I predict very few buyers will be going to open houses this weekend because they will be watching the Bears win the super bowl. Any Predictions? I predict the Bears will win and beat the odds of 7 points
GO BEARS!
Lakeshore Partners in Evanston is one of the newest affiliate offices of Weichert, Realtors. The new name is Weichert, Realtors-Lakeshore Partners.
Lakeshore Partners was established in 1991 by real estate veterans John Adamson and Sandra Brown, co-owners to provide high level real estate services to clients in Evanston and the Northshore. With the affiliation of Weichert, Realtors the level of service is even greater.
Like Lakeshore Partners, Weichert, Realtors began as a single office and has grown to be one of the nation’s largest privately-held real estate company. Weichert has nearly 18,500 sales associates in over 480 company owned and franchised sales offices through out key market areas in the United States. Weichert has developed a full range of real estate products and services which they call “one stop”. Clients of Weichert can get a full range of services that include mortgages, insurance, relocation to name a few.
Ask the expert allows me to answer some of your questions:
1. Are Home Improvements Tax Deductable? The answer to this question is yes and no. You are allowed to deduct the cost of any repair or improvement you made to your home from the date of ownership but are not entitled to that tax deduction until you sell your home. I would advise you to keep receipts and a seperate file for any work done on your home because you can deduct it all when you decide to sell.
2. What are Condo Assessments and Common Areas of a Condo Building? Condo assessments are monthly fees associated with the maintenance and management of a condo buildings. Some condo’s are self managed and some hire property management firms to manage the building.
The common areas typically include building lobbies, hallways, garages, storage rooms, roofs, landscapping, and any other area that has public access.
3. What is appreciation? Appreciation is the increase in value of a property over time due to inflation, supply and demand, capital improvements and other factors. Appreciation is one of the major reasons why home ownership is considered one of the best investments for individuals.
On the front page of the Chicago Tribune this Monday was an article titled ” Real Estate Agents Hang Blogging Signs”. For those of you who missed reading the article, here are some important facts about blogging. There are 175,000 new blog sites debuting each day on the internet. The real estate industry is just starting to catch onto the blogging phenomenum and for good reason. Three out of four people will use the internet before buying or selling real estate. They will use the internet to gather information on neighborhoods, schools, real estate home prices, etc. After the research is done they will contact an agent to help them in the process of selling or buying a home.
As a real estate agent who writes a blog, I hope I am providing usefull content on real estate matters and if you need my real estate services I hope you would not hesitate calling me.
Please feel free to leave your comments about the contents on my real estate blog site as I review them daily.
The City of Evanston has identified buildings they wish to preserve through Landmark Status and have identified other areas throughout the city which are zoned Historic Districts. The Preservation Commission consists of 11 members and 3 associate members which are appointed by by the Mayor of Evanston for a three year term to be part of a review process to projects located in the Historic Districts. Certificates of Appropriateness are issued to show that the projects have been reviewed. Minor work need only to be reviewed by the Preservation Coordinator while Major Work is reviewed by the Preservation Commission. Some work in the Historic District need no approval.
NO APPROVAL- ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
1. Repair to existing Accessory Structures or Buildings where there is no change in design, materials or general appearance.
2. Repair to Achitectural Details where there is no change in design, materials or appearance.
3. Repair to Decks
4. Installation, alteration, removal of storm doors
5. Repair of Fences or Walls
6. Repair to Gutters and Downspouts
7. Installign House numbers and mailboxes
8. Aleration, addition, removal of gardens, planting beds or shrubbery
9. Repair to driveways
10 Planting New trees or removing dead trees.
11 Installing, replacing, altering, removal of Exterior lighting.
12.Minor repairs to masonry when mortar matches the original or brick or stone matches original.
