Prices are finally rising, but are they rising too quickly? Some recent news articles have caused concern that the rebounding market is rebounding too quickly. Rest assured, the housing market is far from bubble territory. Prices are rising quickly and that makes for catchy headlines, but they aren’t anywhere close to where they were at the biggest inflations and signs point to the real estate market leveling out.

This chart shows how some of the worst hit areas of the country are currently a little over-valued. However, it also shows the vast differences, in some cases, of the currently over-valued price compared with the peak price for that area.

In the chart below, recently posted by the Economist, we can compare the trend in Chicago with those of Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as other cities that are not included in the chart above. See the link to the original Economist article where this graph is interactive.

We are still far from the worst of the bubble. The Home Price Expectation Survey, which is conducted among a panel of 100 economists, real estate experts, and investment and market strategists predicts an annual appreciation of 4.1% to 2017.

That’s less than 1% higher than the average appreciation rate before the last big bubble. When you compare the cumulative appreciation expectations to 2017 the average amount predicted by both the bulls and the bears of those surveyed is 22.3%, which is the same as the trend was before the bubble.

So, are we seeing the beginning of another bubble? Experts predict no!

Prices are still very low compared to where they have been and the experts do not see them continuing to skyrocket. Mortgage rates are starting to rise, inventory is growing, and the increase in asking price will slow the activity of investors. With rents rising, unemployment rates slowly decreasing, and more people moving beyond their financial troubles of the past, and again having the capability to purchase a home, jobs are being created and the real estate market is helping boost the overall economy.

The chart below shows, on average, how much income one home sale brings into the economy per state.

Currently we are not seeing a housing bubble. We are just seeing a growing economy that hasn’t been experienced in years. Does this mean we won’t see another real estate bubble? Probably not. Real estate is a market after all. Just like every other market it has its ups and downs. Will we see a perfect storm like the one we are coming out of again? Hopefully not in our lifetimes!

For information about real estate in Chicago or resources in your area please contact us and sign up for our free market report!

Listing Details 

Single Family Home in the South Loop, No Association Fees

21 W 15th Street CHICAGO, IL 60605

Price: $950,000

MLS number: 08356073

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 3

Square Footage: 3000

Call Terri Buseman at 312-208-5166 to see if this property is still available and arrange a showing.

Enjoy Airy, Metropolitan Living in This Three Bedroom, Single Family Home with No Association Fees

Pull into your garage directly off of 15th Street in this large single family home. One of only five homes in its development that are not part of an association, this grand house is located across the street from Cottontail Park and only a few blocks from South Loop Elementary School.

Click here to see additional images of this South Loop Single Family Home

The Open Floorplan Provides Tons of Space

Bask in the sunlight pouring through the bay window or warm up near the wood burning fireplace while enjoying your skyline view from the living room. Combined with the living room, the dining room is spacious enough to entertain a large dinner party. A wide, open doorway leads to a large eating area and expansive kitchen, which is connected to the deck, providing great gathering spaces for parties or for the family to spend time together while dinner cooks.

Dearborn Park: A Residential Community in the South Loop, Chicago

Dearborn Park I & II is a residential area in the South Loop that was developed in the late 70s-early 80s to offer families an alternative to moving to the suburbs. Filled with condos, townhomes, and single family homes, as well as parks and a school Dearborn Park offers a respite from the bustling downtown nearby.

Find Similar Homes in the Area

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Uh oh! This bracket won’t go it because the pipe above won’t let it angle up enough!

Remember to lay everything out first and spend time planning your approach! If all of the shelves in the closet pictured above where in place before we noticed the top brackets can’t be attached without moving the bar away from the pipe it would have been a big project to take everything apart.

One friend, when retiling his bathroom, followed some advice to start from the center with the tiles and work out from there. When he approached either edge he found that he needed half a tile on both sides! Had he laid it all out first he could have adjusted accordingly and would not have needed to cut any tiles.

Lay everything out first and your projects will finish more quickly and more beautifully!

After sliding the bars to the left side of the pipe we were able to attach the brackets, slide the bars back in place, and complete the job.

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Listing Details 

Single Family Home in Bronzeville Steps from US Cellular Field

3415 S Indiana Street CHICAGO, IL 60616

Price: $325,000

MLS number: 08317936

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 2.1

Square Footage: 2775

Call Terri Buseman at 312-208-5166 to see if this property is still available and arrange a showing.

