Real Estate Agent
Wayne Martin
Retired
Cell: 239-826-7400
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Real Estate Agent
Alan May
Residential Real Estate specializing in Evanston, the entire north shore, and northern areas of Chicago.
Cell: 847-924-3313
Office: 847-425-3779
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All About Illinois Real Estate

By Evelyn Santiago, Managing Broker Heart Realty Group, Inc., Passionate About Real Estate & Our Clients!
(Heart Realty Group, Inc..)
Low inventory levels is a phrase that is consistently in the news when the subject is real estate - the housing market, etc .   So how low is low? As of today, in Aurora, IL, there are only 108 detached homes for sale.  Considering that the city has close to 200K people (final numbers not ready for 2020 census)  that is pretty low.   So here is the breakdown by type of listings:Detached Single Family Homes - Aurora, IL# 2 City in ILTotal Active 108 - Population - 194,873 (2021)New - 44  Reactivated - 11  Price Change - 8  Active - 45 There are currently only 2 homes under $100K.  Only 1 home is over a Million ($1,195K) Let's look at a couple of other towns that are similiar -  Joliet, IL & Elgin, IL Detached Single Family Homes - Joliet, ILJoliet, IL - Total Active 103  Population - 146...
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By Evelyn Santiago, Managing Broker Heart Realty Group, Inc., Passionate About Real Estate & Our Clients!
(Heart Realty Group, Inc..)
Naperville, IL housing inventory for single detached homes is currently at 251 homes.  With Naperville being the 3rd largest city in Illinois, with aproximately 149,657 this level is still pretty low and based on the multi-offer situations going on buyers are still making Naperville a favorite place to call home. The current breakdown on available listings is:New - 47Reactivated - 5Price Change 11Active - 188Total - 251An interesting fact is that 21% of the homes or 53 are Million and up with the highest currently listed at $10,500M.There are currently 368 listings under  contract and 34 in pending* status.The latest May statistics for May 2021 vs May 2020 show that 230 homes closed in May which was a whopping 56.5% increase from 2020's 147.  Considering the circumstances and the fact t...
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By Evelyn Santiago, Managing Broker Heart Realty Group, Inc., Passionate About Real Estate & Our Clients!
(Heart Realty Group, Inc..)
Oswego, IL is considered by many a small semi-rural village in the Chicagoland area.  Approximately 48.3 miles or an hour give or take a few minutes, from Chicago, IL,  its ranked 46th in IL , with a population of 38,390.With the Fox River running through town there are bike/running trails, a small but popular downtown and a variety of homes and subdivisions to suit most buyers taste.May 2021 shows that there was an increase of 34.6% in home sales from May 2020's 52 to 70 closed sales.  The average  market time though dropped 76.4% to a mere 13 days.  With the median sale price increasing 18.7% to $359,000 from 2020's May price of $302,450, sellers are reaping the rewards of low inventory and continual buyer interest in what used to be a sleepy little village outside of Aurora.If you ar...
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By David Snell 704.545.0098, CERTIFIED MOLD INSPECTOR, CERTIFIED MOLD REMOVAL.
(WWW.ExecutiveRestoration.Com)
How often do we take our lighting for granted? This could be indoor lighting or out door lighting. I am writing this article for Tom Bye.  Tom Bye is an indoor and out door lighting specialist and consultant. He is a professional lighting consultant with MEBULBS and he can be contacted at: TBye@mebulbs.biz or you can call him at: 1-847-894-0092 You can call or text him at this phone number if you need help with indoor or out door lighting.  Tom has really helped me and so I wanted to write an introduction for him to assist others with an introduction about Tom Bye and what he offers. When you are ready to say good bye to darkness and say bye bye to the dark or you need better lighting, contact Tom Bye. Say Bye, Bye to the darkness and say hello to better lighting. MeBulbs is a lighting ...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
 If you haven't gotten enough real estate data, I'm here to help. I'm fascinated by charts and graphs - nothing shows more clearly the state of something than they do. All data is for the past 12 months and includes Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe, and Northfield unless otherwise noted.    Median Market Time has dropped significantly   Median % of Original Price is much higher - excellent   Months Supply of Homes - leaves us with low inventory  Homes for Sale - going down, down   Median Market Time for Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe individually  Number of showings per property - the lower the number, the faster it sold (not historically true, but specific for this market.)  This final chart shows the entire Northern Illinois area that is encompassed within our Multiple...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
Who ever thought that we could transition so quickly from high inventory to low inventory? It became clearer as 2020 drew to a close but then the spring market delivered a whole new crop of homes. Which are now long gone.  Of course, there are still houses for sale. For instance, Winnetka currently has 40 listed homes, some of which have not sold after a month or two on the market. Exactly half of the those homes are priced over $2 million which necessarily means that they will take longer to sell. Of the twenty homes under $2 million, some are overpriced. Even in this hot market buyers will push back when they sense price exceeds value. In Wilmette where there are 66 homes for sale, 38 have been on the market for over 30 days. Price seems to be the issue for many of those, or location ...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
