Good or bad, has anyone noticed how much press Peoria, Ill is getting lately? 

President Obama was in Peoria to make a speech at a Caterpillar facility.  CAT has been in the National News recently with their worldwide layoffs.  Jim Owens, CEO of CAT, has been on National TV.

Our recently retired Congressman, Ray LaHood, was appointed to the Obama Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation.  Rep. Aaron Schock was elected to replace him.  President Bush was in Peoria prior to the election to raise money for Aaron Schock.  Rep. Schock continues to make news, he was named by the Huffington Post as the new "Hottie Freshman" in Congress.  Maybe it was newsworthy because the media presumes the hotties come from traditionally "cool" areas, like Southern California, not Peoria, Ill?

We also had the new junior Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris, make one of his first public appearances in Peoria, Ill,  after he was appointed to the coveted spot formerly held by Barack Obama, by the recently indicted former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, in Peoria.  There were reporters from around the country in Peoria for Senator Burris's two press conferences here.

Our new Governor, Pat Quinn, decided to jump on the Peoria bandwagon and Peoria was one of his first stops for a Press Conference after he was appointed as Governor to replace Rod Blagojevich. 

Michael Jordan was here last week "weeping" while watching his son play on the winning team for the State Basketball Tournament. The state basketball finals, March Madness, were at the Civic Center..

Most Peorians did not even know Philip Jose Farmer, the famous science fiction writer, lived in Peoria until he died here a couple of weeks ago.   

Unfortunately, Ali al-Marri, the man accused of being an al_Qaida Sleeper Agent, has been in the headlines with his trial in Peoria.  He was living in Peoria, Ill, when he was arrested.  His trial has been headline news. 

Peoria is finally on the radar screen of national media, not because it is a cliche for vaudeville acts several decades ago.   

I was visiting some friends who are former clients this weekend.  It was great to see their children who are growing up.  They have two beautiful daughters who were rather young when we started looking for their new home.  NOTE: Same family as in previous cat surgery story, I need to find them a new home for more great stories.  Anyway, we found the perfect home.  It was close enough to hospitals, both parents are doctors, the setting was very private and adjacent to a park, and it had an attached small home for guests.  This was just too good to be true.  The home was delightful in every way.  It even had a three car attached garage, which is rare in an old home in Peoria, IL.  Imagine this, we are viewing the home for the second time.  The girls are choosing bedrooms.  The parents are deciding whether or not to let their families know they have a guest house, and everyone is happy.  As we are standing in the kitchen discussing price, I hear a blood curdling shriek from one of the young girls.  Following by two shrieking girls.  Oh my gosh, did they see a spider?  Did they drop a vase?  Was there a raccoon in the yard?  We ran to the family room, which was probably an old sun porch converted into a four season room.  There was small metal door which I had noticed earlier, but just presumed it was part of the exterior of the house prior to enclosing it.  Well, my curious young buyers had decided to investigate.  Every time I think I have seen it all after selling real estate since 1978, something new comes along.  We ran into the room, by then the girls were outside, and looked into the opening.  There was the biggest black snake I have ever seen.  It was curling its way up a water pipe.  This snake had to be 4 inches thick.  Obviously , one of the doctors had a strong background in biology, he knew the snake species.  I do not care how safe it is, it was the biggest, scariest snake I have ever seen.  This snake would have needed an open door to get into this house.  I do not think so, I think it was raised in the house.  I was trying to decide if one huge black snake would be able to reproduce in these walls, but the thought of two or more of them was just too much.  Note, the girls are still screaming "snake in the house".  So, being the polite agent I am, I left a cordial note to the sellers to let them know they had a big snake.  Normally I leave notes like, "light bulb is out in basement", the snake note was a first.  So, the next morning the other agent called me.  I presume she wants to apologize for scaring the children (what about ME) with the snake. No.  She said the snake was taken care of with $1300 worth of extermination and it was no longer in the house.  One thousand three hundred dollars to exterminate a snake.  At that point, I was sure there was a colony of snakes (aka snake-pit).  She wanted to know if they were going to make an offer!  This is true!  I could not believe it.  How could they make an offer when their agent would not be able to go back through the house with them without body protection?  The girls would not even get out of the car. What do exterminators do with very large snakes anyway? 

