Chicago Housing Bubble

Foreclosures anyone?

I don't meet with anyone these days that doesn't ask about foreclosures and short sales. So I thought I would share some that I know of on the market:

• UPTOWN 2 bed, 2.5 bath, 1700 square feet with parking for under $300K (new 3 years ago)


• BUCKTOWN 3 bed, 2 bath condo with parking included for under $325K


• BUCKTOWN 2 bed, 1 bath condo near North/Damen/Milwaukee for under $150K!!!


• LAKEVIEW 2 bed, 2 bath condo with parking near Wrigley (but not too close) for under $325K

In all these cases, units in the same building have sold for significantly MORE. These are real deals, not advertisements. Email me if you want to know more about them!

“I will sell this house today”

Anyone who thinks the scene of Annette Bening frantically cleaning the house she's showing in American Beauty is an exaggeration, is dead wrong. For 2 days I've been doing a ton of work to get one of my listings to close. Here's a PARTIAL list:

1. replace burnt out light bulb (easy)
2. replace hard-to-find burnt out ceiling fan lightbulb (2 trips back/forth to get ladder and bulbs)
3. mop
4. arrive at 8:00AM Saturday to let a handyman in
5. arrive at 6:00AM Thursday to let a plumber in
6. fix blinds
7. clean toilet
8. fix drain stop
9. make 3 trips to hardware store for supplies
10. paint

As a Realtor I get paid for my services, but sometimes those services enter into the humiliation category. This week has been one big "pride-swallowing SIEGE that I will NEVER fully tell you about!"

Help me help you. Closing is at 3:00 today. I can't wait for this to be over.

“And that’s why you never teach lessons”

If you don't read Seth Godin's daily blog (or better yet, his books), you're missing out on amazing insight into marketing, advertising, thinking, executing and being. He lives outside the box and is constantly working to convince his readers to come outside with him.

 

On Tuesday he talked about the behavior of owners as they are evicted from their foreclosed properties in a post called "Teaching People A Lesson". A great read.

(Perhaps the banks could hire J. Walter Weatherman to teach their customers a lesson?)

“The market is terrible”

I'm a Realtor. And I love being a Realtor. But the job comes with frustrating realities. For instance - negotiating deals with incompetent Realtors.

On a home that has a real value of $280,000 for instance...

Buyer's agent: The market is terrible. That's why we are offering you this price of $250,000.
Seller's agent: This is a very low offer, but I'll present it to the seller. Buyer's agent: Yeah, they better take it. The market is terrible.

(Later)

SA: OK, my client is countering with $275,000. That's a steal for this home.
BA: Not good enough. We want it for $250,000. The market is terrible.

(And on and on until the deal comes together or explodes)

"The market is terrible" is something people SAY because they think it's true no matter what (it's also a very weak negotiation strategy). But a wise man once said "there is no such thing as a bad market - just a buyer's market or a seller's market". And if you define "terrible" as a buyer's market, what are you using to determine its terribleness?

The government's Office of Federal Housing and Enterprise Oversight reports on the Chicago "area"

News outlets often report that number as "Chicago"

Are you using these numbers to determine "terribleness"?

This week I'll be posting some real, accurate, local, and specific market information on Chicago neighborhoods that might provide some more insight into our market. Keep reading.

Chicago “area” falls less than some index no one cares about

I'll never understand why market makers (read: buyers and sellers) continue to utilize very broad information to make very specific decisions. For instance, this article that ran in Crain's is helpful to you if:

1. you own property all over the country
2. you own property in the top 20 biggest cities
3. you own property in the top 10 biggest cities

But it doesn't do what a good Realtor or local owner can do - give you LOCAL information about the SPECIFIC market.

For instance - the market for a single family home in Lakeview is much different than the market for a single family home in say... Avondale. Right? With that in mind, how does this information help ANYONE determine ANYTHING about making a responsible purchase or sales decision:

"The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index released Tuesday fell by a record 18 percent from October last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000... Chicago-area prices fell 10.8 percent in October compared with October 2007, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller numbers."

I don't have a problem with Crain's. And I'm not arguing that this is relevant information for real estate professionals, city planners and pundits. But whatever you do - don't use this very broad information to manage your very specific decision. Call a professional or get recent, reliable, very-local data.

We'll have some examples this coming week...

Nate Silver knows politics. And housing.

Nate Silver is the man behind the brilliant and super-nerdy blog "Five Thirty Eight". He's not your typical douchy blogger. He's the real deal. I wrote him a couple love letters with hearts and stickers and rainbows on it during the election. But then we went on a bit of a break. And now I'm going to start telling my girlfriends that I like him again.

Why? Because of this awesome post about the housing market and the middle class. Read it and be enlightened as I have.

Best part - housing's success is paramount to the economy.
Worst part - he's a renter. Shame on you Nate.

Home Prices Back to March 2004 Levels

If you have been waiting to buy a new home now might be the time. Homes prices area nearing pre-bubble values.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081230/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_housing

Chicago Housing Bubble

The media is full of people predicting the future and talking smack about the current housing market. My problem - most of the media talks only about the national story or the one that will scare you the most. After all, we're an economy built on fear. That's why I still have 700 gallons of water and 300 cans of Dinty Moore Stew left over from the millenium. I'm sick of it and since I watch the market every day (it is my job after all), I wanted to start a dialogue of truth and saracasm right here in Ye Ol' Cyberspace. So there you have it. Let's have some fun talking smack about those smack talkers and traditional media.