Tag Archives: Downers Grove

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

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

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

Short Sales Get Shorter As New Deadlines Go Into Effect

Posted on March 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Mortgage servicers will be kept to strict short sale timelines agreed to under the state Attorneys General foreclosure settlement this week.

As part of a settlement the five largest mortgage servicers are adopting new requirements for short sales, which is expected to speed-up what has been known as a lengthy process.

Here are some of the new requirements for servicers under the settlement:

Servicers must provide borrowers with a decision within 30 days after receiving a short sale package request.
Servicers will be required to notify a borrower, also within 30 days, if any necessary documents are missing to process the short sale request.
Servicers must notify a borrower immediately if a deficiency payment is needed to approve the short sale. They also must provide an estimated amount for the deficiency payment needed for the short sale.
Servicers are also required to form an internal group to review all short sale requests.
Banks will be considered in violation of the settlement requirements if they take longer than 30 days on more than 10 percent of the short sale requests. Violations can carry fines of up to $1 million and $5 million for repeat offenses.

“If a real estate broker can get a checklist from the bank detailing what documentation is needed, everything can be provided up front, and the bank will be required to give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down within 30 days,” short sale specialist Chris Hanson with the Hanson Law Firm told HousingWire. “That’s not a bad deal.”

Our Comment:

The only thing is that if a bank wants to jerk people around (many of them do), they can still take as long as they’d like. All they have to do is respond within 30 days that they need a bank statement. Then 30 later, say they need a new pay stub, then 30 days later, say they are missing form xyz. This is exactly what they are doing today, they just have to do it every 30 days now. They have no interest in rushing and this law does not change that.

What it should say is this:

--- Here is a list of every document that you must turn in to a lender (a checklist).

--- Homeowner has 30 days to send in docs.

--- Then the lender must respond within 30 days WHAT they have received.

--- Homeowner has 30 days to provide any missing docs. If not, deal is done.

--- Once all docs are received, bank has 30 days to make a decision.

--- The process can take no more than 90 days MAXIMUM.

Doesn’t seem too hard to me. Banks wouldn't like it, but too bad.

So for home buyers from Antioch and Gurnee to Arlington Heights and Lake Zurich to the North Shore (Highland Park, Deerfield etc.), to down to Downers Grove, Lombard and Naperville, and to downtown Chicago and nearby areas (Bucktown, Wicker Park etc.) - the short sale process will be the same old same old...