Glenview Illinois

The new norm at Tower Crossing in The Glen…prices over $700,000

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Home prices at the ultra-cool Tower Crossing townhome development in The Glen (in Glenview Illinois) are hitting post-recession highs. Built between 2003 and 2007 these 4 story brick, Georgian style homes offer between 3,031 and 4,105 square feet of luxury living. There are 6 basic models and 9 floor plans. In addition to their beauty and size a huge appeal to Tower Crossing townhomes is their proximity to Glen Town Center, The Glen’s popular and upscale retail and dining “main street”. In fact they border Glen Town Center on 3 sides making a walk to dinner nothing more than a short stroll.

Digging into pricing data recently I found exactly what I expected. A materially higher percentage of Tower Crossing homes are now selling for $700,000 or more than in recent years. In 2010 there were no $700,000 sales. In the next two years (2011/2012) approximately a fourth of sales were at this level; and this grew to about half of sales in 2013/2014. But in 2015 (through mid-November) 93% of sales (13 of 14) were at $700,000 or more! The prices of larger Tower Crossing models (such as the Blackstone, Omni, and Biltmore) have been selling well into the $700’s for a few years, but now even smaller homes (for instance Valencias and Drakes) have reached $700,000+ price points. Because these smaller (though still quite large) models are selling in the low $700,000, the prices of larger models are increasing into the high $700’s and even the $800’s. In fact we saw a sale at $800,000 or more in 2014 and another in 2015. I sold both of these magnificent homes, and incidentally…they were worth every penny. I believe I have another $800,000 sale waiting in the wings. Until last year we hadn’t seen an $800,000 sale since at least 2007. Of course what any home will sell for is influenced by its condition, by market factors (including competition) at the time of listing, and by choice of realtor.

For more information about Tower Crossing you can go to www.towercrossinghomes.com or contact me at 847-401-1802 or margaretludemann@gmail.com. I am a Tower Crossing homeowner and an award winning Realtor.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Real Estate

Porch Piracy

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I hadn’t heard of the term “porch piracy” until recently when I read an article about it. Basically it involves the theft of packages delivered to a home and left at the front door. Thieves look for opportunities such as this, some even following Fed Ex and UPS trucks as they make their deliveries. This is a very real problem in much of the country, and it’s growing.

Crime in The Glen is not a common occurrence. In fact, there is little of it in this beautiful residential and retail development in Glenview Illinois, about 18 miles north of downtown Chicago. This is an upscale area with home prices ranging from around $400,000 to over $2,000,000. That’s not the community profile one thinks of as a high crime area. But what makes the community so lovely also can make it a target of porch piracy. In an area like ours packages left at the door are likely to be filled with expensive items such as electronics.

I decided to ask the Fed Ex delivery guy who regularly delivers in The Glen how he decides whether to leave a package if there’s no one home to receive it. He told me that the company provides some guidance based on historical data of porch piracy by location, and as a person familiar with the various streets in the The Glen development he uses his best judgment as to whether a theft may occur. I’ve never had a problem myself, and none of my immediate neighbors have ever mentioned it. But all of us in The Glen should be aware of the potential problem.

The most effective way to ensure that your packages won’t be stolen is to require signatures for items that you’ve ordered. Alternatively you can ask that packages only be delivered during hours that someone is likely to be home.

Margaret Ludemann

Glen homeowner and @properties Realtor

margaretludemann@gmail.com         847-401-1802

Homeowner associations’ role in a home sale

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Home sale transactions in The Glen generally involve homeowner associations after an agreement has been reached between buyers and sellers. When the Village of Glenview Illinois took ownership of the former Naval Air Station Glenview in the late 1990’s it developed a master plan for its use. The result is what we now know as The Glen with large areas of luxury homes, a retail area known as Glen Town Center, commercial space for corporate and professional offices, and open space as well.

