Bill and Sherry's Blog

Riverwoods Halloween Party -A Monster Bash Was Great

Bill and Sherry Kaplan (Coldwell Banker) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:08:03 -0500

It's great to live in Riverwoods. We just had another wonderful Village Halloween Party with horse-drawn hay rides, free hot dogs, free pizza, and hot apple cider. There was a huge bonfire for roasting marshmallows and making somores. This year we not only had a haunted hose and story lady, but we had Mobile Music Interactive Entertainment who provided scary background music and dancing for all. Everyone had a wonderful time and even got bags of candy and popcorn to take home. One resident told me that his daughter had come for the first time when she had just begun to walk and now it was her favorite event of the year.

IT takes a Village to make a party. NorthSide Community Bank donated the hot dogs and cider, Glenwood Tree, Gewalt Hamilton Assoc and H.T. Strenger Plumbing donated the pizza from IL Forno's Pizzeria who provided it at cost. The Village Music Store provided songs and music on the Hayride. Village residents all volunteered to decorate the Village Hall and the spook walk and to serve and prepare the food.

What a great place to live. If you love privacy, nature and want lots of land, but still want to be near the City and all it has to offer. Riverwoods is the place to live.

Right now i am visiting my grandchildren in Phoenix Arizona. Zachary and Alexis are such fun. They are the best, but Phownix is not Riverwoods in the fall. There is no change of color in the trees, there are no trees, no deer, no space, no privacy, no snow in the winter. They are hoping to move back to Illinois, but can't sell their home in Arizona. We hope they will be back soon to attend the next Village of Riverwoods Halloween party.

Autumn In Riverwoods Is The Most Beautiful Time of The Year

Bill and Sherry Kaplan (Coldwell Banker) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:51:39 -0500

Our home is surrounded by acres of fabulous beauty. Red, yellow, green leaves are everywhere. The changing leaf color is magnificent. The crisp Autumn air is exhilarating. It is perfect weather to go walking with your dog or bike riding on the many wooded nearby trails. Unfortunately, we had to put our 16 1/2 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever down 2 months ago. I miss him so much that tonight we are rescuing a puppy. A 8 week old female Labrador/Sheppard mix. She is the cutest pup I have ever seen, but we've only seen her on the Internet. I hope she is as cute as her photo and doesn't turn out to be a 200 lb Bull Mastiff pretending to be a puppy.

We are doing the last things necessary for the Halloween Party. Putting up signs and picking up food. I plan to bring the puppy to the party. I want her to get socialized with little children. What better way than going to a party in the woods.

We are also planning the 50th Anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Village of Riverwoods. It will take place this spring or early summer. We are planning on interviewing some of the original residents and founders of the Village and video taping their stories. More to come about the anniversary celebration.

Another Amazing Village of Riverwoods Halloween Party Is On It's Way

Bill and Sherry Kaplan (Coldwell Banker) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:52:25 -0500

Last year 400-500 people attended. We expect this year to be even bigger and better. I am in charge of the Village Party. We live in such a wonderful community that all I need do is make a few phone calls and everything falls into place. We get volunteers to man the Haunted House, hand out the free hot dogs, pizza and cider, and Stuff the bags of candy that are given to all the children. This year we not only have the horse drawn hay wagon with Bob Gand from the Village Music Store playing the banjo and singing Coming Around the Mountain and O'le Suszana, but we have a story lady reading scary stories around the campfire and volunteers helping the children make somores.

All of the food and candy is donated by local companies to the Village. All the Village pays for is the Horse drawn hay wagon. NorthSide Community Bank, Glenwood Tree, Gewalt-Hamilton and Strenger Plumbing have donated the money for the party. Mobile Music Interactive Entertainment will be providing a DJ, interactive dancers and dance music for the children.

Riverwoods is a wonderful example of what a community can do when the government and local companies as well as the residents of the community work together on a project which benefits them all.

Riverwoods is a great place to live.

Sincerely,

Sherry H. Kaplan

Why Riverwoods is Special

Bill and Sherry Kaplan (Coldwell Banker) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:11:25 -0500

People often ask why living in Riverwoods is so special. When we first moved to Riverwoods we thought we landed in Paradise. The beauty of the environment is not the only thing that makes it special. It is really the unique mindset of the people that contribute to the special feeling attached to life in this community. The Village of Riverwoods was incorporated in 1959. Early settlers were generally self-sufficient, and opposed to government services or interference. They had their own wells and septic fields. Some of the homes were constructed with lumber from their own property. The roads were privately owned. The fire department was a volunteer fire department. the county sheriff provided the only police protection. Farmers along Milwaukee Avenue used to cross the Des Plaines River on sleds in the winter, to chop down trees for firewood. Residents preferred to maintain the rural character of the area.

