Chicago Open Houses – Weekend House Hunting Fun
Aaaaahhhhh!!!! Runs screaming from the open house...
Even though we are still feeling the affect of the recession, Chicago open houses are on my calendar this weekend. My husband and I have decided that its time to find a house to settle down in and move from our small 2 br townhouse. We spend a lot of evenings searching through hundreds of real estate listings in the Chicago area to find a diamond in the rough. (and there is a lot of rough!) We probably look at more homes online than most people because the area we are searching to buy in is pretty large. (most of the western suburbs) We also end up rejecting a lot of homes for a lot of reasons that are probably pretty common in this economy.
Something’s gotta give though, and the economy isn’t going to move forward until all of the people like us (with a 20% down payment ready to go) are able to get past at least one of these barriers and buy a house sometime soon. If you are trying to sell your home these things we’re running up against may provide some insight into why your home isn’t selling yet.
1. Not close enough to the METRA train. Parking is notoriously difficult to get in most west suburban metra stations (like 7 year waiting list long) so a lot of pressure is put on the homes within walking distance to the train, and not just the tracks, the station itself. Homes with 4 bedrooms or more within 6 blocks of the Naperville train station go for $600,000 to $1.5 million. Sometimes I wonder why we even try to find a house in these areas… What is less than that is usually painfully small, painfully out of date or demolished or earmarked for demolition so a McMansion can be built for some rich executive that needs to travel downtown every day.
If we only had the skills of these guys...
2. Kitchens/Baths not recently updated and we’re not Bob Vila or Norm Abrams. (we wish we were though) We can update some things, but a full house rehab is not our cup of tea. We’re going on 2 months on a simple Vanity/Paint/Sink bathroom remodel at home now. We also aren’t Richy-Rich enough to afford someone else doing the renovation either. I think if one room needs an overhaul that is ok, if the entire house needs it, the house gets rejected. (about 90% of what I see online is in this category) Everyone knows that once you have kids you won’t ever have any money to renovate again, so it’s either included when you buy the house or it never happens and you have a lifetime of relatives trying to politely avoid Christmas Eve invitations. This is why there is so much pressure to get a recently updated house. Just watch HGTV’s suite of 12 million shows on how to quickly and cheaply update and stage a home to sell. They’re actually very good at it. Just don’t believe how fast its done in. That part is not true. (and a test: if your kitchen cabinets have hinges on the outside of the door that are visible OR have an oak strip across the bottom of a white laminate cabinet door, you need to get them replaced or refaced before selling. And Advice: all wood tones go out of style within a few years, get white instead! Likewise, if you have flourescent tube lights in the celing with a fake window pane cover, they need to go now!)
3. Pre-Recession home pricing. I have switched from using Realtor.com’s site listings to using Redfin.com. There you can see the past sale history of the home you are looking at if it is publicly available. (it usually is if its been sold within the last 15 years) If we see that the home was purchased at the top of the real estate bubble in 2006-2007 and they want the same price for it now, no-way-Jose. The entire Chicagoland metropolitan area has declined in value about 20% from then and the people who price accordingly are the ones selling. If your home is not updated, take off the mandatory 20% plus the cost of renovating the rooms that need it. I had to sell my condo at 20% less than the value, how can I go pay a premium for someone else’s home?
The holy grail of kitchens, celing height cabinets, lots of storage, an island and white cabinets!!!
4. Its already contingent on a sale. You would be surprised how fast a home sells if it’s had the kitchens/baths recently updated (within the last 10 years) and its price is about 20% lower than the peak. Maybe a week and its sold. So if your goal is to move out of town and loose that mortgage payment to start your new job and life somewhere else, this is how to do it. And by recently updated we don’t mean super fancy, just nice basic stuff is way better than a 1972 kitchen. (and there are surprisingly still thousands of 1972, 1961 and 1985 kitchens out there. It’s been a trend lately that as soon as we find a house that has dropped the price with the market and it looks like its in good working shape, it’s contingent. One loophole we are hopeful about is possibly finding Foreclosed Homes or Short Sales. We know some are in bad shape, but a lot of the homes being foreclosed on are recently renovated or built when the bubble was high and are still in nice shape. One thing that makes this difficult is the length of time it takes to close with the bank that owns them.
5. Near water and/or has a pool. (hot tubs are not great either, and why on earth do you have a professional Bowling Alley in your basement of a 4 bedroom ranch?) I am not a swimmer so pools, lakes, rivers, retention ponds, hot tubs and bowling alley’s scare me. Ok not the last one. I just don’t have extra cash to maintain these water works (waterfalls in the backyard are also a bad idea, difficult to maintain) so remove them if possible. Plus, who wants to sit in a Hot Tub where the last owners got-it-on anyway???
6. Sometimes the home has been discounted but the Property Taxes are still too high. This is difficult because some homes are discounted heavily and the taxes are almost as much as the mortgage payment from 2007 levels. No county or town is going to lower them without a serious fight either. They are short on budgets and cash also. So, these usually are excluded too. If you can re-negotiate your property taxes before you sell this will be a huge help to getting it sold faster.
