All appliances require proper maintenance in order for them to work safely and efficiently.  Unfortunately, too many people take their clothes dryers for granted; fill it with wet laundry, set the dial, turn it on and remove dry clothes 30 - 45 minutes later.    I recently got a call from a woman who purchased a new dryer because the one she had was taking several cycles to get her clothes dry.  She assumed it was old and worn out.  The delivery man installed the dryer and she began using it, but she noticed that it ran very hot.  I just happened to be in her neighborhood on a service call and she took down the number printed on my work van.  I went to her home after completing the job I was on.    The first thing I noticed was that the dryer duct was the old vinyl type and it was longe... 06/27/2009

Today, my son-in-law Chris joins ranks with 799 (or so) other students, and graduates from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University with an MBA from one of the most prestigious MBA programs in the country. (I'm sure Chris would correct me here, and say THE most prestigious MBA program in the country!) He's worked hard to complete this degree, and has paid for it primarily on his own (with the added benefit of scholarships, loans and grants)... so he's also deeply in debt. His parents are in town to share in this major accomplishment, and we'll sit through the ceremony of marching caps and gowns, to see it happen. I live in Evanston (where Kellogg and Northwestern are located) and have experienced Kellogg's graduations many times, as an Evanston resident, wit... 06/20/2009

I was invited to be a guest speaker at a First Time Home Buyer Seminar and was given a list of topics to discuss. As I prepared for this seminar, I thought about  how I wanted to present  material to a group of first time home buyers and what would be the most important thing to say to this group. So here is what I came up with. I wanted to first talk to this group  and find out Truths or Myths Owning your home is the American Dream Buying a home is one of the most important investments in ones lifetime. People who own a home feel better about themselves. Owning a home can bring long term security and wealth Owning a Home is better than Renting Basic Questions to Ask Yourself: Why do I want to own a home? Why is it important to Me and My Family that I own a Home? What Does my Dream Home... 06/17/2009

Hey, folks! Tough news is all over the Internet these days, it seems!  But this story will bring a tear, and make you smile! It happened last Tuesday, June 2nd. Pizza Driver Stephen Walker of Papa John's Pizza was delivering pizza to to an apartment building on the South Side of the Chicago Suburb of Evanston IL.  He was attacked from behind by two men, not yet apprehended, who knocked him down, beat him, and stole his delivery car. As you can imagine, this was not the first time such a crime occurred in the Chicago Area, or in the Suburb of Evanston.  But what happened afterward, well, was seemingly rare, as reported by Chicago Tribune Reporter Lisa Black. Omar Gutierrezwitnessed the attack on Walker, and found that the robbers later crashed the car he was using for his deliveries, an ... 06/09/2009

One misty moisty morning,     When cloudy was the weather, I chanced to meet an old man,     Clothed all in leather. He began to compliment     And I began to grin. How do you do? And how do you do?     And how do you do again? a bit misty... and foggy here today on the north side of Chicagoland.  Not cold, not warm... kinda hard to get motivated... the morning paper was covered in dew, and now...(about 9:00-ish) it seems to be burning off a bit. It just reminded me of this old mother goose poem, that was sung by Steeleye Span... thought I'd share it.   ALAN MAY, Realtor® Specializing in Evanston Real Estate and North Shore Real Estate ------------------------------- Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, 2929 Central Street, Evanston, IL 60201 847.425.3779      Cell: 847.924.3313    ... 06/08/2009

Just came back from reviewing the latest (earliest??) in the Star Trek series at the Evanston Century Theatre.  (I didn't really see it for myself... I saw it so that I could review it for my readers... oh, how I suffer for my art). It did not disappoint.  Nonstop action... James Tiberias Kirk was played with panache.  Young spock was excellently acted, and casted. Additionally the introduction to each of the time-honoured cast (Ohura, McCoy, Mr. Scott, Checkov) not only fit the personalities that we've learned to love, but the additional nuances they've revealed in this movie only enhanced that love we already feel for them. There is enough action here for the non-trekkie, and enough throwbacks for the Trekkie, and little hints to past episodes, and characters to keep even a true Trekk... 05/24/2009

