Real Estate in The Glen

The Glen…before it was The Glen

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There are reminders everywhere in The Glen.  The statues in the middle of the shops in Glen Town Center.  The commemorative signs on walls along Tower Drive.  Six flags in the park.  And the street names…Independence Avenue, Valor Drive, Constitution Drive, Admiral Court, Patriot Boulevard, and Annapolis Drive.  Here once proudly stood Naval Air Station Glenview!

The Glen is the North Shore’s premier lifestyle community which resides on the land which was an operational air base for the United States Navy from the 1923 until 1995.  Naval Air Station Glenview was used for aircraft training and as a base for sea planes on Lake Michigan, approximately 5 miles away.  During World War II alone over 9,000 Naval, Marine and Coast Guard cadets received their air training on the base.  After the war it was used to support the Naval Air Reserve and active duty Coast Guard.

Among the thousands of service men who received training at Naval Air Station Glenview were some men whose names you will recognize.  President George Herbert Walker Bush received carrier qualification training in Glenview’s base.  President Gerald Ford was stationed here and at nearby Great Lakes Naval Training Station.  And movie star Robert Taylor was a flight instructor for a time at NASG.

The planes no longer fly in Glenview as the base was closed and sold to the Village of Glenview which developed what is known today as The Glen.  Today The Glen is a premier destination venue for shopping and for those who want to dine in one of our many wonderful eateries.  In fact residents of The Glen can walk to 17 restaurants and scores of shops, as well as a movie theater, book store, art gallery, park, lake, pools, Kohl Children’s Museum, and two golf courses.  The Glen is also home to some of the finest single family homes, townhomes, duplexes, villas, two-flats, and condos in the Chicago metropolitan area.

The Glen has it all…including a rich military history.  If you may be interested in living in The Glen, please contact me.   I have been a resident of this beautiful community for ten years.  I can be reached at margaretludemann@gmail.com or 847-401-1802.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Realtor

Tower Crossing sales and prices higher than in 2012

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On the site of the former Naval air base in Glenview, Illinois sits a residential and retail development called The Glen which has become the premier lifestyle community on the Chicago area’s North Shore.  There are several neighborhoods in The Glen including Chapel Crossing, Landings, Southgate, Tower Crossing, Cambridge, Regency, Glen Shore and Patriot Commons.  In this blog I will discuss home sales and prices in Tower Crossing.

Tower Crossing is a townhome development with 154 beautiful brick homes ranging in size from 3031 sq ft to 4005 sq ft.  Tower Crossing has 6 models, (Astoria, Biltmore, Blackstone, Drake, Omni, and Valencia).

18 Tower Crossing homes have sold so far in 2013.  This exceeds the total number of sales (11) in all of 2012!!!  The following shows the number of sales and prices in 2013 by model:

Astoria:  5 Astorias have sold this year, however 1 was not listed.  The average price of the remaining 4 Astorias sold in 2013 is $669,975.

Biltmore:  0 homes have sold this year.

Blackstone:  6 sales at an average price of $712,000.

Drake:  3 sales at an average price of $687,500.  2 of these homes have elevators which positively impacted the prices paid.

Omni:  3 sales, however 1 was bank owned (it sold for $575,000).  The remaining 2 properties sold for an average of $706,000.  ($705,000 and $707,000.)

Valencia:  1 sale at $615,000.

If you are interested in Tower Crossing or any home in the other Glen neighborhoods, please contact me at 847-401-1802 or by email margaretLudemannl@gmail.com

Margaret Ludemann, Glen Resident & @properties Realtor

New Census Data for The Glen

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A census is done each year in The Glen (by Ehlers & Associates), and the information is always very interesting to those of us who live here and to prospective home buyers.  The Glen is a luxury home and retail development in Glenview, Illinois in the Chicago area’s North Shore.  Some time ago I wrote a blog with the results of 2012’s census.  Below I will summarize some of 2013’s study;  and I will offer more of its information in future blogs.

There are 13 development areas in The Glen, 9 of which are composed of private residences.  The additional 4 areas include 3 senior housing developments and 1 composed of Navy housing.

For the 9 private home development areas, the following shows the number of homes and the number of residents in each (in alphabetical order), broken down by adults and children.  Particularly interesting is the percentage of children in each development.

