Hope you're enjoying your last day of the Thanksgiving Weekend, folks!  Back to reality tomorrow, Monday, I'm sorry to say. Over the last few months, some real estate detractors have contended that high mortgage interest rates are placing a drag on housing market recovery.  These so-called "high" rates, however, were in the mid-six-percent range - still, by historical standards, quite low. But will a drop in interest rates, with or without government intervention, create a turnaround in the Housing Market? By itself - NO - say many Real Estate Experts and Practitioners! This past week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced, with great fanfare, a plan to purchase $800 Billion of mortgage and consumer debt-backed securities.  The action was seen as a way to unfreeze U.S. Credit Markets, ... 11/30/2008

Chicago - here we go again! The season's first significant snowfall is predicted to dump as much as 3 - 6 inches in the city and suburbs through tomorrow, with snowfall predicted to begin early this afternoon.  Sleet will fall initially, followed by all snow, before tapering off to snow flurries Monday afternoon. Although the Indiana and Michigan Snow Belt, east of Chicago around the tip of Lake Michigan, has suffered through several four-inch-plus snowfalls so far this season, this storm is the first since last March to create accumulating snow throughout Chicago and the Illinois Suburbs.  The heaviest accumulations will occur south of the city Sunday night. In a bit of a coincidence, heavily-traveled main streets within the City of Chicago will ban overnight parking, between 3 and 7 A... 11/30/2008

Today, I took my daughter to view an apartment.  She's almost done with her graduate degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Illinois Chicago campus, and is readying to do her Fieldwork. Her 6 months of fieldwork, brings her further north in the city.  A little closer to her parents (a happy circumstance for her mother and I)... so we were helping her locate an apartment in Andersonville.  One of the apartments we looked at was directly across the street from the old Essanay studios.  This small, nondescript building was  once known as the FIRST of the Hollywood studios (located in Chicago!). I had forgotten about the Essanay studios, and wasn't even sure where they were located.  But here was the building, larger than life (yet small in size)... Founded in 1907 by George ... 11/29/2008

 The power of Google Earth combined wth the Chicagoland MLS Algonquin Crestwood Hampshire Lakewood Oak Park South Chicago Heights Alsip Crystal Lake Hanover Park Lansing Oakwood Hills South Elgin Antioch Deer Park Harvard Lemont Old Mill Creek South Holland Arlington Heights Deerfield Harvey Libertyville Olympia Fields Spring Grove Aurora Des Plaines Harwood Heights Lily Lake Orland Hills St. Charles Bannockburn Dixmoor Hawthorn Woods Lincolnshire Orland Park Steger Barrington Dolton Hazel Crest Lincolnwood Palatine Stickney Barrington Hills East Dundee Hebron Lindenhurst Palos Heights Stone Park Bartlett East Hazel Crest Hickory Hills Long Grove Palos Hills Streamwood Batavia  Elburn Highland Park Long Lake Palos Park Sugar Grove Beach Park Elgin Highwood Lynwood Park City Summit Bedfo... 11/29/2008

How's the traffic in the parking lot at the mall, folks?  I don't know, because Sue and I are staying the heck away today.  Good luck, however, if you're among the huddled masses at the big-box stores this afternoon! Here's this week's Chicago Neighborhood Update from our Team Member, Jennifer Arcand.  This week, she's focusing on the Chicago Neighborhoods of Lakeview, The South Loop, Lincoln Park, and Edison Park, and the Chicago Suburb of Naperville IL. LAKEVIEW The Gap is opening a handful of Chicago-area stores on Thanksgiving Day to get a head start on the traditional post-Thanksgiving Holiday shopping kick-off. This will be the first time Chicago shoppers will find a Gap open before they sit down to Turkey dinner.   It will certainly be a benefit to be able to try on a new pair of... 11/28/2008

When buying a home, research can be the difference between a successful purchase or a regret. One cannot simply rely on having others look at homes for you. That's why the Internet is a great place to start one's research on finding a home. For instance, someone looking for downtown Chicago condos might look for say, a virtual tour of a property. What kind of research is important for you? 11/28/2008

THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG! Good Morning, you dogs!  One of my invited humans snapped this photo of me last night after Thanksgiving dinner. I ate the usual -Turkey and gravy.  Sweet potato casserole.  Creamed spinach.  A couple of pieces of homemade pumpkin pie (thanks, Grandma Elaine!)  Didn't realize it would make me so tired! Do you know what today is?  Of course you do it's BLACK FRIDAY! You know, that's the day all those crazy humans, predominantly females, rush the Walmart's, Kohl's, and Best Buy's of this world looking for that CHRISTMAS GIFT BARGAIN OF THE CENTURY! I wanted to take a break between stores to quickly post my weekly blog. BTW . . . want a good overview of what's on sale today, including... 11/28/2008

