If it looks too good to be true… you know the rest
If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Every so often I get an inquiry from an online consumer trying to see a place that looks pretty good. Actually, it looks so good as to be too good to be true.
Unfortunately for the inquirer places that look too good to be true usually are just that – too good to be true.
There are a couple of reasons for this great goodness factor. With the magnificent manifestation of data online some unsavory sorts extrapolate from that which is not theirs. I’m not sure why these guys take property addresses and associated photographs and confabulate advertisements touting much cheaper prices but I suppose it is akin to the emails asking you to help the true prince of somewhere far away to get his tens of millions of dollars out of the country to your great enrichment.
In other instances old listings never leave their online roost and a current time consumer mistakes something that long ago sold for something he might buy today. Alas that place is no longer available.
Sometimes we see what are known as a “dummy” ads. The creator of such an ad, either the listing brokerage or an unaffiliated third party, uses such a listing to try to attract clientele. In the parlance of the old school this is known as the “bait and switch.”
And in rare instances there are those listings that are lightening in a bottle. Usually it’s a foreclosure such as a Bucktown listing that arose in mid December and three different clients asked about it as it generated more than 30 offers within several days and sold for far more than its asking price.
While this was a tangible and viable place even it was too good to be true to an extent as it soared far beyond where its list price.
Like all of my planetary brethren I am familiar with the “looks too good to be true” conundrum. I thought of this as I danced with the vacuum cleaner this morning and hearkened back a few years when my Nicole and I thought our floor dust needs of our Old Town condo would be taken care of by the Roomba.
If you are not familiar with the Roomba it is a circular device that with the press of a button takes off an a cross hatched pattern throughout a single level of your home, picking up dust and what have you for the better part of 90 minutes to make your life better and cleaner.
At least that’s the idea. Until the buzzing, circling, beeping device runs a few times and the mechanism gets gummed up and just doesn’t seem to work well or right anymore.
Which was our experience. Over and over and over and over.
One thing I learned in the course of this not entirely inexpensive experiment was just how great Costco is. Every time the Roomba went boomba Costco was good enough to replace it. And when finally I tired of the experiment on about the sixth replacement Costco made me whole, refunding the purchase amount, enabling me to snag a whisk broom and pan to roll old school on the dust bunnies.
I don’t know what’s at the heart of the “looks too good to be true” conundrum. But maybe there is no universal truth on this one. But at least for my quixotic tilting with and against the Roomba at the core was my desire to have a shortcut. I wanted my floors clean without effort on my part.
Like skinny minis who want to be buff without hitting the gym. Or overweight folks who want to shave LBs without giving up the eclair.
Face it, you can fill in the blanks a million different ways. What I see as true here is two-fold – shortcuts have unintended consequences. The other truth, if you haven’t already guessed, if it looks too good to be true it probably is.
By the way, don’t leave your real estate needs to somebody intent on taking short cuts. Turn to somebody with an intelligent and workable plan. My number is 773.848.9241.
One more thing… I will be at 3024 N Sheffield Sunday from 11.15 until 1p. I will be at 3315 N Lakewood from 1.30 til 3.30. And my listings at 1801 W Winnemac and 1224 N Dearborn will be open from noon until 2p.
Snow on the Horizon (Unless it Doesn’t Come)
Puffy cheeked angels are hurling ever-damper spitballs earthbound as Chicago gears up for its first substantial snow of the season.
Sitting in my North Shore perch, a Starbucks near my sons’ school, I ease from one task to the next, observing the gathering expression of wintry nature. From the voices weighing in on the radio during the drive to school this morning GoreTex clad prognosticators are gathering on various bridges around the city to observe anticipated blockages and impediments the storm surely will bring.
Unless it doesn’t.
That’s the thing with prognostications, estimations, pontifications and gesticulations. The best (and worst) of intentions may bear no fruit at all. And like the weatherman so eerily portrayed by Nicholas Cage in The Weather Man, it’s perfectly feasible that the meteorologist may be mundanely mediocre and miss the mark.
I guess it remains to be seen today what will happen. At least for today. And as we wait at least we wait prepared. So the boys made their way to school today where a good part of the day is spent in outdoor activity with snow boots and snow pants. And should the white stuff not gather with any force it won’t be for our lack of readiness.
The same, I suppose, is true when it comes to homes floating like skiffs on today’s housing market in Chicago and the North Shore where a spate of early season activity has planted seeds of optimism on the parts of sellers and their Chicago real estate professionals. So long as these listed homes enter the real estate market in a state of readiness we reasonably may expect positive results.
And so with homes that are priced truly to the market (which still favors buyers) readiness first and foremost is coming to the market at the right price. Second in importance, and vital, is how effectively, extensively and aggressively the home is marketed by the real estate professional.
In truth this is why I crack eggs on the skillet of this website. Information with specific words intertwined in the narrative is the sticky stuff that sticks to the walls of google. And google essentially is the technological fire around which we information nomads gather, rubbing together sticks of search words to flick to life flames of images, notions and things we need to see and know.
And with respect to my kindling comprised of data and heaped atop the licking flames of google there is a price reduction at my historic Wicker Park greystone at 2118 W Schiller that is now $459,000 for a three bed and two bath condo with parking.
There’s also my newly listed penthouse condo in the heart of Lakeview with a private rooftop deck that will be open this Sunday from 11am until 12.30 at 3024 N Sheffield.
Another open house that has attracted tons of attention since the new year is my townhome straddling Andersonville and Lincoln Square at 1801 W Winnemac Unit C. Mitch Aronson will host the open Sunday from noon until 2pm.
Later this evening, so long as Snowmageddon doesn’t occur, I will meet an interested buyer at my gorgeous Bucktown penthouse listing at 2150 N Damen where luxury finishes and a private rooftop deck with stunning views are the highlights.
