Yes, We Can - Yes, We Did - Yes, We Will
| Last night I wept.Tears of joy streamed down my face as we, the people of the United States, came together to elect our next president. Congratulations Barack Obama!
Nicole and I made our way to downtown Chicago with Jackson and Lucas, joining hundreds of thousands of our neighbors to usher in the dawning of a new day. The sheer joy was indescribable with a tableau of humanity that was a montage of faces, colors, languages, and accents. And though those of us who gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park may have come from different starting points, our arrival was to the same place. And that place was hope. Last night I laughed as a deep relief washed over me that a better tomorrow is before us. That’s not to say that it will be easy. Nor is it to say that somebody else will do the heavy lifting. But it is to say that today we are closer to the goal than we were before the ballots were cast for Barack Obama. Last night I smiled so much that the muscles in my jaw hurt, ecstatic that a true movement had coalesced to lift Barack to the presidency. And as we walked up Michigan Avenue exchanging hugs with strangers and sporadically erupting in cheers, we participated as members of this broad movement as well as witnesses to its profound beauty. There were cops exchanging high fives with passers by. And laughing bicyclists. And roaming bands of 20 somethings who had just cast their first-ever ballots and were ecstatic. And citizens of Chicago walking arm in arm, neighbors who recognized that each of us - black, white, yellow, brown - were responsible for what had just transpired. And for this we were grateful. And so last night I wept. With my wife, with my neighbors, and with fellow Americans. |
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A Democracy’s Strength is Derived From Each of Us
My wife just got a text message from my father-in-law. He arrived in Denver just a few minutes ago and he is piling into a rental car and heading toward Greeley, Colorado.
An early ski holiday?
Not quite.
Here’s the deal, my father-in-law - “grandpa” to my boys and Mendez to everybody else - is an attorney with a vibrant practice in Dallas. He’s taking a few days off from his day job to do some good for the old red, white, and blue.
Al Mendez is a good and decent man. The whole time I have known him he has been quick with a smile and a joke, effusive with his praise, supportive of his kids and grandkids, and way too generous in terms of picking up the check at dinner.
Earlier in the election season he liked Hilary Clinton. But these days he is a straight up supporter of Barack Obama. So much so that he’s heading to Colorado to serve as a Democratic poll watcher.
The beauty of the system is that the system is us. What we do defines the system.
The problem, though, is that different folks have different views as to what is right and what is wrong. Think back a few decades when African Americans were beaten when they tried to register to vote or debased at the polling place with ridiculous (and simply illegal) tasks like telling the registrar how many bubbles were in a bar of soap or grains of rice in a bag of rice. Guess what, there simply was no right answer.
What’s going on these days? Oh my, the list is long. What appears to be at the heart of today’s efforts by the Republican Party is to suppress or contain the number of voters because a massive turnout is not in their favor. As a result you have an effort by the national GOP to remove 200,000 voters in Ohio for things as simple as a misspelled name. They were rebuffed by the Supreme Court.
In Indiana Republicans sued and lost to prevent early voting in Gary, an industrial area with great support for Obama. In Colorado the secretary of state was required by an appeals court to reinstate 37,000 voters he illegally kicked out of the ranks of those able to vote. And in college towns in Colorado and across the nation kids were incorrectly told that they were not able to register to vote where they go to school.
And then there’s the case of fliers distributed in Democratic hotbeds in Virginia telling Obama supporters that the massive voter turnout had forced election officials to schedule Democratic voters to cast ballots on Wednesday, November 5th. Again, straight bunk.
Back to the matter at hand, Mendez is making his way to Greeley, Colorado to make sure that properly registered folks who want to cast a ballot are able to do so. And in so doing he is making all the difference in the world.
To a large extent, volunteerism is the backbone of this country. Whether it’s joining the military or going into the Peace Corps, filling sandbags with the Red Cross or making a financial donation to a cause you support. It is standing up and filling the breach, so to speak. Thinking back to my Catholic upbringing on Chicago’s southside it is the idea of “whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren that you do unto me.”
In other words, I am my brother and sister’s keeper. Another way to put it is that the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So it is imperative that we do what we can to ensure that this system that is our system works effectively for all of us. From Wall Street to Main Street.
And so Mendez is putting up the “gone fishin’” sign at his office and making his way to a place he hasn’t visited before to make sure people he’s never met before are able to enjoy the rare gift that is so special in the United States, the gift of casting their vote for the candidate they support.