  Chicago Real Estate Merger To Create New Broker Powerhouse   Chicago, August 1, 2008. Two of Chicago's most successful real estate organizations announced today that they are joining forces. Christopher Feurer, the principal of the Feurer Companies, and Michael Sato, his partner in CRF Marketing, the sales and marketing arm of the company, are joining forces with the principals of the Jameson Realty Group and prominent Chicago real estate developers Steven Golovan, Charles Mudd and John Lally to create a new brokerage powerhouse known as Jameson LLC. Feurer and Sato will become CEO and president respectively of the new Jameson, while Jameson founders Charles and Harry Huzenis will be actively involved with the ongoing operations of the firm and have been appointed members of the James... 11/27/2008

From our family to yours - Happy Thanksgiving, 2008! You know, for a few years now, I have quoted today's headline from Barry Levinson's memorable 1990 film, "Avalon." The film tells the story of a middle class family, whose patriarch came to Baltimore from Eastern Europe before the First World War, and retells his story, endlessly, to younger generations of his family each Thanksgiving Day.  The movie is set primarily in the late 1940's. Thanksgiving is a strictly American holiday (no slight to you Canadians - I know you celebrate a Day of Thanks each year as well, in October).  It's a feast day not observed in Europe or other countries. So when grandmother Eva Kirchinsky (Joan Plowright) asks that question of her assembled family at Thanksgiving Dinner, it's here son, a thirty-someth... 11/27/2008

Good news on home mortgage rates, folks!  They've headed down, in the past 24-hours alone! Sorry . . . no improvement yet on the massive inventories of distressed homes available for sale here in Chicago and in many communities across the U.S., and underwriting and credit standards are higher to get these now-cheaper loans. Thousands of jobs have been lost over the last few months, here in Illinois and elsewhere.  But amid a sea of gloomy housing news over the past few days, this favorable interest rate news is certainly welcome! As we know, one the key problems recently standing in the way of the U.S. Economy in general, and our Housing Market in particular, is the availability of financing dollars for consumers and businesses. Yesterday, the Fed moved to break up the log jam of frozen... 11/26/2008

Is the Sky Falling?  I've had a friend tell me that he lost $200,000 this past year and I asked him how it happened and in what areas.  I think about the consumers that wanted to retire but invested monies in the wrong areas of their 401(k)'s or financial portfolios and they are now taking a "bath" and may not be able to retire because those monies are no longer there.  I see consumers selling their homes for the price that they bought them in 2002 and 2005.  They look at the figures at what the market said they were worth and now "I've lost everything".  My Dad built my favorite childhood home in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the North Park area, which is in northeast Grand Rapids, Michigan.  That home was a ranch with an awesome basement that you could rollerskate and grab onto the steel ... 11/26/2008

I’d like to tip my hat to Jeff Kerr over at the ChiTown Living Blog for pointing out this informative article in the Chicago Tribune about what homeowners need to consider when renting out their homes. As I’ve mentioned before, this is a conversation I have with my own clients from time to time. Of the 40 properties I have listed for sale at this time, five are also listed for rent. There are a number of benefits to renting out your home, especially in the current market, but there are also some pitfalls to be considered. Read more at www.liveandplayinchicago.com... 11/25/2008

Hey Chicago, you heard me correctly.  If you are selling, then now is the time to lock in your selling price as the interest rates have dropped down to 5.25% on a 30 year loan.  Think about it...... You have a fair offer for the condition of the property.  Let's say the offer is subject only to an appraisal.  No home inspection.  Buying the property "as is".  Your question:  "Can I get more?"  Maybe and then maybe not.  How much more could you get?  Maybe $5K more.  But three issues come into play:  Will the property appraise out due to its current condition Will the next buyer be willing to take the property "as is" without an inspection?  Will the buyer or the bank condition for much needed repairs? Know your market.  Understand where it is heading.  Celebrate that foreclosure sales a... 11/25/2008

