Buying or Selling a home in the Fall or Winter

If you're buying or selling a home and the end of the spring-summer real estate season is stressing you out, relax.  Even though real estate sales do fall off at the end of warm weather, there's still plenty of buying and selling coming this fall and winter.

Remember, sales volume is not your problem. The only house you care about is the one you're selling or hoping to buy. What's more, many home buyers and sellers are bucking the seasonal nature of residential real estate. They're finding that buying or selling Evanston houses in the fall and winter months has many advantages -- not the least of which are the gorgeous fall leaf colors and holiday decorations that showcase many homes to their fullest potential

No matter which side of the transaction you're on, you can make the off-season work to your advantage. Here's why:

Sellers

• Buyers are motivated. Many off-season Evanston buyers are more serious than some among the horde who descend like locusts on open houses in the spring. After all, there's a reason they didn't buy during the peak season. Perhaps they didn't have enough for a down payment or couldn't get financed. The fact that they've entered the market in a downtime might be very meaningful
• There is a Second Season.  While sales definitely fall of in the early fall, they usually escalate again in October in many area.
• Cyber Sales.  The expansion of the internet and the numbers of people who use it have added a significant off-season dimension to Evanston real estate stales.  Potential Evanston buyers now find Evanton properties for sale in the comfort of their home through a vast array of Websites, such as www.TheThomasTeamOnline.com.  Virtual tours can take them into homes an they can preview neighborhoods, schools and city information before venturing our.
• Hindsight.  When you put up a home for sale in the fall or winter, you have the advantage of hindsight.  You and your agent can review which homes sold quickly in your area during the warm-weather "peak season."  This gives you the chance to adjust your price and terms accordingly and to make your home more marketable.

Buyers

• There's Less Competition. How many times did that darling Evanton house you had your eye on in May get bought out from under you while you and your spouse talked over making an offer the very next day.  Sellers are often pressured. Motivation is critical in any real estate situation. Find out how long the house has been on the market. If it's been hanging around awhile, there's a good chance the seller is getting antsy. Sellers frequently drop their price -- especially as Christmas draws near -- giving buyers lower down payments and closing costs. If it went on the market after the peak season ended, the seller may have a pressing reason to sell, such as a job transfer, financial problems, divorce or illness to name just a few.
• Tax Considerations. When you buy a new home before the end of the year, you'll be able to report items such as mortgage interest, points, closing costs, property taxes and more on your tax return.
•  Interest Rates. If you're ready to buy, waiting until next spring can spell disaster. Many experts think we've seen the end of record-low interest rates and that mortgage rates will only go up from here
•  Beating Price Hikes. As high as the Evanston home prices may seem to you now, chances are they'll only be higher when a new real estate season starts in March.

As Evanston Real Estate agents, The Thomas Team, we hope these tips are useful as you consider buying or selling a home in Evanston. Our goal is to provide you with current real estate information and tips as you enter the Evanston Real Estate market.

If you are ready to begin the process or still have a few more questions; please contact us! We’re here to help in any way we can and we look forward to working with you!

The Thomas Team

@Properties

Chicago's #1 Real Estate Brokerage

Chicago & North Shore Real Estate

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House Prices: Window of Opportunity Beginning to Close

There have been conflicting opinions as to where housing prices are headed. We want to give our opinion on this subject for the short term. We believe Evanston sellers have a window of opportunity for the next 90-120 days in which to sell their homes for maximum price. We believe there will be increased downward pressure on Evanston home prices throughout the rest of the year.

Why renewed downward pressure?

Any item’s price is determined by ‘supply and demand’.  In Evanston, existing housing inventory has dropped to historic norms in the last few months. However, an inventory of distressed properties, (foreclosures and short sales), have been coming to the Evanston market this year and will increase going into 2013. This inventory has been delayed for over a year as the Federal and state governments crafted an agreement with the five largest banks and mortgage servicers to establish a roadmap for how a foreclosure must be properly completed. That agreement, the National Mortgage Settlement, was earlier this year.

What Impact Will the Agreement Have on Foreclosures?

