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 |
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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 |
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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!
Lassoing the Moon and Brokers Who “Aspirationally” Price Chicago Homes
We have passed the threshold of December 1st and upon us soon are the holy trilogy of holy events: Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzai.
And as thoughts ceaselessly shift in my mind like so many waves along Lake Michigan the stutteringly smooth tones of George Bailey ring in my ears as he asks Mary on their first date in It’s a Wonderful Life,
What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.
A lasso is a perfect tool for a real estate broker in today’s Chicago and North Shore market. Not only are we looking to heave our gilded rope skyward to snare the home of our clients’ dreams but in certain and distinctive ways we need to wield the rope like our dogey-chasing kinfolk on cattle drives of yore.
Except we are not chasing steer we are steering fellow realtors as we navigate the oddly contoured market, using our metaphorical lasso to do the steering.
I saw an interesting piece earlier this week that said more than 75% of home sellers across the country are failing to follow the data dictates of the market and are pricing their homes higher than the market appears willing to bear. When I am confronted with such “aspirational pricing,” I will reach out to the broker on the other side of the equation and seek their input as to the WHY behind their pricing. Thus I toss my lasso.
The point of this exercise is manifold. In the first place if they are relying on comps that I missed, I need to know so I can share this info with my buying clients. Honestly, though, I tend to crunch numbers exhaustively to derive an overview of value. And so the lasso I heave is more an effort to draw my professional real estate colleague into my own numeric corral. As the conversation goes on I suggest to the listing agent that my comps (which I share) suggest a different value than where they are priced. And on the basis of such comps how my client would act, if we were to proceed. Bottom line any offer would be seasoned by our reading of the market.
As the market has become increasingly challenging some brokers have really upped their games. I love working with these brokers who put in great effort to understand the market and valuation, working earnestly to serve the interests of their clients. Dialogs with these folks are stimulating and edifying.
The flip side of the coin are the brokers who offer no answers when asked what the basis of their list price is when it seems out of whack with the market. I recently had a conversation with such a broker who told me, “My pricing philosophy is irrelevant.”
But it is relevant, especially when third party financing is at stake and a thorough and exact reading of comps will determine if a loan is approved or denied.
And so the lasso is within easy reach when needed when working with my buying clients in Chicago and the North Shore. I even employ it with my prospective listing clients to establish a value range for their homes coming to market in this current environment that so significantly favors buyers.
As ever, I am ready and available for all of your questions and showing requests in the Chicago and North Shore real estate markets. You may reach me at 773.848.9241. Or email me at tom@therealestateloungechicago.com.
A Celebrity Seller with an Unsold Gold Coast Condo
On Sunday I met a couple at my Gold Coast open house at 1224 N Dearborn. As we talked about the overall Chicago market and more specifically the Gold Coast they told me that one of their primary considerations is square footage. For some reason this triggered in my mind a single floor residence at 1500 Astor that essentially has been in something of a free-fall since it first came to market in September 2008 at $5.5M.
This 3700 square foot slice of magnificence at the McCormick Mansion has since originally listing experienced four price reductions with three different listing agents and brokerages trying to respond to the needs of their celebrity client. So far, no luck as Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins remains both the owner indeed and in deed.
Today’s list price of $2.85M is $100k under what Corgan paid in 2002. With only two bedrooms and two and a half baths, this oversized square footage condo with monthly assessments of more than $2200 and annual taxes of more than $21k represents what can be best-termed a vanity purchase. At the end of the day the single question becomes where it will land.
Overarching analyses are moot in terms of cost per square foot and there aren’t real life comps to offer a road map as to value. In the truest sense the prospective sale of this residence is how the market will respond – when will one party come in and make an offer that will result in a conversation with the seller that leads to the consummation of a deal that closes. And if the market continues to not respond, how will the seller respond?
If the past three years are any indication the seller will move to another brokerage while footing monthly service costs of roughly $5k (assuming the original purchase was cash).
Where will it end? As this home is not my listing I can only look at it through the prism of what my clients say. And what they say is for two bedrooms and as many baths with one powder room and a tiny galley kitchen this home is severely overpriced. And with more than three years on the market now this home is terribly stale.
One important consideration, though, is what this home represents. When first listed this condo came to the market at $5.5M. At that point and at that price it was terribly and unrealistically priced. Would it have sold at a more realistic price? Maybe. When something is so egregiously mispriced what occurs is the listing atrophies. And that is what this Gold Coast listing has done. The only folks who seem to be engaged in vanity purchases are international clients or domestic purchasers who prefer fuller amenity buildings.
But should this property (or any other Chicago or North Shore property) intrigue you, feel free to contact me directly to make a private showing appointment at 773.848.9241.
