Real Estate in Barrington & The Northwest Suburbs: Corinne Guest - Barrington & Northwest Suburbs Real Estate & Relocation (Managing Broker-Royal Advocate Realty-Barrington)

If you are Relocating to Illinois, you've already got a friend.

If you are relocating to Illinois you may not be coming here to work, you may be coming home. Whether it's because you love the area, have family here or just feel you were more happy when living here, we often help families like you who are relocating to Illinois. Coming home is a beautiful experience. Even if Illinois was not your birth place, if you consider it home, then it's where your heart is.

When our family moved to Florida back in 2003 we thought it was a permanent move, how wrong we were, after 9 months we hit the road and were relocating to Illinois, the place we set out from not so long ago. There were things about Florida we liked and things we didn't. In the end we felt Illinois was our home even though we were born and raised in England. When we told people we were relocating to Illinois, we were met with some very confused looking faces!

We drove up from the south and crossed the border into Illinois, with snow on the ground and getting colder as the miles passed, I was one very happy person. My smile was palpable. When we made it back to Barrington, I was home. Florida can always be a vacation destination and we made some friends but the home pull was very strong.

Relocating to Illinois - You're Not Alone

If you are set to come home, you're not alone. Just because you have no employer to help with your relocation to Illinois doesn't mean it's going to be a tough road to travel. We are here to help. In fact when we moved to Florida and then back we had no assistance whatsoever from the company my husband worked for. He had the option of working in either state and it was our decision to move so we achieved it all by ourselves and paid for the entire process there and back. You can do it too, but having someone with the same experience as you will be a valuable tool.

Whether you are relocating to Illinois for family, friends, work or just because, we are here to help with your real estate needs. We are here to help and support you through the upheaval. We are here to share stories when you have arrived. Call us if you're relocating to Illinois, we serve the northwest suburbs of Chicago and Barrington and Inverness areas. You can start your home search using with our search tool. 

A well written post from J Philip Faranda, a fellow real estate brokerage owner about ARG's announcement to stop the syndication of their listings. This is a very bold move from a relatively small company in San Diego, but they are not the first. Unlike J Philip I do not pay to buy that advertising space besides our companies listings, seriously I could not afford to do that, nor would I want leads from listings that sold over a year ago for which a syndication company happily accepts my hard earned money. However I do see why J Philip does it.

As for following the lead of Abbott Realty Group, well our small company may well follow suit. We have the online presence to still promote our listings as well if not better than this syndication sites. Our listings will continue to be shared with all Northern Illinois Brokerages and their Realtors and that data will always be accurate.

We realize that relocating to Chicago is not easy. Why? Because we've "been there done that" on many occasions. As a child, as an adult, as a parent and as a pet owner, we've experienced everything you are about to embark on. Having lived in England, Singapore, Illinois and Florida, we have been exposed to different cultures and understand all your moving concerns. Hiring a self proclaimed expert is one thing, hiring the expert that has beaten the paths before you will be the best choice you could ever make. Read more about our relocating to Chicago experience.

 

The first thing we need to establish is are you relocating to Chicago Illinois or are you generalizing? You see Chicago is a big city and then there are the suburbs. All in all it's one pretty large place. Driving from the top to bottom of the suburbs is about 100 miles in a straight line.

 

Our specialty is the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. This is a large area where there are many well known companies situated along the I-90 and I-294 corridors. For example Motorola in Schaumburg, Zebra Technologies in Vernon Hills, Sears in Hoffman Estates. Each of our suburbs has it's own city name so you may not be relocating to Chicago, you might be relocating to the suburbs. We are here to help.

 

Relocating to Chicago - The Process

There’s a lot to do when moving, especially if you are unfamiliar with the area. The process of relocating to Chicago or the suburbs starts with home, your current home. Only when that is taken care of can you start thinking about the new home. We are here to ease the transition.

The internet makes looking for new homes so much simpler, so you can start from the comfort of your home on your time, but know we are here to answer all your questions. When you arrive in town we'll meet you at the airport, or come and chat with you in your hotel with a coffee, it's important you feel comfortable working with us, so let's get to know each other first. Then we can move forward with finding you a new home.

Once we have found your new home, we'll be there from start to finish and beyond. Remember relocating to Chicago is more than just buying a home, it's a process and there are more things to be done. So whatever we can do to help, we will. Taking the dog for a walk, entertaining the kids, unpacking to find some forks, or fetching lunch on move in day, we'll be there.

Relocating to Chicago - Start With Online Property Searching

If you have the time our web site has every property available. You can save favorites and come back at any time. Or if time is a premium and relocating to Chicago needs to be placed firmly in our hands, let us search for you. We'll send you daily updates and can switch and change as you refine your needs.

Relocating to Chicago or the Suburbs  - Your journey has begun.

