It’s February.  It’s cold outside.  The bit holidays are behind us and the fun summer and spring events are still a few months away.  So we should all just stay indoors and watch TV, right?  Wrong.  I say we get out and participate.  Winter events in the early part of the year may not be the biggest but there is something about winter time that brings out the creative aspect of getting people together.

This Sunday, February 22, is the 10th annual “Chicago’s Best Wing Fest.”  The event, which started in 2000, brings 20 of Chicago’s best “Wing Restaurateurs” together to compete.  The even has grown in size every year with nearly 2,500 in attendance last year.  Cost is $25-45 and it’s for charity.  They’ve done a great job in raising more than $100,000 for charity since it’s first year.  Details:

What:  Chicago’s Best Wing Fest

When:  Sunday, February 22, 2009 @ 11:00am

Where:  Bailey Auditorium
1340 W. Washington  (WEST LOOP)
Chicago, IL  60607

Cost:  $24 for general admission.  $50 gets you VIP drink package, VIP lounge and parking pass.

Let me know if you go.  I’d love to hear to see some pictures.  Enjoy!!

This property sold on 06/13/2008 for $331,000.  $1,100 over asking price and in 4 days!!

Here is a new one I put on the market this week at the North West corner of Diversey and Orchard. It is a mid rise building that was built in the mid 80’s and converted to condos and rehabbed in 2002. The building features storage, on site engineer, garage and outdoor parking.

This unit has been redone even from what the developer did 6 years ago. It is the South East corner tier which is the most desirable in the building. It has a huge covered balcony (not all units in building have one) with stellar views of the city and the tree tops of Lincoln Park. With great views from not only the balcony but the Master Bedroom, Master Bathroom and the Living Room you can enjoy the best skyline in the world (my opinion) from almost anywhere inside. So what have we done? I’m glad you asked. Do you like how I said “WE” when mentioning the work? The current owner has put in new 4 inch wide plank American Cherry floors in the living room and kitchen. They go beautifully with the new American Cherry maple cabinets in the kitchen and the master bath. New thick granite counters in the kitchen and bathroom with under-mount sinks. What I really like is the little details. Like the full granite back-splash that runs from the counter to the upper cabinets or the crown molding that finishes off the cabinets. Cool under-cabinet lighting finishes off the very modern kitchen.

The master bathroom features Limestone floors, the American Cherry cabinets, granite tops, granite surround in the shower and a Thermostatic Valve in the shower. Translation: ensures constant water temperature. You don’t have to wait for the water to get hot. Awesome!

The list goes on with all of the cool things. All you really need to know is that this is a top of the line 1BR/1BA corner unit with wonderful views and terrific finishes. All for $299,900 and if you’d like a garage parking spot it is an extra $30,000. Click on the icon in the map above to get more details and see photos of the unit. As always you can contact me if you need more information or would like to set up a showing. It’s a great unit that the new owner ca be proud of.

This property sold for $458,500 in August 2008.

I’ve heard many people in the blogging world tell me not to talk about my listings in my Real Estate Blog. Why? I don’t get it. I talk about my listings when I’m out on the town. I talk about my listings at dinner with my girlfriend. Why not talk about my Real Estate property listings on my Real Estate blog? I have 3 new ones coming up in the next week and another one that has been reduced and given a little face lift. The one I’m currently talking about (or about to start talking about) is a beautiful 3-level Townhome in Lakeview, almost East Lakeview, Chicago. It is between Clark and Broadway half a block North of Wellington. It is on a small private dead end street named Waterloo.

This particular unit is special because of all the townhomes in the complex (25 in all) this one is the end unit facing the street with the largest patio. The patio isn’t only big but is was just redone last summer. The owners got rid of the old deck that was there for a long time and replaced it with a wonderful paver brick patio. Inside the unit there is a living room, dining room and kitchen on the first level. First level has hardwood floors, exposed brick and very cool lumber beams stretching across the ceiling. Gives it a very warm and cozy feeling. Not cozy like small but cozy like I could get used to this cozy. On the second level we have a full bathroom, 3rd bedroom and family room/den. In the family room we have 3 huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the patio we spoke of. The windows in the entire unit are new 2 years ago. Upstairs on the third and final level is the Master Bedroom, 2nd bedroom and 2nd full bathroom.

All in all this is a very cool unit. It is listed at $489,900 and that includes a parking space. One final thing I’ll say…and one of my favorite aspects of this place….is that you are on this quiet dead end street but in any direction you have streets like Clark and Broadway which offer all the entertainment and shops and things that you would ever need. You’re not too far from Wrigleyville and not too far from Lake Michigan as well. Wonderful location. Click on the icon above to get room sizes and photos. As always you can contact me with questions….or I know I’m not supposed to say it on a Real Estate blog….if you know of anyone that might be interested it is extremely easy to show.

