Realty Freak

Why Does NSBAR Hate Home Rule?

Why Does NSBAR Hate Home Rule?

First NSBAR opposed a fire suppression ordinance for new construction in Highland Park, and then it opposed an increase in Highland Park’s Tear Down tax and Inclusionary Zoning In-Lieu Fee (both aimed at increasing funding and units for Highland Park affordable housing initiatives.)  Now the NSBAR is hampering the city of Highwood by actively opposing Highwood’s efforts to use a zero dollar transfer stamp as a way of facilitating public safety inspections when residential real estate is transferred.

Why is the NSBAR so vehemently apposed to municipalities governing themselves?  Were the Highland Park and Highwood City Councilmen installed by a coup and NSBAR see s itself as the righteous protector of the people? I don’t think so.  The residents of Highland Park and Highwood elect councilmen and a mayor to make decisions on how to best run the city.  If residents are happy with the decisions that were made they re-elect the councilmen and the mayor, if not they elect new councilmen and a new mayor.  It’s a pretty good system, good enough that NSBAR should leave it alone.

The constant meddling by NSBAR is bad enough, but it gets worse. The person behind this constant obstructionism, Howard Handler the Government Affairs Director for NSBAR, uses demagogic tactics and misinformation to try and drum up support for his misguided crusades.

In his recent email regarding the Highwood Transfer Stamp, Mr. Handler states that the Lake County Recorder of Deeds, Mary Ellen Vanderventer, agrees with NSBAR that the Zero Dollar Transfer Stamp is illegal.  However, I spoke with a Highwood city official who says that is not a totally true statement.  The city official told me the State’s Attorney has made his review and is not sure that the stamp without the fee is permissible.  As such he has advised the Recorder to process deeds with or without the stamp.  This concerns the city since a no fee stamp has been implemented elsewhere in the state and collar counties and makes me wonder if this would be an issue at all if not for the meddling of Howard Handler and the NSBAR.

And why doesn’t Highwood just initiate a referendum to tax the stamp and take the air out of Mr. Handlers blustering?  According to the city official, Highwood doesn’t want to burden its citizens with another tax at this time, but does want a way to monitor the sale of real estate so it can efficiently monitor ordinance compliance and ensure public safety.

So… why does NSBAR hate home rule?

Visit our Highland Park and Highwood real estate brokerage.

Don't Get Burned By a Weak Mortgage Contingency

Almost all home buyers take advantage of a mortgage or financing contingency these days.  A mortgage contingency is a clause in a real estate purchase contract generally stating that if a buyer can't get a commitment of funding from a lender within a set period of time, the buyer can cancel the contract without penalty.

 But what if you have a mortgage commitment and your lender becomes  unable or unwilling to fund the loan at the time of closing?  This is not an implausible scenario these days. 

Home buyers and sellers should pay close attention to who is going to be funding the loan.  Is it a reputable lender or a fly-by-night operation?  Buyers should be sure to consult with their agent and attorney to insure they are protected from a lender who can't bring the money to the table.

Visit our Deerfield and Highland Park real estate office for expert buyer and seller representation.

No Luck Selling, Waiting Won't Help

You don't need luck to sell or rent a property, you just need to be willing to accept the price the market is willing to bear out.  Until the employment numbers get better you should not expect home prices to start their recovery.  As long as people are loosing jobs and staying unemployed or under-employed, people will continue to default on their mortgages and that will continue the downward pressure on home prices.  I have not seen or heard any indications that the job market is going to improve any time soon.

My advice is to drop your price and move or take the sign down and stay.

To search closed MLS listings visit our Deerfield and Highland Park real estate office website.

Is Your Real Estate Listing Open For Business?

I like the Deerfield Office Depot a little bit more than I like the Deerfield Office Max even though they share almost the same real estate.  No big difference, but the Office Depot store seems a bit bigger and I think it has more stuff (I like stuff.)  That's why after 9:00 a.m I go to the Office Depot and not the Office Max that is directly across the street.  Why only after 9:00 a.m?  Because Office Depot opens at 9:00 a.m. and office Max opens at 8:00 a.m.  That's why I go to Office Max more, even though I like it less.

This morning at 9:02 a.m it was 12 degrees and as I watched another person walk out of  Office Max I asked myself why I was waiting for someone to come open the door.  I couldn't come up with a good answer so I went across the street and purchased my $75.49 worth of stuff from Office Max.

I am not mad at Office Depot and  I will continue to shop there as long as it is after 9:00 a.m.  Office Depot will survive (most likely) because I buy office stuff all the time.

Home buyers do not buy homes all the time, they buy one and then they are done.  That's why I am amazed at how difficult it sometimes is to get into a listing with buyers.  Listings in Deerfield and Highland Park (where most agents use SentriLock) aren't as bad as those in Chicago (where listing agents still insist on being at the property to talk) but I am turned away because of babies, dogs, maids, relatives and the like in both the suburbs and the city. 

Your listing is your store and your product, keep it open as much as possible, otherwise the buyers might go someplace else.

Vistit my Deerfield and Highland Park real estate office here.  We are always open.

Why are condos and town homes listed as single-family homes when I'm doing a search?

A question from one of my Trulia friends:  Why are condos and town homes listed as single-family homes when I'm doing a search?

A condo or townhouse is a single unit where one "family" would live. Condos and townhouses are distinguished from a house by labeling them either Attached Single Family (condo or townhouse) or Detached Single Family ( stand alone house.) A Multiple Unit listing is a building that would have more than one "family" living in it, such as a three flat. 

So although a condo building has multiple units, those units are sold individually with separate deeds.  When you buy a multiple unit building you own every unit in the building.

To search for condos, townhouses and homes in Deerfield and Highland Park visit my real estate office here.

Take the Guesswork Out of Resident Screening

With more and more home sellers opting to become landlords instead of accepting a deflated price for their property, having a quantifiable formula for screening tenants makes good sense.

Take the Guesswork Out of Resident Screening

Visit my Deerfield and Highland Park real estate office here.

Nostradamus of Real Estate

AARP and the NAHB have released a stunning finding that  one in four baby boom generation households (26%) expects to move from their current home in the future.  The other three expect to  be buried in the back yard.

Print is Dead.

Yesterdays headlines read "Debt-Saddled Tribune Co. Files for Bankruptcy Protection" and I am ready to officially declare print advertising dead mostly dead.  At least as far as residential real estate brokerage goes.  The question is, are my clients?  My Deerfield office stopped buying print ads of any sort four years ago.  Our clients with homes to sell in Chicago and Evanston were not fazed, but our clients with homes to sell in Deerfield, Highland Park, Northbrook and the rest of the North Shore were not immediately convinced.  Four years later requests for print have dwindled but have not abated completely, largely due to the local high school sports newspaper, a.k.a the Pioneer Press.  I guess I must wait for the Sun Times group to declare bankruptcy before print can be completely dead.

Live Blogging with Ron Hargrove

Discount brokerage, no problem.  Discount representation, big problem.

Live Blogging with Ron Hargrove

Ron Hargrove agrees that buyers should pay for their own representation.  YEAH!