The Barrington MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is the tool used by Realtors in their daily real estate businesses. It's a common request by consumers to want to search the Barrington MLS. It's likely you'll go online and find websites with buttons that say Search MLS. So you think you are using and searching the MLS - not so.  You are not searching the Barrington MLS and nor will you be able to, unless you are a Realtor. To be granted access a user must have a valid license and be a member of one of the Chicago real estate boards with dues paid up to date. The Barrington MLS is part of MRED LLC. Midwest Real Estate Data LLC. There is no seperate MLS for each town, we have one big system allowing all agents and brokers use and access for the entire Chicagoland area. The MLS is where we in... 08/12/2011

Dare To Buy a Home Without Your Barrington Buyers Agent If you find a Barrington home and fall in love, would you try to buy it without the help of your Barrington Buyers Agent? Let me tell you a little story. A recent client of mine was referred by a loan officer for this very reason. They seemed OK with using the listing agent, they loved the house. The buyers were indeed friends of the loan officer so were perhaps more inclined to take his very strong suggestion that as buyers it cost them nothing to have a buyers agent so why wouldn't they. New buyer client relationship formed and we get on famously. That always helps and I think that's what they were more concerned about, trying to find some-one they felt really comfortable with. We spend time together looking at the property to ma... 08/12/2011

Barrington IL Home Sales for July 2011  July and August are often not so busy when it to comes to home sales in Barrington IL, many families are taking time out to enjoy summer and school vacations with the kids. Here are the facts. Properties currently active on the market: 722 Single-family properties closed in July 2011: 40 All Barrington Area Single Family Homes - Sold 37 Average sales price: $556,866 Average list price: $610,022 Sales price to list price ratio: 91% Average days on the market: 234 Sales currently pending: 59 All Barrington Area Attached Homes - Condos, Town Homes - Sold 3 Average sales price: $201,500 Average list price: $206,333 Sales price to list price ratio: 98% Average days on the market: 51 Sales currently pending: 6 Barrington  IL  absorption rate: 18 months ... 08/12/2011

This is almost comical coming on the heels of my last post about not letting dead bugs kill your sale. Well how about live bugs? This week I attended a home inspection for my buyers on a home in Barrington. We knew that the property needed some work doing before going in with an offer. I highly recommended my buyers have a home inspection amongst other inspections because where there is known work to be done, there is likely unknown work to be done. It was a hot day and the air conditioning was barely keeping up with the demands of keeping us all cool, our poor inspector was obviously suffering, after all he was working, everyone else was either watching or waiting. During the inspection I overheard a comment about bugs, so went to ask what he had found, curiosity got the better of me. ... 07/29/2011

Are you selling a vacant Barrington home?  As soon as you have vacated the house the flies and bugs are going to make themselves at home. Somehow they find their way in and take up residence. Silly on their part because there isn't going to be much food around, in fact they'll become food for the spiders, and one way or another they are going to die; on the carpet, in the bath tub, in the sinks, everywhere. As time passes more dead bugs, more dead flies, fat spiders but even some of those die. Before long your vacant Barrington home is not so appealing to buyers. Dead bugs or alive bugs make buyers think one thing. An infested house. Not sure if I want to buy a house full of dead bugs, there must be a problem. Or just plain 'eww' let's move on. So what should you do? If you are still lo... 07/23/2011

Luxury Home Buyers in Barrington and South Barrington Illinois, Hawthorn Woods IL, and Chicago's North Shore Take Note.... High-end home buyers are coming back into the market based on low interest rates on Jumbo loans and bargain basement prices.  Luxury home buyers choose Buyer Broker Chicagoland because they know we are always 100% on their side, with no dual agency conflicts of interest that a “buyer agent” can have - and as Certified Negotiation Experts - they can save tens of thousands - if not 100k or more on their purchase.  The difference between a typical agent and an expert negotiator is huge.  Unlike 99.9% of other agents - we align our compensation to be in the buyer’s best interests, instead of the opposite -- which is something any true fidicuary should do. Jumbo loans (t... 07/22/2011

South Barrington IL current has 97 homes for sale, all of them being single family homes. We are half way through the year and so I am curious. Is South Barrington doing better this year than last. I have already reported on the upper quartile for South Barrington now lets look at the whole picture as most homes fall well below some of these high priced homes. The range of prices for South Barrington IL Homes for Sale is from $399,999 to $5,900,000. Most of the homes fall between $700,000 and $2,000,000. The lower price homes are either The Woods of South Barrington Active Adult homes or distressed and older/smaller homes. In fact I have decided to compare this year to both 2009 and 2010 to give us a much broader idea of whats happening. The chart below shows sales by month through Janu... 07/12/2011