Aloft Apartments:  181 homes,  199 residents,  188 adults,  11 children,  percentage of children 6%

Cambridge:  244 homes,  698 residents,  478 adults,  220 children,  percentage of children 32%

Chapel Crossing:  167 homes,  676 residents,  378 adults,  298 children,  percentage of children 44%

Glen Shore:  31 homes,  52 residents,  48 adults,  4 children,  percentage of children 8%

Landings (formerly Concord):  143 homes,  588 residents,  322 adults,  266 children,  percentage of children 45%

Patriot Commons:  68 homes,  144 residents,  122 adults, 22 children,  percentage of children 15%

Regency:  62 homes, 153 residents,  124 adults,  29 children,  percentage of children 19%

Southgate:  299 homes,  1,024 residents,  612 adults,  412 children,  percentage of children 40%

Tower Crossing:  154 homes,  378 residents,  299 adults,  79 children,  percentage of children 21%

TOTAL:  1,349 homes,  3,912 residents,  2,571 adults,  1,341 children,  percentage of children 34%

Not surprisingly, the areas with the most single family homes have the largest percentage of children, those would be Landings (formerly called Concord), Chapel Crossing, and Southgate.  Tower Crossing, Patriot Commons, Cambridge, Regency, Aloft, and Glen Shore offer attached housing units such as townhomes, row homes, villas, two-flats, duplexes,  condos or apartments.  Southgate, Regency and Cambridge have single family AND attached homes.

If you may be interested in living in The Glen, please contact me at 847-401-1802 or by email at margaretludemann@gmail.com.  I have lived in The Glen for 10 years, and I know each development intimately.

Margaret Ludemann, Resident of The Glen and @properties Realtor

Update: Southgate home sales & prices

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Southgate is a luxury housing development in The Glen, the north shore’s premier lifestyle community, located in Glenview, Illinois.  Southgate has 237 single family homes.  The following is an update on home sales and housing prices.

4 homes sold from mid-July to mid-September:

  • 4 bedroom semi-custom home on Saratoga sold for $1,279,000.  The home was listed in June, went under contract 3 days later, and closed on 7.30.13.
  • 5 bedroom, 3814 sq ft, semi-custom home on Midway sold for $1,315,000 which was more than the asking (list) price of $1,249,000.  The home was listed in May, went under contract 3 days later, and closed 7.19.13.
  • 5 bedroom semi-custom home on Kittyhawk sold for $1,250,000.  The home was listed in June for $1,275,000, went under contract in July, and closed on 8.14.13.
  • 4 bedroom semi-custom home on Bennington sold for $1,000,000.  This home was listed in March at $1,179,000; it had a price reduction to $1,139,000, went under contract in June, and closed on 8.20.13.

1 home is currently under contract:

  • 5 bedroom, 4200 sq ft, semi-custom home on Independence was most recently listed for $895,000.  This is a short sale.

2 homes are currently listed for sale:

  • 5 bedroom semi-custom home on Kittyhawk was listed in July at $1,399,000.  The home had a price reduction to $1,325,000 which is its current list price.
  • 3 bedroom semi-custom home on Independence was listed in July at $1,268,000.  The price was subsequently reduced to $1,235,000 which is its current list price.

Southgate is one of several developments in The Glen including Tower Crossing, Chapel Crossing, Landings, Cambridge, Regency, Patriot Commons and Glen Shore.  If you would like information about homes in any of these Glen developments, please contact me at margaretludemann@gmail.com or 847-401-1802.

Margaret Ludemann, Glen resident and @properties Realtor

*  The source of the information in this report is the MLS; and homes identified in this update/report were listed/sold/rented by various participants in the MLS.

Surprise Fed Announcement Good News for Home Sales

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I have an excuse for knowing about Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors’ hayseed character on the 1960’s Andy Griffith show.  My husband is older than me (!) and he watches re-runs on ME-TV.  I bring this up because of his call to me Wednesday in his spot-on impression of Gomer’s signature adage…Sur-prise Sur-prise Sur-prise!  He had just heard of The Fed’s surprise announcement that it would continue its easy money, stimulus policy to, among other things, drive down mortgage interest rates which had been moving up the last couple of months.  This was indeed a surprise decision; and for the housing market it was most welcome.

While housing sales have been robust this year (in The Glen and elsewhere), there was universal concern that sales would slow and price increases would moderate as interest rates continued to climb.  None of us want another housing bubble, but home values are still below pre-crash levels so all homeowners would like to see continued improvement.

What does this mean for homeowners who may want to sell their homes?  Two things.  One, as interest rates fall more buyers can afford your home because they will be able to secure mortgages of higher values.  (Every 1% rise in interest rates reduces buying power by 11%.)  Two, sellers will have to move; and they will be able to afford higher priced homes.

The bottom line is this:  If you want to sell your home in this vastly improved housing market, the odds are very high that it will sell; and it is likely to sell at a decent price, certainly better than had it sold last year.  The market will remain robust until about Thanksgiving, so if you want to sell this year you should get your home on the market in the next few weeks.  The market will pick up again in March; and if that is a better time for you, plan to list your home in late February.