Tag Archives: Chicago

Master Today’s Fast-Paced Market – Start by Getting a Handle on Finances and Housing Needs, Urge RE/MAX Brokers

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Chicago, IL – July 12, 2018 (PRNewswire) In the 2018 housing market, especially in more affordable precincts, strong demand and a shortage of homes for sale often result in multiple buyers competing for the same property.

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“Chicago-area homes are selling as quickly as they were in 2005 at the height of the housing boom,” said Jeff LaGrange, Vice President of the RE/MAX Northern Illinois Region. “Average market time for homes sold in June this year was 62 days, the lowest average for any month since we began tracking this data in 2005.”

In a market where homes regularly go under contract in a week or less, RE/MAX brokers emphasize that buyers must be prepared to act. That means addressing basic questions that don’t always have easy answers.

  • How much can you afford? Working with a trusted lender who offers a wide range of mortgage products is the best place to start, advises Kathie Anderson of RE/MAX Suburban, Libertyville, Ill. However, she advises buyers to focus more on what they’ll be comfortable paying monthly for housing rather than the maximum amount they can borrow.”I ask buyers whether they are buying for a few years or it’s their forever home. If it’s the latter, then maybe it makes sense to stretch a bit on price. If not, maybe it’s wiser to keep payments at a level where they can save some money every month,” Anderson advised.
  • Where do you want to live? Especially in a larger metro area, the potential choices of location are many, so it pays to narrow them down. Julie Carr of RE/MAX Action, Lisle, Ill., said she starts by asking buyers what they want their new home to be near.”They may want to be in a specific school district or want access to public transit or a home near family members or even convenient access to an airport,” she said. Several brokers noted that it makes sense to limit an initial home search to just a few areas, and then broaden it out if necessary.
  • What specific type of home do you hope to buy? Often the price they can afford to pay and the location they desire will largely define whether they can buy a single-family home or a townhouse, a two-bedroom condominium or a studio, but even then, there are choices to be made.For example, city condos can present buyers with a huge range of options, explained Michael Gerhardt of RE/MAX Edge, Chicago. There are high-rise units in amenity-rich buildings, hard lofts and soft lofts, vintage condos in three-story apartment buildings and new construction condos in three-unit and six-unit buildings, to name just some of the possibilities.”I want a buyer to understand how each of those choices might differ,” Gerhardt said. “In a vintage building, for example, the floors between units are typically wood and lack sound insulation, so you are more likely to hear your neighbors than in a high-rise with concrete floors.”
  • Which features does the home absolutely need to have? Most buyers have an idea of what they want but haven’t pinned it down, according to Julie Wenzel of RE/MAX Town Lake and Country, Lake Carroll, Ill. “Buyers frequently start their home search with a big list of what they want, but they’ll refine and whittle that list down as they look. They might start with 14 things on their list, but eventually they will identify maybe five or six as their absolute ‘must have’ features,” Wenzel said.
  • How much work are you willing to do? Attractive deals are possible on homes that aren’t in great condition, noted Gerhardt, but many buyers realize they lack either the skills or free time needed to fix things up, which is why many choose turnkey properties where all they need do is unpack.
  • What is the current market environment? Depending on the type of home they are seeking and its price range, buyers may find they have lots of competition from others or very little. It’s important they understand that, explained Suzanne Stempinski of RE/MAX 2000, Crete, Ill.”Right now, the best houses sell very quickly, so when buyers find an appealing home, they must be ready to pull the trigger,” she said. “What often keeps buyers from doing that is the sense they’re being rushed. I practically apologize for holding their feet to the fire, but I know that’s what’s needed. Still, that’s not a good feeling for any buyer. I tell them that the right house doesn’t always have everything they want, but it just feels right, like putting on a favorite pair of shoes.”