Many of the early settlers came to Rverwoods for the trees, for the space, and for the freedom. These are also the reasons residents love Riverwoods today. We no longer have a volunteer fire department, it is a township fire department located in the Village. We have our own police department and no longer rely on the Lake County Sheriff. All the streets are paved although most of the streets are still private and are maintained by road associations. Most homes have sewer and many have Lake Michigan Water, but the independent spirit and desire for autonomy still survives. The Village government is made up of volunteers and Riverwoods prides itself on being a volunteer community. Our Village Hall is a log cabin. "Riverwoods residents find peace and enjoyment in going it alone among the God-given gift of the trees and nature that is uniquely Riverwoods." (Alfred Lewis, from A Village Rememered: Riverwoods after 25 Years, 1984)

Sincerely

Sherry H. Kaplan

The Real Estate Slow Down Is World Wide

Bill and Sherry Kaplan (Coldwell Banker) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:58:30 -0600

We just returned from almost a month in Australia and New Zealand. The people were wonderful, but they were saying the same thing that people were saying here when we left home. They said if you wanted to buy a vineyard or a sheep ranch now was the time to buy, but not the time to sell. New Zealand was so beautiful that we were sorely tempted, but we are not yet ready for our sheep ranching days.

When we returned home we were pleasantly surprised that the real estate market on the North Shore seems to be picking up. I had an open house in Glenview 2 weeks ago and 12 groups of people came through the home. Buyers are out there looking and with the new lower interest rates we are very hopeful that the spring market which traditionally starts the day after the Super-bowl will be an improved market place for home sales.

One of the mortgage changes we recently learned of is referred to as the 2% rule. Unless you put 30% down or get a 15 year loan, a lender even if you are approved for a loan at a fixed rate can run a second credit check a week or 2 before the closing and if your credit score has dropped below 680 the lender can add 1-1 1/4 to the interest rate. Thus if you have a mortgage rate of 6& you could end up having to pay 7 1/4 on the loan. We are warning our buyers not to buy furniture, a car or any other big ticket item that will affect their credit score until after the closing. Also, as many of you must have heard there is discussion about raising the amount for a conforming loan from $417,000. This will be very good for the luxury home market and will certainly benefit Riverwoods real estate.

Finally, as to what has been happening in Riverwoods specifically, the Riverwoods Preservation Council (RPC) has provided a new booklet to every homeowner in Riverwoods entitled "In Your Own Back Yard". It is filled with useful information about our local flora and fauna. It has guidelines on planting trees and removing invasive non-native plants such as garlic mustard and buck-thorn. Thank you RPC.

We currently have 3 new construction homes on the market for over 2 million dollars. They not only have excellent floor plans,and elegant material but are located on lots ranging from 2 to almost 3 acres that afford privacy while still being minutes from expressways, train and O'hare. That is why Riverwoods has been called the North Shore's best kept secret. If you wait until the end of the week you will be able to see all 3 on our web site. Just click on Sherry and Bill or go to Sherryandbill.com. We don't have the photos on two of the homes since they were just completed this past week. One of the homes has its own website 1001blackthorn.com. Take a look to see the beauty you can find in Riverwoods.

Cordially,

Sherry H. Kaplan

Recent National Association of Realtors Convention in Las Vegas

Bill and Sherry Kaplan (Coldwell Banker) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:21:41 -0600

Bill and I recently returned from the National Association of Realtors Convention in Las Vegas. I thought when we planned the trip that it would be a chance for us to relax and unwind. It was actually a whirlwind of classes, lectures, seminars, and a fabulous EXPO with vendors from all over the world. There were 30,000 Realtors in attendance. We attended classes from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. for 4 days and never stepped out of the Venetian Hotel. Some days we did not have time for lunch. It was amazing and we learned lots.

The most interesting thing was the statement that this year was actually the 5th best year in the history of recorded real estate sales. Yet, this was the first year that real-estate prices have gone down.

I was particularly interested in the classes on marketing Luxury Homes and got some wonderful ideas for co-operative marketing that I plan on using on some of our fabulous listings. We also found an interesting Internet product at the EXPO. It was a group from Australia that for a nominal monthly fee prepared a slide show with voice overs describing your listing. The only problem was the language they used was not American English. I plan on contacting them and helping them learn U.S. real estate English. It will be fun since I was a former English teacher.

