judyo's Blog: All Categories

I just gave a referral away that came to my website.  Why?  It was a couple looking for a rental.  There's not much commission money in rentals and I wanted this couple to be taken care of.  But they were looking in an area I don't work in, even though it is in the large MLS I am a member of. 

Sure, I could use the business but I'm sticking to my guns of how much travel time I'm willing to take, especially wth today's gas prices.  And I doubt these renters will find what they want in one trip.  In fact, they only gave me one address to view so I think this is just the beginning of their search.

I get a lot of out-of-area leads from my website, both buyers and sellers.  I've passed some of them on, mostly for a referral fee, but sometimes I just pass on…

The real estate market in the Midwest isn't supposed to have been affecteed as dramatically as places like the West Coast and fast growing areas like Las Vegas.  Yet as far as I'm concerned the southwest suburbs of Chicago have really taken a dive.

Prices continue to drop and there is minimal activity, especially in comparison to the amount of available inventory.  I am working with two sellers of real estate in orland park illinois that have already purchased properties. 

The first couple seem to understand the current market a little better but since they've found a property recently they are  getting desperate, or maybe I should say more realistic.  Unfortunately, they had two offers that they turned down in the past.  Because they found a home they…

I hate lugging things around.  I used to carry a tiny little purse that looked more like a wallet with a cord on it.  I shopped around for the lightest briefcase I could find (made out of some kind of microfiber).  And I was so excited when I got my 12" screen Toshiba laptop.

Compared to my Dell Inspiron it felt so light and seemed so compact.  I thought it would be the perfect travel laptop.  That is, until I carried it in my laptop backpack on a flight.  OK, there were some magazines and other stuff in the backpack, but suddenly that little laptop didn't feel so little anymore.

So I went on a quest to find a tiny laptop that was less than $2,000.  To make a long story short, I am now the proud owner of the first couple hundred (if that many) MSI Winds…

The sad story of ePerks suing Vlad Zablotskyy of Go-Beyond-MLS.com is growing throughout the Internet.  Vlad, a real estate blogger, was one of ePerks many paid reviewers.  Vlad gave them a positive review but his blog started receiving negative comments from real estate agents that felt they were burned by ePerks. 

After reading these comments and doing a little research, Vlad posted another review asking if "ePerks was a gem or a scam?" More comments came his way, many from the same ip.  Seemed like those were positive messages and it is assumed that these posts were from ePerks employees.

To make a long story short, ePerks sent Vlad a cease and desist letter and requested that he remove all negative comments.  In fact, they also asked him to remove…

For those of you that would love having the opportunity to get a REW website package including your template of choice, core IDX and free lifetime hosting valued in excess of $5,000, the raffle has just been extended to July 1st.  Tickets are $35.00 for one chance and 4 for $100.00. 

If you're blogging on REW you probably already know how great and beautiful these websites are.  They are search engine friendly and you are allowed your choice of colors and more.  If you don't have a website yet this is your chance to start at the top!

But if you already have a website, even a REW website, try for another one.  I have multiple sites - more general and niche sites.  Do you work in more than one major town (I work in many)?  Create a site for condos if…

I finally found a home for a pair of first-time buyers that took their time (they lost two homes they liked by waiting too long to make their offer - I wrote another post about this) until they finally purchased real estate in Tinley Park.  It was a very nice single family residence and in my opinion the nicest house they saw. 

We had the home inspection and I was very happy with the inspector we had.  He explained things very clearly and did not scare my buyer.  He explained maintenance and kept repeating what a nice house it was.  He did find two problems that the buyer asked the seller to repair.  I just found out today that the seller agreed to the repairs and everything is going forward.

However, during a phone conversation with my buyer after the…

The market is finally picking up in the southwest Chicago suburbs.  I'm seeing more homes going under contract after buyers ask me to set appointments based on listings they received from me from their automated e-mail search or properties they've found on the Internet or from a For Sale sign. 

I've been working with some buyers that have taken their time viewing all of the inventory in their price range and areas of choice.  One couple finally narrowed their choice down to two listings.  When I went to set an appointment on the first home I saw it was sold.  Their second choice was Orland Park IL real estate and my appointment was confirmed.  However, I got a call from the listing agent telling me that there was an accepted contract and they were waiting…

In all the years I've been a REALTOR I don't remember having such a difficult time finding comparable listings when preparing a Comparative Market Analysis or CMA.  I've always used the same parameters such as area, style of home, bedrooms, baths, etc. and have gone back six months, which is how appraisers prepare their appraisals.

There has been so little activity in most areas of the Chicago suburbs that I'm having to go back 12 months and sometimes even longer to find comparable sold and closed listings.  Yet this information is not very accurate as prices continue to drop in most suburbs of Chicago.  No wonder we're still seeing overpriced properties in today's Seller's Market.

It makes it difficult to offer a good market value for today's sellers…