Home sellers who purchase a Home Warranty for the home being sold offer significant advantages to the eventual buyers.  Purchasing a home with a Home Warranty provides the buyers with "peace of mind" should an unexpected repair to an appliance or major mechanical system be required.  Home Warranties are typically 12 to 13-month policies that protect the homes mechanical systems and appliances.  This can include items from plumbing, electrical or furnaces, up to appliances like a refrigerator or dishwasher.  When a covered item needs repair due to standard use, the policy holder calls in a claim with the warranty company, and a repairperson comes to the home to check the item.  If it is an item covered under the Home Warranty, the item is fixed or replaced.  The policy holder at the time... 12/29/2006

Chicago Market Predictions for 2007 Hope we are all enjoying a great holiday season. I'm back in the loop... at least writing again... barely legible, but writing.Good story written by Mary "Zillow" Umberger titled "A market in need of a push: Home buyers and sellers must break stalemate for sector to move beyond post-boom doldrums", in the Chicago Tribune Business section today. If the link goes dead, Google the story. Balanced, but as usual, a little sarcastic bent to the negative.However, the premise is pretty good and the theory posited has been discussed for the better part of the second half of 2006. Sellers are hanging on to, "that last comparable condo/home sold for this much", attitude and buyers, on the other hand, are looking for the deal of the century. We have short memorie... 12/28/2006

To see the flyer of this gorgeous home in full size, you can download it at:   http://marketing.remaxdesigncenter.com/30590/153359/153359.jpgTo see additional pictures, or to take a visual tour of this property please log on to my website, http://www.BrianOrtizProperties.com and click on my featured property.Price recently updated to $547,000To make an appointment to see this home in person OR to have your home marketed in similar fashion, please contact Brian Ortiz.  Contact information is listed at http://www.brianortizproperties.com/.Brian OrtizA licensed Illinois Realtor with RE/MAX Vision IIProviding an enhanced level of service in Chicago's Real Estate market with my personalized approach. If you are planning to buy or sell a property, let me explain what I can offer as your Realtor. 12/22/2006

Chicago active listings for those areas where you don't have to ask for the price. If your looking for that cozy corner over $10,000,000, this is your spot. And the saying goes, "Close to everything."  Active ListingsList Price Range# ListingsAvg. Days on MktLess than $149,99987139$150,000 - $199,999244128$200,000 - $249,999472142$250,000 - $299,999509151$300,000 - $349,999470179$350,000 - $399,999492185$400,000 - $449,999413181$450,000 - $499,999346156$500,000 - $549,999242151$550,000 - $599,999205152$600,000 - $699,999241165$700,000 - $799,999146179$800,000 - $899,999122255$900,000 - $999,99974260$1,000,000 - $1,499,999236235$1,500,000 - And Over421353  Active Listings SummaryAvg. MTMedian List PriceAvg. List PriceMax. List PriceMin. List PriceTotal Volume186$414,900$661,286$9,995,000... 12/20/2006

 In Chicago, the condo market is slowing.  And developers can feel the heat.  The word is starting to get out about staging, slowly but surely.  They realize the importance of furnishing a vacant single family home or condo, and how the buyer makes a connection with the space that they wouldn't without the furniture and accessories.  More and more, the developers are making the call, and not the realtor.  Staging just one room of a 12-unit condo development can make the difference between a sale and a longer time on the market.  My experience with developers is that in the past, they didn't want to make the move to hire a stager, because of the expense.  Now they see that market time ticking away, and they are ready to try anything to make it happen, even if they truly aren't sure of th... 12/16/2006

This is for information is only the north side of Chicago, no suburbs included. The data is for single family detached and single family attached only. All are active, no contengencies or off markets included.This may indicate why there are over 41,000 agents in my MLS. How does this compare with your market size. Active ListingsList Price Range# ListingsAvg. Days on MktLess than $149,999453144$150,000 - $199,9991377144$200,000 - $249,9991910151$250,000 - $299,9991985160$300,000 - $349,9991842156$350,000 - $399,9991811166$400,000 - $449,9991125167$450,000 - $499,999895146$500,000 - $549,999539173$550,000 - $599,999485161$600,000 - $699,999599181$700,000 - $799,999318180$800,000 - $899,999236205$900,000 - $999,999143237$1,000,000 - $1,499,999415227$1,500,000 - And Over538325  Active List... 12/14/2006