HUBBARD WOODS MAY 2021 With only 9 homes for sale and 27 under contract, Hubbard Woods is being squeezed for inventory. You can see below the quick sales times on almost all the closed sales in May. I've been asked how long this market will last. The pundits say that nationally, at least another year. I would agree that it would probably be the same here. Although it's only June, I'm seeing fewer homes come on the market. Buyers, however, are still searching and jumping on homes right as they're listed. Particularly in the under $1 million range, but higher-end homes as well. Too many buyers have been frustrated in the search and are still out there hoping they'll score a new home. So, yes, it's still an excellent time to sell your home. Just remember that if you need to buy something e...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
What Sold in Your Village in May 2021? A more apt title would be, “What Hasn’t Sold in Your Village”!Inventory is still a rock bottom and almost all new homes that are listed are sold immediately.  Under contract homes in Winnetka are almost 3 times the number for active listings (the highest of the five villages.) Here’s what closed in the North Shore in May 2021.WINNETKA  Current Winnetka Real Estate Market:Sold homes in May: 30Homes for sale: 45Price range: $560,000 to $6,250,000 Private Network Homes for Sale: 25Under contract/pending: 83Current months supply of inventory: 2.9Winnetka Homes for SaleWILMETTE  Current Wilmette Real Estate Market:Sold homes in May: 44Homes for sale: 4568 Price range: $325,000 to $2,500,000Private Network Homes for Sale: 22Under contract/pending: 79Curr...
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By Scott Seaton Jr. Bourbonnais Kankakee IL Home Inspector, The Home Inspector With a Heart!
(SLS Home Inspections-Bradley Bourbonnais Kankakee Manteno)
What might have been different about this picture...     This will always be a very emotional picture for me and all of my family. It was taken on Christmas Day in 2012. That means it was exactly 13 days after I came home from the hospital after a heart attack. On December 10, 2012, at 1:30 in the moring, I woke up to intense pain and crushing pressure in my chest. I was covered in sweat and immediately knew I was having a heart attack. I woke my wife, told her to call 9-1-1. I put some jeans on and went downstairs. The Bourbonnais Fire Dept ambulance arrived within 3 minutes and before I knew it, I was in the Riverside Medical Center emergency room getting hooked up to several monitors. Exactly 15 minutes after calling the ambulance, my heart went into ventricular tachycardia, or V-tac...
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By Mary Braatz, Downers Grove, IL. Real Estate
(Remax Enterprises)
Take a photo tour of beautiful Downers Grove, my home town!https://interiorinsight.com/Downers-Grove You will want to live here! I can help with that! Call me at 630 258-7677 or visit my web site: www.MaryBraatz.com Top Ten Reasons to Live in Downers Grove, Illinois! Thinking of relocating to the Chicago Suburbs? Here are the reasons to make Downers Grove your home.       Affordability. The median sales price in Downers Grove for April of 2021 is: $359,900 according to Midwest Real Estate Data, Inc.      Low Taxes. Downers Grove has one of the lowest tax rates in DuPage County.      Variety of Housing Options. You can find, condos, townhouses, existing homes and new construction. Condo and townhouses priced from $90,000 to $899,000 and single family homes priced from $198,000 to 2 milli...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
10 Ways to Keep Mosquitos Away  I’ve been looking into ideas that will help get rid of those bloodthirsty pests this summer. We’re fortunate to live in an area that offers an active response to mosquitoes through North Shore Mosquito Abatement District which serves 11 North Shore villages. Their work goes a long way in ridding the population before they ever hatch and come out to torment us. Humans despise these little fiends and I know we’ve all tried various remedies to avoid getting the dreaded bite. Certain people are more likely to attract them - we all know people who claim they are mosquito magnets! Not only is the bite painful, but mosquitoes also carry diseases.So here are a few ideas I came across that I will definitely try out this summer:  DAB ON SOME ESSENTIAL OILSThis one ...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
 HUBBARD WOODS April 2021 One sign of a hot market: regardless of price range, all seven homes listed in Hubbard Woods in April are under contract. Plus ten homes sold although you’ll see some long market times for some of them. This is because they were listed pre-Covid at inflated prices. 7 NEW HUBBARD WOODS LISTINGS IN April 2021 1257 Scott  $799,000 (under contract)    1443 Edgewood   $949,000 (under contract)  1152 Scott  $949,000 (under contract)     1190 Oakley  $1,299,000 (under contract)    840 Lamson   $1,550,000  (under contract)    877 Tower  - $3,499,000 (new construction home under contract)  910 Private - $6,300,000 (under contract) New PRIVATE LISTING in April 2021 1507 Tower - $950,000     1275 Asbury - $1,018,000     669 Walden - $1,595,000    660 Rosewood - $4,100,000...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
The spring market continues to see huge sales despite a lack of inventory. Homes are selling off the Private Network before they ever hit the market. Otherwise, the stats are the same as the past several months: seller’s market and we need more homes to sell! Here’s what closed in the North Shore in April 2021.WINNETKA   Current Winnetka Real Estate Market:Sold homes in March: 31Homes for sale: 45Price range: $525,000 to $6,300,000 Under contract/pending: 78Current months supply of inventory: 3.4Winnetka Homes for SaleWILMETTECurrent Wilmette Real Estate Market:Sold homes in March: 54Homes for sale: 48 Price range: $314,000 to $2,200,000Under contract/pending: 82Current months supply of inventory: 3.2Wilmette Homes for SaleKENILWORTHCurrent Kenilworth Real Estate Market: Sold homes in M...