Brandon Moore, chief executive of RealtyTrac, explains:
“The settlement sets forth clear guidelines for lenders and servicers to follow when foreclosing, which should allow them to push through some of the delayed foreclosures from last year.”

How Many Foreclosures Could We Be Talking About?
Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities tells us:
“The settlement helps the housing market in the long run because it allows banks to proceed with millions of foreclosures that have been stalled.”

What will this mean to Evanston home prices?
Distresses properties such as foreclosures and short sales are currently at 7% of the total Evanston market. As more of this inventory comes to market, it will impact Evanston home prices in two ways:
   1. It will bring to market discounted competition for buyers
   2. It will impact the appraisal values of all homes in the area

Bottom Line
There is a window of opportunity currently which Evanston sellers should take advantage of. Waiting until later this year will not guarantee a higher sales price. If anything, in many areas, it probably guarantees the exact opposite.

Selling your Evanston home can seem like a daunting process, but we’re here to answer any questions you have about selling your home. Your home selling experience should be one that leaves you feeling satisfied. Be sure to contact us today so we can put our expertise in the Evanston Real Estate market to work for you!

*Information taken from the KCM Blog

The Thomas Team
@ Properties

Chicago's #1 Real Estate Brokerage

Chicago & North Shore Real Estate
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Top 10 Red Flags for Evanston Homebuyers

Sellers don't always disclose the whole truth to potential homebuyers, especially if they're eager to sell (or "motivated" in real estate lingo). But you can't afford to get a professional inspection of every house you tour. So before you spring for the pro, you and your Evanston Real Estate agent should narrow down your choices by doing your own pre-inspection to spot potential problems.

1.      Mass Exodus From the Neighborhood
Don't let a home's curb appeal keep you from glancing down the street. Are there several other homes for sale? Are nearby businesses boarded up or vandalized? Get the scoop from the neighbors and your Evanston agent. If everyone else wants to leave the street, maybe you should, too. Just do it before you're stuck with a bad investment.

2.      Mediocre Maintenance
Three layers of roofing and gutters with plants growing in them are signs the owners aren't big on maintaining their home. What else did they neglect?  More telltale signs of poor maintenance are overgrown lawns with weeds, cracked peeling or dirty painted surfaces, makeshift wiring or plumbing or broken fixtures and appliances.

3.      Foundation Failures
Check out the yard grading. If the yard slopes toward the house, it could cause water to run down the foundation walls or into the basement, which will be costly to repair. Scour the foundation for damage. Bulges or cracks bigger than one-third inch can mean the house has serious structural issues.

4.      Bad Smells (Inside or Outside)
Take a big whiff of the air inside and outside the house. Do you smell anything funky? If you can't smell anything but the huge baskets of potpourri all over the house, this could be a red flag.

5.      Faulty or Old Wiring
While you're probably not an electrician, make sure all the switches and outlets in the house function properly. Flickering lights, circuits that don't work and warm or hot outlets or faceplates are all symptoms of wiring problems.

6.      Fresh Paint on One Wall
New paint can really spruce up drab walls, but it can also hide bigger problems, like water damage, mildew or mold. If the room smells strange or if you see stains or saggy walls or ceilings, have an inspector look for mold and leaks.

7.      Locked Doors and Blockades
Ask about any rooms that are "off limits" during your home tour, and arrange with your Evanston realtor to see them later if you're interested in the house.

8.      Foggy or Nonfunctioning Windows
Check for water in between double-paned windows and make sure all the windows are functional.

 9.      Structural Walls or Floors Have Been Removed
Sure you love the open floor plan, but was the house always open or did the homeowners renovate? If they removed a load-bearing wall without adjusting the framing, it can shift weight to other parts of the house. Hire a structural engineer if you think any renovations are questionable.

10.  Bugs!
No one wants a house with a pest problem, be it roaches, mice or, worst of all, termites. Be on the lookout for unwelcome creatures as you tour the house. Even if no foes pop out while you're there, consider a separate termite inspection if you're thinking of purchasing the property.

