judyo's Blog: All Categories

In 2005, the average price for a single family Oak Lawn home was $261,581.  Prices increased in 2006 by a little over 5% and they have decreased since.  The average price for Oak Lawn homes in 2009 was $196,518.  I was surprised that the average price went under $200,000. 

The same thing has happened with Oak Lawn condos and townhomes.  The average price for Oak Lawn condos in 2005 was $134,344.  In 2009 they were $113,013.  The prices followed the path of single family homes in Oak Lawn.  Condo prices took a bit higher than 7% increase in 2006 and have been decreasing since.

The good news is that there was one increase in stats from 2008 to 2009.  There was a 16.8% increase in amount of single family homes sold.  Condo sales didn't fare as well, the…

I recently posted about selling my own Oak Lawn home - click here.  We're still not quite ready and are trying to tackle one room at a time.  I should have taken before and after pictures, especially of our brand new beautiful bathroom.  It turned out so great that I almost didn't want to move after all!

But it still remains that we need more space.  So we have to continue with our plan to move.  And I'm loving how things are turning out.

We planned on being on market by now but things don't always turn out how planned.  We want everything perfect before we list and are at least getting closer.

We organized the upper level in our garage but still need to sweep it out and spiff it up.  It's just too cold to work in there right now.

My son's bedroom has…

I have written quite a few offers on foreclosure properties lately.  My buyers have closed on some of them.  I am learning how the different reo brokerages work.  Some communicate but are nasty and curt.  Some only communicate via e-mail and never answer the phone.  Some are actually helpful and it's a pleasure (and surprise) to work with them.  I wish they were all like that!

And then there are those who don't respond at all.  I submitted a cash offer last week on an Oak Lawn home and figured since the listing was with a Coldwell Banker agent I'd get some communication.  After 4 attempts to see if my offer was received, I checked again today and the property was sold.  Not one call or e-mail response.

Can we please have the signed contract? 

I had…

I wrote a blog post about the Lockport townhome seller I sometimes wanted to fire, but didn't.  He was tough to handle.  He told me he used to be a real estate agent but upon many talks with him he also said something about being an appraiser.  I'm not sure what he used to be.

He was loud and seemed to know the market better than I did, no matter how much factual data I sent him.  He did not believe we were truly in a recession.  I quickly learned how to talk to him (you had to agree most of the time but be firm when necessary).

While holding strong to his price for quite some time, he finally realized he had to start reducing.  There were showings but no offers.  At least he started lowering his price after holding out for so long.

I realized when he…

Now I've heard it all!  I have a cash buyer that wants to view an Oak Lawn home for sale today although the foreclosure-only listing office is closed (today is Sunday) so I can't get the lockbox combo.  He isn't going to be too happy when I tell him that even as a cash buyer his offer will need to be accompanied by a pre-approval from a specific mortgage broker.

WHY???????  Who is benefitting from this?  I've got updated proof of funds - why a pre-approval?

OK, I've had supposed cash offers when they were really home equity lines of credit.  I get that not all cash offers might be good without proof of funds.  I understand that what is showing on last month's statement might not be what is actually in the bank right now.  But is a quick pre-qual going to…

When my husband and I drove up to our current house during our house hunting phase 7 years ago we both knew this was the one.  I love old houses and although this is certainly not a landmark (it was built in the 1940's), it has a lot of charming features.  The wood walk-in pantry sealed the deal and we were up against another buyer so had to offer full price plus waive my portion of the commission. 

When we got married my youngest son was still living with me and my daughter lost her roommate and couldn't afford to rent the nice house she was in on her own.  She also had a new baby and couldn't handle it all so asked if she could move back home - after 11 years on her own!  Hubby and I talked it over and said yes. 

Our Beloved Home Fits Us Like OJ's…

Last month my husband and I joined my sister-in-law for her birthday trip where she rented a villa in Biot, France for 3 weeks (we went for the last week).  Not really knowing my France geography very well, it took a day or two to realize that where we were in the south of France was actually the French Riviera.  I just thought we'd be out in the country somewhere in the "south of France."

I love watching International House Hunters to see those European buyers (many from out of the country) and what they accept in some of these very old homes.  Many Europeans that want an historic home expect to find crumbling stone structures and relics of the past such as original stone wash basins found in one old property (for washing clothes). 

Some of the For…

There's a first time for everything.  I had a pre-approved conventional (10% down) buyer who had the best offer on a forclosed Oak Lawn home out of 8 offers.  She really wanted the home and was quite happy. 

As the financing process progressed, we needed to ask for an extension because the file was in underwriting for a very long time.  My buyer was no longer happy, even when I explained the ever-changing mortgage rules and regulations.  In fact, she blamed everything on the loan officer.

Thank goodness the buyer's attorney struck up a good rapport with the foreclosure seller's attorney since we needed an extension and it was granted without any fees.  Then the bad news hit.

The PMI company did not approve the financing because they had just changed…