The Shadow Knows...                                        I’m getting older, but not old enough to remember radio mysteries.  However, as a trivia fan, I am familiar with some of the tag lines from those shows.  Probably none is more noted than the refrain of a deep, creepy voice stating:“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man? The SHADOW  knows”....followed by an     ominous laugh.                                                                                                                                                 (photo courtesy of Raindog's photostream via Flickr)In today’s real estate market, the most mysterious and elusive element is the “Shadow Inventory”.According to the financial website “Investopedia” the shadow inventory is:“A term that refers to real estate ... 01/22/2012

Zia Gallery in Winnetka has Closed In the summer of 2010, Zia Gallery took over the space that Sunday Afternoon Gallery had occupied for many years.  And Winnetka is culturally better for it since they are bucking the trend by opening here instead of downtown Chicago.Zia Gallery's owner, John Vlahakis of Winnetka, is a local businessman who also owns Earth Friendly Products, located in Winnetka as well. Several years ago John took a sabbatical from the business to write, travel, and rekindle his interest in photography.  After three years his photography had improved and he felt ready to  show it.  Sunday Afternoon Gallery did the honors and the show was a success. When Sunday Afternoon Gallery decided to close, John stepped up and opened a new store - a contemporary art gallery -  and ... 01/16/2012

We Can Lead a Horse To Water.....A few times in the past year or so, we have had North Shore listings that didn’t sell and eventually, the sellers withdrew them from the market.  In each of these situations, we had recommended a lower initial asking price or price reductions and the seller either delayed them until they were way behind the market or didn’t agree to them at all.  Most of the time, the sellers asked us what we could do to bring THE buyer to the property.  We discussed all of our marketing efforts.                                                               (photo courtesy of aboutmattlaw  via Flickr) We always use high quality professional photography and make sure that the property is prominently displayed on all potential internet sites.  Although we realize that it i... 01/10/2012

Winnetka's December Property sales were 16, up 60.0% from 10 in December of 2010 and 45.5% higher than the 11 sales last month. December 2011 sales were at a mid level compared to December of 2010 and 2009. December YTD sales of 222 are running 6.7% ahead of last year's year-to-date sales of 208.   The Median Sales Price in December was $719,875, down -7.1% from $775,250 in December of 2010 and down -42.2% from $1,245,000 last month. The Average Sales Price in December was $823,568, down -36.3% from $1,293,670 in December of 2010 and down -29.3% from $1,164,963 last month. December 2011 ASP was at the lowest level compared to December of 2010 and 2009.   The Total Inventory of Properties available for sale as of December was 120, down -11.8% from 136 last month and down -28.6% from 168 ... 01/10/2012

Winter Walks in Winnetka Today is January 8 - usually a day that dawns with sub-freezing temps. But this winter has been decidedly different - no snow as of this date and temperatures that threaten to force the early daffodils out of the ground.  I mean in the 40s and 50s warm. If you like to cross country ski or snow shoe then you have been disappointed.  If the outdoor skating rink you created at your Winnetka home for your kids is sloshing around then you are not happy.  For the rest of us, though, it has been an uninterrupted time of outdoor warmth that will certainly make this winter shorter than most. Our local Cook County Forest Preserve trails are wide open and clear - take advantage of this great weather phenomenon and go out and walk, bike, run or skateboard. There is the Gree... 01/08/2012

2011 North Shore Market Report & Some Predictions Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe & Northfield 2011 is done and I have the final numbers for home sales in the Chicago North Shore suburbs of Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe and Northfield.  The good news is that there was a slight improvement over 2010 in some areas. First, more homes sold this past year:  680 homes versus 645 homes in 2010 (condos were down slightly from 123 to 114 units in 2011.) Secondly, the ratios between list price and sell price have closed up slightly meaning that more sellers are understanding the dynamics of this market and pricing more reasonably than in the past.  In 2010, the average original list price to sell price ratio was 85% while this past year it was 87%.   Sold prices were slightly do... 01/03/2012

It’s not every day that an opportunity comes along to work with award-winning HighGate to build your dream home. 1212 Westmoor is almost an acre of gorgeous property on a street of upper bracket homes in Winnetka. You can either work with our architect or use your own to create your plans for a custom home ranging from 6,000 up to 11,500 square feet (not including lower level). There is a wide range of options to add amenities, including swimming pool, tennis courts, sports court or multiple garages. HighGate is one of the North Shore’s most versatile and respected builders. If you would like more information about this terrific opportunity, please give us a call at 847-712-0049 or email us at comehome@cbexchange.com. You can see some of HighGate’s magnificent homes here. 12/31/2011

