Category Archives: Palatine Ilinois

Market Flooded With Home Buyers in Downtown Chicago and Suburban Chicagoland Areas

Posted on April 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

Many Home Buyers in Market

Market Flooded With Home Buyers in Downtown Chicago and Suburban Chicagoland Areas.

This trend is due to the fact that home buyers are trying to take advantage of low prices now – before they keep rising – as well as low interest rates making homes more affordable on a monthly payment basis. The Fed’s policies have kept rates low, giving the market a sugar high. Inventory is low in many areas, making it hard for some buyers to find the home that they really want. We’ve been in open houses in downtown Chicago lately where there are anywhere from 20-40 buyers inside – running into each other!

Ukrainian Village New Construction Property / Real Estate

For example single home and land prices in West Town…East Village & Ukrainian Village..Noble Square etc. has shot up 5-8% in the past 3-4 months – with decent land or good tear down or gut re-hab property being snapped up by various builders instantly. So to “get ahead of the curve” – Buyer Broker Chicagoland helps buyers identify properties before they even come onto the market (using a variety of techniques), in order to get our clients a property they want – at a price that they want.

Since early February, the market has been flooded with home buyers in the Chicagoland area. Buyer Broker Chicagoland has logged it’s best quarter in new clients and home closings in it’s ten year history.

532 N Hermitage Sold Out

We’ve represented clients in the $400,000-700,000 range in the Lincoln Park and Lakeview areas, and 700k to $1 million range in Bucktown, Ukranian Village, East Village, Wicker Park and other areas.

We are also representing clients in Arlington Heights, Palatine, Hawthorn Woods, Kildeer, Long Grove, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Schaumburg, Downers Grove, and Aurora areas from 300-800k.

Most of our clients have been referred to us from past clients. Despite things being less of a buyer’s market than 2012 – we still beat the average price off in the communities we’ve had closings in – by about double the average price off for the entire area.

That kind of performance can be attributed to our extensive credentials – Certified Negotiation Consultant, Certified Negotiation Expert, Accredited Buyer Representative, Competitive Intelligence Professional, Graduate of the Realtor Institute, and Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource expert. and years of specialized expertise as an Exclusive Buyer Broker.

Certified Negotiation Expert

When you want to pay the least possible price for real estate in the Chicagoland area (or be guaranteed to win in multiple offer situations without exceeding your budget), give the specialists at Buyer Broker Chicagoland a call at 847-566-7558 to schedule a no-cost initial consultation.

We are ALWAYS 100% on the Home Buyer’s Side – and NEVER represent sellers. No dual agency – no conflicts of interest. Just pure exceptional expertise for home buyers.

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Posted in Arlington Heights, Aurora, Bucktown, Downers Grove, Downtown Chicago, East Village, Exclusive Buyer Agency, Exclusive Buyer Agent, Hawthorn Woods, Kildeer, Lake Zurich, LIbertyville IL, Lincoln Park, Long Grove, Noble Square, Northwest Suburbs, Palatine Ilinois, Schaumburg, Ukrainian Village, west town

Tagged Arlington Heights, Aurora, Bucktown, Downers Grove, Downtown Chicago, East Village, exclusive buyer agent, hawthorn woods, Kildder, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Lincoln Park, long grove, Noble Square, northwest suburbs, Palatine, Schaumburg, Ukrainian Village, west town

The Difference Between an Exclusive Buyer Agent and a Buyer Agent

Posted on September 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

When I introduce myself at local Chamber of Commerce events and tell people what I do, I occasionally get someone who states “I know about that. I’m familiar with buyer agents.”

I have to gently inform them that an Exclusive Buyer Agent is in no way shape or form like a Buyer Agent. It is only then that they start getting a glazed look on their face….

They say “Uh, uh…. I thought that every buyer agent is the same….right?”

“No. You can only really have your own agent when buying a home when you work with an agent who never represents sellers, and their company never represents sellers. A buyer agent represents sellers, as does their company. An Exclusive Buyer Agent and their company never represent sellers.”

I Didn't Realize the Difference between a Buyer Agent and an Exclusive Buyer Agent

“Oh – I’ve never heard of that…”

“That is what we do.”

“Oh – and why is that better than using a buyer agent?”

