townhomes

Tower Crossing Prices up 5.3%, Sales Too

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The Glen is the premier lifestyle community on the North Shore of the Chicago metropolitan area, located in Glenview, Illinois.  It is composed of several neighborhoods one of which is called Tower Crossing.

Tower Crossing is a townhome development with 154 stunning homes, built between 7 and 10 years ago.  It borders Glen Town Center (The Glen’s “main street” which offers restaurants, shopping, a theater, and much more) on three sides.  The 4th side of Tower Crossing borders The Glen Club’s Championship 18 hole golf course designed by Tom Fazio.

There are 6 models of Tower Crossing homes (Astoria, Biltmore, Blackstone, Drake, Omni, and Valencia), and they vary in size between 3031 sq ft and 4105 sq ft.  The current price range is between roughly $600,000 and $800,000.  I am one of the fortunate owners of a Tower Crossing home, an Astoria End Unit model.

As the #1 Realtor* in Tower Crossing, I track home sales and prices constantly.  2013 is turning out to be a banner year for the development.  Sales have increased dramatically in 2013.  So far 17 homes have sold vs. 11 in all of 2012, 13 in 2011, 6 in 2010, and 7 in 2009.  There is also one Tower Crossing home under contract waiting to close; and 2 homes are for sale.

Prices are up 5.3% in the first 8 months of 2013.  On average Tower Crossing homes sell for $196.77 p/sq ft.  In 2012, non-distressed Tower Crossing homes sold for $186.88.  (2011 = $188.86;  2010 = $189.50;  2009 = $179).  As you can see, prices were flat for the 3 years immediately prior to 2013 after dropping considerably when the real estate market collapsed.

If you are interested in Tower Crossing or any home in the other Glen neighborhoods (Cambridge, Chapel Crossing, Glen Shore, Landings, Patriot Commons, Regency (row homes, new construction), and Southgate), please contact me at 847-401-1802 or by email margaretLudemannl@gmail.com

Margaret Ludemann, Glen Resident & @properties Realtor

*  Margaret sold or rented more Tower Crossing homes in 2012 than any other Realtor.

Connecting Neighbors in The Glen

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The Glen is an upscale residential and retail community in Glenview, Illinois.  It is composed of 1,106 privately owned homes of various types including single family, townhomes, duplexes, two-flats, villas and condos.  2,439 adults live in these homes, and of course a lot of children as well.  The Glen is like a small town with its own “downtown” (Glen Town Center) with scores of restaurants, shops, theater and more.

The small town feel is one of the great benefits of living in The Glen even though it is a community within Chicagoland’s popular North Shore.  Contributing to this sense of community is our group email system which uses Yahoo as its technology engine.  Membership in The Glen Yahoo Group is restricted to homeowners/residents alone.

Sharing helpful information is the purpose of our email group…in other words, being neighborly.  Most emails deal with recommendations of service providers (“I need a plumber.”), promoting community activities (“This weekend is the art show in Glen Town Center”), assisting neighbors in need, promoting non-profit organizations, and even selling personal items such as the bike you no longer need or your priceless (!) collection of 8-track tapes.  For profit commercial & marketing activity is not allowed, though selling your extra Cubs or Bears tickets is just fine.

Some of the individual neighborhoods within The Glen also have their own group email systems in addition to the larger Glen group.  I know of groups for the Regency, Southgate, Tower Crossing, Landings, and Chapel Crossing neighborhoods.  Emails posted on these group systems tend to be neighborhood-specific, while The Glen group emails are about most anything that strikes your fancy.

Being neighborly is a treasured characteristic among residents of The Glen.  We take pride in our community where I have lived for 10 years.  If you would like to explore living in The Glen please contact me at margaret.ludemann@gmail.com or 847-401-1802.

Margaret Ludemann, Resident of The Glen and @properties Realtor

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: The Glen is a convenient place to live.

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One of the great advantages to living in The Glen (an upscale development in north shore community Glenview, Illinois) is its proximity to rail, automobile and air transportation.  When my family and I moved here 10 years ago, our primary considerations were the quality of schools, the Glen Town Center lifestyle, and the stunning townhome we were purchasing at Tower Crossing.  Only after we moved here did we learn how easy and fast it is to get around.

