Realtor

Construction of Westgate at the Glen is in high gear…homes are still available

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There are still single family homes, row homes and townhomes available at Westgate at The Glen in Glenview Illinois on Chicagoland’s north shore. Westgate is a new residential development at the corner of Shermer Road and West Lake Avenue, across the street from two outstanding golf courses.  It is also a short walk to Glen Town Center‘s many shops and restaurants. The developer is E.R. James Homes, a well-regarded local builder who earned his Glen props over a decade ago when he developed the super popular, high end Southgate neighborhood.

The Westgate development is well under way. In fact the Phase 2 Grand Opening for the row homes is scheduled for this upcoming weekend (May 2 & 3). The important thing to know, however, is that there are still new construction homes available whether your interest is in single family properties, row homes or Mews townhomes.

Perhaps the hottest residential trend these days is first floor master bedrooms. Westgate’s single family homes and some of their row homes offer first floor masters, so if that’s important to you and if you want to live in the Glen, this is the place for you.

Westgate’s single family homes range in size roughly between 2600 and 3000 square feet; and they offer three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and two-car garages. The gourmet kitchens will take your breath away. Delivery of the single family homes will be in 2016. Prices range between the upper $700’s and low $800’s.

The row homes range in size between about 1885 and 2464 square feet and in price between the low $500’s and low $600’s, great pricing for new homes of this size and quality. This is especially true given that it is in the ultra-popular Glen. A few first floor models and end units are still available!

The Mews townhomes have three levels, screened in porches and decks. A very cool option is to build the porch into an internal den. These homes range in size between 2000 and 2200 square feet, and a few end units are still available. Delivery can be anticipated in late 2015 to early 2016.  Prices range between the high $400’s and low $500’s.

If you’re interested in Westgate homes and Glen living please contact me. I am a long time Glen homeowner and @properties Realtor, and I would be delighted to help you select your perfect home whether in Westgate or elsewhere.

Margaret Ludemann, Realtor

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

Diverse home types at Cambridge at The Glen

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Cambridge is the most architecturally diverse neighborhood in The Glen. Most Glen neighborhoods are composed of either traditional single family homes (such as Southgate, Chapel Crossing, and Landings) or attached properties (such as Tower Crossing’s townhomes and Glenshore’s condos). In Cambridge, however, you have more choices.

A little background. The Glen is a luxury residential and retail development on the grounds of the former Navy airbase in Glenview Illinois which closed in 1995. It is composed of nine neighborhoods with privately owned homes, plus assisted care and retirement communities. The neighborhoods with privately owned homes have over 2,000 residents. Glen Town Center, The Glen’s popular retail area, offers scores of restaurants and shops…convenient to all homes in the development. Two outstanding golf courses, including The Glen Club‘s 18 hole championship course designed by Tom Fazio, are adjacent to The Glen.

Back to Cambridge. This neighborhood has 279 beautiful homes; here is the breakdown by home type:

  • 108 townhomes and row homes
  • 104 traditional single family homes
  • 35 duplexes
  • 13 two-flats
  • 19 estate-style single family homes

Home prices in Cambridge range from the $400’s to over a million dollars. There is also great diversity in the sizes of these homes, from less than 2,000 square feet to more than 4,000 square feet. The large estate homes and striking townhomes grace a grand boulevard in the center of Cambridge, while charming Rockwellian “front porch Americana” homes adorn smaller side streets with names like Butterfly Lane and Sundrop Drive.  Tasteful landscaping enhances the beauty of the Cambridge neighborhood and of each home.

Cambridge at The Glen is about living the good life …comfortably, conveniently and fully. If you may be interested in The Glen, please contact me. I have been a Glen homeowner since 2003; and I am an award-winning north shore Realtor.

Margaret Ludemann

@properties Realtor      847-401-1802   Margaret.Ludemann@gmail.com

All 6 models of Tower Crossing townhomes are currently for sale in The Glen

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It’s rare that all six models of Tower Crossing townhomes are for sale at the same time, but that is currently the case. So buyers can view the various floor plans available in this very popular Glen development.

The Glen is the most exciting and popular luxury residential and retail development on Chicago’s north shore. It resides on former Glenview naval air base land in the heart of Glenview, Illinois. Tower Crossing is the ultra-popular townhome development which borders Glen Town Center, the Glen’s retail hub with restaurants, shopping, and entertainment venues.

There are 6 basic models of townhomes in Tower Crossing ranging in size between 3031 sq ft and 4105 sq ft. You’re probably thinking…those are quite large for townhomes…and you’re right. These are magnificent brick homes with stunning Georgian architecture and high end amenities. Depending on the model and upgrades they may have two, three or four bedrooms. Several models offer elevators, and others have roof top decks.