Welcome Home to This Four Bedroom, Single Family Home Just Steps from US Cellular Field

Relax on your porch swing and watch the world go by or watch the fireworks at US Cellular Field. This bright single family home has four bedrooms, three of which are on one level. Enjoy an eat-in kitchen with access to the outdoor deck. There is a bath on every level. The second level marble bath has a jacuzzi tub and vessel sink. The fenced in yard is perfect for entertaining with a deck and patio. This home has a two car garage. Located in the Bronzeville/Gap area it is only five minutes from the Loop. It is a short walk to 31st Street Beach, Dunbar Park, IIT, and the Police Headquarters. 

Click here to see additional images of this Bronzeville/Gap Single Family Home

This wide home has room for everyone

With four bedrooms, one of which can easily be used as a den, a large dining/living room combo, eat-in-kitchen, bathroom on every level and finished basement this home provides enough room for everyone to stretch out and unwind after a long day in the neighborhood or nearby in downtown Chicago. A perfect layout for entertaining, treat your guests to a pre-game barbeque in the backyard and after the game gather on the front porch to enjoy the fireworks at Cellular Field. 

The Gap: A Small Neighborhood at the North End of Historic Bronzeville, Chicago

The Gap is a small neighborhood within the Douglas community area, at the north end of Bronzeville. Surrounded by the Illinois Institute of Technology, U.S. Cellular Field, and the Lake the neighborhood is a quick trip to downtown yet it has plenty of parks, restaurants, and entertainment for residents to enjoy nearby.

Find Similar Homes in the Area 

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Notice in the charts below, the market time for traditional sale, attached units looks to be slowly decreasing, while inventory is hovering below five months. Right now there are a lot of buyers in the market, but not enough sellers. All year we have been seeing a lot of multiple offer situations and that is still happening. Many homes are going under contract almost as quickly as they hit the market. When multiple offers cause a home to sell for more than the original list price a comparable property will then list for a higher amount. This occurs when inventory stays between 1-5 months. There is a high demand in the market, but not a lot of product.

For detailed information about your neighborhood sign up to receive a Market Snapshot report.

Data provided by Midwest Real Estate Data LLC • Current as of June 6, 2013

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RELATED ARTICLES

• Single Family & Attached Real Estate Trends for the Month of February, 2013 in Downtown Chicago (terribuseman.wordpress.com)
• Single Family & Attached Real Estate Trends for the Month of March, 2013 in Downtown Chicago (terribuseman.wordpress.com)
• Single Family & Attached Real Estate Trends for the Month of April, 2013 in Downtown Chicago (terribuseman.wordpress.com)

See all the white spots? That’s because the polish got stuck on something it can’t clean off. The polish also stains the stone burner rings and does nothing for the vent cover.

I would love to have a stove that sparkles like new! To give it a boost I used four simple tools; baking soda, vinegar, a toothbrush, and elbow grease.

Transfer some of the vinegar into a spray bottle, pouring it would cause too much to come out at once. Sprinkle the baking soda on all of the stains, then spray with vinegar. You will hear hissing as the chemicals react.

Small stains don’t need much time, but wait a few minutes for heavier stains. Use the toothbrush and elbow grease to scrub the stain away with the baking soda/vinegar paste.

Wipe the resulting mess up with paper towels and voila! It looks much better! In this example I ran out of elbow grease, but after I pick up some more I could go back over it and make it really shine like new.

For information about real estate in Chicago or resources in your area please contact us and sign up for our free market report!

Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The idea to sell a home by owner, rather than listing with a real estate agent is enticing to many. Often it is driven by the idea of gaining or saving more money from the sale by cutting out the agent’s commission.

If you choose to sell your home by owner and you want to give your home maximum exposure in the market, you will need to make time to do all of the activities a full-service agent would otherwise do for you. Some people have the time, inclination, and know-how to do this, however, many people are surprised when the transaction takes an unexpected turn and they don’t have the experience to be able to make a quick and educated decision on what to do. This can lead to loss in money, time, hair, and even a sale!

If cutting commission is the driving factor it is important to first understand what normally happens to that money after a sale. For example let’s say the sale is $500,000 and the commission is 5%, or $25,000. The listing agent is from Keller Williams and the buyers agent is from Prudential.

1. The $25,000 commission is given to Keller Williams for distribution.
2. They give 1/2 of it, $12,500 to Prudential.
3. Both Keller Williams and Prudential split their respective $12,500 with the agents who were involved in the transaction. If they are on a 40/60 split the agents will each receive 60% of the $12,500, that is $7,500.
4. The agents then have to use some of that money to pay for their business, usually about 30%, or in this case $2,250.
5. This leaves your listing agent with $5,250 pre-tax, or 21% of the commission.

