Homes in Chicago and the Suburbs

9/25/08 Single Family Market Update - Arlington Heights, Illinois

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:33:38 -0500

Here is a quick snapshot of the single family residentail real estate market in Arlignton Heights. If you are interest in more deatils please call the us at 847-749-3533.

Under Contract

List Price Range # Listings Avg. Days on Mkt

$150,000 - $199,999 1 216

$200,000 - $249,999 1 603

$250,000 - $299,999 3 240

$300,000 - $349,999 4 264

$350,000 - $399,999 8 175

$400,000 - $449,999 6 285

$450,000 - $499,999 3 143

$500,000 - $549,999 5 250

$550,000 - $599,999 4 87

$600,000 - $699,999 2 77

$700,000 - $799,999 5 376

$800,000 - $899,999 1 586

$1,000,000 - $1,999,999 1 204

Under Contract Summary

# Units Avg. MT Median List Price Avg. List Price Max. List Price Min. List Price

44 240 $449,900 $492,834 $1,099,999 $189,900

Active Listings

List Price Range # Listings Avg. Days on Mkt

$150,000 - $199,999 1 441

$200,000 - $249,999 9 98

$250,000 - $299,999 47 153

$300,000 - $349,999 53 215

$350,000 - $399,999 63 204

$400,000 - $449,999 59 173

$450,000 - $499,999 49 192

$500,000 - $549,999 25 162

$550,000 - $599,999 26 193

$600,000 - $699,999 29 182

$700,000 - $799,999 26 280

$800,000 - $899,999 22 314

$900,000 - $999,999 15 198

$1,000,000 - $1,999,999 16 340

Active Listings Summary

# Units Avg. MT Median List Price Avg. List Price Max. List Price Min. List Price

440 203 $449,900 $519,331 $1,895,000 $189,900

Market conditions provided by the Suburban House Hunters Team. These market stats are just a summary of the market conditions in Arlington Heights. If you would like more details about the current conditions or information on other suburbs including Algonquin, Barrington, Bartlett, Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Elgin, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, Roselle, Schaumburg, Streamwood, or Wheeling feel free to contact us.

Palatine Rental Market Update

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:27:05 -0500

The rental market in Palatine is currently very strong and vacancy rates are very low. If you have a home or condo to rent in Palatine you will be looking at it renting for at least 5-10% higher then last year at this time and it will rent quickly.

Renters the home you look at today many times will be gone tomorrow. We have rented multiple homes in under 24 hours. This means if you find something you like you need to act fast and expect to pay close to full asking rent.

Residential Rentals on Market: 91

Lowest Price: $850

Highest Price: $7500 (large newer single famliy home)

Price range for 1 bedroom condos: $850 - $1,490

Price range for 2 bedroom condos: $875 - $2,100

With the increases in rental rates many renters are starting to find that purchasing a home is a less expensive option then renting. If you are interested in viewing all the homes on the market for sale or for rent use our Palatine MLS search.

Arlington Hieghts Rental Update

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:13:41 -0500

The rental market in Arlinton Heights is currently very strong and vacancy rates are very low. If you have a home or condo to rent in Arlington Heights you will be looking at it renting for at least 5-10% higher then last year at this time and it will rent quickly.

Residential Rentals on Market: 61

Lowest Price: $850

Highest Price: $3950

Price range for 1 bedroom condos: $850 - $2,100

Price range for 2 bedroom condos: $1,100 - $2,575

Rental Services

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:40:47 -0500

With mortgage companies becoming stricter with who they will lend money to many potential home buyers are finding themselves in the Chicagoland rental market. Many buyers are also choosing to take a wait and see approach to the current buyers market and continuing to rent. As the market changes the Suburban House Hunters Team has always attempted to cater it services to consumers needs.