Keep in mind that when I say Chicago Communities there is a difference between this and Chicago Neighborhoods. Most Chicago Neighborhoods we know and love are actually within a certain Chicago Community. Take Wrigleyville for example. It is a Neighborhood located within the Lakeview Community. Not to confuse you but some Neighborhoods are also Communities. Take Lincoln Park as an example of a Chicago Neighborhood and a recognized Chicago Community (there are 77.) None of this should effect you at all….all you need to know if where you like to live and you can call it whatever you’d like. This is more to let you know where the statistics I’ll be providing are coming from.

I’ve been looking at a lot of statistics recently to try to make sense of the current market. I’ve looked at median price vs. average price, market time, inventory and so on and so forth. One of my favorite ways to look at how the market is flowing is Absorption Rates. Now, in the past I would provide this information broken into weeks instead of months. But it looks like most places I look are breaking things into months so I’ve decided to switch and provide the following data into months instead of weeks. Keep in mind that a healthy absorption rate is anything under 6 months. If you’d prefer it one way or another just let me know. As always I’d also be willing to look up this information for your specific neighborhood, community, town village or city. All you need to do is ask. Enjoy!!

Absorption Rates for 10 Chicago Communities as of 03/27/2008:

Type 1 Properties (Detached Single Family Homes)

1. Lincoln Park (DePaul) 12 months
2. Lakeview (Wrigleyville) 7.81 months
3. Edgewater (Andersonville) 5.33 months
4. Lincoln Square (Ravenswood) 9.5 months
5. Logan Square (Bucktown) 12.14 months
6. Near North Side (River North) 8.67 months
7. Near South Side (South Loop) 4 active, 0 sold
8. Near West Side (West Loop) 8 months
9. Uptown (Buena Park) 14 months
10. West Town (Wicker Park) 8.94 months

Type 2 Properties (Attached Single Family/Condos/Townhomes)

1. Lincoln Park (DePaul) 4.36 months
2. Lakeview (Wrigleyville) 4.70 months
3. Edgewater (Ansersonville) 6.87 months
4. Lincoln Square (Ravenswood) 4.52 months
5. Logan Squre (Bucktown) 6.90 months
6. Near North Side (River North) 8.81 months
7. Near South Side (South Loop) 8.15 months
8. Near West Side (West Loop) 7.75 months
9. Uptown (Buena Park) 4.75 months
10. West Town (Wicker Park) 6.07 months

It’s amazing how different each community is. This shows us why it is important to take what we hear in the media with a grain of salt. Just because Las Vegas is doing bad does not necessarily translate into Lincoln Square, Chicago sharing the same fate. One of the beautiful things about the City of Chicago is how different each and every community is. Be sure to look at your own neighborhood to determine how the market is and not what the national averages are. Will keep you sane.

Here is our weekly look at # of listings with # of solds for last week around Chicago. Take a look at the # of closed in 2008….and then take a look at last weeks. In a one week period we had almost 300 more closings…that’s a good sign. Even better is that the # of properties listed went down almost 400….another good sign.  As I’ve said before more closings compared to listings will help us bring down the inventory which we need to accomplish. Next week I’m going to take another look at absorption rates for 10 communities in Chicago and for 10 Western Suburbs of Chicago. So be on the lookout for those statistics. Let me know if you have any questions. As always I’m available to pull statistics for your area….all you have to do is ask.

Here is our weekly look at the Real Estate market in the 77 communities of Chicago combined with nearly 300 suburbs of Chicago. The first chart compares the number of listings to the number of sales over the past week for 2008, 2007 and 2006. Keep in mind that things started to slow down roughly mid to end of 2006 and really slow down in 2007. You can compare this to last week here. The second chart looks at total Residential Inventory. What we’re seeing here is that there is so much more for sale compared to last year before. What I like is that the # of listings that came “on market” this past week is down compared to the past two years. We need to see this especially when you look at the other statistic that the # of solds is down as well. So listings # down is good…..sold # down is bad. We need to get a better balance. Things are looking good out there for my buyers. For all you sellers out there keep up the good fight. Would love to hear your comments and I encourage you to subscribe to my feeds (large orange icon in upper right corner) or subscribe via email. Let’s keep the conversation going and see if we can’t get things moving out there together.  Best Wishes!

Here is a look at the past 6 months activity for the Near West Side of Chicago. This includes the West Loop, West Loop Gate, Fulton Market and University Village up to Ashland Ave. I don’t tend to go past Ashland which is 1600W. West Loop, Chicago will take up the majority of these statistics. This looks at median and average price, market time, # of units as well as high and low price. Absorption rates were looked at a few weeks ago and are another great way to see what is going on in your neighborhood. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with. Enjoy!

