Evanston IL Real Estate

The Real Estate profession is getting high tech due to cell phones, e-mails and the internet. It is expected that 70% of all people looking to buy or sell a home will use the internet at some time during the process. It seems that every day a new website related to real estate is available on the web. All of the information regarding real estate comes from public records. Following is a list of some of the more popular sites:

 Free Market Values:

Zillow.com: Zillow allows you to type your address and home value called a “Zestimate” will be available to you. Zillow says it uses public records to get the information but it has been my opinion that Zillow will sometimes over value or under value the home.

Yahoo Real Estate: Yahoo real estate is a direct link to Zillow.

To Search for Homes for Sale:

 Realtor.com: Most real estate agents and multiple listing boards will post listings on Realtor. com. This gives the seller national exposure to sell his or her property. As a buyer it can get frustrating to use because the information on Realtor .com is not as accurate as the MLS. Often buyers will find the homes listed on Realtor.com are under contract, pending or sold.

Trulia.com: Very similar to Realtor.com. Type in the city, price range, and up pops homes for sale. An added feature with Trulia is a map with pins that if you use your curser will give you the address of the property and price.

To Search the Public Records Yourself:

Cook County Assessor: To search the public records all you need is the address. Select property type either residential or commercial, then go to search by address, type in address and a PIN (Property Index number) with the address will be available for you. Select the PIN number and you can get all sorts of information on the property like the Assessed value, picture of the property, lot size, etc.

Cook County Treasurer: To search the tax records you will need the PIN number discussed above. On the upper left corner of the home page you can search under payments to see if the owner is current on paying his tax bill.

On November 7, 2006 there is a referendum to increase the current property transfer tax from $5.00 per each $1,000 of a homes selling price to $6.00 per $1,000 in the City of Evanston. The extra $1.00 per $1,000 will go to a fund for affordable housing initiatives that helps low income families to buy homes in Evanston.

Those in favor of this referendum say this $1.00 per $1,000 increase is a one time fee charged to homeowners selling in Evanston and does not affect Real Estate taxes paid out each year by homeowners. In addition, the $1.00 will be used as HOME funds where the city helps to renovate homes and make them available as affordable housing.

Those against the referendum believe the transfer tax of $5.00 per $1,000 of the selling price is enough tax to pay as a seller. On a $100,000 sale price the amount of tax is currently $500.00 and with the referendum that cost would be $600.00 an extra $100.00.

Transfer tax is an individual decision by each community. For example, in Wilmette the Buyer pays the transfer tax. The current tax paid by the buyer in Wilmette is $3.00 per $1,000 of selling price. There is no transfer tax in Winnetka , Kenilworth, or Glencoe.