It has hit the presses and the airwaves that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosure sales until January 9, 2009.  The concept will help the servicers more time to help borrowers avoid foreclosure.    If you are a tenant in a property that is being foreclosured open, please note that all evictions will be halted from November 24, 2008 until January 9, 2009.  It is unclear whether the evictions are only for owner occupied building and/or non-owner occupied buildings.  Please reach out to the City of Chicago for clarification.     The criteria for this program is that you must have missed three mortgage payments, must occupy the property. So, if you are scheduled for a foreclosure sale between November 26, 2008 and January 9, 2009 - AND IF you still occupy the property, the ... 11/25/2008

This is getting very old, folks - and although many hope for an end to U.S. Housing woes, statistics indicate we might have more of a road to travel before things in the Housing Market brighten up. Amid a continued slide in real estate sales nationwide, the Chicago Metro Area, including the City of Chicago, continue to suffer through substantial median price and units-sold declines.  Within the city, home sales declined 21.6% since October of last year, to 1,535 units sold (combined single family home and condo sales).  The median price for a home or condo within the Chicago City Limits - $260,000 - down 9.1% from one year ago. During October, 2008, sales in the Chicago Metro Area fell 17.7% over year-ago levels, to 5,397 units sold.  The median price in the Chicago Area dropped 10% wit... 11/25/2008

Mornin', Folks! Looking in the online Wall Street Journal today, median home prices nationwide continued their slide in October.  But that doesn't mean EVERY HOME, in EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD is falling in the same pattern. As you may guess, national indices of home prices miss the mark - often, by a wide margin - as a means to predicting prices for individual homes, at the Local and Neighborhood Levels. Take, for example, the highly-followed S & P/Case Shiller Index of relative home values.  The index suggests a 15% drop in the composite home value within the Top 20 Metro Markets across the U.S. since the beginning of 2007.  In the Chicago Metro Area, their Case Shiller index decline is less severe - roughly, 10%, but still significant. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Government Statistics are so... 11/24/2008

Good Morning! Here's the latest Stat Summary on the Chicago Real Estate Market, based on data pulled yesterday evening, November 23, 2008 -  Active Listing Inventory  showed a continued seasonal drop this week.  Pending Sales still stable - but we have worked with an increasing number of "bargain hunters" looking for good-condition properties at historically-low prices ahead of the winter.   Average Sales Price again fell quite a bit - over 5%.  Indeed, average prices for single-family homes, condos, and two-to-four-unit apartment buildings have noticeably fallen this year in the North and Northwest Side of Chicago Neighborhoods we serve.  Closed Units and Units Expired washed last week's unfavorable numbers.  Sales Volume bounced back strongly this week, and is likely to increase again... 11/23/2008

Hey, hey, everyone!  Server trouble today, I guess - but our Chicago Bears actually won a football game.  So I'll refrain from complaining. Search Engine Optimization!  Pay Per Click!  Is the often-significant investment in these traffic-building strategies paying dividends for you?  Or, do you develop and implement YOUR OWN STRATEGIES for maximizing organic placement on your blog, and on your main website?   If you do them yourself - how do you find the time, or are you naturally a genius? I've heard pro and con here.  One thousand experts say you can't achieve the results you want without these two elements today.  This is especially true, they contend, as Google changes its methodology for "scoring" websites - based on "conversion or inquiries" rather than simply keywords. (See Rober... 11/23/2008

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday afternoon folks!  Our Chicago Bears aren't doing so well these days, so I'm taking some time off from the Bear-St.Louis Rams game to hit the blogging trail! By now, you've heard of plans by U.S. Mortgage Guarantors and Investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to modify thousands of its loans held by borrowers at least three months in arrears, who still have the ability to make their house payments with a modified loan at 38% of their household income. While they are putting the finishing touches on this program, they have decided to stay foreclosure sales and resulting evictions through January 9th of next year.  No foreclosures for the holiday season! The companies announced Thursday plans to suspend foreclosure sales of many owner-occupied single-family an... 11/23/2008

Illinois is a state that depends on its manufacturing and construction sectors.  As a result of the sliding economy, the vibrancy of both sectors has severely declined over the past year. Indeed, for the fifth month in a row, the IL State Unemployment Rate has risen - to a statewide average of 7.3% -and is now over the national average of 6.5%.  IL population continues to grow, so jobs must be created at the rate of several thousand each month just to accommodate the growing work force here. Let's intuitively relate this to the Real Estate Market - across IL and in Chicago.  Most would assume the fear of losing one's job would put a damper on their plans to purchase a new home. Statewide, the unemployment rate increased 5.8% versus the month of September - from 6.9% to 7.3%.  The Constr... 11/23/2008