Absentee sellers of Barrington property are not few and far between. I show a lot of homes every week and many of them are vacant, the owners have moved on, but they still need to sell. Sometimes it's just easier to move and get settled in the new place and worry about the old one when the dust settles a little. Listing and selling Barrington property as an absentee owner has it's own set of hurdles. First unless you made a choice before you left, you need to find a Realtor® you feel comfortable with, not easy to do without a face to face meeting. Searching the internet is likely going to be the tool of choice to see who has a good online presence and use of todays technology. I hope that's how you found me! For the face to face equivalent check out my testimonials and then call me. I a... 07/07/2011

Barrington Hills Real Estate Market - Month End June 2011 How is the Barrington Hills real estate market is doing? We know that Barrington Hills has a different kind of real estate to other Barrington areas, mostly because it has much bigger parcels of land and because much of the area is zoned for horses. Now we are half way throuhg the year I am adding Barrington Hills as a monthly report so you can come back here often to monitor progress. Let's start with a year to date graph of the sales and market time. I'll update this every month. For now here are the Barrington Hills real estate market sales January through June 2011.                                   Barrington Hills never has a lot of sales in a month as it's a small village but over the year we'll see about 30 to 35 homes so... 07/03/2011

Tudor Style Homes in Barrington Illinois Tudor was part of the history of England between 1485 and 1603, well before my time but I do recall learning about it in history class. It's first Monarch was Henry Tudor who later rose to the position King Henry VII. The line of Tudor's ceased with the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Our current monarchy is the House of Windsor with Queen Elizabeth II who has been Queen of England now almost 60 years, the second longest reigning head of the realms. Enough of history, let's get to Tudor Style Homes in Barrington Illinois. Personally Tudor style homes are one of my favorites. The upper half  exterior of a Tudor home will be timbering with plaster (Stucco), brick or better yet herringbone laid brick, built as panels between the timbers. The windows are... 06/20/2011

In the table below lists all of the single family detached and single family attached homes currently on the market in  Barrington, IL The data lists available homes by price range with average time on market in each range. Should you have an interest in homes in a selected price range, send me your physical characteristics requirements. I will send complete details on those homes that meet your criteria. Active Listings List Price Range # Listings Avg. Days on Mkt Less than $49,999 1 251 $50,000 - $99,999 1 60 $100,000 - $149,999 14 287 $150,000 - $199,999 40 245 $200,000 - $249,999 38 205 $250,000 - $299,999 45 219 $300,000 - $349,999 36 199 $350,000 - $399,999 35 225 $400,000 - $449,999 36 144 $450,000 - $499,999 39 170 $500,000 - $549,999 30 162 $550,000 - $599,999 36 283 $600,000 ... 06/16/2011

This is an inside perspective in the world of real estate from an experienced Barrington Realtors view. It might seem a little cutting but I am all about reality and how it affects clients. Therefore I consider as a full time working Barrington Realtor and Managing Broker of my own Barrington real estate office, there is no reason why I should not let you read this perspective. I am not here to complain about other agents, but I have always been frank and honest with my opinions and I am not going to stop now. Good grief I feel like Walter Jacobs-Nightly News? Did you ever wonder how many Barrington Realtors there are in Illinois or how many wannabee Barrington Realtors there are? What do I mean by wannabbee. Simply they want to work in the Barrington area but their offices are miles, e... 06/14/2011

Barrington Illinois Home Sales - Market Report May 2011 It always takes a few days after the end of the month for me to produce this report. I want to be sure my numbers are as accurate for you as I can get them so I wait to be sure all the sales are updated in our MLS. So here on June 8th I hope everything is spot on. So what's new or news for May. We certainly saw some spring like temperatures and now summer is in full swing. I'll be honest and say I am not a summer lover, so don't expect to see me out and about when the temps are in the 90's. When I was a kid and lived in Singapore I loved it but now, no thanks. However it's not stopping buyers here in Barrington.  I'll get to the numbers on my chart and we'll compare it to April. Here is April's Barrington Market Report Chart. Now l... 06/08/2011