On Saturday September 20, 2008, John McDermott, one of the original Irish Tenors will be performing at the Peoria Civic Center Theater.  The performance is to benefit the OSF St. Francis Radiation Oncology Program.  Dr. James McGee, Medical Director of the Radiation Oncology Department, commissioned a song for the event.  Along with Kevin Hearn of the Canadian Rock Group, Barenaked Ladies.  For information on the event, go to www.spiritofhopeconcert.org, for tickets go to www.Ticketmaster.com, and to listen to John performing go to www.YouTube.comand search for John McDermott.  For more information on John McDermott, go to www.JohnMcDermott.com.  Call the OSF Foundation in Peoria Heights, IL, for additional Ticket information. 309-566-5666.

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4:00 P.M.
	Mass: A Time to Remember, A Time to Hope The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Mass open to All A Special Musical Prelude of Remembrance will begin at 3:30 p.m.

5:30 P.M.
	VIP Cocktail Party* The Residence of The Most Reverend Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC

8:00 P.M.
	John McDermott Concert: Spirit of Hope* Peoria Civic Center Theatre

10:15 P.M.
	John McDermott Meet & Greet Festivities* Peoria Civic Center

 

Winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's "Bob Hope Award"

And everyone thought we were running around in corn mazes in Peoria Ill! 

Check out the latest edition of National Geographic Adventure September 2008.  Where to Live & Play Now:  The 50 Next Great Adventure Towns.  They note that the innovative towns in the story aren't just prime relocation spots right now, but also smart choices for the future.  It should be available at local bookstores.  Maybe your town is also featured, check it out.   

I help several local employers recruit new employees to Peoria.  The job is never the issue, the problem is selling Peoria to someone who has never seen it, been here, or known someone from here.  (Think Dan Fogelberg, Betty Friedan, Richard Pryor, Ambassador Nancy Brinker (sister to Susan G. Komen, Race for the Cure, also from Peoria), Joe Girardi (NY Yankees), Robert H. Michel, Jim Thome, General Wayne Downing, Philip Jose Farmer).  Many of my buyers come in crying, and leave crying.  Most seem to stay and love it here. 

Peoria is located on a beautiful bluff overlooking the Illinois River.  It was settled in 1680 by French Explorers venturing up the Mississippi River to the Illinois River.  Unlike many parts of Illinois and the Midwest, Peoria is on a bluff, with a terrain that is hilly and full of mature trees, streams, and has various creeks running throughout the city leading down to the river.  The river opens up to Peoria Lake, actually two lakes, Upper Peoria Lake and Lower Peoria Lake.  Upper Peoria Lake has marinas, fishing, and you can watch sailing regattas from the many bluffs. 

Now we are discovered.  Here is a photo of Peoria taken by Kevin May, Photographer.  I used the image for my 2008 Magnets.

 

 

Here is a photo of the Entrance to Edgewild, we have had so much snow this year, I actually forgot what it looked like.  Today, the weather is better, blowing sleet with hail.  In spite of this, Edgewild homes are selling!  I listed and sold a home on Regent on a one time showing.  I also just  sold the listing on Wolf Road,it was listed with another agent at RE/MAX Unlimited.  Then I listed a home on Morningside a couple of weeks ago and it has an accepted offer. Yeah!  I have another listing coming up soon, I hope it sells as quickly.  Edgewild Subdivision features high quality custom built homes with mature landscaping.  Many of them have not been updated since they were built in the 1960's and 1970's, so they are great for buyers who want to remodel a home.  It is difficult to find one that has already been remodeled, it seems like many of the neighbors stay, but change homes in the subdivision. Several neighbors have other relatives living in  Edgewild!  We are seeing younger families with children moving here, which is wonderful, it brings life to an older neighborhood.  Of course, I live in Edgewild, so I am one of the biggest fans.  The yards are beautifully landscaped and there are always major home improvement projects going on.  I think there are more dumpsters per subdivision than any other resale subdivision in Peoria, IL.  This is a great boost for everyone.  Hopefully the weather will break in Peoria soon, and it will be as green as the photo again. 