Renters now have a wide range of choices in the rental market including condos, townhomes, and single family homes. The number of individually owned homes available to renters has increased over the last few months mainly due to the softer real estate market. For many of these homes it is the first time they have ever been rented and many include upgrades not normally found in a rental.

If you are interested in finding a rental home or apartment contact us and put our team of residential real estate agents to work for you.

Subprime Mortgage Crisis for Dummies

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:31:45 -0500

Time for a little fun. This is a truly funny yet accurate representation of what caused the mortgage crisis. This is a cartoon that shows the how at different levels this whole mess started.

From the consumer, to the mortgage broker, to the banks, to Wall Street, to the accountants, to those that truly got effected by purchasing the mortgage backed securities this covers it all.

Algonquin Real Estate Market Update - 10/8/07

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:34:30 -0500

The single family market in Algonquin, IL currently has 296 homes on the market and there is about a 14 month inventory.

Currently listed: 296
Under Contract: 31
Sold in last 180 days: 124
Low Price: $135,900
High Price: $1,350,000

The attached housing market (condos & townhomes) in Algonquin, IL currently has 126 attached homes on the market and there is about a 12 month inventory.

Currently listed: 126
Under Contract: 18
Sold in last 180 days: 65
Low Price: $119,500
High Price: $349,900

If you need more information about real estate in Algonquin feel free to visit SuburbanHouseHunters.com.

Palatine IL Real Estate Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:18:44 -0500

Here is a quick overview of the single family market in Palatine, IL. There currently is about 28 months of inventory and the increase is most likely seasonal.

currently on the market: 399
currently under contract: 55
closed in the last 90 days: 42
est. inventory: 28 months
lowest price: $229,000
highest price: $1,800,000

Here is a quick overview of the condo market in Palatine, IL. There currently is about 22 months of inventory and this increase might be more than just seasonal.

currently on the market: 425
currently under contract: 63
closed in the last 90 days: 44
est. inventory: 28 months
lowest price: $96,900
highest price: $599,000

Past Market Updates: 09/25/06, 11/30/06

Visit Suburban House Hunters for more information about Palatine Real Estate.

Roselle Condo Conversion

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:15:30 -0600

Spring Hill Condos

Wanted to announce that my team is currently working on a condo conversion in Roselle Illinois. The project has studios, one bedrooms, and two bedroom two bath models. There are 264 units to be sold and the prices start from $99,900.

If anyone has any clients looking for investment properties or clients looking to purchase a condo in Roselle just contact me and I will register them for you. We are cooperating with brokers, give me a call for current information.

All current information about Spring Hill Condos is on our Roselle Condos site.

Arlington Heights closed sales - What do the numbers tell us?

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:02:30 -0600

Below are the closed transactions for 2005 and 11 months of 2006 for Arlington Heights, IL per the mls. As you can see there has been a 10% drop in closings for the current year. This number is only part of the truth in my opinion. Less homeowners are selling by owner which has increased the number of recorded sales in the mls for 2006. This means the numbers actually look better then they really are.

Also 2006 started off as a great year with 27 more units closed by the end of March then in 2005, that's a 34% increase. After that is when things slowed down and in a big way. The next 8 month of 2006 have 20% less closing than in 2005. Only 406 from April - Nov 2006 vs. 485 in 2005 during the same period.

Here are the numbers before we go any further:

2005 closed single family units

Jan '05 - 15
Feb '05 - 21
Mar '05 - 42
Apr '05 - 55
May '05 - 64
Jun '05 - 92
July '05 - 54
Aug '05 - 68
Sept '05 - 44
Oct '05 - 60
Nov '05 - 48
Dec '05 - 31

Total = 594 closed in 2005 (563 Jan-Nov 2005)

2006 closed single family units

Jan '06 - 31
Feb '06 - 26
Mar '06 - 48
Apr '06 - 41
May '06 - 66
Jun '06 - 60
July '06 - 54
Aug '06 - 68
Sept '06 - 52
Oct '06 - 32
Nov '06 - 33
Dec '06 - ????

