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76 home sales in The Glen in 2016

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There were 76 home sales in The Glen in 2016, almost identical to the 78 sold in 2015.  The Glen is a residential and retail development in Glenview Illinois known for its luxury homes and Glen Town Center, the shopping and restaurant mecca of Chicagoland’s North Shore.  It resides on the former property of the Naval Air Station Glenview.

The Glen consists of about 1300 luxury homes in nine distinct neighborhoods, all within walking distance of Tower Drive, Glen Town Center’s “main street”.  All neighborhoods had sales last year.

The Cambridge neighborhood, consisting of single family homes, duplexes, two-flats and row homes, had 10 sales among its 279 properties.  Chapel Crossing, a development of 168 single family homes, had 3 sales.  Glen Shore (31 condo apartments) and Landings (143 single family homes) each experienced 4 sales, while Patriot Commons (condo apartments and townhomes), Southgate Townhomes (62 units), and the new Westgate development (171 row homes and single family homes) each had 5 sales.  There were 19 sales in Regency among its 142 townhomes, duplexes and single family homes.  Of the 237 single family homes in Southgate 10 sold, and among Tower Crossing’s 154 townhomes 11 were sold and another 11 were rented.

As you can tell by my last paragraph there is a large variety of home types and styles in The Glen.  Home prices last year ranged from $330,000 to well over $1 million.  So there is something here for everyone.  If you may be interested in The Glen, please call me at 847-401-1802 or email me at margaret.ludemann@cbexchange.com.  I lead The Glen Realty Group team, and would love to show you around.

Margaret Ludemann, Coldwell Banker Realtor

2017 should be a solid year for home sales and prices in The Glen

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The Glen in Glenview, Illinois is not only a great place to live, but it also enjoys a strong real estate market. I thought you would find it interesting to look ahead to Glen home sales and prices in 2017.

The economic environment for real estate sales was positive in 2016 which is good news for 2017. The economy continued its steady growth, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.6% in November, the lowest since 2007. A year ago, the rate was 5%. During the Great Recession, unemployment rose to as much as 10%. Wages, too, increased in 2016. Interest rates remained very low with the average 30 year fixed rate loan under 4% for most of the year.  Rates began to climb late in the year, but remained low by historical standards. Economic growth, jobs, wages and mortgage interest rates, of course, are huge drivers of home sales, so we are heading into 2017 with some wind at our backs.

Based on these factors and my intimate familiarity with The Glen, I see a solid year ahead for Glen homeowners who wish to sell their homes. This is true for single family homes, townhomes, duplexes and condos. Mortgage rates should continue to be low by historical standards though they are likely to rise marginally during the year. The current 30 year fixed rate mortgage is about 4.3%; a jumbo is about the same. Fifteen year fixed rate mortgages stand at roughly 3.6%. Economists at The National Association of Realtors project prices of homes in the Chicago metropolitan area will increase by 1.9% in 2017. Based on my analysis of The Glen real estate market, I suspect that we may see a somewhat larger increase.

If you may be interested in selling your home or buying one anywhere on the North Shore, please contact me. I am a long time Glen resident and an award winning Realtor affiliated with Coldwell Banker. Among the 80,000+ Coldwell Banker Realtors worldwide, I have been recognized for being in the top 2%. I can be reached at margaret.ludemann@cbexchange.com or 847-401-1802.

Margaret Ludemann

Why a home sale falls through

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Home sales are complicated. There’s a lot more to it than putting a buyer and seller together. Things can go wrong. Deals do not always close. And here are the top reasons why some home purchases fall through:

Inspection surprises. Each transaction involves an inspection by a licensed home inspector. Some are very good. Some, not so much. Among the “not so much” group you’ll find inspectors who identify numerous very small issues which, while not material, scare the heck out of the buyers, causing them to back out of the purchase.

Buyer financing. Even if the buyer is “pre-approved” by a lender, it does not guarantee financing. Sometimes when the lender looks more deeply into the buyer’s financial condition, they find issues that cause them to reject the mortgage application.

Low appraisal. During periods when homes are appreciating in value, appraisals are typically not a problem. In soft markets, though, it is not uncommon for a home appraisal to come in lower than the agreed-upon purchase price. In this case, lenders either choose to not make the loan or demand a higher down payment. The buyer can back out or seek a lower price from the seller.

Buyer remorse. Occasionally a buyer simply gets cold feet, and, unfortunately, he usually gets his earnest money back. Bad news for the homeowner and for the Realtor.

An experienced Realtor can help to minimize these risks, though failed transactions can happen to any seller and any Realtor. I even see this occasionally in The Glen (in Glenview, Illinois) where I live and work. The Glen is an upscale residential community with luxury homes…single family homes, condos, townhomes, two-flats, and duplexes. The price points are substantial, so we typically see qualified buyers who are serious about their home search. But, as I say, it can happen.

If you may be interested in The Glen or greater Glenview, please call or email me.

Margaret Ludemann, Coldwell Banker Realtor, margaret.ludemann@cbexchange.com 847-401-1802

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 Coldwell Banker in Glenview, Illinois.

Margaret Ludemann

847-401-1802   margaret.ludemann@cbexchange.com

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 margaret.ludemann@cbexchange.com.

Margaret Ludemann, Coldwell Banker Realtor