Bill Cosby entertained at the convention. He was wonderful. He told a great real estate story of buying his first home in Los Angeles after just coming from Philadelphia. He as looking for a brick home since in Philly only poor people had stucco homes, yet all the Realtor seemed to show him were stucco homes. He finally found a brick home for twice as much as he wanted to spend in the 1960's, about $300,000. It was just down the street from Jack Lemon's home. They lived there for 3 years until the first earthquake. They then decided to go back East. Cosby wanted to keep the house and rent it out. His wife insisted on selling it. They sold it to Michael Landon for approximately $330,000. Ten years later Bill Cosby was reading the paper and read the news of Michael Landon's divorce and that he was forced to sell his home for $10,000,000. Bill Cosby said that in 50 years of marriage. This is the only time he had something over his wife and he never fails to use it. It was a great story and I am sure a true one. Unfortunately, in this and the next few years I don't think we will see such a spectacular increase in the value of homes.

Never-the-less, real estate is still the best investment out there if you are planning on keeping it over the long haul. The Riverwoods real estate market seems to be picking up. People who value privacy and the beauty of nature are drawn to our community. We have one property which is on 7 acres at the end of the road. It's hard to find this kind of privacy and serenity in today's world and people are willing to pay for it. Most of our listings are on a minimum of 1.5 to 2 acre lots. It's amazing that it's not good fences that make good neighbors, its good space between homes that make good neighbors since when ever you need help someone is ready to lend a hand, but your privacy is always respected.

Well we are back at work holding open houses, showing houses and getting new listings so I will sign off as tomorrow promises to be another big day.

Why We Love Working in Real Estate Even in The Current Market

Bill and Sherry Kaplan (Coldwell Banker) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:35:08 -0500

Well here goes. This is the first time I am posting a Blog.

Bill and I are truly lucky to be selling and buying homes in one of the loveliest areas of the Country and are working with some of the nicest people. We have found that in helping our clients deal with what is for many the largest investment of their life, we have become life long friends. There is nothing that reveals a person's character more than the integrity and consideration for others they show during a real estate transaction. Little things like the effort they make to clean up the home before the new owners take over, or the time they take to explain how things in their home work really tell a lot about how much people love their home and want the next person to enjoy it. We are so lucky to have been dealing with so many wonderful people.

We are also lucky to live in such a beautiful place. Riverwoods is Tree City USA. Our home is in a heavily wooded area adjacent to a 500 acre conservation area, "Ryerson Conservation Area". Every day we pull into our driveway we can expect to see baby deer, great blue heron, an owl or a red fox. We often stop at night to see what the car headlights will reveal. What fun! Both Bill and I were city kids from Chicago. It's hard for us to believe we live in such a great place surrounded by so much beauty.

Not only is Riverwoods beautiful, but it is a community ideally located near 2 expressways, the train and 25 minutes from O'Hare Airport. It affords ideal access to downtown Chicago and yet is like living in a small town community. If a tree falls across your driveway, a neighbor will come by with a saw and ask if he can help. Almost all the roads are private and each spring all the neighbors in a given road association band together to clean up the road and have a barbecue at the Village Hall afterwards.

This fall we will celebrate two important events. Set amid the beauty of the changing color of the fall foliage is our Annual Arts and Riverwoods Art Show. It is one of the year's outstanding community events. It is a three day celebration ( Oct. 12, 13 & 14) The Art Show will raise money for art scholarships for students in the elementary and middle schools in our area and for Stevenson, Deerfield, and Waukegan High Schools. The Village Halloween Party will take place on Saturday, October 27th at the Village Hall, (300 Portwine Road). Last year over 400 children attended. Bill is the Mayor of Riverwoods so Bill and I are in charge of the Halloween Party. It was my idea to start it right after 911 as I didn't like the idea of our children trick or treating in the street. We give out free hot dogs, cider and candy. We have a horse drawn hay wagon with music and singing, We have a huge bonfire and roast marshmallows. This year we will even have a blowup haunted house complete with spooks and witches. I will be a witch. (My daughter would say that would be easy) Everything is donated by members of the community, our community bank and the Village of Riverwoods itself. All of the workers are volunteers. Riverwoods actually is a volunteer community. The members of the Board of Trustees are all volunteers. To add to the small town feel of our vibrant community, the Village Hall is located in a log cabin.

We are truly lucky to live and work in such a great community. If you are planning to relocate to the Chicago area we would be happy to introduce you to one of the best kept secrets of the North Shore, Riverwoods. We know you will love it as much as we do.