Total = ??? closed in 2006 (511 Jan-Nov 2006 Down about 10% from 2005)

What does this mean?

Sellers are in for a longer marketing period and will have to price their homes correctly. Their homes will have to be clean, minor repairs must be done, and owners will have to listen to suggestions made by their Realtor(R).

Sellers are also going to have to start looking for agents that have a strong internet presence as 80% of buyers start their search online. For example go to Google and search for Arlington Heights Real Estate and see what agents are at the top of the results and interview them (note that those in the "sponsored links area are just paid ads). If a site can get into the top 3 for your city for a term like "city real estate" they most likely have a good web presence as this is not an easy thing to do.

Hope this gives a clear picture of the Arlington Heights real estate market.

View our lens on Arlington Heights and Algonquin.

Palatine IL Real Estate Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:45:26 -0600

Here is a quick overview of the single family market in Palatine, IL. There currently is about 19 months of inventory and the increase is most likely seasonal.

currently on the market: 270
currently under contract: 38
closed in the last 90 days: 43
est. inventory: 19 months
lowest price: $235,000
highest price: $1,695,000

Here is a quick overview of the condo market in Palatine, IL. There currently is about 22 months of inventory and this increase might be more than just seasonal.

currently on the market: 314
currently under contract: 34
closed in the last 90 days: 42
est. inventory: 22 months (9 month increase from the 9/25 update)
lowest price: $94,900
highest price: $525,000

Past Market Updates: 09/25/06

Visit http://www.suburbanhousehunters.com/ for more information about Palatine Heights Real Estate.

Check out or profile on these sites: Squidoo and Naymz.

Roselle Condo Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:29:57 -0600

The condo market in Roselle, IL currently has 50 condos on the market and there is about a 19 month inventory. The small increase in months of inventory is seasonal and not a reason to believe that the market is any slower than at the last update.

Currently listed: 50
Under Contract: 7
Sold in last 180 days: 16
Low Price: $156,900
High Price: $449,900

Previous Roselle Condo Updates: 09/28/06, 08/24/06

Of the condos on the market 25% of them are all from one condo conversion. This skews the numbers for the short term and makes it look like the inventory is higher than normal.

Make sure to visit our Roselle Condos site to view current information about the Roselle condo market. For information about the rest of the Roselle real estate market visit SuburbanHouseHunters.com.

Check out or profile on these sites: Squidoo and Naymz.

Arlington Heights IL Market Update

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:23:08 -0600

Here is a quick overview of the single family market in Arlington Heights, IL. There currently is about 29 months of inventory. While part of the increase is seasonal it does show we are clearly in a buyers market.

currently on the market: 472
currently under contract: 60
closed in the last 90 days: 48
est. inventory: 29 months (10 months longer than 9/25 update)
lowest price: $259,900
highest price: $2,499,000

Here is a quick overview of the condo market in Arlington Heights, IL. There currently is about 11 months of inventory.

currently on the market: 279
currently under contract: 35
closed in the last 90 days: 78
est. inventory: 11 months (Down 10 months from 9/25 update)
lowest price: $91,900
highest price: $895,000

Past Market Updates: 09/25/06, 07/05/06 (use this to compare and see how the market has changed)

Visit Suburban House Hunters for more information about Arlington Heights Real Estate.

Details about some Condo Developments:

Campbell Courte Condos - 200 W Campbell
Parkview Condominiums of Arlington Heights - 212 N Dunton
Village Green Condos - 44 N Vail
Wing Street Residence - 151 W Wing Street

Is the agent "Buying the Listing"?

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:55:00 -0600

"Buying a Listing" is what I call it when an agent is willing to tell a homeowner that they feel the home should be listed higher than it is really worth. The agent acts like the home is worth this inflated amount and tells the owner in saying that it's a good listing price. With their lies they "buy the listing".

