I think I could base an entire blog on what I read in the Chicago Tribune each day. Why I even read the Tribune is a quandary to me, given that the paper reads more like the Huffington Post these days. From time to time I enjoy real estate writer Mary Umberger, although I think she's a little pessimistic on the market, and do think she ignores the real reasons that people buy houses for. And she ignores me when I write to her with article ideas. Recently she wrote a little pros/cons section on whether or not it's the time to buy a house. Reasons to buy? High inventory, low prices, low interest rates, etc. Reasons not to buy? Prices still in decline, renting isn't a crime, financing is more complicated, etc. Good reasons Mary, but what about addressing the real reasons that people buy an... 06/17/2009

One of the keys to successful real estate investing has always been to buy undervalued property -- and avoid anything that's way overpriced. Well, now a new study from the international consulting group IHS Global Insight has identified dozens of undervalued metropolitan markets - where household incomes, employment, population density and other factors - could support higher housing prices, but just aren't doing it at the moment. Some of the most undervalued markets as of the first quarter of 2009, according to the new study, are formerly high-flying boom-era cities where prices soared and then crashed. They include: Vero Beach, Florida, where prices are now 42.5 percent below where they “should” be based on the underlying economics. You may recall that a few weeks ago, Realty Times re... 06/16/2009

Staging: (verb) preparing your home for sale by reducing or rearranging the contents to appeal to buyers, with a quick sale for top dollar as the ultimate goal. When you're selling your home, you want potential buyers to picture your house as their home, not as your house that they would be occupying. To do this, getting rid of personal items is a good start. Take down Grandma and Grandpa's 50th anniversary picture and stash away cousin Ethel's salt and pepper shaker collection. If you can't become emotionally detached enough to do the dirty work yourself, it's time to find a professional who can be a neutral, objective voice in staging your home. Don't take it personally, but your stager will probably want you to move out a lot of personal stuff. Clutter is one thing you don't want buy... 06/16/2009

Cathleen Gallagher could have bulldozed the home at 750 Toyopa in the glorious Huntington Palisades (CA) and turned over the rebuild to a "different" kind of builder. She could have hired someone to plan where each room would go, how they would work together to create the home’s flow, and pick all the finishes.After all, men dominate the home building industry, and when it comes to custom homes, women are but a speck on the builder spectrum. Which is unfortunate, given the fact that, if Gallagher’s home--a magnificent display of smart floorplan choices and exquisite finishes--is any indication (and it is), women make mighty fine custom homebuilders."The reality is that the larger-scale builders have invested a lot of money to get a female perspective on their product, usually through th... 06/12/2009

Congress took its first step last week on a mission that could totally reshape the American mortgage market. A House financial services subcommittee held the first hearing on what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- the failed, trillion-dollar mortgage giants that are now operating under direct federal control. The ultimate answers are likely to determine the types of loans and interest rates that home buyers will have in the future. That's because Fannie and Freddie have dominated the real estate market for decades, writing the rulebook on everything from loan sizes, credit requirements, downpayments and underwriting standards. Among the idea floated at last week's Capitol Hill hearing were a “utility” concept, where Fannie and Freddie might be merged into a single, privately-owne... 06/11/2009

Real estate in Wilmette today is a buyer's market. Here are ten tips to work the system in your favor and make a good deal on a new home.  Don't be in a hurry to find the right house. Look around. When you find a possible fit, see how long it's already been on the market. If it's been awhile, the homeowner may be ready to make a good deal. Learn about the local foreclosure market. Get yourself a Buyer's Agent so you don't have to deal with realtors on your own who are actually working for the bank that's trying to unload the house and then see what's available. Seek out new construction. Look for new developments with a lot of inventory sitting idle. There may be some good deals waiting. Ask for repairs or upgrades. If looking at an existing home, offer to buy IF they fix the roof or pu... 06/11/2009