Start searching. Call us: Corinne. 847-363-3686. Email Corinne Let us do your relocating to Chicago home search  

Inverness Illinois Property - My Final Market Report for 2011

We are three weeks into 2012 and my Inverness Illinois Property report is my last to wrap up the year for 2011. As I have compiled the data it has shown some interesting facts. If you have the time and desire to read all my reports they can all be found in my market report category. Now back to Inverness Illinois property data.

Inverness has both single family homes and attached homes so I'll break the report down so we can get a true feeling for what's going on. I'll lump the zip codes together though. Inverness Illinois property shares zip codes with Barrington and Palatine.

Inverness Illinois Property-Single Family Homes

Simply this shows me we have too much inventory and therefore sellers are having to take a lower percentage of their list price. Many other areas in Barrington are inching back up towards the expected 95%, Inverness not so hot.

We've got a lot of inventory and sales certainly slowed down in the second half of the year. Market times are long for the active listings, although those that sold faired pretty well at under 6 months.

Inverness Illinois Property - Townhomes

Attached homes are selling at a marginally better percentage than single family homes but the market times not so good. Some of our attached homes in Inverness have been listed for a long time.

I think it's fair to tell you that Inverness town homes have not been singled out, town homes in most of the Barrington areas are taking longer to sell than single family homes.

Things to watch for in2012 are Inverness Illinois property selling faster and at a higher percentage of asking. That will be the sign of better things to come. If you are considering selling in 2012, you've got to be aggressive with your presentation and that is a multi faceted task. I would love to discuss it with you, call anytime: Corinne 847-363-3686

Lake Barrington Real Estate - Property Sales 2011

Lake Barrington Shores makes up a large amount of the housing in Lake Barrington, but there is more. Lake Barrington real estate includes about 900 single family homes most of which are located on 1 to 2 acre lots.

Before we look at sales of Lake Barrington real estate in 2011  it's interesting to look at new construction here. A few years ago two new larger subdivisions were created, Tallgrass and The Enclave of Heritage Estates. Another small one Walnut Grove also started.  All three came to a grinding halt when the market fell and have yet to show any signs of life.

New construction permits were in double digits until 2002, then they dropped to a slower rate of about 4 or 5 a year. 2008 and 2009 had one apiece and 2010 saw two new homes built. So while there is space in Lake Barrington real estate for new homes, it appears not to be on anyone's immediate agenda.

Now back to the activity in Lake Barrington real estate in 2011

Total sales of single family homes in 2011 amounted to 24 homes with sales prices from $304,000 to $875,000. Sales for Lake Barrington real estate were on average 93% of the asking price. That's good for sellers, but I have to say price reductions were still needed to get that sale. Sales price to the original list price was low at 84%. I hope this coming year will see a little more stability in Lake Barrington real estate, I too am a property owner here. I also hope sellers will list at the right price range for their home at the very start.

Lake Barrington real estate contracts for sale took on average 318 days in 2011.

Four bedroom homes were the most popular, followed by five bedroom homes, then 3 bedroom homes. Lake Barrington real estate has a lot of subdivisions that are under 20 years in age. So although new construction is not yet available, buyers can consider homes in Savannah, Heritage Estates, Kelsey Farms, Estates at Lake Barrington, Brookside and others to find homes in great condition with little need for upgrades.

Lake Barrington real estate offers many 21 single family homes and 56 town homes and condos for sale. View many at our property search.

Deer Park IL Homes - Choose From Single Family or Town Homes.

When I lived in Deer Park between 1997 and 2003 there were only single family Deer Park IL homes for sale. That's now changed as there are two small subdivisions of town homes, both close to the Deer Park shopping mall. Because they are two different types of housing the answer to the question, how long will it take to sell my house, can only be answered by seperating the two types and looking at market data for each.

Single Family Deer Park IL Homes - 2011 Market Data

In 2011 there were 18 homes sold in Deer Park. That does not seem to be very many. Of course there may well have been some sales in Deer Park not accounted for in the report because some Realtor's seem to think putting the address down as Barrington is better. I disagree and not just because it will skew my report. Many buyers want Deer Park because it is such a nice place to live. Of course I would say that, I loved living in Deer Park. We moved to Florida in 2003, came back in 2004 and could not find a suitable home to buy from all the Deer Park IL homes for sale.

Back to the market report. In 2011 the average  market time for single family homes was 224 days. The list to sales price ratio was 93% average. Average list price was $564,308 and average sales price $523,190.

Deer Park Town Homes - Market Data 2011

There were 7 sales of town homes last year. The average marketing time was 144 days. The average list price was $420,400 and sales price $392,143 representing a list to sales price ratio of  93%.

Interesting to see that all Deer Park IL Homes sold at 93% of asking price. Town homes sold in less than six months which is certainly good news for sellers. Single family homes are taking longer and I expect that tend to continue for a while. Be prepared to wait 6 to 9 months to sell your Deer Park home in 2012.

