How many Orland Park Townhomes and Condos are up for sale today?  Click the link and although the amount might have changed depending on when you read this, today (11-22-09) there are currently 370 attached properties up for sale in Orland Park.

Also, be sure to check out my newest Orland Park townhouse listing located in the popular The Enclave At The Preserves subdivision located at 11556 Lake Shore Dr., Orland Park IL  60462.  This was originally a model with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a full finished walk-out basement, water view and much more!  View photos, maps and get all the information you'll need by clicking the address link.

If you're a seller and would like your property featured with it's own personal website, call Judy Orr at 708-536-8200.  Judy can help you with all of your Orland Park realty needs.  Classic Realty Group is located at 15545 S. 71st Ct., Orland Park, IL  60462.  We are local REALTORS and know the Orland Park village.  

Disclaimer - I do not work for ePropertySites.com - I am just a client.  I know many agents have multiple websites and I do, too.  But I wanted something else, I wanted to streamline everything so it worked better and wasted less time and I wanted to control expenses better.

Click the photo to view the site

My First Website

I got my first website using a free Point2 Agent site many years ago.  It was a love-hate relationship.  I loved how it showcased my listings.  Nothing was close.  But I hated the huge code that made pages load slowly.  I also hated that Point2 insisted I put my listings in a "neighborhood" or "subdivision", even if one truly didn't exist, so they could then turn around and try to sell it back to me.  I was never happy with the full-page layout and even though I have completely customized a few Wordpress blogs, I didn't have enough css knowledge to make changes to my P2 site.

However, my first site, which is what I consider a niche site because it covered only one of several main villages I work in (I work in 40+ different towns but many are very small), made it to top Google position on a free Point2 site.  It wasn't overnight and took work on my part, but it happened. 

I have since converted that site to a Real Estate Webmasters site, one of two I currently have through REW.  Yet I kept my Point2 site and generalized it to a larger area, encompassing all of the Chicago suburbs I work in.  I even upgraded it last year so I could use up to 30 photos because it was still the best listing site I've seen and sellers liked it.  It also provided me with an unbranded "virtual tour slideshow" for the MLS.

For all those years I kept a free site and only upgraded a year ago.  I just canceled my Point2 website completely.  I've been searching for something else, something better suited for what I want - just a way to showcase my listings better online that I can use on my REW sites if I want (and my blogs, etc.).

Active Rain Helped Me Find What I Was Looking For

I was reading an Active Rain post and there was a quick mention of ePropertySites in one of the comments.  I checked it out and compared it with another similar provider.  But I chose to sign up with ePropertySites because of one item - the fact that they syndicated the listings and the other provider did not.

I've looked at and tried other single property sites such as Realbird, Classified Flyer Ads and many more.  I liked Realbird and was almost going to go with that exclusively since I do like it.  But I wanted something more. 

I Was Down To My Last Two Choices

It was between ePropertySites and VOBRE.  They each have somewhat different offerings.  I was leaning toward VOBRE because I could have used their e-fax services and get rid of my current one.  But at the time they did not syndicate the listings and all of a sudden my sellers are expecting this (they didn't before even though I offered it - it didn't seem to impress them in the past).

I even contacted VOBRE to see if syndication was in their future and they said it was coming soon.  But the last time I checked their site I did not see any mention of it.  So I signed up for ePropertySites instead.

Here's the Deal

If you only have a few listings per year then you'd probably be better off paying $10.00 a listing (for a year).  Because I get a lot of listings I chose the $10.00/mo. option which handles up to 10 listings.  I only have my 3 newest listings but will need to pull a couple older listings over.  Here is my Orland Park townhome listing as an example.

And here's what is offered:

• Single property website at $10.00 each or up to 10 at $10.00/mo. - customization of styles and colors available - the photo above is another of the sites I created.
  
• Unlimited photos - high def allowed.
• A virtual tour using 20 of those photos.
• The virtual tour can be sent to Realtor.com - no cost if you are a Showcase Realtor.com client.
• You get a branded and unbranded virtual tour and the entire website unbranded for your MLS - I've been using the entire site.
• You can create high-def panoramic tours (I haven't done this yet).
• You can create custom pages for your single property websites - add whatever you want!  You can upload paperwork such as disclosures, for example.
  