BOTTOM LINE: Always get a professional inspection

Yeah, it's a little expensive, but it's worth every penny. Skipping a home inspection is not a good way to cut homebuying costs. You'll end up paying more in the long run when problems inevitably arise.

As you can see, having an Evanston Real Estate agent on your side that can help you navigate through the buying process is imperative to your success in the housing market. If you are considering buying an Evanston home or are hoping to sell your Evanston home please let us know! Our team of experienced Evanston real estate agents would enjoy the opportunity to help you reach your goals!

We look forward to hearing from you!

The Thomas Team
@ Properties

Chicago's #1 Real Estate Brokerage

Chicago & North Shore Real Estate

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Home Staging & Staging a House

Dressing a House for Success

Home staging is about illusions. It's how David Copperfield would sell a house. It's beyond decorating and cleaning. It's about perfecting the art of creating moods. Staging makes your house look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loving and, best of all, it makes home buyers want to buy it.

Contrary to what you might think, it's about more than preparing your Evanston home for sale. Staging is what you do after you've cleaned, de-cluttered, painted, made minor repairs; it's all about dressing the house for sale.   It's about adding the small details: the lipstick, mascara and, for simplicity, a stunning, single strand of Tahitian pearls.

What is a Professional Home Stager?

Professional stagers are highly skilled artists. They can take a blank canvas and paint a sensuous portrait without ever lifting a paint brush. Stagers possess the skills of a top-level designer and they create dramatic scenery that appeals to all five senses. Here are some of their secrets:

• Arrange sparse pieces of furniture in an appealing grouping known as a vignette
• Showcase a generous usage of soft fabrics such as silk, lambswool, satin
• Display unusual knickknacks in units of 1, 3 or 5
• Drape window coverings with simple lines
• Add unique elements to shelving, bookcases and fireplace mantels, which draw attention to predetermined areas

What Accessories Does a Stager Use?

Stagers will bring in a vast array of items to spruce up your Evanston home. Here is a small sampling of items professional stagers often use to dress each room. How they are utilized is limited only by the creativity and vision of the stager.

• Plants
• Mirrors
• Silk Flowers
• Floor & Table Lamps
• Area & Throw Rugs
• Small Love Seats
• Ottomans
• Afghans
• Pillows
• Inflatable Queen-Size Beds
• Baskets
• Plastic Tables & Chairs

Professional Staging Tricks & Tips

An artist for 35 years, Dawna Johnson, is an Accredited Staging Professional Master (ASP) and owner of Sacramento Staging Solutions. She says the idea behind staging is to allow rooms to show themselves. "If your home is vacant, it's soulless," Dawna warns. "Without staging, it will probably remain on the market for many months." She calls the kitchen the "heart of the home," and offers this practical advice for making that space sparkle:

• Apply orange oil to cabinets that appear dry, which will renew their original luster
• Put out large bowls of fruit such as polished apples, bright oranges, luscious grapes
• Arrange colorful and fu cookbooks on the counters

Dawna believes in bringing the outdoors inside through the use of greenery and plants; in creating clean, crisp spaces and arranging furniture with plenty of room to walk around. She says bathrooms are essential to dress well. "Bathrooms should look open, airy and delightful," says Dawna. One of her favorite tricks is to add baskets filled with spa treatments such as:

• Towels tied with ribbons
• Scented soaps
• Creamy lotions
• Moisturizing & Facial jars

The backyard needs staging, too.  For patios and decks, bring in plants and potted flowers, and add additional color by setting the picnic table with bright, plastic dinner plates.

How Much Does it Cost?

The Thomas Team provides complimentary home staging to their listing clients. If you hire a professional, prices may vary depending on where you live and the local demand for professional home staging. Some real estate agents help the seller stage the home themselves.  Most agents agree, however, that vacant homes show better with staging and will encourage sellers to stage their home.  

We hope that these tips will help provide the atmosphere needed to make an Evanston home buyer fall in love with your home. As always, we’re here to help and would enjoy the opportunity to talk with you about selling and staging your Evanston home.

Selling your Evanston home can seem like an overwhelming process in the midst of this current buyer’s market. You want to do everything you can to help it stand out from the competition and it can seem like getting your home sold all on your shoulders.