So, I will not be spending my weekend frolicking in the leaves at Morton Arboretum where I would like to be. It is very likely we will be walking through open homes for sale and trying to find one that is affordable, nice and in a good location, but judging from the last month or so it may be a while…
I just wanted to share the list of streets closed for this weekend’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon in the city. If you live downtown or up north in Chicago, beware of parking bans and getting your car towed tonight also in addition to these streets that will be inaccessible. Most streets re-open on Sunday afternoon when the race is over, but some streets take longer to clear and won’t be open again until Monday morning. If you are viewing/cheering the Chicago Marathon, take public transportation downtown. If you live in the area, I recommend staying in for the weekend, or using public transit. Driving will be difficult. But then again its just once a year.
The Tony Award Winning Musical Theater Show Jersey Boys will be leaving Chicago and the LaSalle Bank Theater in 2010. The last block of tickets are on sale now for the first week in January, and selling quickly. I can’t stress enough that if you have not seen this musical, you should soon because there is nothing else like it. The true behind the scenes story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons is more dramatic than anything someone could write and the amazing songs tell a lot of the story.
Have you been thinking of some home improvement projects but are afraid to spend the money in the current economy? Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency Products can help. It is scary not knowing if all our jobs will be around in 6 months, but if you have some savings to use for these projects and really need new windows, doors, more efficient electric appliances, new attic insulation or a new furnace or air conditioner there are some Tax Credits that may help you save 30% more than you can get discounted at the store. 
Product Category Product Type Tax Credit Specification
Eddie Izzard just announced that he will be back in Chicago performing his Stripped 2 The Big Intimacy Standup Comedy Tour to a larger crowd than ever at the United Center on January 8th 2010. The tickets go on pre-sale this morning Sept 14th at 10 am through Ticketmaster with the code Bees. Otherwise there are general tickets available to the public starting on Sept 21st at 10 am. The Eddie Izzard show tickets are be between $45-$75 each .
Eddie Izzard’s fans feel close to him because in many ways his comedy is quite personal. Many of us have had a revelation or two after seeing his comedy and his positive attitude has inspired many people to take on their daily lives with a new appreciation for the humor and irony rather than the monotony and unfairness of it. Eddie Izzard has also produced a couple documentaries about himself as he was gaining popularity and touring the US and UK in the 1990’s. These behind the scenes short films give you a feeling that he is just a regular guy you might know down the block and you route for him to succeed. He also has been nice enough to do meet and greets and autograph signings after many small shows over the years and many people know him to be a pretty nice guy. So, those are some of the reasons that his fans are so loyal and you should go see his show. If you have never seen the comedy genius of Mr Izzard, go buy the DVDs on Amazon or rent them from Netflix and I will see ya at the show when we’re freezing our arses off in January. 
The Chicago Gourmet Festival 2009 is going to be a huge foodie event in Chicago. On Saturday September 26th and Sunday September 27th in Millennium Park (age 21 and up because there is a lot of wine!) there will be many opportunities to revel in being a foodie and try out new wines with some of the top gourmet food in Chicago. (see schedule below) This is the ultimate event for someone who really likes to be on the cutting edge for cooking/entertaining with friends and wants to learn from the expert presentations. The Chicago Gourmet Festival does get crowded though and sometimes there is more wine than food, which is not always a good combination.
The Chicago International Film Festival is a little event run by a few people on a shoestring budget but it packs a big punch. Somehow, the Chicago International Film Festival manages to get access to the latest independent films and often times show the award winners that year before they have gone mainstream. This year the Chicago International Film Festival has done it again, they have found some really interesting unique films that may not be shown in Chicago otherwise and are presenting them October 8th through the 21st, 2009.
Steve Martinis a man of many talents. We all love his comedy and stand-up, we have all seen his dramatic talents and now he has branched out in another creative direction. Bluegrass Banjo Music. Steve Martin is going to be playing with his band for one show at the Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago on October 22, 2009. Its a nice way to spend a fall evening with some relaxing yet peppy music.
It’s August and all the stores in Chicago would like a share of your pocketbook this season in back to school supplies, clothes, shoes and college dorm necessities. Some have great sales starting already, other stores will start the back to school sales in Chicago this week. Most kids start school in a few weeks and want new backpacks, lunchboxes, supplies and of course jeans, gym shoes and stylish accessories. Kids don’t care very much about whether there is a back to school sale running or not, but they do need some new stuff.
2. Look for the back to school sales. You need to look around at all the sales to get a feel for the best prices. The best way to do this is to research online first, but beware some stores can charge different prices for items online than they do in the store. Look for fliers online to check store prices before you drive all over town. Target, Walmart and most department stores like Carson’s and Macy’slist the flyer online in image format to view. Getting the Sunday paper is also a good deal this year because those back to school sale flyers are delivered to your doorstep. Many office supply stores have school supplies on sale, check Office Max and Office Depot and Staples flyers.
The 2009 Chicago Bears have started the preseason games already and it isn’t long until the regular Football season is in full swing. Whether you are a casual fan or a dedicated fantasy football die hard who also attends home games at Soldier Field, you will want to know where to find the scheduled games on TV in Chicago. Most of the Chicago Bears Games in 2009 will be broadcast locally on WFLD Fox Channel 32 in Chicago or NBC Channel 5. A few are on the NFL network and also ESPN. Those are on channels cable and will be different depending on your cable provider. One thing is for sure, this year the 2009 Chicago Bears have a lot of hope for a great football season because they have Jay Cutler as the new quarterback this year. All times below are listed in Chicago time CST.