• Certain pages are already created if you want to use them such as a Map Page, WalkScore, Schools & Demographics page pertaining to each property's exact location.
  
• Each property gets a mobile phone number so people can text for more information.  Different phone providers offer different info - not all providers will work with this (to use it you'd order riders with the text # and single property url - you don't need to use either).
• The text messaging feature gives you call capture.
• Widgets are provided for your blogs and sites (mine is in the sidebar to the right).
• There is code provided for other websites, blogs and even special code for Active Rain postings!
  
• Flyers can be generated from the site.
• You can put your Open Houses on the site and can have text or a "canned person" introduce your website or open house.  See my New Lenox home site as an example.
• You can add your own voiceover to your tours.
• There's a feedback system (for property showings) but I haven't used it.
• They syndicate to many other real estate portals and offer easy Craigs List and Backpage postings.
• You can get your own domain to re-direct to the site.
• The upgraded version ($10.00/month) offers a full agent website (I have no need for that) and more features that I haven't used yet such as one called Broadcast Your Move to give to a buyer after they purchase a house.

It's Blowing Away My Competition

I've attended 3 listing appointments and got all 3.  I took my little laptop with me and showed these sellers the single property site and used the examples from the site since I hadn't created my own yet.  It's a killer listing presentation and you can actually create a presentation using the listing you're trying to get (of course you won't have interior photos).  I haven't tried that yet.

My sellers have been extremely happy with their sites and I've been told I've gone above and beyond.  Keep in mind, I've been using Point2 and always send them the url but it just didn't generate the accolades like this has. 

There is a forum where you get good help and that's all I've needed so far.  I'm not sure what will happen when I get more than 10 listings, but it would be worth it to spend another $10.00/mo. for 10 more.  Or I might check out VOBRE again to see if they syndicate and do a side-by-side comparison on each provider.

All in all, I'm extremely happy with ePropertySites and just wanted to put it out there since I haven't seen much written on it and I think it might be a great fit for some of you like it is for me.

How many homes are for sale in Orland Park today?  Today, there are 268 Orland Park homes for sale.  How does this compare to active listings at other times this year?  Are things better or worse?

In January, I wrote a post in my Chicago Suburbs Real Estate Blog that there were 244 homes up for sale in Orland Park.  Many listings in January have been sitting over the winter.  Although I did have a wonderful January one year (can't remember when that was), the month of January is usually a bit slower.  A lot of sellers don't list their properties until the spring.  Orland Park had less homes up for sale this past January, 2009, then it does now in October.

In April there were 287 homes on market, up from January.  This reflects the spring selling season where many sellers try to get their homes on the market from March through May.

In July, which is towards the end of our summer sales spike, there were 295 single family homes on the market in Orland Park.  Compared to that, today's market is lower.  Does that mean all of those homes sold?  Not necessarily, some sellers take their homes off the market during the fall or winter months knowing that there will be less buyers looking once the school season begins.  But there does seem to be a surge towards the end of summer so a lot of inventory could have been sold since then.

The looming expiration of the First-time Buyer's Tax Credit certainly brought a lot of buyers out trying to find a home so they could qualify for the credit.  That could also explain the drop in inventory from July to October. 

Another reason could be that sellers that had homes sitting on the market finally reduced price enough to generate offers.  There are so many price reductions occurring that buyers are getting used to them.

If you're still looking for an Orland Park home for sale give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200 or use the "e-mail me" link next to my photo.

In today's slow Buyer's Market, it is interesting to see how many Orland Park homes for sale under $200,000 exist on any given day.  If you click the link you'll see that as of today, there are currently 7 Orland Park homes available now priced under $200,000!

These homes range in price from a low of $170,000 for a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom ranch style home (all on one level) up to a cute little dollhouse offering 2 bedrooms and 1 bath priced at $199,900.  Two are short sale listings and the rest seem to be regular owner sales.

Within the past 6 months, there have been 14 closed Orland Park homes for sale under $200,000 and besides the 7 currently available, there are also 3 under contract and 2 that are Deal Pending (closing date set, just waiting to close).  The lowest priced sale was a foreclosure property that sold at $98,000 on 6/26/09.

When you consider that the average home price in Orland Park in 2008 was $380,829, to find 7 Orland Park homes for sale under $200,000 is a great value for buyers.  In the past, many first-time home buyers were not able to afford living in Orland Park and had to look elsewhwere.

