How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide, Part 4 - 02/27/11 08:05 PM
How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide, Part 4
In case you missed it, here are the links to parts 1 through 3:
Part 1- Finding a Real Estate Agent to Represent YOU
Part 2- Getting Pre-Approved for a Loan
Part 3- Finding Your Dream Home
 
Part 4: Making an Offer
You’ve determined that this home is “the one!” Now you need to act fast to submit an offer to purchase, hopefully beating any other potential buyers to the punch!
Your real estate agent will go over the sales contract with you and help you … (3 comments)

Champaign-Urbana IL Named in Top 15 Smarter Metro Regions in the Country - 02/24/11 02:47 PM
Champaign-Urbana IL Named in Top 15 Smarter Metro Regions in the Country
If you currently live in Champaign-Urbana, IL, this designation will come as no surprise! Local efforts to create an environment in which residents and visitors are encouraged to travel by means other than their cars has landed us in the top 15 "Smarter Metro" regions in the country for transportation.
According to the article published on the Smarter Cities website, as of 2009 "nearly 90 percent of the region’s 130,000 residents now live within a quarter mile of a weekday bus route, the average work commute is under 15 … (2 comments)

How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide, Part 3 - 02/23/11 12:51 PM
How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide
In case you missed it, here are the links to:
Part 1- Finding a Real Estate Agent to Represent YOU and Part 2- Getting Pre-Approved for a Loan
 
Part 3: Finding Your Dream Home
You have an agent working for you and you have your pre-approval letter from the bank. Now you’re ready to begin the adventure of looking at homes in Champaign-Urbana IL!
During your initial consultation, your agent will have gone over the criteria that you’re looking for in your new home as well as how … (2 comments)

Active Rain Challenge: Discover YOUR Strength in the Serengeti - 02/21/11 07:50 PM
Active Rain Challenge: Discover YOUR Strength in the Serengeti
We all face challenges in life and handle these challenges in different ways based on our own individual personalities. Our strengths and our weaknesses will emerge during these times when we’re thrown out of our comfort zones.
I’ve only read the first two chapters of Stefan Swanepoel’s book, Surviving Your Serengeti (thanks to Active Rain, I had access to these chapters even though the book hasn’t yet been released!) but the theme is already quite intriguing: it’s about discovering your strengths and using them to excel in challenging situations both in your … (6 comments)

How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide, Part 2 - 02/20/11 09:13 PM
How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide
Part 2: Getting Pre-Approved for a Loan
Unless you’ll be paying for your home entirely with cash, you’ll need to have a plan for financing your purchase. In other words, you need to find a lender who is willing to lend you the money.
What is a Pre-Approval Letter?
A pre-approval letter is given to you by your lender after you have been preliminarily approved for a loan to purchase a home up to a specified price. When you make an offer to purchase a home, you will submit a … (6 comments)

How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide, Part 1 - 02/18/11 01:49 PM
How to Buy a Home: A First-Time Home Buyer's Guide, Part 1
It’s no secret that I love working with first-time homebuyers in Champaign-Urbana, IL. I love seeing their excitement in finding the right home and eventually, finally getting the keys handed to them. I also thoroughly enjoy being the one to explain the "ins and outs" of the home buying process to them, and often I discover during our initial consultation that the first-time home buyer isn't really sure where to start.
If you’re thinking about buying your first home, but you don’t know where to start, then this series … (0 comments)

Champaign County IL Real Estate Market Report, January 2011 - 02/09/11 03:22 PM
Champaign County IL Real Estate Market Report, January 2011
January 2011 Residential Sales Information Compared to January 2010
The following real estate market information concerns only residential sales in greater Champaign County, IL and includes houses, condos, co-ops, and zerolots.
January 2011 Closed Sales Statistics:
107 units sold $144,241 average sale price 94.9% sale-to-list price ratio 112 average days on the market January 2010 Closed Sales Statistics:
88 units sold $142,426 average sale price 95.7% sale-to-list price ratio 95 average days on the market  

What's going on in our Champaign IL real estate market?
What an … (2 comments)

Serenade Your Sweetheart And Support the Arts in Champaign-Urbana IL - 02/04/11 12:13 PM
Serenade Your Sweetheart And Support the Arts in Champaign-Urbana IL
Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, and if you haven't planned something special for your sweetheart it's not too late!
This year you can hire two professional musicians from the Community Center for the Arts to serenade that special someone in your life on February 14th. For the modest price of $50, these talented musicians will stop by the location of your choosing and deliver 20 minutes of musical delight.
What a unique way to show someone you care!
And it gets better... Proceeds will go to support the Community Center for … (2 comments)

The Snow Storm vs. The Closing: A Tale of Two Happy Homeowners - 02/02/11 06:29 PM
The Snow Storm vs. The Closing: A Tale of Two Happy Homeowners
This morning around 7am I received a call from my buyer client. "Shannon, are we still doing the walk-through in half an hour?" he asked.
My response was something to the effect of "If you're in, I'm in."
Since there were about 6 to 8 inches of a mix of ice and snow freshly fallen on the ground, we decided to travel in one car together to the other side of town for our final walk-through of the home that the buyers were to close on in just a … (4 comments)