home buyers

The Glen has homes for sale. Yes it does. And they’re really cool.

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It’s not true.  At least not in The Glen.  If you’re like me you’ve seen countless articles about how few homes are listed for sale.  Housing inventory, they say, can’t meet demand.  Well, here in The Glen we have plenty of great homes for sale.

That’s not to say there isn’t demand.  Home buyers love The Glen as do those of us who are fortunate to live here.  The Glen, in Glenview Illinois, is a very popular place to live, work and play.  We have single family homes, townhomes, row homes, duplexes, and condos.  Home prices range from the high $300’s to over $1 million.  So whatever home style or price you may be looking for we probably have some homes on the market right now that you would love.

Glenview is a close-in suburb of Chicago.  It is its own North Shore village, but taking the train from The Glen’s Metra station will get you downtown in 30 – 45 minutes depending on time of day.  So, living in The Glen gives you the best of both worlds…Chicago’s buzz…and suburban space and great schools.

Life in The Glen is a bit like living in the city.  We have our own downtown called Glen Town Center with shops, restaurants and a movie theater.  You can walk to them from most any home in The Glen.  Yet we also have two golf courses, Gallery Park with walking and biking trails, Lake Glenview for fishing, a fitness center and playgrounds galore.

So, if this is the kind of lifestyle you’re looking for, give me a call.  I’m an award-winning Realtor who lives in and loves The Glen.

Margaret Ludemann, The Glen Realty Group                                                                                                @properties Real Estate  847-401-1802    margaretludemann@gmail.com

Now’s the best time to buy or sell a home in The Glen

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OK, I know you’ve heard it before, but here it is again. If you want to sell your home, now is the best time of the year to get it listed on the MLS. It’s March folks. Spring is in the air. Home buyers come out of hibernation and start looking around.

There is logic in this timing. Buyers with kids want to make their purchase so that they can close on it before the start of the next school year. So if you are a buyer, get going. You’ll get into your new Glen digs in time for the kids to make friends around the neighborhood, and be ready to start school in August.

Last year in The Glen, greater Glenview, and neighboring North Shore communities it took about two months for a listed home to come under contract with a buyer. The time between “under contract” and closing is typically four to six weeks. While I wasn’t a math major in college, I’m pretty sure that gets us to late June or July.

So, if this is the year to move to a larger home or to downsize, now’s the best time to sell or purchase. I am an award winning Realtor affiliated with The Glen Realty Group, and I would be delighted to work with you. I can be reached at 847-401-1802 or margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, Realtor, @properties

Emergency help is on the way…in The Glen

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My family and I live in The Glen, an upscale residential and retail community in Glenview Illinois. We moved here in 2003 which was in the early days of the development. We have come to love our home, Gallery Park, Lake Glenview, Glen Town Center’s wonderful restaurants and shops, and the several lovely neighborhoods filled with single family homes, townhomes, duplexes, and two-flats. All of these things attracted us to The Glen in the first place. But what I never considered back then was access to emergency health care. A person doesn’t really think of things like that when looking for a home.

Well, about ten years ago my husband had a health emergency in the middle of the night. Naturally I was terribly frightened, but I had the good sense to immediately call 911. Then came a very pleasant surprise and great relief. The EMTs arrived at my home in two minutes. That’s not a typo. Two minutes! You see, The Glen is home to a first class fire station with 24 hour emergency services.

Trained EMT professionals got my husband in an ambulance quickly. Off he went to the hospital – Glenbrook Hospital – barely five minutes away. From my call to the hospital, barely 10 to 12 minutes elapsed. Fortunately my husband’s condition was stabilized, and he has recovered. But I’ve never forgotten that night and the remarkable speed in which he was treated.

When I talk to prospective Glen home buyers I always point out the ready access all residents have to emergency services…fire, health, and police. (Glenview’s police headquarters borders The Glen.) Some potential buyers initially wonder why a Realtor is telling them about emergency services, but after I tell them my story, they understand.

If you may be interested in living in The Glen, please contact me. I am an award winning Realtor affiliated with @properties.

Margaret Ludemann, The Glen Realty Group

847-401-1802    margaretludemann@gmail.com

Home buyers…by the numbers

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I’m a data freak. I love to sift through all kinds of numbers about the real estate market. And I think it makes me a better Realtor.

The Illinois Association of Realtors recently crunched it’s wealth of data to determine who buys homes in our state, and I thought you might be interested in the information it uncovered about home buyers. So here goes…

  • 69% of home buyers in Illinois are married, 17% are single women, 5% are single men, and 8% are unmarried.
  • The median income of a buyer (or married buyers) is just over $90,000.
  • 13% of buyers are veterans.
  • First time home buyers make up a little more than a third of the total (37% to be precise).
  • 92% choose a previously owned home; 8% buy new.
  • 14% of buyers are purchasing senior-oriented homes.
  • Home buyers expect to live in their homes for, on average, 15 years.
  • Particularly important to a Realtor like me, 86% use the internet during their home search; and they found photos to be extremely important to them. (No surprise there!)

It is important to understand, however, that there is no single real estate market in Illinois. These numbers include buyers in small towns, suburbs, and the city of Chicago.   Some buyers buy multi-million dollar single family homes while others purchase starter homes or condos. There are even multiple markets in The Glen (in Glenview Illinois), where I live and work. They are defined by home type and price point. To find a home in a market that is right for you (whether a community, a development, a neighborhood, or even a street), an experienced Realtor can inform and guide you.

Margaret Ludemann

@properties Realtor and Glen homeowner

847-401-1802   margaretludemann@gmail.com

Interest in buying homes starting early

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There are definite signs that buyers interested in purchasing homes are starting early this year. In a typical year, new contracts for home sales decline significantly after Thanksgiving, and the real estate market is dead through year end. Within a week or two after the New Year, we begin seeing a few buyers poke their heads up from the ice and snow. But any significant buyer interest is typically not noticeable until sometime in mid-February to early March.

This year is different. Not sure why, but it is. Here are two indications of early interest that I’ve seen just in the last week:

First, I listed a home a few days ago, and I had an offer that very day. And it was a good offer. In fact, the offer was made without the buyer seeing the home!

Second, my proprietary website, www.homesintheglen.com, had a near record number of first time visitors (556) last week! I haven’t seen that number of first time visitors since the top of the market last July; and it’s the second highest number ever on my site.

I should say that my Glen website, which shows homes for sale in The Glen in Glenview Illinois, is a very real barometer of buyer interest. It is the only Glen-specific, Glen-only website in existence, and it produces real home buyers. I have been able to track visitors to sales rather easily. So, let’s look at a comparison of that 556 visitor number to previous years. In the same week a year ago, the site had 336 first time visitors. And the year before that? 368.

This time of year there are fewer homes for sale, so sellers have an advantage of less competition. It looks like this year they’ll have more than the usual number of buyers looking at their homes.

If you are interested in selling your home or in buying, please give me a call. I am an award-winning Realtor affiliated with @properties in Glenview, Illinois.

Margaret Ludemann

847-401-1802   margaretludemann@gmail.com