13. Repair of Roofing Material
14 Repair to exterior stairs or steps
15 Painting
MINOR WORK NEEDING APPROVAL
1. Replacing or Alteration of Accessory Structures or Buildings
2. Alteration, addition, removal of Architectural Details
3. Construction, alteration, removal of chimneys
4. Alteration,replacement,removal fo existing decks
5. Installing New doors or removal of old doors
6. Construction or replacement of new fence or walls
7. Installing or removing Mechanical equipment such as air conditioning units
8. Alteration to existing porches
9. Alteration or replacement of any exterior materials including roofing materials.
10. Installation of new windows
11. Replacement of skylights
MAJOR WORK COMMISSION REVIEW
1. New construction or Additions to primary building
2. Demolition of any structure in part or whole.
3. Relocation of buildings
4. Alteration or removal of archeologically significant features
5. Alteration or removal fo contributing histiorical features
6. Additions to or requesting new accessory structures or buildings
7. Constructing new decks, driveways, parking lots, porches.
8. Alterations to Exterior Materials.
9. New construction of above ground swimming pools
10. Adding new skylights.
Since I stared writing this blog site in September of last year, I had no idea that anyone would be reading the information or be interested in what I have to say about Real Estate in Evanston. I must say now three months later, that this site has become My Field of Dreams. As of today’s date I have had 636 Hits on the site. While this seems to be a relatively small number of people, the daily number continues to increase. I am getting around 30 hits per day and like the movie Field of Dreams, ” Build It and They Will Come”. Right now, this blog site is listed on the first page of Google and MSN, on the second page of Yahoo . I have direct links with both BackFence and EvanstonNow . I have had people visit the site from as far away as Canada, Germany, France, India, Albania, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Australia,and the UK. The avergage time on this blog site has been 2.5 minutes with the longest time being 16 minutes. People visitng the site appear to be looking for information about the local real estate market in Evanston and for ways to search for property for sale which this site offers. Other popular topic have been Real Estate Taxes,”What is the difference between a Condo and a Coop”, “Cost VS Value” and finally Relocation information..
I really enjoy writing articles for this blog site and would love to hear from you. I look forward to your comments and suggestions. Aslo, if you have any other real estate need, I hope you would not hesitate contacting me personally. I want you to know that the success of MY business depends on YOU.
Stagging your home for sale is like looking at your house “THROUGH THE EYES OF A PROSPECTIVE BUYER”. Here are some stagging tips that home owners should do before listing their home for sale:
INSIDE:
1. Walk around your house and remove all unnecessary objects including family photos off of furniture. Keep in mind the buyers try to imagine your house as their own. Add flower arrangements.
2. Clear all kitchen appliances off countertops. The simple rule here is if it hasn’t been used for three months, put it away. Also, clear refrigerator fronts of messages, pictures, etc.
3. Clear countertops in all bathrooms. Coordinate towels to one or two colors, hide garbage basket and dirty laundry baskets. Add potpouri or flower arrangements.
4. Remove or rearrange furniture in the house. We all have too much furniture and less is best. Rooms appear larger with less furniture.
5. Take down family pictures or objects on walls. Patch and paint if necessary.
6. Review each room in the house and paint any room needing paint, clean carpets,draperies, and windows.
7. Clean out the garage and store out of season objects away from the house.
8. Leave certain lights on during the day for all showings.
9. Have stereo FM on during the day and for all showings.
OUTSIDE:
1. Go around the perimeter of the house and remove all garbage cans, wood scraps, building materials away from the house.
2. Clean all gutters.
3. Look at all plants and prune bushes and trees. Remember “YOU CAN NOT SELL A HOUSE IF YOU CAN NOT SEE IT:.
4. Depending on season, keep lawn, driveway, neat.
5. Clear patios and decks of all small items, such as planters, childrens toys, barbeque grill.
6. Check paint condition of house, especially the front door and trim.
7. Make sure all locks work and door bells work.
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.
Townhomes are an excellent alternative to a single family home and a condominium. A townhouse is attached to one or more homes but often have a back yard and in some cases with end units will have both back and side yards. Townhomes like condominiums have common area space which is shared between all unit owners. The cost to maintain this common area is a monthly fee called a homeowners association fee. This monthly fee is usually less than those fees associated with condominiums. There is quite a variety of different townhouse styles. Some of the newer townhomes have attached garages, full finished basements, decks, porches and depending on size of the complex may have amenities like a pool, and tennis court.
The Spring Real Estate Market will officially begin February 5, 2007 the day after the Super Bowl. Any Predictions?
I have printed the Post Season Football Schedule for you and will update each week the winners and losers. Go Bears!!
Post Season Football Schedule
Wildcard Weekend January 6
Kansas City VS Indianapolis 4:30 NBC
Dallas VS Seattle 8:00 NBC
NY Jets VS New England 1:00 CBS
NY Giants VS Philadelphia 4:30 FOX
Divisional Playoffs January 13
Conference Championships January 21
Super Bowl XLI- Dolphin Stadium February 4, 2008