Just the fact that an agent is willing to misrepresent what a home is worth to get a listing shows a lack of ethics and shows they don't really care about the client. What really happens with an overpriced listing?

To read the rest of this post please visit Is the agent "Buying the Listing"?

Hows your market?

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 23:47:12 -0500

So more agents are starting to post some market conditions and I have found it interesting to see how some parts of the country are doing.

Post here a link to you current market update and give us a quick overview in your comment. Something like this:

City and state you serve
main real estate focus (residential, new construction, condos,....)
Buyers Market or Sellers or Neutral
Prices, are they up, down or even this year?
Then if you have a market update on your blog link to it

Think this might be fun to see how things are doing across the country.

Our team works Algonquin, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Bartlett, Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, Roselle, Schaumburge, Streamwood, Wheeling.

Algonquin Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 23:49:53 -0500

The single family market in Algonquin, IL currently has 250 homes on the market and there is about a 8 month inventory.

Currently listed: 250
Under Contract: 33
Sold in last 180 days: 191
Low Price: $159,000
High Price: $979,900

The condo market in Algonquin, IL currently has 6 condos on the market and there is about a 9 month inventory.

Currently listed: 6
Under Contract: 1
Sold in last 180 days: 4
Low Price: $184,900
High Price: $222,900

If you need more information about real estate in Algonquin feel free to visit SuburbanHouseHunters.com.

Getting Pre-Approved, the second step

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:33:00 -0500

Buyers are in such a hurry to get in the car and look at houses that they forget about the first and second steps many times. In my opinion the very first step is interviewing a few agents, there will be more about this later. Once you have found a great agent to help with your home purchase then you need to find out how much home you can actually afford. This should help you find out who to use, when to do it, and why the pre-approval is so important.

For the rest of this post please visit "Getting Pre-Approved"

Million Dollar Plus Homes in Arlington Heights IL

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 23:48:39 -0500

Million dollar homes in Arlington Heights is becoming common place. With 25 current listing over 1 million dollars and as high as $2.5 million you have a large selection of new construction high end homes. These homes are up to 6,000 sq feet and have up to 4 car garages. But with only 5 homes selling in this price range in the last 6 months the question becomes why are so many being built?

The highest price closed sale in Arlington Heights in the last 6 months is only $1,225,000. This is less than half the price of the current highest priced listing and the marketing time on this home was 273 days.

Builders have taken the "build it and they will come" approach, to bad for them the buyers don't agree. Many of these high end listings have been reducing prices to try and get buyers in the door, but this price range is truly hurting currently. With well over 2 years of inventory builders better be ready to hold these homes in inventory for an extended period of time.

Visit us for more Arlington Heights Real Estate information.

Barrington Condo Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 18:28:11 -0500

The condo market in Barrington, IL currently has 46 condos on the market and there is about a 13 month inventory.

Currently listed: 46
Under Contract: 16
Sold in last 180 days: 21
Low Price: $174,900
High Price: $650,000

The condos that are highest priced are new condos near the train station. If you remove the highest priced condo at $650,000 the next highest one is $460,530 so that the numbers are a little skewed by that listing. If you need more information about real estate in Barrington feel free to visit SuburbanHouseHunters.com.

Skokie Condo Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 18:17:29 -0500

The condo market in Skokie, IL currently has 213 condos on the market and there is about a 11 month inventory.

Currently listed: 213
Under Contract: 64
Sold in last 180 days: 117
Low Price: $137,000
High Price: $1,279,300

Past Market Updates: 08/24/06

The condos in the lower price range seem to be selling much better than the high end condos in Skokie. There is one month less inventory now than one month ago. This shows that the Skokie Condo market is doing better than many of the surrounding towns that are seeing growing inventory.

Northbrook IL Condo Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:59:49 -0500

The condo market in Northbrook, IL currently has 49 condos on the market and there is about a 20 month inventory.