The residential areas were divided into several large parcels, and home builders were allowed to submit bids for development. This resulted in the following neighborhoods being built: Cambridge, Chapel Crossing, Glen Shore, Landings, Southgate, and Tower Crossing. Three additional developments have since been built: Regency, Patriot Commons, and Westgate. The latter two are still under construction. Homeowner associations, generally referred to as HOAs, were created; and they are governed by boards of directors composed of residents.

Generally speaking if a home is being sold in an area governed by a homeowners association – whether it is The Glen or elsewhere – that association will likely be asked to provide governing documents such as articles of incorporation, bylaws, covenants, rules, and regulations. They also are asked for financial information and the status of legal actions. Attorneys representing the buyer, seller, and lender review these documents. It is important for the buyer and the lender to understand the financial and legal health of the association. Among other things they want to know whether there are outstanding obligations that could impact the new owner. If there are lawsuits or excessive debt a buyer may not wish to complete the purchase and/or the prospective lender may choose to deny the home mortgage application.

The HOAs that I am aware of in The Glen are sound, and seldom do I hear of problems that result in a failure of a housing purchase. I am a Glen resident, and I am an active Realtor in the local real estate market. If you may be interested in buying or renting a home in The Glen, please contact me at 847-401-1802 or margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Realtor

Huge luxury townhomes at Tower Crossing in the Glen

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I frequently receive calls from home buyers interested in The Glen (in Glenview Illinois) who want large homes but without the maintenance of grass to mow and walks to shovel. I immediately tell them about Tower Crossing, a Glen development with townhomes ranging in size from roughly 3,000 sq ft to over 4,000 sq ft.

Tower Crossing is one of 13 development areas (9 with privately owned homes) in The Glen. It was developed by Kimball Hill Homes which built the 154 townhomes beginning in 2003. The development was completed in 2007. All of the homes were sold by the developer and are now available from time-to-time from individual homeowners.

There are six basic models in Tower Crossing.  Here are the sizes of each model:

Valencia – 3031 sq ft  (bridge units 3401 sq ft)

Drake – 3075 sq ft

Astoria – 3210 sq ft  (end units 3500 sq ft)

Biltmore – 3600 sq ft

Omni – 3625 sq ft (bridge units 4105 sq ft)

Blackstone – 3840 sq ft

The point is that Tower Crossing’s townhomes are large by any standard of any kind of home including single family homes. As townhomes go…they are extremely large.  Home prices in Tower Crossing begin in the $600,000’s, and larger models sell in the $800,000’s.

For more information about Tower Crossing you can go to my proprietary website www.towercrossinghomes.com or call me at 847-401-1802. Alternatively you can email me at margaretludemann@gmail.com. I am a Tower Crossing homeowner and an award winning Realtor with @properties.

Margaret Ludemann

 

Glenview home sales down, prices up

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Full-year 2014 real estate sales and pricing data for Glenview Illinois are not yet available, but I have some preliminary numbers that are quite interesting.  Glenview is a north shore community near Chicago with many luxury homes.  The data represent transactions from January 1 through November 30. This data is not only for The Glen but rather for all of Glenview. Later in January I will be able to provide Glen-specific full year sales and pricing information.

So, for the first eleven months of 2014 home sales in Glenview were down 8%. This is for unit sales; that is, the number of homes sold. That’s not really surprising since 2013 was a banner year, a period when home sellers got off the sidelines after the long haul back from the depths of the recession.

Home prices in 2014, however, show an entirely different story. The median price of homes sold in Glenview was up 6%, and the price per square foot was up 10%. This is rather remarkable after such a strong 2013.

I also have information about sales prices vs. list prices in 2014, through November. The average selling price of a Glenview home was 96.4% of the average list price. Not bad. In real estate anything at 95% or higher is considered quite good. So, 96.4% suggests solid performance, though perhaps not extraordinary. In other words, the negotiating leverage between sellers and buyers was relatively even.

Home prices in The Glen tend to be higher than most (though not all) of Glenview. It will be interesting to see Glen-only sales and pricing data for the year. So check back with me via these weekly blogs toward the end of January or early February.

Margaret Ludemann, Glen homeowner and @properties Realtor

MargaretLudemann@gmail.com   847-401-1802