Having previously lived in the city we hoped to make regular trips downtown.  We were happy to learn that the new Glen Metra station would deliver us to Union Station in 30 – 45 minutes depending on time of day.  The station is especially close to the Cambridge neighborhood with its many townhomes, duplexes, two-flats and single family homes.

Speaking of trains, Amtrak stops at the Glenview station, about 5 minutes away by car; and it is very helpful to people needing to get to Milwaukee (67 minutes) or to Milwaukee’s Mitchell Airport (52 minutes).  Using Mitchell gives air travelers an additional option.

A huge surprise was the speedy trip to O’Hare.  At that time my husband was travelling extensively.  How pleasant to discover that the morning trip to O’Hare took 23 minutes, and an evening return trip took about the same time.  Reverse commute traffic is to thank for that.

The best news of all is that if you don’t want to go anywhere there is much to do right here in The Glen.  We have 15 restaurants, a movie theater, spa, art gallery, and scores of shops in Glen Town Center which is walking distance or very short drive from any home in The Glen.  It is particularly close to the Chapel Crossing, Patriot Commons, Cambridge and Tower Crossing developments.

If you would like to learn about homes in The Glen, please give me a call at 847-401-1802 or by email at margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, Glen Resident and @properties Realtor

Only 31 Homes Left at Regency at The Glen

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I have previously written about a new development under construction in The Glen, Regency.  Pulte is the developer of this new Glenview, Illinois neighborhood.   It is located just north of West Lake Avenue and west of Shermer Road.  For golfers it is an ideal location, walking distance to both The Glen Club’s 18 home championship course and Glenview Prairie Club, a 9 hole course + 4 paddle tennis courts.  All homes are short distances from Glen Town Center’s many shops and restaurants, and also to the Glen’s Metra Station.

149 homes are planned in Regency, consisting of 109 townhomes, 38 villas, and 2 single family homes.  The townhomes come in 4 models.  There are two models of villas (duplexes), both with first floor master suites.  I recently sat down with my friends at Pulte, and received these new updates.

Update:  As of today, all villas and single family homes have been sold, though some have not yet been completed.  Only 1 villa is currently for sale (it just came on the market); and it is a re-sale which I have listed.  It is the first villa re-sale in Regency.  The couple who owns this home have lived there for only 9 months, and they have been transferred.

Update:  Of the planned 109 townhomes 78 have been sold.  This is up to the minute news.  While I wasn’t a math major, I’m pretty sure that leaves 31 homes still for sale.  This is important information for anyone interested in maintenance free, new construction, townhome living in The Glen.  This has proven to be a very popular development, so the 31 remaining homes will not be available for long.

For additional information or to tour a Regency home please call me at 847-401-3325 or email me at margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, Resident of The Glen & @properties Realtor

Low Inventory, Fast Sales In Southgate & Tower Crossing

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Southgate is a luxury development in The Glen, Glenview, Illinois with 239 single family homes.  Throughout 2013 there have been very few of these homes for sale at any given point in time.  In fact, last week there were none.  1 home came on the market this week.  It is likely to be under contract soon.

The lack of sellers is the primary reason for low inventory in Southgate, of course, but AVAILABLE inventory is determined not only by how many homes are offered for sale but also by how quickly they are sold.  Well, Southgate single family homes – when they do come on the market – sell so quickly that the cupboard remains bare or nearly so most of the time.  Looking at the 10 non-distressed homes (not bank owned, not short sales) that have either sold this year or are currently under contract, 5 went under contract in 9 days or less.  1 went under contract in 30 days; and the remaining 4 sold within a respectable 2 – 4 months period.  That’s fast, especially when you consider that the average price in 2013 has been over $1.1 million.

I also track the Tower Crossing development closely.  Tower Crossing in The Glen has 154 luxury town homes with 3031 to 4105 sq ft depending on model.  Home prices are typically between $650,000 and around $800,000.  As of mid-July, 17 homes have sold this year or are under contract vs. 11 sold in all of 2012.  Yet it’s been rare this year when more than 3 homes have been for sale at the same time.  Of 4 recent sales that I have made in Tower Crossing, 3 were contracted within a week; and the 4th had offers before the home was listed.

So the luxury home market is alive and well in The Glen.  If you would like to know more about homes in The Glen, please contact Margaret Ludemann, resident of The Glen, @properties Realtor.  847-401-1802.