There are currently 21 Deer Park IL Homes for sale, although I bet some have Barrington as the address and are not showing up.

I look forward to selling more Deer Park IL Homes this coming year. I certainly showed plenty to my buyers last year and even sold a short sale there in early spring. You can view current Deer Park IL Homes and Town Homes listed.  

Graphs Showing Sales of Tower Lakes Homes in 2011

Sales of homes in Tower Lakes do not account for many in the 60010 zip code so an intense comparison would not be very useful. So I thought we would simply look at the average sales prices over the last three years and specifically by bedroom count to make it a fair comparison.

They say pictures are often much easier to understand and I think the following graph which shows Tower Lakes homes sold and the percentage in price drop tells everything we really need to know. So compare color by color for a year comparison.

The first chart shows we never have many 2 bedroom Tower Lakes homes sell, there aren't very many in the village. 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom are the bulk of the real estate.

Clearly there was a pretty steep drop in prices between 2009 and 2010 but 2010 to 2011 is not nearly so bad.

Tower Lakes Homes -Average Marketing Times

The average marketing time for Tower Lakes homes now is 244 days. That's based on sales over the last 12 months. Three bedroom homes took longer with an average of 307 days, compared to 196 for four bedroom homes.

Tower Lakes homes fall in the Barrington School district 220 and offer a lifestyle type of community, with it's lake front properties. Prices start at $200,00 and go up to $1 Million. Start your search for Tower Lakes real estate listings.

A Review of Hawthorn Woods Real Estate Market in 2011

If I said that 103 homes sold in Hawthorn Woods in 2011 and that the volume of sales amounted to over $46 million would you consider that to be good, bad or indifferent? We can only look at the previous few years to use as a benchmark to judge whether Hawthorn Woods real estate transactions were better. Rather than produce a chart for Hawthorn Woods real estate sales last year I thought I would just post the numbers.

• 2011 - Homes sold 103...Average sale $453,509
• 2010 - Homes sold 66...Average sale $459,860
• 2009 - Homes sold 68...Average sale $502,746
• 2008 - Homes sold 83...Average sale $612,969

This shows that Hawthorn Woods real estate was declining in 2008, 2009, 2010 but then we knew that anyway. Everyone is looking for signs that their home values are going to rise. Sales of homes in 2011 showed a big jump over previous years. I don't know about you but that just feels good. The average sales price of homes in Hawthorn Woods us still declining but last year certainly showed a slow down.

Hawthorn Woods real estate average marketing times.

Here is one of my Hawthorn Woods real estate sales from 2011. This home was on the market for 348 days and that length of time can often put buyers off, thinking that it must have something wrong with it. The issue from the sellers perspective, because I represented the buyers, was that the pricing was wrong. The ratio of original asking and selling price was 75%.

Price is not always the issue, it can be location, proximity to busy roads, lack of maintenance, old kitchens, and a whole list of other reasons why marketing time become extended. Where are we today with those Hawthorn Woods real estate average marketing times. Lets do the same 4 year comparison.

• 2011 - 206 days
• 2010 - 232 days
• 2009 - 280 days
• 2008 - 196 days

I like the look of those numbers too, well more specifically that they are headed in the right direction....down. In fact they are very similar to the Barrington area. If you have a home on the market for an extended period of time it's time to do a few things. First get a new analysis of your price. If that's on target then something else is off target. Selling Hawthorn Woods real estate is not as easy as it used to be and it does take longer than in a sellers market but the principles of marketing are still the same. Presentation and exposure to the right buyers.

If considering selling your piece of Hawthorn Woods real estate this coming year, I am here to help. Contact me today.

South Barrington Real Estate - 2011 Year End Review

January 18th 2012 already! This month is flying by so I must get the remaining market reports done for 2012. Today we'll review South Barrington real estate sales during the last year. In case you are a first time reader or not a local, South Barrington real estate is known for it's luxury homes in the zip code 60010. South Barrington real estate has suffered alongside the rest of the zip code. Values have fallen, sales have slowed and while not a majority of the market, we have not been immune to short sales and foreclosures.

South Barrington Real Estate Market Report-Absorption Rate

This chart has a few tales to tell. The difference in South Barrington real estate sales between the two halves of the year is astounding. In the first 6 months there were only 9 sales. The second half had 37. Thankfully the last 6 months had a more balanced sales activity. In 2012 we have 10 South Barrington homes under contract so sales in the first half of this year should be better.

Our absorption rate shows we are still in a buyers market with about 9 months of supply. A small increase in list to sales ratio was seen but we really need to pull this up a little to 95%. If listing your South Barrington home in 2012, your average days on market hovers around 200 days. Ask me to make suggestions on how to beat that number. Corinne: 847-363-3686