“Because a buyer agent may show you more of their own company’s listings or their own listing and then suddenly – when you become interested in one of those homes, and thought you were fully represented, your agent is also on the seller’s side. That is like trying to coach two football teams at the same time. It doesn’t work very well for either team. That situation is called dual agency, and that is very very bad for your best interests. You might be sacrificing 10′s of thousands of dollars in negotiation as a result — and critical information that you needed to know about the area or the property, you never receive. Your buyer agent that turned into a dual agent may try to “sell” you on the home because they are pushing one that has a higher payout, or they may refer you to an inspector that “doesn’t blow the deal” instead of an aggressive one that takes hours longer to inspect. While they try to get you to buy – we always advise you of why you shouldn’t buy. And their financial interests are not aligned with your best interests. Ours are.”

“Oh – I see.”

But even then, they really don’t fully grasp the severity of using an agent that won’t be on their side 100% of the time. The implications can be very very costly on the most important financial transaction of their life.

Do you have excellent credit?
Do you plan to purchase a $200,000-$10,000,000 home within 90 days?
Do you have a good down payment, or are you paying cash for your next home?

Your agent should be on YOUR side! If you plan on looking for homes in the Chicagoland area, including the Northwest Suburbs (Barrington, Arlington Heights, Lake Zurich, Hoffman Estates, Vernon Hills, Libertyville, Palatine, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Grayslake, Wauconda etc.) —

Call us at 847-566-7558 for a free consultation.

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Posted in Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove IL, Buyer Agent, Chicago Suburbs, Exclusive Buyer Agent, LIbertyville IL, Palatine Ilinois, South Barrington, Vernon Hills

Tagged Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, buyer agent, exclusive buyer agent, Grayslake, hoffman estates, IL buyer agent, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Palatine, Vernon Hills, wauconda, wheeling

Chicago is Rated the Best Metro Area for Bargain-hunting Home Buyers

Posted on July 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Chicago is Rated the Best Metro Area for Bargain-hunting Home Buyers

Still a Buyer's Market in Chicagoland

According to Zillow (notorious for poor price estimates) – of the 50 largest metropolitan markets, the Chicago area is the top buyer’s market.

In other words – Zillow says that buyers have more negotiating power than in most other markets.

Zillow’s calculations provides a wake-up call for sellers who’ve heard reports of a generally improving housing market and may expect a higher price for their home.

(Yet – we also see many situations where there are multiple offers on a property – especially short sale properties.)

Zillow found that in May, forty eight percent of homes in the Chicago area sold for less than their previous selling price (kind of a no brainer if the previous sale was 3-7 years ago), and the median number of days those homes were listed on Zillow was 182 days.

About forty percent of homes listed in May had seen at least one price cut, and the median cut was 6.92 percent. The average discount on homes sold in May was 5 percent less than their most recent asking price.

In the Chicago market, Downers Grove, Northbrook, Palatine, Buffalo Grove and Orland Park were considered the top five communities for buyers trying to get a “good deal.”

Which communities in the Chicago area were the best for sellers?

Of the top five, three — Crown Point, Valparaiso and Munster — are in Indiana. Bolingbrook and Aurora round out the list.

Zillow’s calculations looked at sale-to-list-price ratios, the number of days a property spent on Zillow and the percentage of homes on the market with a price cut.

Other buyer’s markets nationally were Milwaukee, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Fla., Providence, R.I., Cincinnati, Hartford, Conn., and Houston.

The top seller’s market was San Jose, Calif., followed by San Francisco, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Calif., Phoenix, Riverside, Calif., Washington, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas.

In May, the median price of a home sold in the Chicago area rose, by only $100, but it was the first positive movement in that indicator in 50 months.

Last month, RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure activity in Illinois in May rose fifty four percent from the year earlier, giving Illinois the fifth-highest foreclosure rate in the nation, just behind California and just ahead of Florida.

Buyer Broker Chicagoland represents home buyers exclusively in the Chicago Metro area. As such – we are always on the buyer’s side 100% of the time – unlike a traditional agent. We are also Certified Negotiation Experts – helping buyers get thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in better purchase price.

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Posted in Buffalo Grove IL, Chicago Suburbs, Downers Grove, Northbrook, Palatine Ilinois, Uncategorized

Tagged Aurora, Bolingbrook, Buffalo Grove, buyer, buyers, Chicago, Downers Grove, market, Milwaukee, Northbrook, Palatine, s market, Zillow

Buyer Broker Chicagoland Offers a Free Consultation to First Time and Luxury Home Buyers

Posted on July 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

Buyer Broker Chicagoland Offers a Free Consultation to First Time and Luxury Home Buyers

Finding Your Dream Home and Negotiating The Best Possible Price Off - Buyer Broker Chicagoland

Whether you choose to use our services or not (or whether we choose you as a client) – we’ll meet with you so you can learn more about you motives and capabilities to purchase a home, negotiation techniques, and due diligence methods we use to protect you during the most important financial decision of your life. And we will learn more about your and your capability to purchase – and whether we can help you or not, or see if there is good chemistry with you.