2011 Home Sales Better than 2010 Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth & Glencoe The Chicago Tribune reported today that there was a 14.2% increase in homes sales this year over 2010 across the state of Illinois.  The numbers were even better in the nine counties that make up metro Chicago:  sales in those areas rose 20.7% over last year.   Loretta Alonzo, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors said:  "Signs are emerging that a recovery in the housing market is underway including the steady uptick in home sales activity, which is expected to continue into the new year,"   The forecast (and hope) is that as sales increase, prices will stabilize. How did our local North Shore market (Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe and Northfield) fare this year.  Here are some numbers: 2011 S... 12/21/2011

Computer and Electronics Disposal in Winnetka   Is your house or office is overflowing with computer "stuff" and other electronics?  Did you know that the Village of Winnetka will take and recycle these things from you at no charge? The Winnetka Public Works has a facility located at 1390 Willow Road, just west of Hibbard Road in Winnetka.  Here you can bring and dispose of such items as: Televisions Computers/Tablets Printers Scanners Monitors Keyboards, Mice Cable/Satellite Receivers Video Game Consoles Digital Music Players Small Scale Servers Fax Machines Cell Phones VCR and DVD Players Digital Converter Boxes The Winnetka Public Works facility will be open to receive these items on Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 pm, and Thursdays from 1-3 pm.  Please call 847-716-3568 for more informati... 12/18/2011

Homes sold in Winnetka (November 2011) 11 Winnetka homeowners sold their homes. 0 home(s) sold were Foreclosures. 0 home(s) sold were Short Sales. 139 homes are currently available for sale. Given these statistics, it will take 13 months to sell all homes, not counting other homes coming on the market every day. Following are some of the fabulous homes that sold in Winnetka in November. Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC and includes properties listed and sold by various participants in the MLS. Some charts powered by 10K Research and Marketing. Many of the homes sold were for prices considerably below Original List Price. If a home is overpriced, the market—i.e., homebuyers—will communicate the fact by simply not showing up. A house cannot sell if homebuyers don’t see it. So ... 12/15/2011

Live the high life in Winnetka With a population of only 12,000, Winnetka is an exclusive suburb on the North Shore of Chicago. Hugging Lake Michigan, the village is convenient to just about everything suburban while providing easy access to everything city. In 2007, Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live ranked Winnetka as the 4th top earning towns in the U.S. And no wonder. The average price of a single-family detached house is around $1.2 million dollars. Even if you can’t afford to buy one of Winnetka’s single family homes, you can still take advantage of everything the town has to offer by buying a condo or townhouse. Over half of Winnetka homes were built prior to World War II. Nearly all of East Winnetka homes were built before WWII and can be rightfully classified as ‘vintage’. Th... 12/12/2011

The Economy and The North Shore Housing Market... A Total Disconnect? Historically, the housing market has been driven by the economy.  It only makes sense.  When times are good, people are confident about their financial situation and are interested in buying a house...or a bigger house.  It’s the American dream.  Right?Well, that has always been the case.  In times of economic downturns, the desire to make a commitment to a new house generally subsides somewhat.  This can be observed by looking at a chart of housing trends vs. economic cycles.  While demand may decrease, the desire for home ownership generally stays strong.                                           Fork in the Road At this moment, we may be seeing a disconnect from that traditional pattern.  It appears that there are ... 12/09/2011

What is wrong with this picture? If you haven’t noticed, we are great admirers of market  statistics. The following chart gives some very interesting information about the supply/demand curve in the Winnetka real estate market: (any errors in statistics are purely unintentional)Let’s start with the top end of the market...Year to date, 5% of the properties sold in Winnetka were at prices of $3 million and above.  Currently, 21% of the active properties are priced at $3 million or above.A total of 14% of the sales were for transactions of $2 million and above.  Currently, 37% of the active listings are priced at $2 million and above.55% of the active Winnetka listings are priced at $1.5 million and above, while only 30% of the transactions have occurred in the $1.5 and above category.Now... 12/08/2011