The big economic news for housing this week is all about sales. Housing sales and pending sales contracts are up, dramatically in some markets, and a rebounding real estate sector could soon start stimulating the broader economy. Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress last week that essentially the worst is over, the housing market is stabilizing, and we're heading out of recession in the second half of the year. Pending home sales jumped by 6.7 percent in April. That was the third straight month of significant increases, and the highest pending sale total for any month in the past seven years. In the Northeast, pending sales were up last month by an extraordinary 33 percent. In the Midwest, they rose by just under 10 percent, and the West by two percent. They only dec... 06/10/2009

More than 18,000 emergency room visits a year are made by Canadian children who have been injured by common household products. To an adult, a chest of drawers is a storage device, but to a child, it can become a staircase to climb – causing the whole chest to tip over. A pull string on a window blind can act like a noose around a child's neck. A survey by Safe Kids Canada, a national program of Toronto's The Hospital for Sick Children, says that 86 per cent of Canadians assume that the household products they buy are safe for the family to use. But this isn't always the case, says Safe Kids. "Children are particularly vulnerable to home product-related injuries, often using normally safe products in ways they were never meant to be used," says Pamela Fuselli, executive director of the ... 06/09/2009

Househunting can be quite a chore, but learning to do it the right way can make it a bit easier. Here are some things to keep in mind while searching for that perfect home: Even though you have a realtor working to find you the perfect home in Glenview or Wilmette, a sign in the yard of a nice-looking place may tempt you to pick up the phone and call to see the home on your own. Don't do it! More likely than not, it will be a waste of time because if it were something that fit your criteria, your realtor would have already shown it to you. Once you and your realtor plan to look at some homes, don't plan to do something else two hours later. It may take longer than expected to look at the listings, especially if you find something you're really interested in. And what if you decide to go... 06/09/2009

Some real estate investors assume that the federal first-time home buyer tax credit has little relevance for them. After all, they already own their own houses, and the $8,000 credit was designed for people who are either buying their very first home -- or they haven't owned one in three years. But investors should be aware of a couple of recent wrinkles in the tax credit rules that they can put to good use themselves. Number one: The IRS has interpreted the law to allow unmarried co-purchasers, including investors -- to buy one-to-four unit properties with the credit flowing to a co-purchaser who qualifies for the credit, and will live in one unit, while the other units are rented out. Number two: The credit itself has just become more attractive for buyers using FHA financing. The Fed... 06/08/2009

It's becoming the buzz word in housing -- "green" homes are what many buyers are interested in these days. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), as much as 90 percent of home buyers think that energy efficiency is a very important factor when shopping for a home. These same buyers are also very interested in environment-friendly features including having housing close to parks, public transportation, and well-designed neighborhoods with sidewalks. The National Association of Home Builders Remodelers (NAHBR) -- a council of NAHB -- says that most homeowners choose green remodeling projects to help conserve energy. NAHBR recommends the following top ways to increase energy efficiency. Install appropriate insulation in area to be remodeled. Install high-efficiency ... 06/05/2009

The "subprime crisis" has spilled over into nearly every part of our economy. First, we heard about soaring foreclosure rates, especially in what had been the high growth and speculation markets around the country. The crisis quickly spread into banks and investment houses. Global banks and financial companies soon began to show signs of financial stress. There appears to be good news as recent hints of optimism in the housing industry appear to have spread to the multifamily sector, according to the latest results of Multifamily Rental Market Index (MRMI) and the Multifamily Condo Market Index (MCMI), released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). "Multifamily builders are beginning to see slight improvement in the current market for new rental and for-sale units, and an... 06/04/2009

We should all try to be eco-friendly wherever possible, and during a move is no exception. Here are some great ways to save the planet one box at a time when moving:  Start packing early. This gives you plenty of time to sort things out, recycling what you can or selling things at a yard sale. Hire an eco-friendly mover. Look at movers' advertisements to see if they stress that they're eco-friendly. Take note if they sell recyclable packing materials. Stock up on boxes from stores or friends who are moving. Many stores send boxes away for recycling when they're finished with them. Ask these places if you can have some of their boxes. You can still recycle them when you're finished with them. Look on free websites to see if anyone is offering moving boxes, or ask friends or neighbors who... 06/04/2009