Currently listed: 81
Under Contract: 10
Sold in last 90 days: 12
Low Price: $143,500
High Price: $597,620

Sellers need to be prepared for long market times and need to keep there condo clean and ready to be shown at all times. If you want your condo sold make sure to make as easy as possible for potential buyers to see it. That means never turning down a showing and always having the condo ready to be shown before leaving the house in the morning.

For more information about Northbrook Condos and tips to get your home sold fast visit SuburbanHouseHunters.com

Northbrook IL Single Family Homes Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:53:48 -0500

The single family market in Northbrook, IL currently has 309 homes on the market and there is about a 29 month inventory. This is a buyers market for sure at this point. With over 2 years of inventory your home better be priced right, clean, and staged to get a sale.

Currently listed: 309
Under Contract: 28
Sold in last 90 days: 31
Low Price: $349,900
High Price: $3,950,000

For more information about Northbrook real estate visit SuburbanHouseHunters.com

Market Conditions for Roselle Illinois Condos

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:22:23 -0500

The condo market in Roselle, IL currently has 49 condos on the market and there is about a 14 month inventory.

Currently listed: 49
Under Contract: 8
Sold in last 180 days: 21
Low Price: $149,850
High Price: $449,900

Previous Roselle Condo Updates: 08/24/06

Of the condos on the market 25% of them are all from one condo conversion. This skews the numbers for the short term and makes it look like the invetory is higher than normal.

For more information about Roselle Condos visit SuburbanHouseHunters.com

Make sure to visit our Roselle Condos site to view current information about the Roselle condo market.

What's a "low ball" offer to you?

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:59:30 -0500

Our market has changed like many of those across the country. We are looking at longer market times and with winter fast approaching homes could easily sit until next March or April at this point.

I just put in an offer on a property that has been on the market since 05/21/06. The property was originally listed for $415k and was recently reduced to $405k. The seller will not look at offers that have a home sale contingency even though this is a move up type of home, 2200 sq ft in an expensive subdivision for that town.

Now I happen to have buyers that can, but don't really want to, buy the home without a contingency. They can qualify without any problem and can afford to carry both mortgages.

So that's the background, now the offer. We came in at $380k plus the seller to pay 1 point for closing costs. This is to reduce the cash out of pocket as the sellers might have a few months of double mortgage payments. So net to the seller is about $376k or $29k less than list price, only about 7% less than the list price. I also talked with the agent before hand and got the exact closing date the seller wanted and we used that. We aren't asking for anything funny, at that the only term to negotiate with this offer is the price it is so clean.

The listing agent was offended by the offer and said that it was "ridiculous", "low ball" and that "she thought we would be bringing a serious offer". At what point in time did 7% under list become an offer to ignore? What makes a non-contingent offer that will close on the exact date the seller wants become something that isn't a "serious offer"??

Wonder what others consider a low ball offer?

Pricing your home

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:43:26 -0500

As a listing specialist one of the hardest thing to do is price a home correctly. List Price has become even more important now that the market has become softer. Price a home to high and it will cost sellers thousands in extra carrying costs and price it to low and you give it away and cost sellers thousands of dollars. Either mistake can be just as costly.

So a few points about pricing that a seller needs to understand:

For the rest of this post please visit "Pricing your Home"

Palatine IL Market Conditions

Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:21:50 -0500

Here is a quick overview of the single family market in Palatine, IL. There currently is about 13 months of inventory.

currently on the market: 309
currently under contract: 39
closed in the last 90 days: 69
est. inventory: 13 months
lowest price: $239,900
highest price: $1,695,000

Here is a quick overview of the condo market in Palatine, IL. There currently is about 13 months of inventory.

currently on the market: 345
currently under contract: 51
closed in the last 90 days: 80
est. inventory: 13 months
lowest price: $84,000
highest price: $639,000

Past Market Updates: None

Visit www.SuburbanHouseHunters.com for more information about Palatine Heights Real Estate.