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I was very happy to see that Morgan was putting on another REW Summit this year. After attending last year's gathering I couldn't wait for the next one. I originally planned to go without thinking twice about it. However, I had hoped my husband could go on the trip with me and that we could spend a day or two in Seattle and at least one day in Victoria. But my husband has a heavy schedule with his band in the summer and told me I'd have to go without him. So I wasn't sure if I wanted to do th... Read Full Post

A highly respected tribe leader that had settled in Indiana was upset over a competing tribe member advertising his caves for sale. He brought his grievance up with his local higher powers named MIBOR. MIBOR wasn't sure how to interpret these ancient scrolls and they contacted the highest powers that be called NAR. Together, they reviewed these ancient scrolls to come to an agreed upon interpretation. Even though the complaining tribe leader had signed an agreement of reciprocity, he did not ... Read Full Post

Palos Park, IL is one of the highest priced southwest suburbs and is a very desirable place to live. The average price for a Palos Park home for sale in 2008 was $543,485. It was started as an artist's community many years ago and offers a rural feel that is still close to downtown Chicago. In fact, you can jump on the Metra train that has a stop in this prestigious village. I showed a very unique home yesterday that looked cute in the MLS print-out. I was excited to see it myself. The age is... Read Full Post

OK, I'm finally calming down after taking a break to watch the end of Judge Judy and eat a Fiber One version of a Pop Tart. Ahhh, my blood pressure is coming down. I was driving this afternoon for what seemed like hours, and I suppose it was close to it - well, at least more than an hour. I sold a foreclosure located much closer to my home than the listing office. But I had to hand deliver the earnest money and originals of the contract and the addendums. I did not have time to Fed Ex them be... Read Full Post

I've had a seller for quite some time that finally got an offer on his Lockport townhouse for sale. The original offer was within $10,000 of his new, lower list price. Not bad in today's market. But I couldn't get him to budge from his asking price. After much chiding from the buyer's agent, I kept my cool and told him that my seller feels he can get full price, maybe not today, but soon. The agent came back with an offer only $5,000 off list price. My seller would still not budge. My seller ... Read Full Post

My real estate partner meets a lot of people due to her bartending job in Orland Park, IL. She met a guy a while back that was having a beer because his wife was shopping in the nearby Orland Park mall. My partner, a friend I met in 6th grade, has a way with words and has no shame to admit she is a REALTOR and a bartender. She owned a couple of her own bars but sold her last one a couple years ago and went back into real estate. Another REALTOR friend is part-owner of a popular restaurant/lou... Read Full Post

I have passed up more listings in the past year than I have the entire 26 years I've been in the business, and it's leaving me questioning if maybe I should take a break with my current listing system. I just returned home from a listing presentation for an Oak Forest condominium for sale that was an expired listing but these sellers cannot afford to sell right now. I get listing appointments from people finding my websites, referrals and past clients. I also send out a postcard program to ex... Read Full Post

It's that time to go through statistics for 2008. Actually, I guess I'm a little late, but with the many towns I work in it takes a while to get all the stats updated. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my hometown of Oak Lawn, Illinois, held up better than I would have thought. Yes, everything is down, but as far as price, I expected a bigger decrease. Single Family Oak Lawn homes only decreased in amount of sales by 11.6% and by average sales price 11.9%. With all the doom and gloom goi... Read Full Post

Thanks to my friends here at REW, my husband and I bought a condo in Scottsdale, AZ over the New Year holiday. My husband, a musician, had a New Year's Eve gig at Maggiano's in Scottsdale with a friend of his. We had been talking about purchasing a condo but this gig made us do more than just talk about it. I had a little buyer's remorse at one point (read about it here). But just prior to our trip I started getting really excited figuring out which properties I wanted to see. And like any ea... Read Full Post

I've had this problem many times over the years and I hate when I see on listing instructions that the agent needs to set the appointment. They rarely answer their cell phones and you have to leave a voice mail. And some don't respond. I'm just shocked that in this market some agents don't respond in a timely manner to set appointments. I had a request to show one property a prospect found on my new custom REW IDX. I found out when the buyer wanted to view the property and went to set the app... Read Full Post