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By Evelyn Santiago, Managing Broker Heart Realty Group, Inc., Passionate About Real Estate & Our Clients!
(Heart Realty Group, Inc..)
One of the nation's most diverse cities (according to WalletHub survey released recently), Aurora, IL is Illinois' 2nd city stretched over four counties has only 73 single family homes available as of today - 5/10/21 in the public MLS for Nothern IL.  For a city of over 200K people and one of the most affordable in the western suburbs - less than 100 single, detached, family homes! Even as a long time real estate Agent/Broker, I am having a hard time wrapping my head  around that figure.  The sort of good news is that there are an additional 40 available ATTACHED single family homes which include townhomes, condos, & Duplexes.  A great way for 1st time home buyers to start on their home ownership journey. Investors and those that want to slowly start being landlords have even less choic...
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By Eric L. Green, Your IRS Tax Litigator
(Tax Rep LLC)
Listen in to this week's podcast as host Guinevere Moore discusses best practices for responding to Information Document Requests (IDRs) from the IRS, including how to balance meeting your clients’ needs with meeting ethical standards practitioners must follow under Circular 230, and how to set your client up for success in litigation through proper IDR practice if an agreement can’t be reached in exam or at appeals.Check out the episode here: https://taxrepllc.com/subscribe-tax-rep-network-podcast/  Want to contact Gwen? guinevere.moore@mooretaxlawgroup.com  Want to build your IRS Representation practice and add $100,000 to your bottom line this year? Join us inside Https://taxrepllc.com  How to get the software we use? Go to www.TaxHelpSoftware.com  and use code TAXREPTRIAL for a free...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOWABOUT EARNEST MONEYYou’ve just bought a new house - congratulations! So many things to think about, one of them being your earnest money. What is Earnest Money? Basically, your earnest money is delivered on or around the time you submit a contract to purchase your new home. It’s the way you say that you are serious about this house. Without a financial commitment, how does the seller know that you’re really interested in their home and not five others? How Much Earnest Money Do You Need to Put Down? This question will vary from state to state and even region to region. When I first started in the business in 1998, the earnest money was 10% of the contract price. With the huge increase in prices we saw running up to the recession, the number now hovers at around 3-5...
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By Evelyn Santiago, Managing Broker Heart Realty Group, Inc., Passionate About Real Estate & Our Clients!
(Heart Realty Group, Inc..)
If March 2021 is any indication of what the spring real estate market will bring - you can expect multi-offer  situations to be the norm instead of a once in a while situation. The numbers speak for themselves with a 43.9% increase in sales from 2020's 41 sold homes to 59 homes in 2021.  Average market time  dropped 45.7% to only 57 days vs 105 days in 2020.  The median Sale Price rose 14.6% to $326K from 2020's $284,369 in March. Current available homes in Oswego, IL as of 4/172021 - 62 total available - the breakdown is as follows:New - 11  Price Change - 12  Active - 25 - Active PLN - 14 = Total Active - 62Under Contract - 124Pending - 5 (1 PL) With more homes under contract than in current inventory buyers need  to be on their toes with strong pre-approvals and little to no requests...