I would say congratulations to Mendez. But instead I am compelled to humbly tell him thanks! Nicole and I are so proud because this type of selflessness is exactly what we want our boys to see and to emulate as they mature and come to make their own decisions.
And the next time you are in Chicago Nicole and I are treating at Gibson’s.
Excuse me now as I come down off my soapbox and get back to making phone calls to swing states like Indiana, Missouri, Virginia, and Ohio urging folks to get out and vote for the change we believe in here in Chicago.
For those interested in some of what is going on with respect to this year’s election, check out this video:
The Real Estate Lounge Chicago Welcomes Mitch Aronson
If you see this guy lurking around your place, don’t worry. He’s a pleasant young man with dozens of funny stories, wonderful insights, a zest for life and a deep knowledge of the Chicago real estate market. Plus he is the newest member of the team at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago.
Mitch Aronson, somebody who I have known personally for a dozen or so years and professionally for just a few years less, joined The Lounge team earlier this week after lengthy and successful stints at my old stomping grounds. Mitch is among the finest of Chicago’s real estate professionals, with a passion for his work and an unrivaled “tool box” with which to assist his buying and selling clients.
We are thrilled to have Mitch join the frenzy in our active team and excited to introduce him to the ins and outs and many pluses of working with Chicago’s @ properties brokerage, the city’s top residential real estate brokerage.
A lifelong Chicagoan and native of the North Side, Mitch and his family live in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. One of his beautiful daughters is Jackson’s age and the two of them are great friends.
Looking at Mitch’s “happy-happy” face in the picture above brought to mind an old beer commercial and a current day reprisal of the antics of the guys in the current environment just a few short days before Tuesday’s oh-so-important presidential election.
Couch Sitting & Bud Sipping Asking “Whassup?”
Beaten Down But Not Defeated with Hope on the Horizon
Federal Reserve Reduces Overnight Rate
The Federal Reserve today cut its short-term interest rate by a half point, reducing it to 1%. This matches the lowest level for overnight bank lending. The last time it was this low was from June 2003 through June 2004. Prior to this the lowest rate occured during the Eisenhower Administration in 1958.
This is the ninth reduction by the Fed since September 2007 with the last once occurring earlier this month on October 8th when the rate was reduced by a half point. The hoped for result of the Fed’s action is to spur economic activity and prevent the country from plunging into a deep recession. This hope is pinned on the fact that the fed funds rate is used to establish rates for things such as consumer loans, home equity lines, credit cards as well as many business loans.
It is likely that the anticipation of today’s rate cut led to a nearly 900 point gain on Wall Street yesterday. What will happen tomorrow, though, is anybody’s guess. My sense is a lot of folks are awaiting next Tuesday’s election to see the direction in which the country will go.
To this end, many analysts (both financial and the kind with couches you lay on as you recount your childhood) are hazarding that gut-wrenching times are likely ahead of us. Economic numbers expected tomorrow likely will reflect another fall in Gross Domestic Product (the measure of the value of all the goods and services produced in the country), making it two straight quarters that the GDP has slid, thus fitting the standard definition of a recession.
What this means to the housing market on the national level and in Chicago is subjective. Many consumers feel that there is little credit available to finance a home purchase but lenders say that that’s not the case. Perhaps the latest action by the fed combined with the election of Barack Obama will engender continued positive market activity.
As I gaze into my crystal ball what I see is a nice level of activity for the period following next Tuesday’s election through mid-December. A one month hiatus for the holidays will then occur and be followed by a spike in activity with the new year’s arrival and the inauguration of our new president.
Striking Gold in Chicago’s Gold Coast Real Estate
Earlier today Nicole and I had the boys out at the park, getting a breath of fresh air and running off some energy before nap time.
Amid the swinging swings and sliding slides we struck up a conversation with another parent who I had met one time previously. After bantering back and forth about mostly mundane issues she looked at me, paused and said in what I best guess was a funereal tone of voice - “And how are things with you.”
From our conversation months and months back she recalled that I was a Realtor and, given the reported state of the real estate market, I suppose she was looking to commiserate with me.
But through continued hard work, positioning, use of emerging technologies, and sheer knowledge of the Chicago real estate market my book of business representing buyers and sellers living in or relocating to Chicago remains dynamic for me and the team at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago.
And so, along the lines of the Mark Twain quote - “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” - the public perception that the entire Chicago market is a shambles is somewhat overstated.