In case you don't know, Orland Park IL has been listed on Money Magazine's top 100 cities to live in.  Orland Park offers so much shopping, dining and entertainment that you don't have to leave this popular village to find anything.  

If you would like to see any or all of these 7 Orland Park homes for sale under $200,000, give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200 or contact her by the e-mail link to the right.  Judy Orr is an experienced (licensed 26 years), local Orland Park REALTOR and would be happy to show you any Orland Park real estate in any price range.  Classic Realty Group is located in Orland Park at 15545 S. 71st Ct.  We are your local Orland Park real estate brokerage.

Village of Orland Park buildings and fountain

I currently have two beautiful Tinley Park townhomes for sale (click the photos):

7018 Plymouth Ct. - 2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms with a 2 car garage, fireplace, huge loft, main level laundry room and a full finished basement in Meadow Mews subdivision.

6832 W. 179th St. - SOLD! 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms with a 2 car garage, new gleaming hardwood floors, loft and a basement close to downtown Tinley Park

How many attached Tinley Park properties for sale are there today?  Click on Tinley Park townhomes and you'll see that there are 318 attached properties currently available that include condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, etc.

If you're interested in purchasing a Tinley Park townhouse, please give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200 or use the Contact Form.  Judy has shown and sold Tinley Park real estate for 26 years and knows this popular village.

One of my favorite HGTV shows is "Buy Me," which tells real stories about sellers and their real estate agents.  I wrote about a local Chicago real estate episode that told about stubborn sellers that hired their son to be their agent.  The episode I'm writing about today was similar in that the seller used her friend to list her house.

The seller had to sell

This seller could no longer afford her home after losing her job.  She also took money out of her home to start a business but that failed.  The house was too big for her and just the utility bills were too much for her to be able to afford.  So she made the decision to sell and rent a place instead.

She hired her friend - and wasn't happy

She didn't like the suggested list price and her friend was honest about the fact that she felt it was too high.  The homeowner was quirky and her decorating was over-the-top.  Her agent/friend helped her declutter and even helped her paint.

Yet with all of the hands-on help offered by the agent, the seller felt her friend wasn't marketing the home properly.  The episode showed that the friend/agent held an open house and held a broker's open where no one showed up.  There were some showings and feedback was that more work needed to be done and it was deemed to be too high.

Broker's opens are not popular in the area I work in.  I had a fellow agent hold one with a buffet of food offered and I would have stopped by if I wasn't busy showing my own buyers homes.  No one came and the seller realized that broker's opens do not sell a home (and that one was overpriced, too - I'm not sure if it ever sold).

Personally, I do not believe in open houses and I rarely hold them.  I've tried everything (mailings, expensive print advertising, offering food, getting other area agents to hold simultaneous opens and working together, etc.).  In 26 years I have never sold a property because of an open house.  Like many sellers, this seller felt that open houses were important and was unhappy that her agent wasn't being more aggresive by holding them more often.

There was only one thing I could fault her friend/agent for and that was taking photos before some of the decluttering and painting was done.  The seller happened to view her listing online and was mortified to see this and took her own photos.  In my opinion, that was something the agent did that wasn't very professional.

Yet there was an offer

After the new photos were posted it was made to look like more showings occurred.  I'm really not sure if it was because of the photos or time of year or what.  But there was finally an offer.  It was initially low but with negotiating it turned out to be a decent offer.  Yet the seller wanted more.  She insisted her home was worth more and she should have asked higher.  So the deal did not happen.

So she hired a new agent

Once the listing expired with her friend, the seller hired an agent that worked with a "big" brokerage.  As usually happens when a new agent comes in, the seller reduced her price.  To this agent's credit, he did have a Broker's Open where a bunch of agents came through.  Feedback was still that the home was priced too high, even with the reduction.

And the seller lamented not accepting the first offer

Yep, the first offer that she let get away was the best one.  It showed her crying that her prior agent was right and she should have listened to her but she was too stubborn.  

So agent #2 convinced her to lower her price much lower than the original offer she received and she finally sold it.  She lost a lot of money being stubborn and not trusting her friend/agent.

This story just goes to show that some marketing techniques that sellers value don't really sell a property.  Only showing your home in it's best light and pricing it correctly will get it to sell.

