Realty offices in the county will now be Prudential First Realty.   The newly expanded Prudential First Realty has over 150 agents working in five different offices.  The sales volume in McHenry County for these combined offices during the most recent 12 months is over 759 closed sides totaling over $194,000,000 in sales.   Unarguably, this creates the largest and strongest real estate company in McHenry County.

 "We are pleased to have Advantage Realty join Prudential First Realty, as we share their philosophy of service to the community along with our ongoing commitment to ultimate customer service through high touch and innovation." said Prudential's Darrell Little.

Prudential Real Estate franchises are independently owned and operated. Companies are selected based upon outstanding performance records, high levels of customer service and shared business values.  Prudential First recognized exactly those high standards in the Advantage Realty organization and is extremely pleased to announce the blending of the two companies for the benefit of the real estate industry in the McHenry County and beyond.

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services is Prudential's integrated real estate brokerage franchise and relocation services business.  Prudential Real Estate provides franchises with business strategies including access to Prudential Real Estate's Online Seller Advantage^SM program designed to provide real-time information to sellers with the touch of a keystroke.  Prudential Real Estate is one of the largest real estate brokerage franchise networks in North America, with nearly 2,100 franchise offices and approximately 64,000 sales professionals in the franchise Network as of December 31, 2007.  There are more than 65 Prudential offices in the Chicago land market with over 1,700 agents.

I know with this changing market, we are running more and more into "unique" situations.  My question is, what can we do to safe guard ourselves from potential disasters?

I recently met with a client who was referred to me by a friend.  We had a very nice meeting and she decided that she would like me to list her home.  The home needed some work, but they were in the process of repainting and putting in new floors.  I put the lock box on the door, signed a contract with her and we were on our way.  A few days later I received a strange phone call from an "investor" who told me he had proof that this house was in foreclosure and that he would like to buy it for $40,000 under market value.  I was caught so off guard that I kindly told him to submit his offer and I would discuss it with my client.  When I called my client to tell her about this call, she didn't say much.  When I asked her if her home was in forclosure. all she said was, I don't know.  After a few more questions I realized that I have some investigating to do if I want to continue to list this house. 

How can we prevent these situations from happening.  I would hate to do all this work and have interested buyers only to have the deal fall apart from lack of knowledge.  Should we be asking all of our clients if they are current on their payments.  Where is the line drawn between pertinant information and being insulting?

It breaks my heart when I meet a first time house flipper that has put blood, sweat, and tears into a project only to find out they have over improved the house and will not be able to get out what they put in.  With that in mind, I have a few tips to help steer you home flippers in the right direction so you have a more realistic point of view BEFORE you start!

Always do a preliminary budget before you purchase the home - This is so important because you need to know if the purchase price + the budget will = a nice selling price (meaning profit!!!) for you. 

Always determine what you can sell it for when it is complete before you purchase - You need to know if after all the hard work is done you will even be able to get your asking price.  I suggest talking with a real estate agent to determine what houses are selling for that are in excellent condition in a particular neighborhood.  After you have that figure, plan on listing it for just under market value.  The goal here is to get in and get out.

Choose upgrades that are realistic for the neighborhood - Be sure to do your homework before you start the project.  You want to know what upgrades are expected in a given neighborhood that will get you a nice return on your dollar.  There is no point in putting in a gourmet kitchen for example if all the other homes in the neighborhood have a standard kitchen.  You have to stay consistent with what is happening in the neighborhood.

House flipping can be a lucrative career if you do it right.  Remember to keep your personal taste and emotion out of the flip.  Treat it like a job and nothing else.  If you do this, you should have success!!!

www.staciwolff.com

MCHENRY - A new consumer awareness hotline gives McHenry County home sellers a behind-the-scenes peek at the most common mistakes that people make when selling their homes - how not to make them - and shares tips on simple, inexpensive things to do that make homes sell for thousands of additional dollars.

     "Some home sellers over-invest in expensive improvements that don't significantly increase the value of their home," said Staci Wolff of Advantage Realty, "while other sellers fail to do the simple things that cost almost no money, yet always make homes sell for thousands of dollars more."

    Wolff became so frustrated with seeing sellers make the same mistakes over and over again that she launched the Consumer Awareness Hotline several months ago as a community service.  "It's really nice to see that people are calling and getting benefit from the hotline," said Wolff.  "We get calls from people almost every week thanking us for the tips."

     You can listen to Wolff's Consumer Awareness Hotline by calling 888-323-8798, ext. 7 to listen to a free recorded message.

www.mchenrylovelyhomes.com

Crystal Lake is a large city and one of the Northwestern Chicago Suburbs As the largest city in McHenry County, it contains three high schools, and has many separate neighborhoods.

Demographics

According to the 2000 Census there were 38,000 people, 13,000 households, and 9,900 families living in Crystal Lake. The population density was 900/km² (2,300/sq mi). There were 13,500 housing units at an average density of 830/sq mi (320/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94% white, 0.56% black, 0.16% Native American, 2% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2% from other races, and 1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7% of the population.

45% of the households included children under 18, 64% were married couples living together, 8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25% were non-families. 20% of all households were made up of individuals and 8% had someone at least 65 years old living alone. The average household size was 2.9 and the average family size was 3.4.

In the city the population was spread out with 32% under the age of 18, 7% from 18 to 24, 33% from 25 to 44, 20% from 45 to 64, and 9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $67,000, and the median income for a family was $75,000. Males had a median income of $52,000 versus $32,000 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,000. About 3% of families and 4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3% of those under age 18 and 4% of those age 65 or over.

Culture and Entertainment

The historic downtown district is a favorite in the community.  This is where many communters catch their morning train to the city.  Located in the downtown district is the Raue Center for the Perdorming Arts where you can find plays and concerts throughout the year.  There are many restaurants worth visiting including Finn McCools, Georgios, and Duke O'Brians.  Don't forget the little boutique shops that are sprinkled throughout downtown.

Education

Crystal Lake is home to McHenry County College and a number of elementary and high schools. 

There are Three Middle Schools Bernotas, Lundahl, and Hannah Beardsley. Bernotas was built in 1969. Lundahl was built around 1958- 1959. Hannah Beardsley oppened in 1996. Bernotas is the home of the Vikings. There are three high schools which serve the city of Crystal Lake. The oldest,  Crystal Lake Central, graduated its first class in 1924 and was known as Crystal Lake Community High School when it opened. It is located in the downtown area of the city, and has an enrollment of approximately 1300. In response to pressures from increasing population, Crystal Lake South, was opened in 1978. When it was completed, the school was ridiculed for being remotely located and surrounded by corn fields. It now stands boxed in by suburban development. Prairie Ridge High School opened in the fall of 1997, again due to increasing population pressure. The school stands on a hill off to the north of the city.

"Should I wait for Real Estate Prices to hit Rock Bottom?" This is always on of my favorite questions I get asked by the buyers I work with.  In this ever changing market everyone is wanting a deal and no one wants to buy "too early".  Lets take a moment and really discuss what could potentially happen if a buyer waits too long to make a move. 

 - First of all, loan programs are changing every day.  If you wait too long, you may not qualify for the same loan you did three months ago.

- No one can predict the future, and while the buyer is waiting for "rock bottom" what happens if interest rates go up?  You may end of spending more on the house you waited for to hit "rock bottom" all because the loan terms changed.

- While you were patiently waiting for the price to drop yet again on your dream home, someone else scooped it up... and they got it for a deal might I add.  Now we're back at square one.

 As I said above, no one can predict the future, and more times than not,  we can't see rock bottom until we are staring at it in the rear view mirror.