Well I am about to a hit a personal milestone here in the rain. My next post will be #100! And while that may not seem like a lot for some bloggers here in the rain... it is for me. You see prior to joining Active Rain I barely knew what a blog was... let alone write one. (Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?)Anyway, now that I have been a part of all this am I am grateful for all I have learned AND the fun I have had. Yes... FUN! Fun has been for me part of my personal Return-On-Investment for the time I have spent.I hope you have enjoyed what I share. And if what I have to say does not always peak your interest... I hope I have made you smile. You see, I don't think one can ever get too much joy and happiness... no matter where it comes from.Blogs here in the rain can and d... 12/08/2006

I realize the majority of 'Rain' community readers live in more 'bucolic' (a Brian Brady term!) settings than here but I thought I'd give my fellow Realtors around the country a little 'slice of life' peek at the 'Windy City'.  Click on the links to visit our neighborhoods. If you've never been here I think you'll like.A typical Saturday for me goes something like this: First client pick up at 8:45AM in say, the Gold Coast  of Chicago followed immediately by a tour of six or seven properties along Lake Shore Drive to Lincoln Park. With a coffee break or two in between and allowing time in between showings for traffic, parking and tardiness (of the other agents!), I should be done and ready for my second client by 1:00PM, horrible weather notwithstanding. Same scenario for the afternoon... 12/02/2006

  I make mention from time to time when I happen across something worth passing on to the new or 'soon to be new' agent. Yesterday I was having a conversation with another Realtor from another Chicago brokerage when she mentioned how when she first started in the business "it was sink or swim...but mostly sink!" She genuinely felt that it was pure luck that she even made it through her first six months. Her managing broker, she said half jokingly knew less than she did."At least I sold Avon when I was younger," she said. "I'm not sure he ever sold anything."Its been my experience (with some exception, of course) that 'those who can't sell manage, those who can't manage sell, and those who can't manage or sell fail.' It sounds a little corny perhaps but I believe its right on the money. ... 11/28/2006

I read (or at least peruse) on a weekly basis most relevant published articles concerning Chicago Real Estate--both the positive and the not so rosy. I subscribe to a dozen or so RSS feeds that are Real Estate centered and pull from the best independant and syndicated articles in the media. The Nakedrepublic.com is by anyone's measure one of the more pessimistic reporters of Real Estate trends but occasionally even they can't help but let a little bit of sunshine sneak through the crack beneath the door. They have published my postings in the past so I refer back to them on occasion if for no other reason than to protest.Anyway, a recent article there-- pulled from an earlier Chicago Tribune article-- points out the usual market indicators (sales down from last year, etc) but definitely... 11/26/2006

It's no secret how much I admire and am inspired by Oprah. So when I finally watched last week's show on preparing a home for its sale I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. While I applaud the shows desire to help home sellers who currently find themselves emotionally and financially burdened with a house that just won't sell... after watching it I felt the show sent a confusing and incomplete message to home seller's about what it takes to ready a house for its sale in a TOUGH buyer's market. The show chronicled the efforts of Oprah's design guru Nate Berkus as he helped a financially strapped couple, Yosef & Zigi Edmond of Redondo Beach CA, repair and prepare their house. The house was a 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath townhouse listed for $609,999.The show made it clear that in today's marke... 11/25/2006

Overnight averages for a 30 year fixed mortgage dropped to 5.76% in the Chicagoland area. A friend I ran into yesterday at Starbucks in Lincoln Square (yes, the only place open to get coffee on Jillian's and my walk) asked what I thought would happen in the spring market... with sales and mortgage rates.First, it is generally expected that there will be an uptick in real estate transactions. This is a norm for spring statistically and will also reflect those who sat on the sidelines due to the gloom and doom reporting of this year. People wanted to wait and see what was to happen. I think now, with prices stable and good inventory, those looking to buy will make a commitment this spring season. I feel the number of purchases will be smaller than last year's first quarter, but better tha... 11/24/2006

Most days I have lunch with my Broker at this small Chinese restaurant in Lincoln Park. Almost always seated toward the back is this one elderly individual, clearly from China and always reading the same old book with Asian characters on yellowed pages. For no other reason than this he reminds me of my own deceased grandfather who read only one tattered book over and over, Dante's Inferno. I have it on my bookshelf and have no idea (besides the general premise) what it says exactly--its in Italian. And even if it wasn't I get the feeling that it would still be unreadable to me.But I do read. I get The New Yorker every week but I have to be honest--its for the cartoons. The stories--especially the Fiction and Essays--are very engaging but the truth of the matter is I don't live in Manhat... 11/22/2006