Informative Initial Consultation

What happens during in the initial consultation? It is a mutual question and answer session. You’ll get your real estate questions answered, gain new insights into the goals and rationale and priorities behind your purchase (including how much you can afford), and learn more about our services. The meeting can be in person (preferred), over Skype or Google video conference call, or over the phone if necessary.

You should come away from the consultation with enough information to answer these questions:

Does it make sense to buy vs. rent?
Is what I’m willing to spend and can afford (there might be a difference between the two) – enough to buy a house I would be happy to live in?
Do I have a large enough down payment to buy a home?
How do I find out if I have enough, or good enough credit to buy a home?
What are some of the techniques you use to negotiate the best price that others don’t use?
How can I know that a neighborhood or area of town is for me?
What are the most important things to me about a neighborhood? What is more important to me – schools, neighborhood, features of the home or yard, and why?
What are my true reasons and motives for purchasing a home?
What can I expect in each part of the home buying process?
What are the differences in the type of representation I can have as a buyer?
What are current market conditions like?

Depending on the answers to these questions, you might be ready to move forward or not. Whatever you decide – you will come away from the consultation with an in-depth understanding of the types of representation that are available to you, your core reasons and priorities for purchasing a home, negotiation tips and other valuable information.

Thinking about buying a home in the Chicago Illinois area in 2012? Call us at 847-566-7558 to learn more and set up a time to meet.

We are based in Chicago’s Northwest Suburbs – and of course cover those many towns (Hawthorn Woods, Long Grove, Kildeer, Palatine, Lake Zurich, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Vernon Hills, Libertyville, Grayslake, Wauconda, Island Lake, McHenry, Fox Lake and Antioch to Gurnee, and the North Shore – but we routinely serve buyers in Downers Grove, Lombard, Naperville and other suburbs to the south of us, as well as downtown Chicago and the communities to the north and northwest of downtown. (One of our recent happy clients purchased in the Bucktown area.)

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Posted in Buffalo Grove IL, first time buyer, First Time Home Buyer, Grayslake, Hawthorn Woods, Informational Meeting, Initial Consultation, LIbertyville IL, Long Grove, Luxury home buyer, North Shore, Northwest Suburbs, Palatine Ilinois, Vernon Hills

Tagged antioch, buyer broker chicagoland, Chicago, exclusive buyer agent, fox lake, Grayslake, Gurnee, hawthorn woods, home buyer, informational, inital meeting, initial consultation, island lake, Libertyville, long grove, mchenry, northwest suburbs, Palatine, Vernon Hills, wauconda, wheeling

The Real Estate Market is Hopping With Home Buyers in Chicago’s Suburbs and Downtown Chicago This Spring – From Lake Zurich and Palatine, to the North Shore – to Downers Grove, Lombard and Naperville, to Bucktown and Wicker Park

Posted on April 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Real Estate Market is Hopping With Home Buyers in Chicago’s Suburbs and Downtown Chicago This Spring – From Lake Zurich and Palatine – to the North Shore, to Downers Grove, Lombard and Naperville, to Bucktown and Wicker Park

It is off-to-the- races for home buyers in the Chicagoland area!

Folks – the market has changed. It’s off-to-the-races for home buyers. I can’t tell you how many offers there are now on short sale, foreclosure, new construction and owner occupied homes this spring….. LOTS. In many cases, we are encountering multiple offer situations for homes that are priced right that have been well taken care of (and that are not too dated for the price) or for short sale properties.

We are swamped with new home buyer clients

We are swamped with home buyer clients wanting Chicagoland’s best real estate negotiator on their side! We’ll lead you along a safe path to closing – after negotiating a killer price.

Downtown Chicago

We have a client heading to closing on a Bucktown property, and 5 clients in the Downers Grove / Lombard / Naperville area, and a number of clients in the Northwest Suburbs (Palatine, Lake Zurich, Vernon Hills), and a North Shore client.

Rates are down, but with the economy improving they are expected to go up – so there are a lot of people flocking to buy low and lock in a low rate. By summer, and certainly by fall – we expect that interest rates will tick higher.