 

 

 

 

The snow is finally melting in Peoria, Il, and I have been noticed a trend.  Political signs are still up!  Why do they get to leave their signs up for a couple of months after they LOSE the election, and we get in trouble for directional signs.  Seriously, we must have a secret "sign police" for Realtors in Peoria.  Not in the Peoria County, where it is OK to put up all of the directional signs you can afford, but in the City.  We can't put our open house signs, which are limited in size, up until Thursday afternoon without someone calling to complain.  These political signs are huge, two to three times bigger than ours, and they are still out.  The excuse for the first few weeks was frozen ground.  OK, I am a 56 year old woman who is rather petite, and if I can dig a sign out of ice, I would think someone on these campaign committees could pick up their signs.  How can they even drive by the signs and not bother to stop and pick them up off the ground.  We are always fighting a sign battle with subdivisions, corner lot owners, and condominiums, so where are these whiners when you need them?  The road crews confiscate my $50 signs if they are in the right of way, why can't they pick up all of these paper signs?  I will try to start a photo album of abandoned political signs, and post them next week. 

Real Estate and Cats.  In all fairness to dogs, I thought I should follow up the previous blog with a cat story.  It is harder to come up with great cat stories.  Unlike dogs, cats hide when you show houses.  Smart cats hide in closets and under beds.  Cats who are "average", if they were students, I would say "C" at best, stick their head under the sofa with the other ten pounds sticking out while they are hiding.  Dumb cats, probably the fancy over-bred type, hide under bedspreads.  Apparently they do not realize that most people will notice a ten to fifteen pound lump under the covers.  I had a listing with a very smart cat; she lived with Rick and Renee Brethorst in a house on Richwoods Boulevard.  Cat owners everywhere, including me, are sure that their homes will not sell if the new buyer finds out a CAT lives in the house.  Forget mold, mildew, termites, mice, and insects, buyers totally freak at the thought of living in a home where a CAT has lived.  We go to great lengths to hide cats.  Some sellers board their cats.  Some drive them around for an hour while their house is being shown.  Some sellers, not to mention any names like R.B.above, just let them out while their house is being shown.  This is not a very clever plan if you have a smart cat.  Rick's cat was a genius.  I did not even know they had a cat, not until I had the perfect prospective buyer.  This cat could smell the money in the customer's pocket a block away.  The litter is hidden (always), the food dish is gone, and the cat is out roaming.  I show up with customers in tow and I am trying to unlock the side door to show the home.  This cat is amazing, it flys past me like Superman, or even Spiderman, swooping in from above.  Now insert the face of an alley cat instead of Clark Kent.   This is a perfect image of their cat whenever I would show the house.  As if a cat streaking past us at the speed of light was not enough to gain attention and shock the unsuspecting buyers, this cat would take it one step further.  This is a true story.  At first, I thought it was a fluke.  The cat would zoom up the staircase, run into the bathroom, and TURN ON THE FAUCET with her paw.  She did it every time I showed the house.  Although I thought it was a great trick, not all of the buyers were impressed.  If this cat was smart enough to stake out the house, squeeze past me, leap up the steps, and turn on the water, I know it had a sixth sense about the buyers financial ability to purchase the home.  Most cats just vomit on the carpet for attention and to disgust a potential buyer. I think Renee took the cat and stayed with her parents so we could sell the house.  I wonder if it has mastered the new faucet.   My other cat story is one of my favorite real estate cat stories.  This cat did not fall in the genius category, or it would have been hiding while I was showing the house to a family with two small girls. I am in the kitchen with the parents.  The two darling girls are on a hunt, they have a dog at home, but are totally fascinated with finding a cat in the house.  As I am doing my best to get their parents to sign on the dotted line and close the deal, we hear a shriek.  It seems to be coming from the child, or the cat, or is it both of them?  We have a crisis.  The unfortunate cat happened to be walking around, minding its own business when an accident occurred.  The child was chewing gum and she comes in crying and this is her version of the story, "the gum, the gum, it jumped out of my mouth.  It jumped out of my mouth and landed on the kitty."  Oh my.  What does a Realtor do?  This subject was not in Realtor101 or even in the mandatory Continuing Education classes.  I decide we put down the pens, and find the cat.  Of course, this has to be the largest home I have ever sold.  We are all searching for the cat.  We eventually find her, and it is true, the gum did land in her hair.  It seems to be glue gunned to the cat's fur.  It was my lucky day; my client is an emergency room doctor!  We decide to surgically extract the gum.  We have the doc; all I need is a scalpel and table.  There were no scalpels in the drawer, so we agree that a steak knife will have to do the trick. We proceed with the steak knife and a Corian countertop.  I will assist in the procedure.  My job is to hold the cat down, while the doctor removes the gum and hair from the cat.  Mission accomplished.  I did not say the doctor was a plastic surgeon, so we are missing at least a square inch of cat hair.  Since our offer has not been accepted, I decide to hide all evidence, and not mention the situation to the other agent or to the seller.  The evidence goes to the car with me, I sterilize the "tools" and hope no one notices the chunk of hair shaved to the skin.  Happy ending, they bought the house and moved in with their dog.  Laurie   Note, other than an occasional wandering cat, the home on Richwoods is located in one of my favorite neighborhoods.  It is perfect for first time buyers. The neighborhood has charming homes, many are Cotswold cottage or Colonial homes. 