A recent study by John Burns Real Estate shows that real estate is now as affordable as it's been in the past 38 years. The study tells us that median home prices, when viewed against median mortgage rates and incomes, are wildly affordable. The peak of unaffordability was in 2006, when an average family in the US needed to spend 44% of their income to purchase an average single family home. These numbers are fine and dandy, but they're obviously a national average, which means certain areas are more affordable, and many more areas less affordable. What's most interesting to me in the study isn't the affordability index, it's the information that homeowners revealed by another survey mentioned in this Wall Street Journal story. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants rele... 06/03/2009

Under pressure from Congress and its own Inspector General, HUD is beefing up its efforts to weed out unethical lenders participating in its booming FHA mortgage programs. Last week HUD announced sanctions against more than 120 lenders for violations ranging from falsifying loan documents to quality control problems. The agency imposed $1.5 million in f penalties and kicked 102 lenders out of the FHA program entirely. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the moves and said, "We expect, and more importantly American home buyers deserve, that when they deal with an FHA-approved lender, they're dealing with (a company) they can trust." Donovan's announcement came after release of a highly-critical report by the department's independent Inspector General, who said the agency had been ineff... 06/02/2009

In 2007, Chicago was the destination for over 45 million tourists and many of today's best travel magazines list Chicago as the top city in the country. They must know something! If you live in any of the North Shore suburbs and work in the city, you have easy access to all the great things Chicago has to offer. Tourist attractions abound in the Windy City, including the beautiful John G. Shedd Aquarium, home to 26,000 aquatic animals. There's also the Chicago Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. Most of Chicago's downtown architecture was built after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The Home Insurance Building, the first of its kind to have an iron and steel frame, was built in 1885, paving the way for modern-day skyscrapers. Three of the world's tallest buildings reside... 06/02/2009

McLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.91 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 28, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.82 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.08 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.53 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.50 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.66 percent. Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.82 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.79 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.62 percent. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs av... 06/01/2009

Bryce Fuller of "The Fuller Force" at RE/MAX North Here! Thanks for checking out the current real estate market conditions in Glenview, Illinois! I run this analysis like clockwork and wanted to share it with you. If you have any questions about this, please don't hesitate to contact me either by my direct cell phone at 847-208-7888 or via email at cbrycefuller@remax.net. You can also check out my homepage at www.CBryceFuller.com for more information about searching for a home in Northbrook, Glenview, Deerfield or any other Chicago North Shore community.  There are also forms to fill out for a 100% Free Home Value Analysis if you are thinking about selling your home as well! Currently, there are... 435 Single Family Homes Available for Sale in Glenview. The average asking price is $842,... 05/31/2009

The vast majority of foreclosure auction investors pick up one to a handful of units a year at most, then either rent them out or fix them up for eventual resale. Typically they also troll for distress situations, pre-foreclosures and "ugly" houses. But John Helmick, CEO of fast-growing Gorilla Capital in Eugene, Oregon, takes a very different, high-volume approach that can be summarized in five points: Buy big -- 150 or more foreclosures a year - but only by cherry-picking houses that have maximum potential for immediate turnaround and sale to retail home buyers or investors within about 60 days. Have dedicated crews of contractors ready to go at all times to paint, lay new flooring, and repair whatever's broken. Fix up costs should not exceed $5,000 to $15,000. Provide seller financin... 05/29/2009

A certain inconvenient truth about the trend toward green building -- that it will neither fade like a bad dream nor match the utopian visions of its most ardent advocates -- is good news for both the state of New Jersey and the United States, according to veteran environmental attorney James A. Kosch, a shareholder in LeClairRyan's Newark-based Tort Defense Group. “Neither Rush Limbaugh nor Al Gore will be happy about it when the ultimate contours of today’s green-building trend have emerged,” Kosch commented. "And that is because the same macroeconomic factors that have been so visible this year -- as reflected in the extreme volatility in gas prices and the capital markets -- also tend to have a moderating impact over time.” Not so long ago, many observers still wondered whether the ... 05/28/2009