As Evanston Real Estate agents, we know the pressure a seller feels. Our goal is to make the seller feel as relaxed as possible as we handle all the details that go into selling an Evanston home. While it can feel nerve-wracking to let go and allow us to handle the sale of your home; it’s important to remember that our expertise in the Evanston Real Estate market is going to help the process run smoothly.

The Thomas Team
@ Properties

Chicago's #1 Real Estate Brokerage

Chicago & North Shore Real Estate

Visit Our Website

View Our Listings

Contact Us

  

How to Improve Curb Appeal

Home Selling Advice to Help You Attract Potential Evanston Homebuyers

A large percentage of  Evanston home buyers decide whether or not to look inside a house or take it seriously based on its curb appeal—the view they see when they drive by or arrive for a showing. You can help make sure they want to come inside your Evanston home by spending some time working on the its exterior appearance.

It's difficult to look at our own house in the same way that potential Evanston home buyers do, because when we become accustomed to the way something looks and functions, we can't see its faults. Decide right now to stop thinking of the property as a home. It's a house—a commodity you want to sell for the highest dollar possible.

Curb Appeal Exercise

The next time you come home, stop across the street or far enough down the driveway to get a good view of the house and its surroundings.

1. What is your first impression of the house and yard area?
2. What are the best exterior features of the house or lot? How can you enhance them?
3. What are the worst exterior features of the house or lot? How can you minimize or improve them?

Park where a potential buyer would and walk towards the house, looking around you as if it were your first visit. Is the approach clean and tidy? What could you do to make it more attractive?
Take photos of the home's exterior. If you have a digital camera, view the color versions first, then remove the color and look at it in black and white, because it's easier to see problems when color isn't around to affect our senses.

Make a list of the problem areas you discovered. Tackle clean up and repair chores first, then put some time into projects that make the grounds more attractive.

• Kill mold and mildew on the house, sidewalks, roof, or driveway.
• Stow away unnecessary garden implements and tools.
• Clean windows and gutters.
• Pressure wash dirty siding and dingy decks.
• Edge sidewalks and remove vegetation growing between concrete or bricks.
• Mow the lawn. Get rid of weeds.
• Rake and dispose of leaves, even if your lot is wooded.
• Trim tree limbs that are near or touching the home's roof.

Don't Forget the Rear View

Evanston Buyers doing a drive by will try their best to see your back yard. If it's visible from another street or from someone's driveway, include it in your curb appeal efforts.

Evening Curb Appeal

Do your curb appeal exercise again at dusk, because it isn't unusual for potential Evanston buyers to drive by houses in the evening.

• One quick way to improve evening curb appeal is with lighting:
• String low voltage lighting along your driveway, sidewalks, and near important landscaping elements.
• Add a decorative street lamp or an attractive light fixture to a front porch.
• Make sure lighting that's visible through front doors and windows enhances the home's appearance.

Landscaping Decisions

There are times that adding elements to your landscaping can improve curb appeal, but there are other times when removing something is even more effective.

Most buyers cannot visualize changes, and often won't take a second look at a house if the first look doesn't appeal to them. Home buyers who can visualize changes, and are prepared to make them, expect you to reduce the price of the house to compensate for the work they plan to do.

A Few Curb Appeal Tips

• If you can budget it, a fresh paint job does wonders for a dingy house. Drive around Evanston to find color schemes that are appealing.
• Install a more attractive front door, maybe something with leaded glass inserts.
• If you can't justify the cost of a new door, consider replacing plain doorknob hardware with something more attractive.
• If new hardware is beyond your budget, repaint or stain the door and polish the hardware?

If you brainstorm, you'll find that there's a solution to most problems—one that lets you stay within your budget. The trick is to find the areas where improvements are needed, then work on them as best you can.

As Evanston Real Estate agents, we enjoy giving you great information and tips for the Evanston Real Estate market.  If you have any questions or about living in Evanston or are interested in learning more about selling a home in Evanston, please let us know.  We're here to help in any way we can and would enjoy the opportunity to help you make Evanston your new home.