Contact:

James Nathan
jim@jdnathanpr.com
(773) 588-0777

Despite Split Personality, Metro Chicago Housing Market’s Overall Results for May Were Similar to Last Year, RE/MAX Reports

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Chicago, IL – June 14, 2018 (PRNewswire) Overall results for May in the metropolitan Chicago housing market were something of a repeat, closely echoing the numbers recorded in May 2017, RE/MAX reports. At the same time, the market has become increasingly divided due to a shortage of homes priced below $550,000.

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Total home sales in the seven-county region totaled 12,186 units, down -1.2% from the same month last year, while the median sales price gained +2.8% to $256,000. The May median price is the highest for any month since June 2008 and the highest for any May since RE/MAX began tracking that data in 2005.

One notable difference between last May and this May was the continued reduction in average market time, which is the period between when a home is listed and when it goes under contract. The May average fell -8% to 71 days, down from 77 days last year.

“Broadly speaking, the housing market was treading water in the Chicago area during May, but because there is a shortage of entry-level and moderately priced homes, it’s really a tale of two markets,” observed Jeff LaGrange, Vice President of the RE/MAX Northern Illinois Region.

He explained that among all price categories under $550,000, the current inventory of homes for sale equals a supply of four months or less based on the pace of May sales. Sales in those categories fell 314 units, compared to May of last year, a -2.4% decline. In contrast, the number of homes selling for $550,000 and above increased by 60 units, or +4.7%, while inventory in those categories now range from a 5.1-month supply to as high as a 25-month supply.

“Clearly, we have a much more balanced market above $550,000, while below that price point, the lack of inventory is a significant factor,” LaGrange said.

Sales data used by RE/MAX is collected by MRED, the regional multiple listing service. It covers detached and attached homes in the Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. Detached homes are typically stand-alone single-family dwellings. Attached homes include condominium and cooperative apartments along with townhouses.

May home sales rose in three counties, Kane, McHenry and Will, with Kane registering the largest gain at +1.7%. Sales were down in the other four counties, led by a drop of -19.9% in Kendall, which tends to exhibit high volatility because it has far fewer sales than other metro counties. Sales in Cook, the sales volume leader, were off just -0.2%, which included a +0.1% increase in Chicago.

The median sales price rose in all seven counties, led by gains of +7% in Will, +5.6% in Kendall and +5.1% in Kane. Cook registered a minimal gain of +0.8%, with the Chicago median price falling -0.6%.

Sales of Detached Homes

Detached-home sales for May totaled 7,604 units in the metro area, a -0.7% decline from May of last year. The median sales price rose +3.3% to $276,750, and average market time dropped to 81 days from 90 days a year earlier.

Sales activity increased in Cook, Kane, Lake and Will counties, with Will the leader at +4.6%. Sales were off -17.6% in Kendall, -6.8% in DuPage and -2.2% in McHenry. Chicago had the largest increase, gaining +5.2%. Prices rose in all seven counties led by gains of +6.7% in Kendall and +6.3% in Will. In Chicago, the median fell -2%.

Sales of Attached Homes

A total of 4,582 attached homes sold in the metro area during May, -2% less than in the same month last year. Only two counties recorded gains for the month, with McHenry up +11.7% to 124 units and Kane up +1.8% to 217 units. Cook County, which accounted for 68.8% of all attached sales, saw its total fall -0.7% to 3,151 units, with Chicago down -2.6% to 1,907 units.

The median sales price for attached homes rose in all counties except Cook, where it slipped -0.4%. The largest increases were +14% in Kendall, +10.9% in Will and +10.3% in McHenry. Average market times were all 60 days or less, including 21 days in Kendall, 36 days in DuPage and 41 days in Will.

RE/MAX Northern Illinois has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 providing a full range of residential and commercial services. With more than 2,200 sales associates and 106 offices throughout the area, RE/MAX Northern Illinois has helped thousands of families with their home buying and selling needs. For more information, visit www.remax.com or download the RE/MAX mobile real estate app.