But what happens if you don’t use a listing agent? You have a few choices. You can severely cut down on how many people come see your house if you won’t work with buyers who have an agent. If you want maximum exposure, you can agree to let buyers come with an agent, but be prepared to pay a commission to the buyer’s agent. Since in this case you are only working with one agent it is understandable to offer half of the 5% commission from the above example, or 12,500. Now you are saving yourself $12,500, but you need to do the job of the listing agent.

Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is very important to understand what that entails before venturing out to do it. If you don’t succeed at selling your home on your own you might go back to square one and list with an agent. In that case you are still paying the commission and you will have paid additional money from when you marketed your home on your own.

Here is a snapshot of what a full service agent would do when your home is on the market.
*A $ symbol shows what activities cost money either to you or your agent

• Help establish a fair market price
• Organize and prepare all required paperwork including contracts and disclosures
• $ Suggest ideas for staging to make the home look big and inviting (can be free)
• $ Commission photography and a virtual tour of the property
• $ Display a for sale sign on the property
• $ Post the listing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
• $ Syndicate the listing to multiple websites
• $ Write a blog post about the listing in a well fed blog dedicated to real estate (can be free)
• Advertise the listing on Craig’s List
• Advertise the listing on social media platforms dedicated to real estate, such as the agent’s Twitter feed or a Facebook Fan Page
• $ Advertise the listing in a regular newsletter that is distributed to a database of people in the area who are interested in real estate.
• $ Create and print brochures to give to potential buyers
• $ Send Just Listed postcards to a canvas of neighbors
• Schedule and attend showings
• $ Host an open house
• Send email updates about the property to agents that have indicated their clients might have an interest in the home.
• Adjust asking price as needed following an established formula
• Help negotiate offers
• Hold earnest money
• Coordinate contract to close activities
• $ Communicate with the lawyer to see he has what he needs and discuss additional negotiations
• Attend the inspection
• Meet with the appraiser to discuss comparable properties
• Attend the closing
• Offer advice and solutions every step of the way

Whether you decided to list your home on your own or hire an agent to represent you it is important to carefully consider all the pieces that are necessary in marketing your home for maximum exposure. Real estate transactions are big and stressful. By taking the time up-front to prepare yourself and get started on the right foot you can save yourself time, money, and stress!

For information about real estate in Chicago or resources in your area please contact us and sign up for our free market report!

Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

May is National Electrical Safety Month. Electrical failures cause $1.4 billion in property damage, including 43,900 home fires, 1430 injuries and 438 deaths each year! Watch this video from the Electrical Safety Foundation International to help keep your home safe from electrical hazards.

For information about real estate in Chicago or resources in your area please contact us and sign up for our free market report!

My husband and I think we will probably be ready to move to a larger home in the next two to three years. We have lived in this condo for 5 years. When we bought it, it looked like this.

Taupe condo as it looked at the open house when we first saw it.

Complete with builder grade appliances.

We have put a lot of work into the home for our own enjoyment. We upgraded the appliances, added a backsplash to the kitchen and the built in desk, upgraded the light switches and outlets, bought custom curtains for the large windows, and painted all of the walls.

It’s looking very nice now, but still needs a little work. Knowing that we will want to sell in a few years we need to take into careful consideration how much additional work to put in and how it will affect our potential sales price.

We have agreed to replace the counter, sink, and faucets in the bathroom and feel comfortable with the budget for that. The big debate is what to do with the kitchen. The granite needs to at least be professionally resealed, it’s not in very good shape. However,     I don’t think it looks right with the new paint and would rather replace it with a beautiful Corian counter that I found. I’m confident that we will recoup the cost of replacing the counter in the sale, but I guess he’s not confident that it will make a big enough difference to spend all of that money in the first place.

Our market can support a granite or Corian countertop, so that is not our debate. The debate is whether completing the overall design with a different colored counter would make a significant difference in how quickly we will be able to sell and how confidently can we recoup the costs.

Deciding how much work to put in your home and when to stop is a very important step when planning your future sale.

I’ve made a quick mock up of how the kitchen would look if we paint the cabinets and change the counter. The first example shows just the painted cabinets and the second shows the new countertop as well. If you were a buyer which kitchen would be more appealing to you and why?

For information about real estate in Chicago or resources in your area please contact us and sign up for our free market report!

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Data provided by Midwest Real Estate Data LLC • Current as of May 2, 2013

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RELATED ARTICLES

• Single Family & Attached Real Estate Trends for the Month of January, 2013 in Downtown Chicago (terribuseman.wordpress.com)
• Single Family & Attached Real Estate Trends for the Month of February, 2013 in Downtown Chicago (terribuseman.wordpress.com)
• Single Family & Attached Real Estate Trends for the Month of March, 2013 in Downtown Chicago (terribuseman.wordpress.com)