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Posts in category "working with a real estate agent"

Your home isn't worth as much as you think it is -- just ask your real estate agent

Here’s what real estate agents dislike about home sellers: They all hold too high an opinion of their own residences. Sure, they understand that home prices across Chicago and its suburbs have fallen. They just think it’s the homes of everyone else whose values have fallen. As one veteran agent told me just last week... Read more »
By DanRafter,
April 18, 2012 at 9:11 pm
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Do we really want Realtors to market to us?

As a freelance writer, I sometimes write things that I don’t really believe. It comes with the job. I think about this every time I get a new e-mail from a local Realtor in my inbox. The problem is, I never asked for this Realtor to send me any of his obviously automated messages. I... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 28, 2010 at 9:34 pm
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When does renting out that hard-to-sell Chicago condo make sense?

When does it make sense to move from trying to sell your Chicago condo to trying to rent it? For Adam Hrejsa, that point came after he reduced the asking price of his condo in Chicago’s River West neighborhood twice. When his real estate agent suggested he reduce the price a third time, Hrejsa took... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 9, 2010 at 8:32 pm
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Selling a Chicago home isn't complicated, even today

David Dornbos Selling a home, whether in Chicago, its suburbs or any other market, has never been a complicated matter. It’s all about making one big decision: Are you going to sell your Chicago condo or single-family home in an “as is” condition with a lower price tag, or are you going to update your... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 5, 2010 at 8:30 pm
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Finding the silver lining of falling housing prices

Bob Arnold’s certainly not a pessimist. How can he be? He’s found the silver lining in falling home prices. Arnold is a real estate agent with RE/MAX Team 2000 in Orland Park. You’d think he, of all people, would be sweating the lower housing prices. But here’s what he’s found: The lower housing prices in... Read more »
By DanRafter,
August 26, 2010 at 9:01 pm
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Finding the silver lining of falling housing prices

Bob Arnold’s certainly not a pessimist. How can he be? He’s found the silver lining in falling home prices. Arnold is a real estate agent with RE/MAX Team 2000 in Orland Park. You’d think he, of all people, would be sweating the lower housing prices. But here’s what he’s found: The lower housing prices in... Read more »
By DanRafter,
August 26, 2010 at 8:59 pm
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First-time homebuyers still face challenges

First-time homebuyers still face challenges
Buying a home today is supposed to be easier than ever for first-time home buyers. Sellers are desperate, and are willing to compromise on everything from sales price to repairs to closing dates. At the same time, housing inventories are high, meaning that buyers have plenty of homes from which to choose. But Greg McCoy... Read more »
By DanRafter,
August 18, 2010 at 11:31 am
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No one's getting lucky in Chicago condo market

Heather Hillebrand Here’s the trick with selling a condo in Chicago: A lot of them are nearly identical. It’s not easy for owners to get their condos to stand out. It’s why veteran real estate agents tell their sellers to never list their condos for a pie-in-the-sky price in the hopes of landing a big... Read more »
By DanRafter,
August 12, 2010 at 9:23 pm
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Shopping around for title insurance makes good financial sense

Tim Dwyer If you closed on a new house in Illinois in 2009, the odds are good that you paid about $1,207 in closing costs and title fees. That’s the average amount that Illinoisans paid for these fees according to the 2009 closing costs survey from financial Web site Bankrate.com. And even though Illinois ranked... Read more »
By DanRafter,
July 26, 2010 at 10:20 pm
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HomeGain survey: Chicago, Illinois sellers and agents far apart on home values

Cammarosano You know there’s a disconnect between home sellers and real estate agents when 94 percent of agents think that their clients’ homes have dipped in value in the last year while only 54 percent of owners think the same thing. This disconnect is alive and well here in Chicago and Illinois. Those figures listed... Read more »
By DanRafter,
June 28, 2010 at 7:34 pm
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