Home Sales are Up across the Chicagoland area. From Palatine, Lake Zurich, Vernon Hills, to the North Shore to Downers Grove, Lombard, Naperville to Bucktown, Wicker Park and Downtown Chicago

Today – it was revealed that pending sales of existing homes rose to their highest level in nearly two years in March, according to the National Association of Realtors’ latest Pending Home Sales Index.

The index, which represents contracts signed but not yet closed, jumped a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent from February to March, to 101.4. That’s the highest index level since April 2010, when the deadline for a federal homebuyer tax credit program loomed. The index was 111.3 then. Pending sales were up 10.8 percent from the same time a year ago on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

An index score of 100 is equal to the average level of sales contract activity in 2001, a robust year for home sales and the first year examined. The index typically represents about 20 percent of all existing-home transactions. Contracts signed in March typically close one or two months later.

“First-quarter sales closings were the highest first-quarter sales in five years. The latest contract signing activity suggests the second quarter will be equally good,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a statement.

Home sales turned a corner

“The housing market has clearly turned the corner,” Yun said. “Rising sales are bringing down inventory and creating much more balanced conditions around the county, which means home prices will be rising in more areas as the year progresses.”

If you’d like to put Chicagoland’s best real estate negotiators on your side, and have an agent who is TOTALLY ON YOUR SIDE (versus half on your side as a so-called “buyer agent” can be – ie – they and their company list property for sale) then call 847-566-7558 to set up an initial consultation to see if you qualify. You can visit Buyer Broker Chicagoland for more information.

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Posted in Bucktown, Downers Grove, Downtown Chicago, Lake Zurich, Lombard, Naperville, North Shore, Palatine Ilinois, Vernon Hills, Wicker Park

Tagged Bucktown, Downers Grove, Lake Zurich, Lombard, Naperville, North Shore, Palatine, sales trends, The Real Estate Market is Hopping With Home Buyers in Chicago's Suburbs and Downtown Chicago This Real Estate market, Wicker Park

Are You a First Time Home Buyer Wanting to Buy a Condo in or Near Downtown Palatine IL?

Posted on March 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Are You a First Time Home Buyer Wanting to Buy a Condo in or Near Downtown Palatine IL?

Palatine Illinois Village Sign

Palatine is one of my favorite suburbs (I suppose because I used to live there and I still really enjoy it – and showing first time home buyers property there.) (Here are the boundary lines on Google maps) There’s an up-and-coming downtown area with live music (here is the entertainment schedule at Durty Nellies), Emmett’s Brewing Company (good micro-brews), Bauer’s Brauhaus (German restaurant which opened last year), and then there’s the yearly Palatine Street Fest.

Eurofresh Market has good food and great prices. And let’s not forget about Mike’s Bike shop or Dog and Suds (my favorite place to get my dog washed and groomed (including hair and nails cut) for just 24 bucks)

It is real easy to park anywhere in downtown Palatine – especially with the large parking ramp near the train station being added a few years ago…

Here are a few condos in Palatine worthy of consideration for any first time home buyer. My only suggestion is that — as a first time home buyer - if you use an agent – you use a company who represents first time buyers the majority of their time. Also best if a first time buyer uses an Exclusive Buyer Agent (an agent who is always on the buyer’s side – they and their company never represent sellers), and that the agent is a Certified Negotiation Expert.

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 08022308 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 08029371 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

24 W Station Street ,Unit Number 415W, PALATINE, IL 60067 (MLS # 08018992)

(all data current as of 6/18/2013)

Price	$168,000
Beds	1
Baths	1 full
Home size	1,142 sq ft
Lot Size	49,745,520 sq ft
Days on Market	461;

Approved Short Sale. Downtown Palatine corner unit in desirable Providence Loft, largest floor plan. Gourmet kitchen features: breakfast bar,SS appliances,granite,sub-zero fridge. 10.5" ceilings w/exposed ductwork, H/E washer/dryer in unit, heated harwood floors t/o, walk-in closet, private balcony, heated underground parking, party room, views from rooftop terrace. Walk to Metra, restaurants, shops, etc. Pets OK.

Property Type(s): Attached Single

Last Updated	5/30/2013	Tract	n/a
Year Built	2006	Community	Palatine
Garage Spaces	1.0	County	Cook
Total Parking	1

Price History

Prior to Aug 14, '12	$215,000
Aug 14, '12 - Sep 12, '12	$205,000
Sep 12, '12 - Oct 23, '12	$200,000
Oct 23, '12 - Nov 6, '12	$185,000
Nov 6, '12 - May 24, '13	$175,000
May 24, '13 - Today	$168,000