Chicago Real Estate Podcast with The Z Team

Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation Today I want to give you a quick market update in case you’re getting ready to dive into our real estate market. Spring is quickly approaching, so now is the time to make a move if you’ve been thinking about buying or selling. Overall, the inventory in our market has decreased since December. We now only have 4.8 months of inventory available. Everyone predicted that inventory would rise, so this is a bit of a shift in what we thought we would see. Luckily for buyers, interest rates are still extremely low. Although you will face a lot of competition, you will get a boost in buying power. Our average home price is sitting right around $200k. One thing to make a note of is that there is a major lack of inventory in the $200k to $500k price range. If you have a home in this price range, it would be very wise to consider selling it. I have not seen a better time to sell a home in this range since the peak of the market in 2008. I look forward to hearing from you!

Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation Today, I’ll show you one of our amazing listings at 424 Edgewood Place in River Forest. This home was remodeled by a world-renowned designer, and it comes fully furnished. River Forest is known for its vintage and prairie style architecture. This unique mid-century home blends right in thanks to abundant style and sophistication. The seller has chosen pieces to emphasize the colors and themes of the house, which allows the same feeling to follow the buyer from room to room. Color helps balance the rooms. A little color goes a long way. Focus on one accent wall instead of the whole room. In a crisp, white kitchen like this, minimal decorative pieces allow the quartz countertops to really shine. The bathroom also requires few pieces to bring out its true beauty, as the lighting highlights the mosaic tile. The master bedroom really ties together the themes of the home by featuring clean lines, rich colors, and the occasional surprise. As you can see, this home is one of a kind. If you want a 3D tour of the property, click here.  Don’t miss out on this exclusive listing. Give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to set up a showing and answer any questions you might have!

Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation Today we are excited to be joined by the Z Team’s very own professional stager, Stephanie, who is going to talk about the most important parts of home staging in Chicagoland. She’s got some tips to share that will help you sell your home for top dollar this spring. Depersonalizing your home means removing personal items to allow the buyer to envision themselves living in the home. Remove items such as family pictures and other personal memorabilia.  Decluttering is the removing of unnecessary items from the room, including exercise equipment and other personal items. They can be distracting to a home buyer, and they don’t emphasize the style or functionality of the room. Most people have too many stylish pieces in a room, so it’s okay to remove up to 50% of your decorative and furniture pieces. Furniture placement and accessory arrangement is another key ingredient. The goal is to get each room to depict what it should be used for. You want it to be inviting and neutral, yet project a certain lifestyle for the ideal buyer. Doing this simplifies a room and allows the home’s features to stand out.  Create an atmosphere for great dining and entertaining. A beautifully set table presents an inviting space where the potential buyer will feel welcomed. Pack away dated or not-in-tune pieces, and create color with accents, table accessories, and lifestyle design techniques. Taking these additional steps in home staging planning indicates a high level of motivation. If you have any questions for us, don’t be afraid to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation What’s happening with the real estate market in Chicagoland? There are three things I want you to know today.  First, let’s look at what happened in our market from November to December in 2015. The median price point rose $1,000 from $199,000 to $200,000. The average days on market stayed the same, at 96 days. Also, inventory remained steady with 5 months worth of active listings on the market.  Next, although the Fed raised rates at the end of 2015, it doesn’t look like rates will be going up as predicted. Initially, the Fed planned on raising interest rates 4 times in 2016. However, the U.S. market has slowed down, so it’s not likely that rates will rise further. This is good news for buyers because buying power significantly decreases as rates increase.  Finally, consider the U.S. real estate market compared to the world market. If you look at other countries, China, Brazil, Canada, Russia, and Europe all have struggling economies. The United States economy is struggling a little bit, but we are doing the best overall. If you compare real estate with other commodities, like oil, U.S. real estate value is increasing significantly. Real estate is a very good investment in today’s economy.  If you have any questions about today’s video, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you! 