I have not been much on posting raw sales statistics for the Chicago area. This is popular with many real estate blogs. I've stayed away from posting the "numbers" because I believe the overall, state wide and city wide sales statistics may have little to do with an individual's situation.Crain's has the a short summary of this season's third quarter sales statistics-showing a 15% decline in overall home sales in Illinois. In Chicago, total sales were down 18%.The overall sales statistics are important, yes. And I should know this when consulting a client. But more, so, I better know the neighborhood and block my client is on. Sales there may be up 15-18%. My client may also have a three bedroom, as oppsed to the glut of two beds. What are they going for? Average market time for a three... 11/21/2006

 Give or a take one or two--and depending on the property type and Buyer circumstance--the following examples listed below are 30 typical stages a Buyer in Chicago must go through--from the initial decision to Purchase until the last box is unloaded from the moving truck--before the deal is really done.  I make sure my clients have this in hand early on in the process for several reasons--not the least important of which is the fact that just because an Offer is written,a Binding Contract is still several steps away. It definitely relieves a little of the 'writer's cramp' that many novice purchasers experience before taking the 'Present the Offer' step. I'm posting this as a piece you can customize and hand to your own clients in your respective markets.  And believe me when I say that ... 11/21/2006

 This is a rewrite of an earlier blog I posted in an earlier sales cycle. I am of the opinion that now is not the time for Chicago Sellers to be "testing" the market. Hovering above correct pricing hoping to "see what happens" only makes for agonizing market time, frustration and interesting fodder for less optimistic writings than this. (Nakedrepublic.com for one) To be sure, there are still hundreds of transactions a week occuring in Chicago.When an overpriced property goes New on the market three things are immediately set into motion. The first one is Market Time. The clock starts ticking on the first day and continues until Expiration, Cancellation or Closing.The second thing is the New property is placed in a category of similar priced properties--many of which are correctly price... 11/20/2006

 Over the past year or so I discovered an interesting Real Estate wrinkle I call "The $800,000 House Phenomenon." I didn't recognize it at first because I think it used to be called "The $600,000 House Phenomenon" but as the housing market changed, so did the phenomenon. And although I personally find it unique to the Northeast Side and North Shores of Chicago, its probably present in every market in any city at some pricepoint or another. It lays out something like this:A client, or more accurately a young couple, decides to buy their first big single family home. If they are North Shore buyers then they have visions of a white, Center Entry Colonial built in the 1940s-50s on a 'Father of the Bride', 'Home Alone' or any John Hughes movie setting type of street. If they wish to reside i... 11/20/2006

This bit of news was just realeased by Crains: New condo sales down again in 3QSales of new condos and townhouses downtown fell 35% to 1,324 in the third quarter compared to the year-earlier period. Sales dropped 11.5% from the second quarter, the second straight quarterly decline, according to a new report by Appraisal Research Counselors. Sales of condos newly converted from apartments or other types of space - a small slice of the market - rose 80%, but sales of new-construction condos dropped 38% from the second quarter. Appraisal Research predicts a record 6,500 new-construction condos will begin marketing this year, compared with 4,700 last year.   11/18/2006

Would you be curious if your neighbors had a Bentley, a Maybach and several other expensive cars sitting in their driveway, while all the other neighbors are driving Buicks, Chevys, or Hondas. I would be.Turns out that the police are working on a big mortgage/real estate scam in the south side of Chicago. And, one of the men involved hid over 2 millions dollars of ill-gotten gains in local banks. According to this morning's paper, he never paid taxes either. Figures.The scam involved selling old, dilapidated properties for inflated prices. The buyers would never be able to pay the mortgage payments and improve the properties as the scam lender lied when doing the loan application.So, now, we still have the problem of these buildings deteriorating at a quicker pace. Eventually, these sca... 11/16/2006

 Buy a home through me or Sell your home through me!  Cruise for two on me! Five days/Four nights to Mexico, the Bahamas or the Western Carribean on Carnival Cruises (and their subsidiaries). Click here for more cruise information on my website as well as my buyer and seller services page. Don't worry I won't be going with you!BahamasWestern Caribbean5 day/4 night Cruise for 2 adultsThe fine print:• Must close on a purchase or sale with me as  your designated agent• You pay for your transportation to port city.• You pay port tax/charges of $198• Travel blackout dates apply but there are over 50 cruise start dates• Yes you can buy additional spots and yes you can upgrade your spotsCall Jim Gramata Broker Associate with Keller Williams Lincoln Park Realty at 773.252.HOME or toll free 866-... 11/09/2006