When I thought about writing an article that would try to describe how we got ourselves into this financial mess I  thought about the analogy of going off to college with a clean load of laundry. Imagine the real estate market 30 years ago. Back then, if you wanted to buy a home you would go to the community bank or savings and loan and ask them to give you a loan. You would give them all of your personal financial information. They would qualify you for a loan based on the value of the home, the purchase price, how much you have in savings, how much you earn on your job. Giving you a loan was pretty clean and neat. The bank would hold on the mortgage and receive monthly payments from you until the loan was paid off. Our banks grow up and go off to college and look what happens. The onc... 05/21/2009

      Since we are in full swing of the Spring Housing Market I thought I would write about the Health of the Market as it relates to one community where I work. As of today’s date, there are 300 active single family homes for sale in the city of Evanston, IL.  During the past month 64 homes went under contract. If you divide the number of homes under contract by the number of active listings you will be calculating for what is normally called the absorption rate. The absorption rate tells you how many months it will take to sell a home in today’s market. In this example, (64 homes under contract  /divided by 300 active listings) you get an absorption rate of 4.69 months. As Realtors we look at the absorption rate to define the difference between a buyers market and sellers market. If i... 05/19/2009

The Short Sale review process begins with ordering the Broker Price Opinion (BPO).   A BPO is nothing more than comparing “Apples to Apples” (Single Family to Single Family, Condo’s to Condo’s and Multi-family to Multi-family) and coming up with a “Current Market Value” for the Subject Property. Three (3) Sales Comp’s are required in each BPO. The bank wants these sales to be within the past 6-months to 12-months. The Sales must be within a mile radius of the subject property and if there are any sales that are sold in “As-IS” condition like other Short Sales or Foreclosures then these should be used first as a Sales Comp. The Bank wants to also know the Last List Price , the Final Sales Price, the Number of Days on the Market, and Financing such as FHA, Conventional for the buyer. Thre... 04/22/2009

Today was the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum, and even though it's been raining pretty steadily on and off all day, they are anticipating a crown in attendance of approximately 10,000 people for the opening The Illinois Holocaust Museum was built at a cost of approximately $45 million, and former President Bill Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel are featured speakers for the opening. The opening has been sold out, and tents are set up in an adjacent field, with Disneyworld-style waiting lines to get into the museum.  Many of the exhibits were created using items donated by local residents over the last dozen years. As you can see by the image, the museum uses a lot of symbolism, starting on the "dark side" of the building, and exiting on t... 04/19/2009

Earth Day is Wednesday of next week.  I wanted to publish this prior to Earth Day, so that you'd have ample time to digest the information.  Earth Day is a great idea, one day a year, to think about the impact that the human race is having on the planet, and hopefully pull us back from the brink of disaster. It's a great time to celebrate our planet and discuss serious environmental concerns. It's also a time to pause and remember that, during the first Earth Day in 1970, some of the world's leading (and loudest) environmentalists were terrifying the public with horrific predictions of planet-wide doom. Predictions that, thankfully, were spectacularly wrong The Washington Policy Center (WPC), a free-market think tank, tells us:"MOST EARTH DAY PREDICTIONS TURNED OUT TO BE STUNNINGLY WRON... 04/17/2009

Seven geeky guys leaning in closely over their laptops, studying the glow of their LCD screens might not seem to be an unusual occurance and any local coffee shop these days. But in this case, we're talking about Musicians, and they're practicing onstage at the Newberry Library in downtown Chicago for their performance Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Seating is first-come, first-served, with a 5:30 reception preceding the concert. They call themselves "laptopists" and they're a brave new world muscian who make their Apple PowerBooks create soaring sounds and knee-slapping rhythms by typing alt-shift-control type commands into their laptops. They're not texting, nor tweeting, but creating music. This is the Princeton Laptop Orchestra with a newfangled orchestra... er... of a kind... with hemispher... 04/16/2009

  Information comes directly from the MLS. The number of homes in pre-foreclosure or foreclosure appears to be the focus of most people these days and for a number of reasons. First, the shear number of homes in foreclosure is growing everyday. In Cook County 20% of all active listings are either pre-foreclosure short sales or bank owned foreclosures. County # of Active Listings # of Short Sales # of Bank Foreclosures Percent of Total Cook 24,440 2,995 1,801 20 % Lake 6,532 594 325 14% McHenry 3,153 302 169 15% Dupage 6,175 565 293 14% Kane 4,265 473 245 17% Will 5,445 532 306 15% 04/14/2009

