Naval Air Station Glenview

Listing your home for buyers with children

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In areas which cater to families with school age children, it’s important to time the listing of your home appropriately. The basic rule is that you need to get it on the market in time for buyers to close, get moved, and settle in prior to the start of the school year. Often sellers list their homes too late, and they miss the real estate market for buyers with kids.

Let’s take The Glen as an example. The Glen is an upscale housing and retail development on the former grounds of Naval Air Station Glenview in Glenview Illinois. It is home to a couple of thousand luxury homes of various types, including single family homes, townhomes, row homes, duplexes, condos, and two-flats. Prices in the Glen range from the high $300,000s to over $2 million.

Children in the Glen attend District 34 elementary and middle schools, including Westbrook Elementary School, Glen Grove Elementary School, and Attea Middle School. For high school they attend Glenbrook South High School in District 225. Naturally, there are wonderful private schools available in the area as well, but for purposes of this exercise let’s look at the public school calendar. From there, we will work backward to determine the best time to list your home.

The first day of District 34 schools for next school year will be August 23; for District 225, it will be August 25. If we assume a family would like to get their kids settled in their new neighborhoods to make friends two or three weeks before school starts, we’re looking at a move-in date of around the first of August. Prior to moving in, we can assume a time on market of a month or two…so to be safe, let’s say two months. After the agreement is signed, there is usually a 45 to 60 day period before closing. So, doing the math we find that getting a home on the market would be best to occur by early-April.

This means that home sellers in the Glen who wish to attract families with children should be moving rather rapidly to get their home ready to be listed. You need to find your Realtor and get your home prepared for showing. There’s really not a lot of time to spare.

I am an award-winning realtor who lives in and sells extensively in The Glen. If you are interested in selling, buying or renting in the Glen (or greater Glenview), please contact me right away.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Realtor

847-401-1802  margaretludemann@gmail.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 margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Realtor

New census of The Glen tell us a lot about the homes, neighborhoods and residents

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The new census for The Glen has just been completed, and it is interesting reading. For instance it tells us that there are 4,960 residents residing in 2,221 homes in the 13 development areas (read: neighborhoods), as of August, 2014. Of these nearly 5,000 residents, 1,367 are children.

Each year the Village of Glenview (in Illinois) has this census done to calculate payments to various jurisdictions which provide services to Glen residents. So, for instance, the more children in schools means that the village owes more money to local school districts. Let’s dig a little deeper into the census results.

The 13 development areas include 9 with privately owned homes or rented single and multi-family homes. The other 4 include Navy housing and 3 senior housing communities. Navy? Yes, indeed. The Glen resides on the grounds of the former Naval Air Station Glenview; and there remain 112 housing units for Navy personnel of which there are 213 adults and 80 children.

In the 9 communities with privately owned and rental homes, there are 3,921 residents of which 1,287 (33%) are children.   Here is a breakdown by neighborhood:

Chapel Crossing: 167 homes, 368 adults, 277 children

Landings (Concord): 143 homes, 324 adults, 250 children

Southgate: 299 homes, 626 adults, 413 children

Cambridge: 244 homes, 481 adults, 200 children

Tower Crossing: 154 townhomes, 306 adults, 68 children

Patriot Commons: 68 homes, 122 adults, 23 children

Regency: 146 homes, 179 adults, 43 children

Aloft: 181 apartments, 185 adults, 10 children

Glenshore: 31 homes, 43 adults, 3 children

Of the 1,287 children in The Glen, 1,175 are of school age. 82% attend public schools. 18% attend private schools. This last number is particularly interesting because in most suburban communities the percentage of children in private schools averages between 4% and 8%. This variance is likely due to the economic standing of Glen residents. In other words, it is a development comprised largely of affluent families who can afford private education.

There is a lot of additional information in this year’s census, and I will include more of it in future blogs.

Margaret Ludemann, Glen homeowner and @properties Realtor

847-401-1802, MargaretLudemann@cbexchange.com

Chapel Crossing at The Glen… a great place for families

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Chapel Crossing is an upscale housing development in The Glen, in Glenview Illinois. It consists of 168 luxury homes, all single family detached.

It was constructed 13 years ago when The Glen was just getting under way. The developer was Kimball Hill Homes which also developed nearby Tower Crossing. Homes in Chapel Crossing range in size from 2300 sq ft to 4200 sq ft with most being toward the high end of this range. The architecture is traditional, and the interior designs are elegant yet comfortable. All have large beautifully landscaped yards and detached garages.

The development is named after the lovely chapel at the corner of Patriot Boulevard and Chestnut Avenue which had served as the place of worship for the Naval Air Station Glenview which is the former occupant of the land upon which The Glen now resides. The Chapel still stands, though now it is used mainly for weddings, community events and a pre-school.

The main entrance into Chapel Crossing is from Patriot on Independence Avenue. Kimball Hill Homes wished to create a grand boulevard of large, stately homes; and the firm succeeded masterfully. The boulevard has a broad, wonderfully landscaped median with many park-like amenities including benches, play areas, and large trees.

The real estate market in Chapel Crossing is stable. As the primary homeowner demographic is defined by families with children, the annual turnover of homes is relatively small. In 2013, only 9 homes were sold (5.3% of the development.) Home prices range from about $900,000 to roughly $1.25 million. Prices last year averaged $1,031,527.

Chapel Crossing resides across Chestnut Avenue to Attea Middle School, the Glenview Park Center, Little Bear Garden,  and Gallery Park. It is but a short walk to Glen Town Center, The Glen’s main shopping and restaurant area, and to two impressive golf courses.

If you would like to learn about living in Chapel Crossing please email me at margaret.ludemann@gmail.com or call at 847-401-1802. I am a Glen homeowner and an award-winning realtor affiliated with @properties.

Margaret Ludemann