Private showings also are on tap this Saturday at my magnificent Gold Coast duplex at 1224 N Dearborn. This two-level home also will be open Sunday from noon until 2pm.
And so these skiffs of homes for sale stay afloat on the waterline of the current market, steadily nosing their way to the shoreline of selling, priced right and marketed with precision and assertiveness.
By the way, good luck as you make your way through the growing white landscape. And don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions for me at 773.848.9241.
Well Versed in Chicago Real Estate Listings? The Haiku Approach
A friend recently slipped a haiku into a facebook status update. As is the case always with haiku, once it enters my line of sight I refuse to relinquish the reins of haiku IQ for a good two weeks. Thus have I viewed life through the prism of the haiku for the past few days, coloring my perceptions and communications heavily.
For instance this morning I did my own status update at The Real Estate Lounge page as follows
Given the Zen-like tranquility of this type of verse I will use it to ornament my listings, mindful that in so doing it is as though I set each listing on a peaceful river voyage before the eyes of a desirous public who now will approach me with the goal of making each of these dwellings their own personal refuge.
listings by haiku
line two seven syllables
first and third with five
 |
1224 Dearborn – $599,900 a brownstone facade and being in the gold coast make this attractive |
| 2118 Schiller – $469,900 a single level unique chicago layout wicker park condo |
 |
 |
2150 Damen – $424,900 closer to the clouds penthouse dwelling with rooftop tasteful home with views |
| 1801 Winnemac – $374,900 the right home appears in andersonville it is glad it is right priced |
 |
 |
3110 Sheridan – $210.000 be extravagant a luxury one bedroom with views of the lake |
and so ends this verse
or do you prefer verses?
have you found your home?
All questions answered. All homes found. Each home sold. Each client happy in past, present and future tenses. Start your journey now by calling me at 773.848.9241.
Ho Ho Ho your Horses for Friday Evening Bash
Friday night the group gathered to toot their horns and celebrate the season. The setting was the grand ballroom at the J.W. Sheraton downtown and the hosts were the ever affable chieftains of @properties, Thad Wong and Michael Golden. The attendees were a veritable four figures of people intent on talking, laughing, eating and drinking to their hearts’ content.
And so they did. And as did we.
Driving down with good friends Mitch Aronson and Laura Kina, Nicole and I entered the fray at about 8pm and immediately dived into the red zone of the enjoyment factor.
Intermingled in clever activities were delicacies and libations which in the first instance were punctuated by the caricaturist.
Next the snapshot booth.
Next the lipsologist (who reads the imprint of your lipstick clad lips that have twice smooched a piece of paper).
Then dancing.
And in a momentary absence of Nicole I snuck to the airbrush tattoist’s seat to adorn my noggin with a Celtic knot.
Why knot indeed?
In all the evening was a smashing success as the preeminent residential brokerage in town welcomed the holiday season with smiles and open arms.
My hope is that you too are swimming the stream of seasonal festivities with an open heart that crests with joy and sharing.
As ever, I welcome any questions you may have about the market and how your home or home search fits into the market’s current contour. I assure you tattoo was temporary but as with what the knot symbolizes, I and my real estate toolkit will provide for you in a continuous and ongoing manner.
773.848.9241.
Clarifying Value as We Prepare to Make an Offer on a Chicago Condo
Value is a tricky thing to capture. In the Chicago and North Shore real estate market it’s akin to taking a shoe box and filling it with like-sized properties either in the same building (in the case of mid and high-rises) or approximately a half mile for condos and zip codes for many single family homes. And the measuring tape time-wise goes back no more than six months.
Once the box has a suitable sampling we joggle it, smoosh it together and sculpt what’s inside together to gain a snap shot of a specific place’s current value. And so that’s what I set out to do for two separate clients I met with yesterday.
In both instances there was enough data missing to establish value variance for both the Lakeview condo and the Bucktown single family home.
Bear in mind value variance is pretty much a given whenever we try to establish a road map toward a what we should start and where we should stop when buying a home (with respect to what we will pay). What I wanted here, especially for the Lakeview condo, was some measurable means of support to trend toward a lower number.
A smoking gun, as it were.
Bottom line the current market has a stout finger on the scale favoring buyers. My job is to make sure the finger is stoutest, plumpest and wields the heaviest weight in favor of my buying clients.
The smoking gun.
One thing I noticed today that doesn’t specifically impact my pursuit of numeric truth at least dents this pursuit peripherally. This morning as I caught up on what came new to the market yesterday and what closed I noticed a condo several doors down from what we looked at yesterday in Lakeview. While the unit we saw yesterday was a duplex, this single level is a different commodity.
But I couldn’t help but notice that it closed at a significantly lower price than what I would expect. So I engaged in what I call market forensics and looked a little deeper.
3223 N Clifton, in the Nettelhorst District, closed at the end of last week for $336,000. Knowing that condos on this street were typically constructed between 2000 and 2008 I took a closer look and determined this home originally came to market in 2005 and sold for $429,000. Looking a little further it turns out the same unit resold in 2007 for $464,000.
So this week’s transaction was a drop of $128,000, constituting a nearly 28% loss in four years.
The unit my clients are interested in is offered at $499,900. I recognize that the Clifton condo sale does not directly impact the market value of what we want. But it performs a Hansel and Gretel move, laying bread crumbs that intimate a path toward what could possible be either due to overall market dynamics or seller fatigue.
And so the end of today’s soliloquy that when you or someone you know is of a mind to find a place to buy or sell, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Give me a call at 773.848.9241 or email me at tom@therealestateloungechicago.com.
Talk soon!