To give you a sense of how the market in Chicago is percolating, today (and with several upcoming posts) I will provide glimpses of activity in specific geographic areas where I am working with buyers and sellers.
Gold Coast
I am currently working with several buying clients in Chicago’s Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhood (and the country’s second wealthiest behind New York’s Upper East Side). Demarcated (more or less) by North Avenue on the north, Division to the south, LaSalle to the west, Lake Michigan to the east, and extending down State Street through Walton to include to Oak Street and East Lake Shore Drive, this transcendent slice of the Chicago pie includes stately rowhomes, ornate coops, a few flights of modernism, and some handsome condos. There is a smattering of townhomes and a growing supply of new construction homes in the area’s southern quadrant that include some quite appealing condo-hotels. Single family homes are rare in the area and typically push the price envelope when they do appear. Coops often feature sizable monthly assessments as do vintage condos (though typically a fraction of a coop) but feature magnificent interior spaces and, occasionally, lake and or city views.
I love the Gold Coast nearly as much as my clients who purchase here. In an area where price is of no consequence to some consumers, I apprise my clients of the relative strengths or weaknesses of buildings. Typically this relates to a building’s financial state and the manner in which the building has been maintained in the course of its history. There are few things as disturbing to buyers as discovering that a special assessment is in the offing of a property they now own.
Another role that I play is to make sure my clients know that the coop they have fallen in love with will take a while to market when they are ready to move because of the $4000 a month assessment and peculiar financing requirements. Or the rambling vintage master work with its wonderful room sizes will need work that my team of craftsman can undertake such as electric, plumbing, carpentry, installation of space pak for central air, etcetera.
My clients will tell you that I am comfortable and adept at assuming this responsibility. As a realtor my job is not limited to the search, find and negotiation. But because I develop ongoing relationships with my clients predicated on trust and professionalism, it is critical that I provide counsel to them as it regards their real estate prior to, during and after a transaction. In other words, if I perceive something of consequence related to my clients’ transaction I will not stand by idly. My role is to share professional views and advice as needed.
As far as what is going on here in the past three months…
Single Family Homes
28 Active,1 Closed, 2 Under Contract
Houses range in price from $1.495MM to $12MM and, as you might imagine, feature several truly stunning homes like the $12MM residence at 25 East Banks
or the corner home at 43 East Burton that is listed at $9.45MM.
Condominiums and Cooperatives - 4 or more Bedrooms
55 Active, 1 Closed, 2 Under Contract
These mammoth homes range in price from $425k to $9.642MM. The least expensive home is something of an aberration with the bulk of this category occupying the seven-figure region. Some of the most attractive residences of this type in the Chicago Gold Coast real estate market include the Trump Tower
Another home that warrants a second and third look is a spectacular addition to the Chicago skyline in the form of the Chicago Spire
And another personal favorite is a 4700+ sf home at the Palmolive Building at the corner of Michigan and Walton.
For more information about what is percolating in Chicago’s Gold Coast as it relates to the real estate market, feel free to give me a call at 773.848.9241. Even if it is not about the Chicago real estate market, feel free to give me a call. I will tell you why I prefer Gibson’s over Morton’s for steak. Or why I think the Sunday buffet at the Four Season’s is spectacular.
Chicago - Top Ranked City
My colleague emailed me this morning with what he termed was a “must read” url. Since just about everything that he forwards to me is entertaining and edifying, I did as he advised and clicked through to read his recommendation.
Sure enough, the link went to an entertaining Chicago Tribune article detailing just how much Chicagoans love their city. As a long-time resident of Chicago, I can attest to this love. Heck, even my three-year-old was able to say “Go Cubs!” before his third birthday and repeatedly intones Chicago with glee in his voice when we are in a holding pattern waiting to land at O’Hare International Airport.
The nature of the Tribune article triggered a “hmm” moment. So I started mulling over the idea of how Chicago is perceived outside of Chicago. Since you are here soaking up the words that I utter in this electronic forum, you don’t need a primer from me about the ins and outs of the web. But let me tell you, as soon as the idea tickled my cerebellum I set off on a a google exploration using search terms that included “most livable” and “best” along with Chicago and 2008.
In the brief slice of time I allowed myself to wander down this path I came up with some wonderful techno-snapshots of the real perception of Chicago by folks who don’t dwell here.
