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The fourth mistake to avoid according to Marion Brooks at NBC in her recent coverage has to do with marketing. www.nbcchicago.com/around_town/real_estate/5-Real-Estate-Mistakes-You-Dont-Want-to-Make.html

The vast majority of marketing occurs on the Internet.  And this is appropriate as recent statistics indicate that more than 80% of buyers start their search on the Internet.   One of the most important aspects of this on-line marketing are photos, so the old adage about “a picture is worth 1,000 words” holds true in our experience at ReMax in Chicago.  We also suggest that photos be uploaded at the same time as the text of a new listing, so that when it goes out to all the people on automated searches they will see the photos.  If the potential buyers don’t see any photos when they first review the listing they may not go back later in hopes of finding photos.  Also a great idea is to put virtual tours and floor plans on line, again so buyers can glean as much information as possible.  The more information and the more photos on line the greater  the likelihood or attracting buyers looking for a particular type of home.  We put as much information, as many photos as may be appropriate for the property, a virtual tour and a floor plan on all of our Chicago Homes For Sale in order to maximize our marketing.

Bus tours of foreclosure properties seem to be getting popular across the nation.  To some extent this is the result of the ever increasing number of foreclosures coming into the market place.  According to the IAR (Illinois Association of Realtors) there is a new foreclosure every 13 seconds in the United States.  The Center for Responsible Lending has created a foreclosure counter to tick off foreclosure starts as they occur at www.responsiblelending.org. The group also tracks foreclosure totals by states.                      

As recent as 1-2 years ago it was common to hear Chicago real estate agents suggest that we would not see foreclosures in such neighborhoods as Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, River North or the New East Side.  The thinking being that foreclosures only happen in the less affluent areas, not true today.  Just in zip code 60614 which is most of Lincoln Park, there are currently 248 Bank Owned properties, 115 properties scheduled for auction and 629 properties are listed as Pre-foreclosure by RealtyTrac.  This totals almost 1000 properties in financial trouble in just Lincoln Park. 

Part of the response and solution to the increasing number of foreclosures and short sales (many of which progress to foreclosures) is the Bus Tour.  A company known as DownTownChicagoForclosureTours.com has scheduled a bus tour on Feb. 28, 2009 starting at 10 AM and concluding at 1 PM.  Bus departs from the RE/MAX Vision office at 350 W. Ontario, Chicago at 10 AM.  If you would like to join the free bus tour and preview some of the foreclosures/short sale properties just email me: roger@WeSellChicago.com with Bus Tour in the subject line. 

NAR reports that they expect the sale of existing homes in the U.S. to jump to about 5.3 million units, up from the 5.0 million for 2008.  They are also predicting a 1.1% rise in prices of existing homes compared to a 9.3% drop in 2008.  With prices beginning to hold, interest rates at a historic low and plenty of inventory, this may be an ideal time to purchase a home.  We are seeing increased activity in showings even in this very cold weather, which should lead to more real estate sold in the Chicago market in 2009.  There are still many foreclosures and short sales to look at as well as the new Spring Market inventory.

The sweeping trend of “going green” has taken over our nation, but there are still a fair share of people that remain skeptical…with good reason.  Many of the ways you can go green are fairly easy and helpful, but there are also a lot of ways to go green that can be over the top and a waste of money.  Going green has had a great effect on the real estate market.  The price of gas has taken its toll on the housing markets, and people no longer want to live in far off suburbs.  They would rather pay a little more for their home and be in a pedestrian/bike friendly area closer to the city, than waste all of their time/money on gas to commute into the city by car.

Men’s Health online magazine gave us some truly helpful tips to go green in an easy and low key way: hand wash dishes, buy energy efficient appliances, give up bottled water, use your computer’s sleep mode, don’t use disposable razors, don’t use paper plates, use re-chargable batteries, use recycled napkins and toilet paper, and go to the car wash instead of washing your own car.  There are many products that are “green” for your home, including roofing, insulation, and heating/cooling systems.  Some of these options can be helpful/useful and some of them can just be scams. 

Housing sales have gone down in the past couple of months, but turning your home green can save dramatically on costs, especially for bigger homes that use a lot more utilities.  Also, there are incentives to go green, like subsidization for a green roof that helps to cool the building, and a rebate if you buy a hybrid vehicle (on top of the money you’ll save on gas).  Illinois also gives tax rebates to households that use solar energy.  There are many ways (big and small) to go green in your own household; it doesn’t take a lifestyle change, it can just be a small step towards the larger overarching goal of helping the environment.  One of the best and most inexpensive ways to go green is to recycle.

           I saw an interesting article in the Chicago Association of Realtors online magazine the other day and wanted to suggest that their approach was of great interest. In the article, they showed that the Chicago residential inventory has risen steadily from 93,514 in 2006, to 115,818 in 2007, to 118,640 in 2008. Meaning, there are more houses on the market, and less people buying them.

           For the week of July 11-July 18^th the number of closings went down each year from 2006 to 2008 for Multi-Units, Attached, and Detached homes. Multi-Units: 103 closed in 2006, 52 closed in 2007, and 39 closed in 2008. Attached homes: 523 closed in 2006, 412 closed in 2007, and 254 closed in 2008. Detached homes: 183 closed in 2006, 153 closed in 2007, and 110 closed in 2008.

           It is easy to see how closing activity has decreased considerably across the board since 2006. What this might mean to you as a seller is that you are now in 2 contests: a beauty contest, and pricing contest. In other words: in order to sell, you must be the prettiest, and the most competitively priced house around. In general, there is more inventory of all property types now, so it may be an ideal time if you are a buyer.