Dogs and Real Estate.   I was showing a new listing on Northgate in Edgewild and Inoticed a dog running down the street from Mt.Hawley Country Club golf course.  I thought "this is unusual and bad timing, a loose dog in Edgewild who is barking at my buyers".  My buyers also have a little baby girl in a carrier.  As the buyers are attempting to exit their cars with the dog barking at them, their baby, their decorator, and their friend, I start to think this dog looks very familiar.  It looks just like the dog that lives at 418 West Northgate, but it can't be!  That dog is gone with the owner.  But the dog seems to recognize me and is actually very happy to see me, a long lost friend for sure.  This is good; the dog is ignoring the baby and wagging its tail at me.  But, it wants in the house.  I have a history of dogs entering listings that do not belong in the homes.  I now have to make a quick decision, do I let this now happy dog in so it does not maim the potential buyers, or do I ignore it and hope it runs away?  I had just read a Napoleon Hill article in a daily newsletter I read and it was about smart people making quick decisions.  It was a sign.  I decided to call the seller to inquire if she was missing a dog.  Good news!!!  She was circling the block hunting for her dog, which was on the porch with me trying to defend the homestead.  I tried to catch her with my bare hands but she escaped, running the direction of the homeowner, and we made it into the home unharmed.  I have years of house and dog stories.  In my spare time (!!) I might try to write a book on Real Estate and Dogs.  I am sure it would be a hit. I will start with one story and add more stories in future blogs.  Watch for updates.

I had a client with me, and she happened to be married to my husband's new boss.  We entered a home, looked around and both went into the garage together and I closed the service door to the house behind me.  Out of a dark corner comes a loud growl...yikes, a surprise BIG dog.  The seller's have an undisclosed guard dog in their garage. This is a bit unusual; normally it is mice or rodents.   This dog is now blocking the entrance between us and the door to safety in the kitchen.  With its life.  The growl was getting louder, my client was getting rather concerned, I was getting concerned about my husband's job, and a decision had to be made.  (Note, I think I am good at decisions regarding client's dogs).  Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a bag of dog treats. Not fancy fresh baked dog treats, but they would do in a pinch. After all, what can you expect from someone who thinks they can hide a giant dog in a garage and not have me notice!  Slowly I inched my way towards the bag, the growling is increasing.  At last, I grab a Milk Bone.  The growling is becoming more of a moan.  I take a risk and throw the bone towards the overhead garage door.  The dog, now starving from all of the excitement and courage, sees the Milk Bone go flying across the garage floor.  (Note again, no lights in the garage; they were next to the door I could not get to).  She is interested in the treat.  The decision is big, the Milk Bone or guard the door to the house?  While her eyes are darting at the treat, I grab a second Milk Bone and throw it.  The temptation is too much for this old gal, she goes for it.  As she is leaping towards the overhead door, I run to the keypad and open the overhead door.  This dog is in heaven.  First of all, she is out of the dark garage.  Second, she has a Milk Bone, and three, freedom at last...she takes off running.  We hurried and got back into the house.  I did call the agent right away to let them know that it is a good idea to warn people about 80 pound garage dogs, and to let them know it had escaped.  Needless to say, this house did not make the final cut.