Price Compellingly Only If You Want To Sell It took a while, but it seems that just about everyone in the North Shore real estate community now understands the concept that if a property is offered at a compelling price, it will sell quickly and relatively close to that price.  Many homeowners on the North Shore are still a little slow to accept this concept.  We would go as far as to say that if you don’t price it well to begin with, it is highly probable that it will eventually sell at a lower price....and the market time will be drastically longer.   This chart tells the story for 2011 for all of the communities that feed in to New Trier High School as well as Evanston: The top (green) line shows the percentage of the original asking price  properties sell for when they have not had ... 12/07/2011

Pre-Bubble to Present - Where Are Home Prices Now Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, and Glencoe There is hope on the horizon - not all real estate news is bad news.  In fact, the number of homes sold in the North Shore towns of Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe and Northfield have held steady during the long slide from the boom years.  Obviously, prices have dropped considerably, but demand is still there. I have estimated that North Shore home prices have dropped around 30% during the past four years of this recession.  Nowadays, many home sellers understand the market and price according to their real estate broker's opinion.  This has has a good effect on the local market: fewer days on market and a sale price that is much closer to the list price.   This chart shows some interes... 12/07/2011

Some Interesting Market Statistics for Winnetka     The fall and early winter is generally a slow period in the North Shore real estate market.  Inventories general dip due to the holidays and showings also drop as both buyers and sellers retrench with holiday shopping and decorating.  This year is no exception, but the velocity of the drop in units on the market has increased dramatically. An example is the Winnetka market as shown in the following chart: This bodes well for the properties that are currently on the market.  As the number of showings has slowed down, it appears that the buyers who are actively searching right now, are serious buyers.   The “tire kickers” are out fighting for bargains in the mall while the genuine home buyers are viewing properties with a careful eye.   ... 12/06/2011

Do Home Sale Contingencies Work For Anyone? While “Home Sale Contingencies” (HSC) were never a common practice in the North Shore market, we began to see a growing number of them during the first years that the market began to fall.  Typically, they would be in effect for 90 to 120 days after contract signing. There would generally be a “kick out” clause that would allow a seller, who received another offer, to force the HSC buyer to either drop the contingency or walk.  This is the long and the short of it....but who benefits from it?         Let’s look at the buyer’s position...The buyer has either been unable to sell their house or has yet to put it on the market so their hands are tied until they have unloaded it.  They see a house in Winnetka that they really like, but can’t make a... 12/01/2011

Winnetka Holiday Sale Sunday, December 4 For those of you wanting to shop locally AND get some things on sale, this is the weekend you have been waiting for.  The annual Winnetka Holiday Sale is this Sunday, December 4 with some stores offering as much as 20% off all items in their store. The festivities actually begin on Friday, December 2 at Metra Park across from the Winnetka Village Hall.   6:00 pm marks the illumination of the holiday lights throughout the business district. Carolers will be singing and hot cocoa will be provided. On Saturday, December 3, area businesses will host holiday events and activities. And then on Sunday, the holiday sale begins. For a full list of participating vendors and business hours for the sale, please see:  Winnetka Holiday Sale. Shopping locally h... 11/30/2011

Homes for Sale in Winnetka (November 2011) If you’re a homebuyer looking for a great deal, look for properties where the homeowners are motivated. One indicator of motivation is market time: how long the property has been for sale. Another sign of motivation is by comparing current list price to original list price. The greater the price deduction, the more the homeowner has settled into the realities of the marketplace. Usually the two go hand-in-hand … but not always … since homeowners who understand the value of their house are willing to wait for the right offer. Currently, there are 120 single family homes for sale in Winnetka. Below is just a sampling. It’s Judy … your North Shore Chicago real estate agent.   Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC (MRED) multiple listing ser... 11/26/2011

Winnetka Homes Sold in October 2011 Last month, 14 Winnetka homeowners sold their homes. 0 homes sold were Foreclosures. 0 homes sold were Short Sales. Currently, 144 homes are for sale. 10 homes have pending contracts. Based on last month’s sales, it will take 10 months to sell current inventory. Following are the fabulous homes that sold in Winnetka last month.   Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC (MRED) multiple listing service and includes properties listed and sold by various participants in the MLS. Data supplied does not reflect all market activity in the area. Extraordinary value Houses that sell faster offer extraordinary value. Houses that offer extraordinary value are priced correctly at the get-go and show like a model home. If you want to sell your home quickly, y... 11/25/2011