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

The Thomas Team
@ Properties

Chicago's #1 Real Estate Brokerage

Chicago & North Shore Real Estate

Visit Our Website
View Our Listings
Contact Us

Before You Buy an Evanston Short Sale

 

Buyers pursue Evanston shortsales to get a good deal. So when you see a price listed for a home that you think is too low for the neighborhood, before you jump on that price like hot fudge on a sundae, ask your Thomas Team agent to call the listing agent to find out if the home is a short sale.

Because you might want to think twice about making an offer on a pre-foreclosure, short sale home. It's not as simple as you may believe, and very few can close in 30 days or less.

Many of our Evanston home buyers have waited 4 to 6 months to close on a short sale, sometimes longer.

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale means the seller's lender is accepting a discounted payoff to release an existing mortgage. Just because a property is listed with short sale terms does not mean the lender will accept your offer, even if the seller accepts it. 

Be aware that the seller need not be in default -- to have stopped making mortgage payments -- before a lender will consider a short sale. A lender may consider a short sale if the seller is current but the value has fallen. The seller may have over-encumbered, owe more than the home is worth, so a discounted price might bring the price in line with market value, not below it.

Check the Public Records

Do your research before making an offer to purchase. Your Thomas Team agent can find out who is in title, whether a foreclosure notice has been filed and how much is owed to the lender(s). This is important because it will help you to determine how much to offer.

If there are two loans, you could have a problem. The first mortgage lender's position is protected by the second lender, unless the second lender does not want to foreclose. If a seller owes $160,000 on the first and $40,000 on the second, offering $160,000 leaves nothing for the second. The first will need to give something to the second to gain its cooperation.

Hire an Evanston Real Estate Agent with Short Sale Experience

It's one strike against you if the listing agent has never handled a short sale, but it's even worse if the agent has no experience in that arena. You need an experienced short sale agent, that’s where the Thomas Team can help you.

The Thomas Team agents have experience in short sales and can help to expedite your transaction and protect your interests. You don't want to miss any important detail due to inexperience or find out your transaction is not going to close on time because no one has followed up in a timely manner.

Qualifying the Property and Seller for a Short Sale

A lender is unlikely to agree to a short sale unless the seller has no equity and is unable to repay the difference between your sales price and the existing loans. Sellers need to provide a hardship letter to the lender. Sellers may also owe taxes on the amount of debt that is forgiven.

A seller we know once demanded that the buyer slip the seller $1,000 to be given the right to purchase the seller's property. We said no. This is fraud. The lender legally pursued that seller. Do not be lured by sellers who suggest this practice. In a short sale, the seller receives no money because the lender is losing money.

Submit Documentation and Purchase Offer to Lender

Once the seller has accepted your offer, it gets sent to the lender for approval. You do not have a deal until the lender accepts. Also, send the lender a copy of your earnest money deposit. Do not be astonished if the lender asks you to increase it. 

In addition, the lender will want to see that you have your own loan available and you are pre-approved. Send a pre-approval letter to the lender. It will help if your real estate agent sends a list of comparable sales that support the price you are offering to pay for the home.

Give the Short Sale Lender Time to Respond

You and your real estate agent should make your offer contingent upon the lender's acceptance. Give the lender a time frame in which to respond, after which, you will be free to cancel. 

Some lenders submit short sales to committee, but most can make a decision within two to three months. Get a name and phone number for the appropriate contact at the lender. The Thomas Team won’t send an offer blindly to a department.

Reserve the Right to Conduct Inspections

Generally, the lender will not pay for customary items that a seller would pay. These include home protection plans for the buyer, buyer credits of any kind and pest / termite inspections. A buyer will be asked to purchase the property "as is," which means no repairs.  It is extremely important that a buyer obtain a home inspection. The Thomas Team can help with this.

If you have any questions about buying an Evanston short sale, please let us know.  We're here to help in any way we can and would enjoy the opportunity to help you make Evanston your new home.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The Thomas Team
@ Properties

Chicago's #1 Real Estate Brokerage

Chicago & North Shore Real Estate

Visit Our Website

View Our Listings

Contact Us