Perhaps the most glowing praise came from FastCompany.com who named Chicago the US City of the Year for 2008. FastCompany’s praise cited the city’s architecture, its culture, its vibrancy, its greenness, its diversity, its economy, and its eye toward the future and capacity to continue growing in honoring us.
True, true, and true.
Unlike other aging cities in the midwest, Chicago never made the mistake of cordoning off its lakefront for private industrial purposes. Instead, through the genius of Daniel Burnham a century earlier, the city assiduously maintained public access to the shores of Lake Michigan for recreational purposes. Thus there are beaches up and down the lakefront, from the city’s north to south sides along with a wonderful bike path and a ridiculous number of public parks where you will witness Chicago’s vibrant diversity on any given day.
More praise came Chicago’s way from the City Mayors organization. While in polling terms this one might be referred to as an outlier, it is relevant to the present discussion as it declares Chicago tops among 14 cities around the world. In this tally Chicago received high marks in “convenience, a sense of freedom and an ease in meeting people, …sports and cultural activities, public transportation and the diversity of people.”
And while Travel and Leisure magazine doesn’t rank Chicago as the top metropolis, I don’t take it as a real slight. It is simply a measure that takes into consideration our winter weather that drops us to Number Three. Nudging ahead of us are Boston and San Francisco.
And face it, that’s not bad company.
The nice thing about Travel and Leisure’s ranking is that it is fueled by the input of visitors. I can and will market Chicago to locals and others at the drop of a hat, talking about Michigan Avenue, the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago, our architecture, our people, our diversity, our restraurants, our lakefront, and our parks.
Another poll that is sustained by the input of visitors is found at Conde Nast. Bandying about the globe to sumptuous places where delightful meals are served by nattily attired servers who appear to have memorized the Four Season’s service manual these folks have determined that Chicago is the fifth-ranked city in the United States. Figuring into our status with these well-heeled folks are our restaurants, food and wine, culture, and family friendliness.
Ahead of us on this list are, from bottom to top, Sante Fe, New York, Charleston, and San Francisco.
At the end of the day I suppose I circle back to the beginning of the day when I received an email from a friend who urged me to check out something on the Chicago Tribune’s website that was not only interesting, but also accurate. Chicagoans love Chicago.
And at the same time, so too do folks outside of Chicago.
So much so that I am showing one of my condo listings tomorrow to a corporate relocation client from Boston. At the same time I am working with an international buying client and also a couple relocating to Chicago from within the United States.
I would like to tell you that both parties have chosen to work with me and the team at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago because of my charm. But the truth is more likely that they trust my expertise as it relates to the Chicago real estate market.
A Rainy Monday Bike Ride to Cast Early Ballot in Chicago
Our efforts to enjoy the great outdoors Monday were stymied by an intermittent rainfall.
At one point there seemed to be a window of opportunity, so we harnessed the bikes on the 4-Runner and made our way to the bike path at Caldwell Woods. Right when we got there the sprinkles galvanized into a full-fledged downpour, and chased us into the nearby SuperDawg Drive-in.
For those of you who haven’t been to SuperDawg you can’t consider yourself a real Chicago hot dog aficionado until you have made eye contact with the dancing hotdog atop the drive in while sating your appetite.
While some may prefer Portillo’s, these two pooch purveyors balance in my mind to create a finely tuned fulcrum of the Chicago dog experience. It’s rare that a return trip from O’Hare International Airport won’t feature an exit at Nagle and a jaunt to SuperDawg near the intersection of Milwaukee/Nagle/Devon.
So as Lucas eased into a carseat nap, Jackson was chomping at the bit to down some of the goods from this culinary wonderwerk. No worries for those reading today who are keeping a tally, Jackson’s lunch wasn’t a dog - his fare was a grilled cheese with fries and a portion of a chocolate shake.
A few hours later we did wheel the bikes out of the garage with the boys in their seats. The weather decided to cooperate and we wanted to join the growing chorus of early voters so we greenly made our way to perform our civic duty at the Edgewater Public Library.
With five minutes to spare before the 5pm closing we walked in, showed our state id’s to cast early ballots. With Lucas balanced on my knee my eyes welled up with tears as I saw Barack Obama’s name at the top of the ticket.
So with Jackson at her side and Lucas on my knee we joined the growing ranks of early voters. Leaving the overly warm library auditorium and buoyant with the future we hope our small efforts will visit on our boys and our country we made our way back outside, straddled our bikes and rode to the lakefront to scratch a path somewhat south along Lake Michigan with no particular destination in mind.
