Its Too Good To Be True! (Or the dangers of having an agent tell you what you want to hear)

A key characteristic of a good real estate agent is raw honesty.  I have a duty to tell my clients the Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth, no matter the pain or tears which ensue.  So, in this market that often means a heart to heart discussion with some frank news to [...]

Welcome Ryan Newberry to our ChicagoToNorthShore team!

With great pride, ChicagoToNorthShore.com welcomes Ryan Newberry to our expanding real estate team. Ryan comes to the team with many years of banking experience and a tremendous group of loyal fans and friends from his work with Chicagoland businesses. Within our Real Estate team, Ryan joins as a full-time, licensed Realtor working for his own [...]

The early bird gets the worm…

About a half dozen (new to me) sellers are coming on the market this holiday because 1) they are motivated, 2) they know that buyers out looking now are not kicking tires but do have to find a place to live and 3) they know anyone thinking about being a seller in the next few [...]

Bad news regarding the residential homeowner continues to create investment opportunities!

Written by Kevin Rocio – Multi-family specialist – At Properties With all of the bad news that continues about the U.S. economy, many people are tempted to hide their head in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening. From my experience investing in various markets, including commercial real estate, I have found that the most [...]

RECORD breaking Open House this week – 70 Visitors!

NEW listing at 2148 Beechwood – Beautiful Cape Cod Remodel! Priced at 1,099,000 in Hot Harper school district.  Luxury finishes for this sun flooded home. No stone unturned – Maintenance Free through 2012 for the discerning buyer. OPEN SUNDAY 10/30/11 from 1-4 PM.  Not to be missed!  See photo link… http://tours.vht.com/Viewer/PhotoGallery.aspx?ListingID=50653339&Style=API

Sold in 4 HOURS! One showing, done.

As with any smart buyer, those who have been in the trench with me for a bit, who have seen a fair share of the inventory – they can walk into a home just like I can, and spit out a pretty good estimate where it will sell.  Well, this just happened recently.  In combing [...]

Where’s my Mini-Me?

All those 80 hour weeks & late nights are going to help us close about eight deals between Halloween & Dec 1!  Zoinks – where’s my twin?  This slug of activity is just evidence of the cold water splash of reality on our sellers and the opportunistic smart buyers stepping into the ongoing sale market.  [...]

More rentals flying off the shelf…

Good looking rentals continue ruling the day, and getting over list price offers! Who knew? Three of the rental cases I’ve worked on this month literally were under contract in single digit days. When I see a good one, I immediately preview it for a client it might fit and Bam! the early bird gets [...]

Check the chart – Chicago is “cheaper to buy” than rent

Time to Rent or Buy? Depends Where You Live This chart shows the percentage difference between the average monthly rent and mortgage payment for a median-priced, single-family home in communities across America. For example, in San Jose, Calif., the monthly mortgage payment averages $2,600, while rent is about $1,000 less. That’s about 60 percent cheaper. [...]

ChicagoToNorthShore.com – Our New Team @ At Properties!~!~!

MANY of you have heard me talk about my game plan to build an expert agent team to handle a larger market share in Chicagoland.  Given time is the most precious commodity for us all, one body with two arms & two legs cannot be everywhere at the same time.  Coupled with a desire to [...]