Perhaps the most compelling advantage of Tower Crossing townhomes, however, isn’t really the beauty of the homes. You’ve heard that real estate is about location, location, location. Well, that is what sets Tower Crossing apart from any other suburban neighborhood that I know. Each home is within a few steps of 15 restaurants, dozens of stores and boutiques, a ten-screen movie theater, and a lovely book store. Plus they are an easy walk to two golf courses, Lake Glenview, Battery Park, walking trails, and so much more. The lifestyle, as you can tell by my description is quite urban, yet Tower Crossing is in suburban Glenview.

As I wrote at the start of this blog, there is at least one of each Tower Crossing model currently on the market. So for those who desire luxury townhome living with an urban lifestyle in a suburban setting, please contact me for a tour. I am a long time resident of the Glen and a Realtor affiliated with @properties.

Margaret Ludemann

847-401-1802  margaretludemann@gmail.com

Glen residents are connected by private group email

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The Glen’s Yahoo group connects residents of the Glen with one another via email. The Glen, of course, is a luxury residential and retail development in Glenview Illinois on Chicago’s north shore. This group “list serv” allows residents to ask hundreds of neighbors for recommended service providers in a single email. So if you need a recommendation for a plumber or babysitter or whatever…you can email everyone else in the neighborhood and get numerous replies. And all replies go to everyone in the group as well.

But it’s not just to find quality service providers. Would you like to sell that old bike taking up space in the garage? Or get help in finding your lost dog. Or find out what people think of a new restaurant. Or find tickets to a Bears game that a neighbor is not going to use. It’s like having the whole community right there in your computer…hundreds of neighbors just waiting to help you out. And you can use any email address you want, not just yahoo addresses.

Don’t worry about your inbox being flooded with Glen emails. On an average day you’ll receive about 8 emails. They are clearly marked in the reference line as being from a Glen resident. Or you can receive one email each evening with all of the emails in a day bundled into it.

There are over 700 members of the Glen’s group. It’s open to any Glen homeowner or renter. And it’s free! You sign up with Yahoo which sends notification to the group’s volunteer moderator. The moderator sends the applicant an application used to confirm residency; and you’re in.

If you live in the Glen and are not a member, here is what you do:

Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Glen. Click on JOIN THIS GROUP.

If you don’t have a Yahoo ID to sign in, you can get one by clicking the CREATE NEW ACCOUNT at the bottom of the Sign In To Yahoo box. After you’ve done that, follow the directions to join.

If you DO have a Yahoo ID: After clicking JOIN THIS GROUP just sign in to Yahoo, and follow the directions to join.

If you are thinking about living in the Glen, consider this just one more benefit.  I’ve lived here for 13 wonderful years.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Realtor

847-401-1802  margaretludemann@gmail.com

What if your realtor doesn’t know the Glen neighborhoods?

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Home purchases can go south when buyers are ill advised by uninformed realtors. I run into this all the time here in The Glen (in Glenview IL) where there are ten unique neighborhoods with different types of homes, different sizes, and different price points. This is especially true for attached homes such as townhomes, condos, and duplexes because there typically are multiple models within a development that have their own unique characteristics and price histories.

The Regency at the Glen development is a prime example. Regency offers 104 townhomes, 38 duplexes, and two single family homes. There are four models of townhomes with sizes ranging from 1523 square feet to 1835 square feet. The beautiful duplexes come in two basic models, and like the townhomes there are many upgrades that add value. I was recently involved in a deal in this development where I represented a townhome seller. Another realtor brought a potential buyer to the home, and an offer was made. The offer was extremely low, but the buyer and his agent didn’t think so. Why? Because the realtor found “comps” (the prices of recent sales of supposedly similar Regency homes) that were incorrect. The realtor was not intimately familiar with that market and didn’t realize that he was finding comps for the wrong model which was much smaller than my listed property. The buyer was ill advised, being told that the home should sell for $X. So his expectation was set at an unrealistically low price. I had to educate the buyer’s realtor about the various models, their sizes, their upgrades, and price histories.

This happens frequently in Tower Crossing at the Glen as well where there are six basic townhome models and significant variations even within each model; and some of the upgrades make material differences in price. For instance some models have expensive elevators while others do not. Tower Crossing’s homes vary in size from 3037 square feet to 4105 square feet…a significant difference. Home prices range, based on model and upgrades, between the low $600’s to nearly $900,000. So for a buyer to be properly advised, the realtor has to understand Tower Crossing intimately.

The bottom line is this: If you are buying a home be sure to find a realtor who is very, very familiar with the specific neighborhoods in which you are looking at homes. If you choose the wrong one, you may be making a costly mistake.

Margaret Ludemann, @properties Realtor

847-401-1802  margaretludemann@gmail.com