      According to Realty Tracs February 2009 report on Foreclosures. Illinois is listed as the 7th largest in terms of the number of home foreclosures. State Rank # of Homes in Foreclosure Nevada 1 1 in 70 Arizona 2 1 in 147 California 3 1 in 165 Florida 4 1 in 188 Idaho 5 1 in 358 Michigan 6 1 in 360 Illinois 7 1 in 369 Georgia 8 1 in 389 Oregon 9 1 in 446 Ohio 10 1 in 451 04/08/2009

  Governor Pat Quinn signs Foreclosure Bill Public Act 95-1047 on April 5 ,2009. The new bill will give more time to homeowners to work with housing counselors and lenders together in order to avoid foreclosure. The new law requires Lenders to send a notice to all homeowners who are 3o days past due on their mortgage. The notice advises homeowners that they can seek housing counseling at a HUD approved counseling agency. No foreclosure action can be taken against anyone until they receive this notice. HUD approved counselors will try to develope a sustainable work out plan to be submitted to the lender for approval. If  the lender agrees to the new work out plan then they are not allowed to pursue foreclosure while the homeowner is in compliance with the plan. 04/07/2009

    Are you thinking about buying a foreclosure property? Buying a foreclosure is not as simple as it sounds and requires some expertise. If you are a first time home buyer, I recommend you find yourself a Realtor who can assist you with the process. There are many different ways to buy a foreclosure home. You can buy a home as a  “Short Sale”,  go bid on a home at a Sheriff Sale Auction, or buy a home after the auction which is typically listed as a Bank Owned Foreclosure. In all instances you are buying a home in “As-Is” condition. Many foreclosure homes have been neglected, damaged, vandalized, and should be inspected by a licensed home inspector. Plan a budget for repairs needed prior to writing an offer. Have your Realtor complete a “Competitive Market Analysis” of home sales in th... 04/07/2009

    Are you upset about declining home values in your neighborhood. If you are you are not alone. The other day I was asked by a neighbor to do a “Market Value” on her home because she is a senior and is thinking about selling her home and moving to a retirement community. When I completed the “Market Value” I was shocked to see the lower value of homes even in my own neighborhood. I remember 15 years ago several neighbors decided to put additions on their homes and we used the same contractor and were very happy with the results. Each year we saw our home values increase as a result of our home improvements. Today is  a different story. There are 3 homes on my own block which are listed as “Short Sales” and another 3 homes in the neighborhood that are bank owned foreclosures. On a pers... 04/02/2009

I'm sure that nobody else has written about this subject... since there seems to be a lot of confusion.... so here is my basic explanation of how the $8,000 tax credit works: The requirements, and who would qualify for the credit include: The tax credit is for first-time home buyers only.  (a first-time home buyer, according to the IRS, is defined as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.) The tax credit does not have to be repaid. (unlike the former $7,500 tax credit plan) The tax credit is only equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000. So if you purchase a home for $70,000, you'll only qualify for a $7,000 tax credit.. (10% of $70,000). The credit is available for homes purchased on or after... 03/31/2009

  You canput “Lipstick on a Pig” but it will still be a “Pig”. This is what the government is doing with the toxic assets. They have now changed the name from “Toxic Assets” to the term “Legacy Assets What is a Legacy Asset? Well  according to Wiki, “Legacy Assets are those assets which are less productive (outdated) and in some cases least productive overtime, they are just on the brink of being a liability overtime.” What does Toxic Mean? Well according to Wiki, “Toxic means capable of serious injury and even death from poison.” It really doesn’t matter which word you use  when describing these bad loans. The way I see it is they will continue to be a liability to our economic and financial recovery and may even cause serious injury or death to the current way we function as a societ... 03/29/2009

The National Trumpet Competition was held recently, and the son of a very good friend of mine was on the Northwestern Unversity team that won 1st Runner-up (or what we used to call Second Place). It is a competition for Classical Trumpet (personally, I didn't even know there was such a thing as "Classical" trumpet). His name is David Cohen (he's second from the right in the video) and his parents Rhonda and Dick, are very proud of their son. He was accepted by Julliard, and decided that he preferred the music program at Northwestern. If you like trumpet, and have seven minutes to kill, this is a very nice video of their part in the competition. Enjoy 03/29/2009