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation Today I’m excited to be joined by a special guest, Brad Hays of Illinois Tax Appeal Services. He’s going to talk to us about how to remedy some of the pain that property taxes inflict on all of us. Many of you are feeling this pain right now as almost 60% of home values are being over-assessed. That’s right, if you walk up and down your street, 6 out of 10 of your neighbors’ homes are over-assessed.  Illinois has the second highest property taxes in the nation, yet less than 5% of people ever appeal. The reasons vary, from not knowing you’re over-assessed or not knowing how to navigate the process properly. Appealing your property taxes is something you should consider, and Brad is one of the best in the business at winning appeals.  To appeal, there are several forms you’ll need to fill out. You will also have to be able to compare your home to other similar homes and make adjustments for those to equalize the comparison. You’ll need other items like photos of your property, too. Brad and Illinois Tax Appeal Services have a specialized software, which allows them to go into the county’s database and sort through comparable homes easily, finding characteristics that match your property so they can sift through it and find the best properties to use in the appeal. They are so successful at doing this, they have an 87% success rate in property tax appeals.  Brad has been able to save people anywhere from $800 all the way to over $10,000 per year. If you’re tired of paying too much in property taxes and want to lower them, give Brad a call at 630-448-5757 or catch his radio show every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on AM 560. As a special bonus for being a client of ours, Brad promises that he will deal personally with the cases of anyone who calls him after reading this post. This way you have the best, most responsible person working for you to help lower your taxes.  If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send a quick email. I look forward to hearing from you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation Don't postpone until spring! If you've been thinking about selling your home, list it. Historically, December is an extremely busy season for us. Here's why:You will have less competition. Many sellers take their homes off the market during the holidays. If you list now, there will be fewer homes to compete against. Buyer demand doesn't significantly drop in the winter, and with fewer homes on the market, yours will stand out.Decorated homes show better. You've probably already cleaned and organized your home to prepare for holiday guests, so you don't have to spend extra energy prepping for showings. Your home tends to look its best this time of the year, and decorations will definitely appeal to buyers.Buyers are more serious this time of year. There aren't as many looky-loos out during the holidays. Plus, December is the second busiest season for relocation buyers. These people want to move into a home before the next semester starts.There are certain advantages to listing your property now, instead of waiting until temperatures rise. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation Today we come to you with a special message, and it's because we need your help. All of us at the Z Team realize how lucky we are to have friends, family, a place to live, and food to eat. It's important to remember that some people are not as fortunate, so during the Holiday season we like to spread our blessings around. On November 22nd my team and I will be putting together an event called Operation Turkey. We will be gathering and putting together Thanksgiving baskets to families in need. Our team is trying to raise $5,000, but we will be matching any donations. On average, a $30 basket can feed a family of four, so it really doesn't take much to provide a meal to a family in need. We would love if you donated, and we would match your contributions. Visit our Go Fund Me page to donate! If you want to help us deliver the meals please don't hesitate to contact us - we will take all of the help we can get. We would greatly appreciate any and all of your contributions whether it's your time or your money. Happy Holidays!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation One of our viewers wrote in and asked, "How can I sell my home in the fall?" With fall approaching, the market is slightly changing from a seller's market to more of a balanced or buyer's market. First, I would suggest cleaning up. If you have any knickknacks or items in the house that you aren't going to use, put them in storage. This will make your house seem less cluttered and a lot more spacious. Next, create autumn curb appeal. If your home looks like it needs a fresh coat of paint on the outside, definitely invest in that. It will enhance your chances of selling the home faster and for more money. Make sure everything is cleaned up outside as well. At the same time, make sure the interior of the home is cozy. If your home feels a little dark as the days get shorter, you want to brighten things up. Consider painting in light, neutral colors, changing drapes, and updating light bulbs. Make the interior as bright and warm as you can. If you have any questions about preparing your home for the fall market, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Chicago home? Get a full home searchSelling your Chicago home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation I have three important facts to share with you about the real estate market in Chicago. These will help to clear up any misconceptions you might have about real estate in Chicago, and it will help you to make better buying and selling decisions. 1. Our seller's market is changing to a buyer's market. There is less demand right now, and that will result in price reductions. 2. Inventory is increasing, so buyers will have a lot to choose from. Sales are also decreasing because of the seasonal shift and because sellers are starting to feel this lack of demand. 3. Interest rates are still very, very low despite warnings from the Fed that they will be raising them soon. This makes it a great time to invest in real estate. You have a chance to save thousands and thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your loan. Speaking of investment properties, I'd like you to know that we have a property management division on our team, and we can manage properties that you've invested in. This makes the process very simple, and at the end of the day you still get a good return on that investment. As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me with your questions about real estate!