I think I might send a note to the Illinois Association of Realtors. We already have a huge contract with full disclosures on everything.  Everything but Secret Hiding DOGS.  I think they should be subject to full disclosure, including but not limited to; size of dog, location of dog, breed to dog, dog temperament, release of liability if dog injures client, release of liability if client has asthma attack from dog, release if dog has mental health issues from Realtors invading their space, release of realtor liability if clients child pokes, steps on, or in any way aggravates the dog, and I am sure if I talk to an attorney I can come up with more potential dog threats to real estate.  I am going to check my Errors and Omissions insurance to see if I am covered if one of my customers gets attacked by a dog tonight.  Laurie

 

Check out 418 West Northgate, (dog is hidden from 360 degree camera).  It is one of the nicest listings on the market.  It should sell very quickly, it is a large brick ranch with a big yard, high ceilings, big windows and a golf course "peek" between the houses across the street. 

It is already St. Patrick's Day in the Heart of Illinois, and it was actually snowing yesterday!  I am going to start a Sunday Weather Report for Realtors.  It will be similar to http://www.weather.com/.  The almanac version.  I need to learn how to do the cool pull down menu for Historical Weather.  I am planning on contacting the people at the Guinness World Records to see if they have a category for the most open houses a Realtor in the United States has ever had in a career, I am sure after thirty years of holding one or more almost every Sunday, I would win.  Over the years, I am starting to notice buyers, lookers, neighbors, trends, and weather.  If the weather in Peoria, Illinois is beautiful, and it is the first day of Spring, no one but the neighbors show up.  They just walk over while they are in the middle of cleaning out their garage.  Most of the real buyers are home cleaning up their yards, getting ready to sell their current home.  If it is miserable out, snowing and raining, the real buyers show up.  Who else would drag themselves away from the University of Illinois Basketball game to see someone else's house.  After all, the TV might not be on.  They are the ones who show up at the end, rushing in as your are packing up, the games must end at 3:30.  If the home has white carpet, beige carpet or new carpet and it is raining outside, it is almost a sure bet that everyone will come in, if it is snowing, even more.  I had one guy come to an open house in Edgewild last year while it was raining who refused to remove his shoes or wear "booties".  To make sure I noticed, he went from window to window peering inside.  By then, he probably had mud and rain on his shoes, but not in my listing!  We have had close to record breaking weather in Peoria this winter.  Open House traffic was down for the winter in my listings.  We had one nice day, and I think I had over forty sets of people.  It was one of those perfect Realtor weather days, too cold to wash the car or clean the garage, but not raining or snowing.   Has anyone considered adding Open House weather to their weather web sites along with traffic, boating, travel?  It would be great, agents could check the forecast before booking the open house (example, rain, yikes, vacant new construction with no carpet), and buyers could decide whether to call their own agent to see a home on Saturday if it is going to be clear and sunny, or simply show up on Sunday if they do not want to bother their own agent on a crummy day.  Preferably around closing, after all the warmest time of the day is late afternoon.  Who needs the Peoria Park District, most people love to bring their children with them to open house.  Nothing can beat new construction for a five year old.  On a rainy day, the entertainment just does not stop, mud, ponds in the mud, construction debris and more.  In the summer the forecast could say, "Hazardous conditions for viewing homes" if the heat index was at a certain level.  Which is true, for both vacant homes and new construction.  I now refuse to do an open house in a home if the temperature is over 85 and and the seller does not turn on the air conditioning.  Buyers want to just get out as fast as possible, to drive around in their air-conditioned car, hunting for an open house with air conditioning to just cool off for a while.  A perfect Realtor open house day is a hot day in the summer;there are no sports on TV, maybe NASCAR, but is that really a sport?, and it is too hot to work in the yard or garage.  I think this is the reason so many homes sell in July and August, no football, no basketball, no yard clean up, why not go out and buy a house?  At least in Peoria, IL, probably not so much in Peoria, AZ. 

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This is a new subdivision, called Hunter's Trail.  It is located adjacent to the Rock Island Trail.  Right now, it is difficult to find, because the bridge at Wilhelm Road is not open.  It is actually right by Trails Edge Subdivision.  Wilhelm Road will directly connect to Allen Road later this year, hopefully.  In the meantime, this is not on most maps.  You need to go west on Alta Road to Radnor Road, then go right, North.  Take the first Right, and keep driving until you see above sign.  At this sign, go left and follow the road around the first curve to my listing on Stone Creek.  It is amazing, must see.  The list price is $749,900 and it is loaded with amenities.  If you get lost, please call me at 309-696-7223.  We will see you there.