Lakefront Living in Chicago

Check out this new property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 1B 18206 Hart Drive in Homewood.

Check out this new Condo property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 4F 1325 N State Parkway in Chicago. This Condo property has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. My clients will be closing on this at the end of June, 2009. It needs work but they love the size and location!.

My Friends at the Pet Realty Network just posted a Blog as a tribute to my Great Dane Esau who just died. When I first got him, everyone said that Great Danes are heartbreak dogs because of their short life expectancy.

Well I had him seven years and it was a joy. I absolutely love Great Danes and still have Wendy the rescue. She and Sandy (rescued from a neighbor) keep me laughing although my heart has not healed yet from my loss.

Thank you Rhona at the Pet Realty Network for understanding how important our pets are to us. They keep us human and act better than us most of the time!

Read a little about Esau here.

Should a buyer consider purchasing a home that is a Short Sale or Foreclosure in the Luxury Market? YES!

There are definite opportunities for buyers to get below market pricing in the Luxury Home Market. If you have the patience to wait for the Lender’s approval which could take weeks and even months; you can get a fabulous property at well below market. The main considerations are: Do you have the temperament for waiting and not knowing if your offer has been accepted or do you have to move on a certain date and need to know today that the price the seller accepted is going to be the final sale price?

Can a seller get out from under water by selling short in the Luxury Market? ABSOLUTELY!

Sellers who find themselves owing more than their home is worth and who cannot negotiate with the mortgage holder to lower payments may want to consider selling short.  If your home has been on the market a long time with no showings and the list price is not supported by the current market, it may be time to consider selling short. When my sellers have to sell; I do the appropriate research and sometimes recommend selling short. In most cases, it has been preferable to letting the home go into foreclosure.

During my career in real estate; I have successfully closed on both Short Sales and Foreclosed properties. In each case both the buyer and seller had to exercise the utmost patience. Critical to a successful sale is an experienced Short Sale Attorney on the Seller side of the transaction. We work together to build the best case for the lender to accept our offer.

One of my current listings is a Short Sale. The property is in an excellent location on the Near West Side; only 2 miles from the Loop; needs a lot of work; is surrounded by new properties selling at $350,000+; and is listed at only $150,000. 2241 West Adams is a diamond in the rough and will be an excellent purchase for someone willing to do the work.

For more information on this property, please visit 2241 West Adams.

Interested in Buying or Selling Short Sales or Foreclosures?

Shoot me a note at Linda@LakefrontLivingInChicago.com or call me at Rubloff - 312-264-5852

I just read an excellent article in WIRED Magazine on what some experts suggest as a way to keep what happened to the economy from happening again.

The Road Map for Recovery says “The financial world doesn’t need new regulations. It needs radical transparency. Make companies report results in easy to understand, easy to crunch numbers - and let investors do the rest.” This article by Daniel Roth has some of the best thinking and commentary I have seen.

I love the idea of everyone being a regulator by knowing exactly what’s going on with public companies. The stock market and Wall Street should not be this mysterious, closed group that only they understand. (I also think we should start teaching basic economics in elementary schools.)

From the article: “if we enable a system in which everyone is a regulator, there just might be enough eyes, enough checks and balances, enough promising DIY economists out there to make sure the financial world doesn’t innovate the real world into depression ever again. Brandeis argued that electric lights were the best police force. Now it’s time to give everyone a flashlight.”

You can read the whole article on-line at WIRED.com

In a nutshell:

1. Set the data free - Today, public companies and financial institutions disclose their activities in endless documents stuffed with figures and stats. Instead, they should be forced to file using universal tags that make the data easy to explore.

2. Empower all investors - Once every company’s data carries identical tags, anyone can manipulate the numbers to compare performance. And they can see details of every financial instrument - not just balance sheets and income statements.

3. Create an army of citizen-regulators - By giving everyone access to every piece of data-and making it easy to crunch-we can crowdsource regulation, creating a self-correcting financial system and unlocking new ways of measuring the market’s health.

The bottom line of all this to me is to tell the truth! How about this, if we each start telling the truth in life. If you do that, we will all be better off. I know I am probably dreaming but I can still dream!

Linda

My father raised us in houses which he owned and I didn’t realize how Blessed I was until becoming a full time Realtor. I absolutely love helping people sell and buy their homes. It is so wonderful to feel that I’ve made a significant difference in people’s lives.

I recently had the opportunity to visit one of my first-time home buyers and after the grand tour of showing me the now decorated home; I asked her what she liked about owning a home, her home and the neighborhood. What she told me reminded me of my childhood.

This is what she shared:

She loves the house and making it a home. She loves looking out all the windows.

The block they live on is quiet with not a lot of foot traffic. The neighbors are friendly and helpful - they look out for each other. She knows who lives on the block and the Block Club is active. The kids are quiet, respectful and considerate.

She loves taking walks and does them frequently - even in the winter which she loves (God Bless Her, I am ready for Spring).

She never lived in a home of her own growing up. They moved a lot and lived in apartments most of her life. Now, she is so happy to have this stability for her children. They enjoy having a home they can have friends visit and her husband’s friends like to hang out in the garage to watch games together (I think this is a “man” thing).

—

You would think the way she talks about her neighborhood and home that she is in a suburb or small town. We hear so much bad news all the time about Chicago. No, my clients and their children live in the heart of the city. Re-confirming that it is still possible to find wonderful neighborhoods with friendly neighbors in the city of Chicago.

If you know anyone who hasn’t discovered the joy of home ownership, please have them call me, I promise to treat them with the utmost care, courtesy and professionalism. All the best! Linda Lamb 312-264-5852

Please visit my website for special reports for both Buyers and Sellers. www.LakefrontLivingInChicago.com

As the Spring Real Estate Market begins and we highly anticipate the impact on real estate from the Stimulus Package; I thought it would benefit my readers to know how the real estate market along Chicago’s Lakefront changed from year end 2007 and 2008.

Everyone knows that we are in a strong Buyer’s Market. The difference between this one and the others is the people who normally take advantage of the lowered prices are hesitating. A few savvy investors are getting the bargains of their lives!

It is possible to purchase a one-bedroom Gold Coast condo on Lake Shore Drive for less than $200,000; now is the time to buy! Real Estate will continue to be one of the best investments over time.

This chart does not include every community and as you can see, it is not as bad as the media would have you believe. So stop watching CNN (Continuously Negative News) and start your search for that Dream Home or Investment property. It’s a Buyer’s Market after all and that means it’s a GREAT TIME TO BUY! I also have a few excellent lenders who would love to help you.

For information on these or other Chicago communities; you can search my website www.LakefrontLivingInChicago.com or call me at my Rubloff direct line 312-264-5852.