Let’s face it. In most price categories in Winnetka, Glencoe, Wilmette and Kenilworth, it seems to be a seller’s market. What that means is that for well priced listings, the market times are very short and sellers have some power on pricing and other terms in the sale of their properties. Frequently, we are seeing multiple offers for desirable properties.
This has been further compounded by the extremely small inventories of home for sale.
However, there is an interesting phenomena that is taking place all (4 comments)
glencoe: The New, New Thing?
- 04/12/13 09:33 AM
Inventories are at the lowest levels we’ve seen in over a deca de.
This is true in Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth and everywhere else on the North Shore. It’s also true in many parts of Chicago as well as much of America.
At the same time, the level of demand for homes has increased by leaps and bounds.
(Feeding Frenzy courtesy of rwcox123’s photostream at Flickr.com)
These are the questions that keep real estate professionals awake at night.
It was not long ago (6 comments)
glencoe: Is Now the Time To Sell?
- 10/26/12 05:36 AM
Is Now the Time To Sell?As we move into the historically quiet holiday period, many homeowners who are contemplating selling their homes now are holding off until the traditionally stronger spring market. While the number of potential buyers will in all likelihood be greater in the spring, there are some startling events occurring in the current market on the North Shore that may make you want to re-think your plan. This chart reflects the number of active listings of single family homes (not including properties that are under contract) exactly one year ago compared to today: Village October 25 2011 (4 comments)
glencoe: Progress?
- 09/13/12 11:03 AM
We’ve lived on the North Shore since the early 80’s. First in Evanston for five years. Then on to Winnetka for a long, long time beginning in the mid 80’s. We lived in several houses in Winnetka. We bought older homes that needed “loving care” and we renovated, rehabbed and added on, before selling and moving to the next. It was fun, time consuming and financially rewarding. Our children did not like it as much as we did. For the last ten years, we have been on a continuing journey of downsizing. Our most recent move, five or six years ago (2 comments)
glencoe: The Low Hanging Fruit Has Been Picked From The Vine
- 04/22/12 03:12 AM
The Low Hanging Fruit Has Been Picked From The Vine As is the case in much of the country, the Winnetka, Wilmette, Glencoe and Kenilworth markets are experiencing a very small inventory of fresh, well-priced, new listings. We are seeing competitively priced properties in move-in condition, selling in a matter of a few days, often with multiple offers. The best barometer of changes in true market value is looking at resales of recently sold homes. For many of those few homes that sold in the last year or two and are returning to the market this spring, we are commonly seeing (0 comments)
glencoe: The Worm Has Turned
- 04/04/12 11:34 PM
The Worm Has Turned It’s been a long wait. There have been many “fits and starts”. We thought it might have happened several times over the past several years, only to be disappointed. This time it seems to be the real thing. Of course, I’m talking about a residential real estate recovery on the North Shore. All real estate is local. Therefore, I’m not talking about a national, or even a regional recovery. I’m specifically speaking of a strong upswing in the Winnetka, Wilmette and Evanston markets. The Kenilworth, Glencoe and Highland Park markets are showing some new strength (73 comments)
glencoe: Is Redfin Trying To Become a Listing Agent?
- 03/23/12 12:41 AM
Is Redfin Trying To Become a Listing Agent?I read a very interesting news story this morning. Redfin has introduced a home pricing tool which seems to be created along the same lines as Zillow’s “Zestimate”. I haven’t found the next logical step...which is how they are going to help homeowners market it on their own, but I sense that is the direction of their business plan.Many real estate professional have found the Zestimate to be one of the most unfortunate innovations of the electronic age. While Zillow has staunchly defended their accuracy, many in the real estate industry believe that they (2 comments)
glencoe: WE Can Lead A Horse To Water....
- 01/10/12 10:44 AM
We Can Lead a Horse To Water.....A few times in the past year or so, we have had North Shore listings that didn’t sell and eventually, the sellers withdrew them from the market. In each of these situations, we had recommended a lower initial asking price or price reductions and the seller either delayed them until they were way behind the market or didn’t agree to them at all. Most of the time, the sellers asked us what we could do to bring THE buyer to the property. We discussed all of our marketing efforts. (photo courtesy of aboutmattlaw via (2 comments)
glencoe: Do Home Sale Contingencies Work For Anyone?
- 12/01/11 02:09 PM
Do Home Sale Contingencies Work For Anyone? While “Home Sale Contingencies” (HSC) were never a common practice in the North Shore market, we began to see a growing number of them during the first years that the market began to fall. Typically, they would be in effect for 90 to 120 days after contract signing. There would generally be a “kick out” clause that would allow a seller, who received another offer, to force the HSC buyer to either drop the contingency or walk. This is the long and the short of it....but who benefits from it? Let’s look at the (0 comments)
glencoe: We’d Like to “Add Value” in Certain Areas...But We Can’t
- 11/30/11 03:24 AM
We’d Like to “Add Value” in Certain Areas...But We Can’t The way that we try to differentiate ourselves from other agents to our buying clients is to provide “added value” to their total transaction process. We do this is many ways including but not limited to:
Our knowledge of the current inventory in the Winnetka, Wilmette, Northfield, Glencoe, Kenilworth and other North Shore markets; The history of transaction in these areas; Our ability to assist you in negotiating the best possible price and other terms for your purchase; Our ability to “flush out” properties that are not currently on the (6 comments)
glencoe: We Can Help
- 11/15/11 02:26 AM
We Can Help We pride ourselves on listening to our buying clients on the North Shore. We try to incorporate everything you tell us about what type of home you are looking for. We listen to your priorities in regard to location (Winnetka vs. Glencoe vs. Northfield), or neighborhoods (Hubbard Woods vs. Kenilworth Gardens vs. East Winnetka) or school districts.Of course we need to know your general parameters including: old vs.new, homes needing some work vs.homes in “move-in” condition, particular house styles, minimum number of beds and baths, level of finishes, finished basement etc. (photo courtesy of Chief (2 comments)