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By Lyn Sims, Schaumburg Real Estate
(RE/MAX Suburban)
Schaumburg maintains more than 1,100 acres across 100 parks, including nearly 300 acres of preserved natural areas throughout it's park district.The Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, is a prairie wild life preserve and an indoor and outdoor museum. This is the place to rent snow shoes & take them for a spin if you've never tried them. Bison Bluff is a nature playground also located on the grounds. Also nearby is the Heritage Farm which is a fully operational farm right out of the 1880's. Kids are gonna love it! Horses, pigs, chickens are here for interaction.  (video from WGN-9).  The Park District also operates four community recreation centers, including the Water Works Oasis, a spectacular indoor pool facility.  The Sport Center which has indoor baseball, soccer fields and basketball c...
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By Scott Seaton Jr. Bourbonnais Kankakee IL Home Inspector, The Home Inspector With a Heart!
(SLS Home Inspections-Bradley Bourbonnais Kankakee Manteno)
Perry Farm is a winning visit for the family.Bourbonnais Illinois is the home of the Perry Farm. Today it is listed by the National Park Service of the Dept of the Interior in the National Register of Historic Places. But it wasn't always like that.      In 1835, Thomas Durham moved his wife and family of five daughters and four sons to Bourbonnais Grove,IL, about 60 miles south of Chicago on property on the banks of the Kankakee River. He built a farmhouse and a three bay English barn and a horse barn. Legend is the farmhouse cellar was part of the Underground Railroad. Thomas died in 1854 and left the farm to his sons. He generously left his daughters $5 each. The sons were not successful farmers and by 1866 had fallen on hard times financially and were looking to sell the farm. One s...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
HUBBARD WOODS March 2021The Hubbard Woods area is down to inventory that would only last 1.9 months if no new inventory came on the market. That’s called an extreme seller’s market. If you have any thoughts of selling - why wait? However, if you sell, you’ll become a buyer . . .  7 NEW HUBBARD WOODS LISTINGS in March 20211117 Merrill - $699,999 (under contract)     1299 Hackberry - $1,399,000      1140 Oakley - $1,649,900     986 Asbury Ct. - $1,699,900     1159 Chatfield - $1,799,000    1347 Scott - $1,949,000    1040 Hubbard - $2,599,000          New PRIVATE LISTING1340 Asbury - $1,939,000   4 CLOSED HUBBARD WOODS HOME SALES IN December 2020  979 VineList price: $479,000Sold price: $341,000 (short sale)Days on market: 986      1152 AsburyList price: $849,000Sold price: $901,000% of li...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(Baird & Warner Real Estate)
What Sold in Your Village in March 2021?See the number of under-contract homes in the data below - it is much higher than available inventory. All North Shore villages are experiencing low inventory and a seller’s market. Wilmette, Winnetka, and Glencoe have the tightest markets. The spring market has been exploding but we need more inventory!Here’s what closed in the North Shore in March 2021.WINNETKA  Current Winnetka Real Estate Market:Sold homes in March: 23 Homes for sale: 45Price range: $560,000 to $6,250,000 Under contract/pending: 61Current months supply of inventory: 3.6Winnetka Homes for SaleWILMETTE  Current Wilmette Real Estate Market:Sold homes in March: 40Homes for sale: 45 Price range: $389,000 to $2,350,000Under contract/pending: 78Current months supply of inventory: 3.5...
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By Eric L. Green, Your IRS Tax Litigator
(Tax Rep LLC)
This week’s podcast is hosted by Guinevere Moore. Listen in as Gwen interviews immigration attorney Vivian Kalaf and civil rights attorney Lana Nassar regarding taxation issues that arise in immigration cases, as well as how they teamed up to fight for all United States Citizens to be able to receive Economic Impact Payments under the CARES Act no matter who they are married to.Listen in to this episode and others on the Tax Rep Network Podcast either on ITunes, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the Podcast Home Page.Want to contact Gwen?  She can be found HEREWant to contact Vivian Kalaf?  She can be found HEREWant to contact Lana Nasser?  She can be found HERE   
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By Randy Schulenburg, Schulenburg Realty, Inc.
(Schulenburg Realty, Inc.)
Lake House w/Sunset Views over Candlewick Lake OverviewMapsPhotosDescription Candlewick Lake - Northern IL Best Value in Lakefront Living $250,000 Single Family Home Main Features 4 Bedrooms2 Full Bathrooms1 Half Bathroom1 UnitInterior: 2,282 sqftLot: 0.28 acre(s)Year Built: 1976MLS #: 11033005 Location 108 Candlewick Dr. SEPoplar Grove, IL 61065USA Randy Schulenburg Schulenburg Realty, Inc.(224) 8052616randy@schulenburg.comhttp://www.Schulenburg.com   Listed by: Schulenburg Realty, Inc. Our recent listingsLake House w/Sunset Views over Candlewick Lake | $250,000 | Poplar Grove, IL Subscribe to our listing feed Nearby properties for sale
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