Perhaps the clear skies at the end of the day are an omen of good things to come. That’s what we are feeling here at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago.
Early Voting in Chicago
Just over two weeks before we make our choice for president.
And while wonderful people like you and me will beautifully and dutifully march to their local polling booths on November 4th, other folks just as attractive and talented as you and me will take advantage of the opportunity to cast ballots early.
The Chicago Board of Elections has set up early voting stations at 51 government outposts. There’s one in every ward along with one downtown at the Board of Elections. According to the Board of Elections the city led the state during the primaries as far as ballots cast early.
As a registered voter you are able to cast an early ballot Monday through Saturday (until October 30th) from 9am-5pm at any of the 51 sites. You also can vote on Sunday from 9am -12pm at the Chicago Election Board at 69 W Washington. All you need to do is a state ID (and you have to be registered to vote).
What makes this process attractive is simple - you don’t run the risk of missing the narrow window to cast a ballot on November 4th should something unexpected occur or you’re running late and the line’s long or you have to rush your dog to the vet. Whatever the case may be, by participating early you get to do it the Chicago way and participate often.
Not that you will be able to cast another ballot. That’s not the case. But let’s say you really want one of the candidates to prevail who happens to be from Chicago or represents the State of Illinois, now you have the opportunity to free up time to engage in volunteer activities the day of the election.
How cool is that? Very, very cool.
A complete list of sites is available by clicking here. Below is a list of sites associated where many of clients of The Real Estate Lounge Chicago live.
Bucktown/Wicker Park
Pulaski Park
1419 W Blackhawk
(Blackhawk and Noble)
Downtown
Board of Elections
69 W Washington
Lower Level
East Village/West Town
Goldblatts Building
1615 W Chicago Ave
(Ashland and Chicago)
Edgewater/Andersonville
Edgewater Library
1210 W. Elmdale Ave.
(Elmdale and Broadway)
Gold Coast/Streeterville
Access Living
115 W. Chicago Ave.
(Chicago east of La Salle)
Lakeview
Merlo Library
644 W. Belmont Ave.
(Belmont between Broadway and Halsted)
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park Library
1150 W. Fullerton Ave.
(Racine and Fullerton)
Lincoln Square
Welles Park
2333 W. Sunnyside Ave.
(Sunnyside and Lincoln)
Uptown
Truman College
1145 W. Wilson Ave.
(Broadway and Wilson)
West Loop
Union Park
1501 W. Randolph St.
(Randolph and Ogden)
A Chicago tv-watching Remembrance - Thoughts of Ray Rayner
As the dad of two young boys not a day goes by when I don’t think back to when I was a lad growing up on Chicago’s southside. An old joke starts off with “What’s the best thing about the southside?”
Give up? “The bus north.”
As a youngster this wasn’t my sense of reality. But at the end of the day, after receiving my degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign, notice that I didn’t trek back to the southside. Instead my trajectory took me to Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood one short block from the hallowed ivy walls of Wrigley Field on the city’s northside.
But forgive my wandering.
Much to my wife’s eternal surprise my upbringing preceded cable. So we had a rotation of five so-called vhf channels and between two to four uhf channels (which we didn’t often use because they tended to feature more snow than show).
To some tv is a horrible cancer that shouldn’t tempt the minds of our children. Perhaps. But had I not had the steady influence of tv I wouldn’t be able to whistle the theme to Gilligan’s Island or know that Dr. Welby’s nurse was named Consuela or be able to so aptly imitate the chittering of the monkey in Speed Racer.
Nor would I have had the wonderful influence of the most important of shows, The Ray Rayner Show.
Now just about anybody with a pulse who grew up in Chicago roughly my age knows Ray Rayner. Mind you this is before non-stop political bickering that today’s channels offer or the steady stream of cartoons on Sprout or Noggin.
So what or who was Ray Rayner. Aside from being a cultural icon limited to a specific geographic Ray Rayner was a guy probably as old as I am now who hosted a morning tv show that featured an eclectic montage of stuff such as old school cartoons, weather reports, sports scores (written on a small chalkboard and with him sporting a hat that had a logo one way of the Cubs and the Sox the other way), regular characters such as Chevelston the Duck, Garfield Goose, Cuddly Duddly, and Ark in the Park with Dr. Lester Fisher who brought in critters from the Lincoln Park Zoo.