When talking about the “Near North Side” Community in Chicago keep in mind that this includes the Gold Coast, Streeterville, River North and Old Town neighborhoods.  This is a look at current listings as well as under contract and sold properties over the past 6 months.  I think these statistics are important for buyers and sellers to get a sense of what is going on in their community.  Numbers don’t lie.  These are fairly simple to interpret but I can be reached if you have questions.  Also, if you’d like me to provide statistics for your area just let me know….I’d be happy to help.  We’re taking a look at Type 1 and Type 2 properties as well as median vs. average sales/list prices.  Another important Market factor is absorption rate.  I recently looked at absorption rates for 10 Chicago Communities including the Near North Side.

Had a friend of mine contact me via email today. Checking in, making sure I was doing well but most importantly letting me know to keep my eyes and ears open for a 3BR/3BA townhomes in Lincoln Park, Chicago and Lakeview, Chicago between $500,000-800,000. So I decided to share it all with you. My MLS search on my website has these cool little tools so I can provide a sampling here on the blog. I thought we’d give it a try and see what you thought. You being the two people who read the blog (Thanks Mom!) The map has a selection of townhomes in Lincoln Park and Lakeview between $500K-800K. When you click on them they’ll take you to more details. The map is built for this specific search and the criteria can’t be changed. If you’re looking to perform a search from scratch click on the “MLS Search” in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Enjoy!!

Chicago and the Western Suburbs of Chicago are not unlike the rest of the country when it comes to “days on market.” Number are up. Considerably. An old rule of thumb back when the market was so fast paced was if you didn’t sell in 45 days you were overpriced. For the most part this was true with a few exceptions. Nowadays 45 days is 2004’s 10 days.

I think most people would celebrate if they accomplished that.

In these parts we’re seeing average days on market at or above 120 days. Doesn’t seem to matter how nice your place is or in some cases how appropriately you are priced. That being said it is a terrible idea to “experiment” with pricing hoping for that 1 in 1,000,000 buyer who would actually overpay for your property. It’s not that we don’t want to sell if for more than market value its more that the banks won’t give the buyer money unless it appraises. Can get tricky. My broker has a great line when it comes to overpriced property, “they’re on the market not IN THE MARKET.” True.

The whole reason I am writing about this is not to preach about pricing. That is a decision that is made between seller and agent. You ever want to know my take on over pricing a place I’ll be more than happy to tell you dozens of horror stories. Today I’m trying to talk more about the perception of market time. I think most buyers understand that it is a good market for them to be looking. With said market times up they are getting better deals on places than they would have 2 years ago and probably better than if they waited ’till next year. Like the Chicago Cubs. When they see 180 days on market they’re not turned off like they used to be. 180 days used to mean something was wrong. Now, it means there is a potential deal to be made. Good properties with nothing wrong with them will take months to sell. This is a reality we all have to adjust to. I’m proud of my buyers as they seemed to be grasping this concept before I even get a chance to discuss.

The reason I’m rambling on about this topic is because of a blog post by an agent in St. Paul, MN. I have to give her credit for the subject as I was planning on writing about something else today. She was talking about the practice of re-listing a property to refresh its market time. She wanted to get peoples take on it but did not say if she liked it or not. My opinion is it is wrong. Taking a property that is 200 days on the market for the sole purpose of rewinding the market time is 100% wrong with a few exceptions. If a property expires and is re-listed, is rented for 6 months or switches companies is an example of when it is somewhat okay. A few years ago the MLSNI changed its policy. Now in order to reset market time a property has to be off market for 3 months. Even then any agent worth anything will still be able to look up a full history to disclose to their buyers.

When looking at a listing now there are two types of market time. There is “market time” which is the market time for the current listing, with the current company and with no interruptions. Then there is “listing market time” which discloses the total market time for any listing that has been on the market without the 3 month interruption to reset. So if you’re on for 90 days with Company A and re-list with Company B your market time will have two numbers. It will show 30 days with Company B as current “market time” but will also show 120 as its listing market time because of its days (90) with Company A. Make sense? I hope so.

The fact of the matter is full disclosure with anything that has to do with buying and selling real estate. It you’re trying to reset a listing and nothing with this listing has changed, be it price or company or whatever, you’re deceiving the general public. As much as you have responsibility to your seller you also have a strict code of ethics that all Realtor adhere to. I’m rambling. Would love to get peoples thoughts on the subject of market time. I know I went off about it in several different ways but would love to have a discussion.