Many times, the first agent is blamed for not getting a home sold.  Even when the seller realizes that the first agent was absolutely on target with the correct price, that is not remembered when the home finally gets sold via the 2nd or 3rd (or more) agent at a much lower price. 

Sometimes I don't want to be the first agent with a home where the sellers have a great house that is difficult to value in this market but the property is wonderful.  I know where I will draw the line regarding taking the listing or not, but I am willing to work with certain sellers.  Will they blame me when it doesn't sell?  I'm not worried about it.  If they're not willing to reduce when the market has spoken, I'll even let them out of my contract.  I'm not going to fight with unreasonable sellers.  

Watching shows like Buy Me shows me that these kinds of stubborn sellers are everywhere and you either take the listing and give it a try or you walk away.  I do walk away from sellers that are way overpriced where I have comps to prove it, but I seem to attract unique properties that are difficult to comp out.  So if sellers seem somewhat reasonable I'll give them a try.  But I don't worry about it if it doesn't work out and the listing expires. 

It's all part of the cycle and I work with many expired listings where I was the successful agent because I was able to get the sellers to realize that they were priced too high.  Sometimes sellers need a second opinion.

If you're a buyer or seller interested in Oak Lawn homes for sale give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200 or use the e-mail me link to the right.

You can visit the #1 local website for Orland Park Homes (in Google) every day to see how the Orland Park real estate inventory is changing.  Today there are 345 single family Orland Park homes for sale.

Prices start at $94,900 for a bank-owned reo 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch style home up to $2,395,000 for a 5 bedroom, 6 1/2  bathroom 2-story style home.  Of course, there is everything in between, meaning there is an Orland Park home for you.

You can view details of the homes, view photos and even virtual tours (if the listing agents provide them) and find out price and address of the properties.  This is fine if you're just starting out in your Orland Park home buying search.

If you're ready to start viewing properties, it is a good idea to get an Automated E-mail Search that will send listings in your area(s), price range and with the amenities you want sent directly to your e-mail.  Never miss a new listing as it goes on market!  It's an easy-to-fill-out form and is well worth the few minutes it will take.  You can feel confident that your information will not be sold to or shared with anyone else - we respect your privacy.

Call Judy Orr at 708-536-8200 - Judy is a local Orland Park REALTOR with 26 years experience.

Today there are 319 Oak Lawn homes for sale ranging in price from $84,900 for a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom ranch style home up to $649,900 for a 6 bedroom, 5 1/2 bathroom 2-story style home.  And there's everything in between.

That is a lot of property to choose from and you can see that price ranges in Oak Lawn real estate start low enough for first-time home buyers and offer more expensive, upscale homes.  I have written of some great foreclosure deals I've been running into lately in the village.

I currently have a beautiful 2-story Oak Lawn home located on a triple lot priced at $240,000 at 9549 S. Oak Park Ave. There is a virtual tour link on the listing so be sure to view it.

I live in Oak Lawn, Illinois and am an experienced Oak Lawn REALTOR.  If you'd like to view any Oak Lawn real estate give me a call at 708-536-8200 or Contact Me.

It's interesting how many people do not understand our current market in this recession.  When updating my Orland Park home sellers I send them an updated version of the following Orland Park Real Estate Supply and Demand Chart.  This particular chart is for Orland Park homes for sale for the past six months.

Seeing data like this really makes your jaw drop.  Look at the large amount of inventory compared to homes under contract and homes that have sold and closed.  This shows why it is so important to price your Orland Park home properly. 

Imagine being a buyer hit with all of this inventory.  They have a lot of choices and are only going to choose the cream of the crop.  That translates to the property that offers the most for the money.  If your home is not at the lower rung of its market value, you won't have a good chance of getting your home sold. 

On a bright spot, homes under contract are at a 6 month high in March of '09 and homes sold and closed are pretty good, too, falling only behind November's figures.  Hopefully, this lopsided market will start to stabilize at some point, but this proves just how far we have to go.  These are facts put together by Market Dynamics using MLS data.  And this shows how few buyers are out there right now.

If you're looking for an experienced Orland Park REALTOR give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200.  Classic Realty Group is located at 15545 S. 71st Ct. in Orland Park, IL  60462.  We are local REALTORS and we know this great village. 

Search the Orland Park MLS or fill out my Automated Home Finder Form to get new listings sent directly to your e-mail.