I am pleased to present my very first ever published video here on the web. For buyers of homes in Barrington Hills it's nice to know how quiet and tranquil it really is here. Most homes are situated on 5 acre lots and homes are well set back from the roads. As you'll see from the video many of the homes cannot be seen from the street at all. If you have any feedback, I truly welcome it. After all this is a maiden voyage and suggestions for improvement will help me produce better video for my Barrington buyer and relocation clients. So without further ado, I present the privacy and tranquility of Barrington Hills and I hope you like it. 06/06/2011

Assuming that your home is a single family home and that a sign can be placed in your yard, let's look at the things a sign can do. Identify that your home is for sale. Make it easy for Realtors, clients and lookers to find the right house. Provide a phone number for all three to call. Here is what my brokerage sign looks like: Sometimes an agent will also add a sign rider with their name and direct phone line, sometimes that information is contained within the sign. So far mission accomplished. Yet wouldn't it be nice to give those Sunday drivers and lookers a little more information about your home? The goal is to get the right people to come and take a better look, so providing information outside can help filter the truly interested from the time wasters. Commonly agents have put fl... 05/27/2011

How long will it take the buyers who looked at my luxury Barrington home, to make a decision? How many buyers are likely to look at my luxury Barrington home? If you are in the market to sell a luxury home in Barrington, or indeed you are currently on the market trying to sell your luxury Barrington home, these are questions you'll no doubt want answers to. I would love to be able to give you precise answers but I cannot. All I can give you is data that provides market information, and the experience from the other side of the fence as a broker that works with Barrington luxury home buyers. There are always variables in a real estate sale whether you are selling a condo, townhome or luxury home in Barrington, we'll factor those into this discussion at the end. Luxury Barrington Home Mar... 05/16/2011

Illinois retirees have fantastic options in active adult living ranging from sprawling resort style communities to intimate sized elegant enclave neighborhoods of luxury ranch homes. Regency at The Woods of South Barrington by Toll Brothers is one such example of a smaller, gated community for adults age 55 and better. Built by the luxury home builder Toll Brothers, this Illinois active adult community features just 156 single-family homes boasting luxury features and high-end upgrades. The community is located in the prestigious town of South Barrington, Illinois. The area offers fabulous retail shopping including major retailers and boutique shops, a huge variety of restaurants, world-class hospitals and championship golf. The convenient I-90 toll way is just two minutes from the comm... 05/09/2011

Park Barrington is a subdivision in Barrington Village very close to Ron Beese Park and The Baker's Lake Nature Preserve. If you are looking for a maintenance free home without acreage, close to the village, Barrington Post Office or Good Shepherd Fitness Center consider Park Barrington. Homes here were built in 1990 and offer mostly ranch homes but some 2 story with all the hardwork done for you. The assocation takes care of exterior maintenance, lawn care and snow removel, while you benefit from single family home living and an attractively landscaped neighborhood with trees, ponds, fountains and well stocked flower beds. Homes here are approximately 1600 to 2700 square feet and most have 2 or 3 bedroom and 2 to 3.5 bathrooms, with 2 car garages. There are 4 models that I know of and ... 05/09/2011

South Barrington Homes - A Taste of Northern Illinois Luxury Real Estate Northern Illinois is home to some very nice communities that have luxury properties for buyers, located both in the city of Chicago and also the suburbs. The north shore area, north of Chicago, is home to communities that have been around for a long time and the homes there are often older and on typical sized lots of quarter to half an acre. They are very beautiful and if you like architectural offerings this might be the place to look for your next luxury Illinois home. If on the other hand more open green space with one to two acre lots is more your style, South Barrington homes might offer just what you are looking for in a luxury home and they are younger too. South Barrington homes are close to I-90 so if you... 04/23/2011

Barrington IL Bank Owned REO Foreclosure, Pre-foreclosure and Short Sale Homes Are you looking for a great deal on a home in Barrington?  We’ve helped many buyers during the past year pick up bank owned foreclosure homes for great prices. The homes to the left are all bank owned or pre-foreclosure homes. You can go into our map based search system just by clicking on one of them.I am the only Exclusive Buyer Agent / Broker in Chicago’s Northwest Suburbs.  As such - both myself and my company never represent sellers.  Why is that important?  No dual-agency conflicts of interest, and as a Certified Negotiation Expert and specialist  - my clients receive the best buyer representation in the Chicago area.My background also includes 20 years of competitive intelligence research and collectio... 04/18/2011