Contact:

James Nathan
jim@jdnathanpr.com
(773) 588-0777

Growth of Online Home Shopping Puts Premium on Listings That Grab Attention of Buyers with Alluring Photos, RE/MAX Brokers Report

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Chicago, IL – June 4, 2018 (PRNewswire) Online home shopping is no longer a growing trend, it’s an undeniable reality. By some estimates, over 90 percent of homebuyers shop that way.

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One result of this change in buyer habits, contends Jeff LaGrange, Vice President of the RE/MAX Northern Illinois Region, is that home listings, which once were little more than compilations of basic information, now can be powerful marketing tools that greatly help or hinder a home sale.

“Online shopping lets buyers view more properties in greater detail than was ever possible in the days of paper listings,” said LaGrange. That’s wonderful for buyers but a challenge for sellers.

“Online listings have to capture the attention of buyers or the home is less likely to sell, and there are two approaches to do that effectively,” he said. “One route is to price the home very aggressively. That certainly gets buyers’ attention. The other is to present the home via an alluring series of photos that make buyers think, ‘Gee, that place looks great. Let’s ask for a showing.’ ”

The way a home is presented online “has become the most important element in the entire sales process,” contends Mike Cluck, a broker with RE/MAX Excels in Geneva, Ill.

“Homes that are presented effectively in photos are the ones drawing the most showings and fastest sales,” he said.

RE/MAX brokers surveyed on this topic recommend using a professional photographer for listing photos in almost every instance, and Madonna Egan of RE/MAX 1st Service in Orland Park, Ill., offered a recent example of the difference good photos can make.

“Not long ago a couple contacted me after their home failed to sell for a year. I looked at the listing, and the photos were dark and clearly not of professional caliber. Plus, the home hadn’t been prepared fully,” Egan recalled. “First, we prepared the home thoroughly, then brought in a professional photographer. The results were immediate. The home was under contract in a week.”

However, Egan concedes that for very modestly priced homes she will often take the photos herself.

“I’ll make sure the home looks its best and then take plenty of photos, and if I’m not satisfied with what I’ve gotten, I’ll come back and do it again,” she said.

As for using video in online listings, the RE/MAX brokers were united in their lack of enthusiasm.

“Our office has experimented with several video formats and concluded they generally aren’t worth the trouble,” explained Ashley Fuhr of RE/MAX Edge in Chicago. “I’ve found photos and a floor plan have greater impact.”

Tedd Bertrand of RE/MAX Showcase in Gurnee, Ill., uses videos rarely and then only those shot from a drone to show the home’s exterior and surroundings.

“It’s difficult to give buyers a feel for a home’s surroundings with still photos. Drone videos do that effectively. They also offer a view of the roof, and especially with larger homes, buyers like to see that,” Bertrand said.

Once photos are taken, how many should be used in the listing?

“With current technology there is almost no practical limit, but I tailor the number to the size of the property and its price,” said Fuhr. “For a one-bedroom condo, six to eight photos may be sufficient, but for a luxury home, 30 might not be too many, and you might want to show the home both in bright daylight and as it looks in the evening.”

When it comes to preparing a home for those photos, Bertrand and the other brokers agree that minimizing clutter, emphasizing cleanliness and even doing a bit of staging can lead to more effective photos.

“You want to depersonalize the photos so that buyers don’t feel they’re looking at the sellers’ home but at a home they can make their own,” Bertrand said.

Perhaps the most common shortcoming the RE/MAX brokers notice in online listing photos is a lack of proper preparation.

“Their home is often the most valuable asset people own,” explained Mike Cluck. “When it’s time to sell, it needs to be presented with that reality in mind, and that means plenty of attention to detail.”

RE/MAX Northern Illinois has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 providing a full range of residential and commercial services. With more than 2,200 sales associates and 106 offices throughout the area, RE/MAX Northern Illinois has helped thousands of families with their home buying and selling needs. For more information, visit www.remax.com or download the RE/MAX mobile real estate app.

Contact:

James Nathan
jim@jdnathanpr.com
(773) 588-0777