home prices

The Holidays in The Glen

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The Glen during the holidays is magical, especially in Glen Town Center, our retail hub with upscale restaurants and shopping galore.  You’ll quickly notice the colorful lighting and the shops filled with seasonal gifts you can’t find anywhere else.  And there are special events for the kids, two of which I’ll highlight below.

The Glen in Glenview Illinois is a development with luxury homes of all kinds.  You’ll find single family homes, row homes, townhomes, condos, apartments, two-flats and duplexes.  Home prices range from the $300s to over $2 million dollars.

OK, now for the special events for the kids.  The Book Market (a great bookstore!) will host Santa’s Craft Corner on December 17 and a terrific puppet show, The Shoemaker and the Elves, from 11am to 11:45am on December 28.  You’ll need to register online at http://www.theglentowncenter.com/events soon.  The Book Market is located at 2651 Navy Boulevard in the heart of Glen Town Center.

If you may be interested in living in The Glen, please give me a call.  I’m a long time Glen homeowner and an award winning Realtor.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Residential Brokerage

847-401-1802   margaretludemann@gmail.com

Large variety of luxury home types and prices in The Glen

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One of the great things about The Glen is the variety of home types, styles and prices available to buyers. The Glen is residential and retail development in Glenview Illinois on the grounds of the former Naval Air Station Glenview. It’s just eighteen miles north of downtown Chicago or, to put it another way, a short train ride to Union Station. The first homes in The Glen were built about fifteen years ago, and new construction continues in one of our ten neighborhoods, Westgate. But this article isn’t about Westgate at The Glen or commute times. It’s about variety.

There are about 1300 homes in The Glen, not counting retirement and assisted living facilities. Of those 1300 properties about half are single family homes while the other half (naturally) consists of attached housing units of various types. For instance, there are townhomes (some as large as 4100 square feet), row homes, condos, duplexes, and two-flats. We have brick homes, wood homes, single level homes, four-story homes, small homes, and huge homes. There are homes overlooking the retail area (Glen Town Center), along the Gallery Park, and bordering the two Glen golf courses. We have colonial homes, contemporary homes, Georgian homes, and home styles that don’t exactly fit any particular style…except really beautiful!

Home prices in The Glen vary widely. On the lower end are some lovely luxury condos and townhomes starting in the $300’s. On the high side, some single family homes bordering The Glen Club’s award-winning golf course sell for well over $2 million. So, whatever your housing budget, the odds are pretty good that you can find a wonderful home here.

I’ve lived in The Glen since the early days of the development, and I am an award-winning Realtor affiliated with @properties. My Glen Realty Group is focused on the sale of new and existing homes here in this very special community. If you may be interested in a Glen home, please call me at 847-401-1802 or email me at margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, The Glen Realty Group

Glen Town Center to get a nice facelift in 2016

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The Glen is about to receive a very nice upgrade in 2016. The Glen is an upscale residential and retail development in Glenview Illinois on property that was once a naval airbase. It was developed beginning in 2010, and it continues today with new homes still being constructed.

I live a half block from The Glen’s main shopping and eating area called Glen Town Center. It’s filled with scores of boutiques and eateries as well as a theater, coffee house, and book store. Over time some parts of the sidewalks have shown their wear as freezing and thawing have done minor damage. And some of the trees along Tower Drive, the main street through the area, have suffered, too. Don’t get me wrong, the place still sparkles…I mean it looks TERRIFIC…but it’s going to look even better!

The updating planned for next year will feature new sidewalks, trees, other landscaping, and signage. My neighbors join me in my excitement for this project which will add to the already strong appeal for shoppers, diners, current residents, and yes to those who are considering living in The Glen. Plans have been created, vetted and approved by the Village Trustees. Work will being in March, and completion is forecast for September.

If you haven’t been to The Glen I urge you to stop by for a meal and shopping. If you’ve been here before I suggest you think about making it your home. We have single family homes, townhomes, row homes, two flats, duplexes, and condos. Home prices range from the high $300s to over $2 million. For more information about homes in The Glen, please contact me. In addition to being a Glen homeowner, I am an award winning Realtor focused on Glen properties.

Margaret Ludemann   @properties Real Estate

847-401-1802   margaretludemann@gmail.com

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