He also did crafts projects, working through on live tv the construction of artworks that captured the attention of kids and helped them go from start to finish. And, perhaps most important in the days of big snows, Ray Rayner read school closings. You have to remember - this was before the three letters of w w w meant anything. There was no internet, there were local broadcasters who read information in real time to kids craving that today their school would be among those closed.
Another thing that Ray did was during the winter holiday season he had a non-demonational Advent Calendar where he would open a window each day that featured some element to the story being told via the calendar. What I remember about the calendar is that it promoted memory and remembrance. Something had been opened on day one and now it was day twelve, what was on day one? And day three? And so on and so on.
I thought of the calendar yesterday when I clicked on a website that features Sarah Palin sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office. Each day the creator of the site adds a new feature particular to something associated with Sarah which you discover by hovering the mouse over and around until the cursor indicates that there is a hyperlink below.
It’s pretty funny (and I am sure that some folks looking at it would find it more than a little frightening). And if you go there on a daily basis you welcome the new element while remembering what preceded it. Just like when I was a kid with Ray Rayner. So there’s a dart board with names like Melon and Crisp and Bristol and Prego. Or there are oil derricks on the lawn of the White House behind the window. There’s also a lot more that you will see if you check out the site.
On a very real note, this kind of creative satire is a lot safer than the hooting and hollering reflected in news reports that I have seen for the past week that show some incredibly angry people at rallies hosted by Palin. In instances of disagreement, especially in an election now with our economic markets reeling and the housing market sputtering because of the lack of available credit, the need for informed and reasonble conversation is as important as it has ever been.
I guess one of the reasons that after all this time why I look back at Ray Rayner with such fondness is that he always was steady, reasonable, informed, kind, and never had a bad thing to say about anybody. Sounds like a person worthy of emulating. Sounds kind of like the team here at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago as we help our buyers and sellers with their Chicago real estate decisions.
Retail Numbers Fall Along with Consumers’ Sense of Trust
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking today in New York, hinted that even with extensive and aggressive measures taken, the nation’s economy is going to take time to get back on the right track. Concurring with sentiments voiced by other economists, it appears the next two quarters will be more of the same as the economy continues to shrink.
His comments came only hours after yet another negative economic indicator was posted as the nation’s retail numbers fell 1.2%, the worst drop in three years. The prospect of another two quarters of decline fit the description of the country being in a recession.
Whew, that’s a lot to digest. Actually, there’s a much greater likelihood that you will be afflicted by a deep sense of nausea upon hearing this news and little chance you will be able to digest it at all.
In a classic “on the one hand” scenario, what this means to the Chicago real estate market is that it’s going to take a while for measures to take root to free up credit to enable consumers to participate in buying a single family home in Bucktown or a condo in Lakeview.
According to Bernanke, “Credit markets will take some time to unfreeze,” he said, and “even if they stabilize…broader economic recovery will not happen right away.”
But bearing in mind “the other hand” of the scenario it is important to recognize that these steps don’t regulate or necessarily shore up housing values. We at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago perceive the intrinsic nature of value as somewhat if not fully subjective. And as such, there is an emotional or psychological element related to value. Without waxing too philosophical and speaking as a Chicago real estate professional, what it will take for buyers and sellers to be at least on the same page as far as home values is grounds for optimism.
Hmm, optimism. Sounds somewhat ethereal. And indeed it is. But when it comes to people willing to do things like buy cars or purchase homes optimism is, for most people, quite concrete. If I don’t feel it, I won’t do it.
And while Bernanke is not a trained or licensed therapist he intimated that we do have grounds for optimism and that we “will emerge from this period with renewed vigor.”
The question, of course, is how long this period will last.
I for one perceive singular activities as playing a role in all of this. And right now as the Bush Administration gets ready to hang the “gone fishin’” sign at 1600 Pennsylvania, the country as a whole is ready for a change. So we may gain some degree of traction on the morning of November 5th. And we may gain even more traction come mid-January as the new president takes the oath of office and names a cabinet to move forward in these challenging times.
For my part? I am hopeful for the change that is coming. And I am optimistic that skilled, caring public servants with the true interests of our nation and the overall world community at heart will achieve the vigor that Bernanke refers to.
And, hey, chances are really good that Chicago will host the Olympic Games as a result of an Obama presidency. And, if I might be just a bit parochial, it is my sense that this will be a very good omen for the Chicago economy.
