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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 pric... Read Full Post

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 alway... Read Full Post

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... Read Full Post

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 t... Read Full Post

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 ... Read Full Post

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 an... Read Full Post

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) an... Read Full Post

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 go... Read Full Post

Active Rain is currently giving away points (it was posted that 1000 points would be given for every hyper-local content post made - up to 7000 points - 1 post a day for the next 7 days). I still post on AR (although I stopped paying attention to points a long time ago) and try to post on both REW and AR as much as I can (I have a list of all of my blogs and go down the list for each post to make sure they're evened out). Sometimes it comes to once a week, sometimes less. I Wrote a Post That ... Read Full Post

I'm saying that a lot lately. It's sad watching the sellers' faces fall as I show them the reality of today's market. Just yesterday I had to tell a senior woman whose family wants her to sell (because they fear for her safety in the town she lives in) that her house is probably worth around what she paid for it many, many years ago. I could see the tears forming in her daughter's eyes and had to listen to the outrage of her son (not aimed at me personally, thank goodness). The home owner had... Read Full Post