Tony Lazzari's Naperville Real Estate

Illinois Housing Market Forecast, Part 2

Homes in Naperville — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:19:21 +0000

Illinois Housing Market Forecast for the Second Half of 2011 −

Two-part video series with University of Illinois economist Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, from Illinois Association of Realtors.

Want to discuss this in greater detail or explore your particular housing situation? Just EMAIL TONY or give me a call at 630-542-7732.

Illinois Housing Market Forecast

Homes in Naperville — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:11:43 +0000

Illinois Housing Market Forecast for the Second Half of 2011 −

Two-part video series with University of Illinois economist Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, from Illinois Association of Realtors.

Want to discuss this in greater detail or explore your particular housing situation? Just EMAIL TONY or give me a call at 630-542-7732.

Selling Your Home by Owner?

Homes in Naperville — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:09:08 +0000

The following article is reposted here with permission of The KCM Crew. In our opinion, it points to a major value Realtor’s bring to the transaction: Market knowledge. Think the 6% commission was worth the additional $150,000 received? Hmmm…

FSBO a No Go!

by THE KCM CREW on AUGUST 9, 2011

This blog prides itself on the quality of real estate information we deliver each and every day. We try to gather empirical evidence to validate the positions we take. We do not use just an anecdotal story to make a point. We also do not get caught up in the sensationalism of the moment. However, today will be different.

We can’t resist commenting on the story which recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal regarding Colby Sambrotto, the founder and former CEO of ForSaleByOwner.com. It seems the founding father and lifelong evangelist of the concept of selling your home without a real estate agent was forced to hire a broker to sell his home after failing at what he preaches others should do.

After failing to sell his NYC apartment on his own as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO), Sambrotto hired a broker and paid a 6% commission in order to get the job done. His personal experience helps refute some of the myths Sambrotto has been espousing for over a decade. Let’s look at two of those myths:

Myth #1 – You Will Pocket More Money Selling on Your Own

Most FSBO sites say you can save the commission by selling on your own. What happened in Sambrotto’s sale?

From the WSJ article:

“The broker, Jesse Buckler, said he told Mr. Sambrotto the apartment in the Lion’s Head building on West 19th Street near Sixth Avenue was priced too low and wasn’t drawing the right buyers.

By May, it went into contract, he said, after attracting multiple offers. It closed in the last few days for $150,000 more than the original asking price.”

Myth #2 – The Internet Alone Can Sell Your Home

Many have said that, with the introduction of home search on the internet, hiring an agent is no longer a necessity. What happened to the FSBO guru when he attempted to only depend on the internet?

From the WSJ article:

“Looking to move his family to the suburbs, [Mr. Sambrotto] said he carefully staged his apartment for sale himself, and put it on the market. But after using a mix of websites to publicize his apartment, he said he had only ‘middling success’ and switched to a broker because many buyers were so reliant on brokers.”

Bottom Line

There is a reason the real estate industry has been around for centuries: it performs a valuable service.

Mobile Search Option Coming to My Naperville Real Estate

Homes in Naperville — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:11:22 +0000

Mobile Home Search Coming Soon!

If you have ever used our home search feature in you quest to find that perfect place, you might like to check out this review from Agent Genius about the new tool that our supplier of choice is finalizing. I am looking forward to the functionality and ease it will bring to our users. We will keep you posted as it gets closer.

House Prices Through 2015

Homes in Naperville — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:05:27 +0000

The following post came across my feed today. Thought I would share it.

House Prices Through 2015

Article reposted with permission from KCM Blog.

by The KCM Crew on June 27, 2011

Everyone seems to have an opinion on where home prices are headed. Housing bulls are saying prices may start rebounding as early as later this year. Some housing bears are saying that prices may still drop another 10-15%. What actually is going to happen? No one knows for sure.

However, Macro Markets, a financial technology company, actually surveyed 108 economists, real estate experts, and investment and market strategists for their June 2011 Home Price Expectations Survey. They then averaged all 108 opinions. Here is what the report says about house prices over the next five years:

2011: prices will depreciate 3.52%
2012: prices will appreciate .46%
2013: prices will appreciate 2.18%
2014: prices will appreciate 2.92%
2015: prices will appreciate 3.47%

Accumulative appreciation (including this year’s projected depreciation) will stand at 5.71% in 2015.

Bottom Line

The experts say home prices will begin to see appreciation next year and return to historic levels of annual appreciation by 2015.

How to Interpret Today’s S&P Case Shiller Home Price Report

Homes in Naperville — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:44:17 +0000

How to Interpret Today’s S&P Case Shiller Home Price Report.

Great read from our friends at Altos Research, always helping us make sense of the numbers and housing forecasts. Their numbers are virtually real time and help us see what is happening today, this week, this month, instead of months ago.

If you want to see the stats for your zipcode in the Naperville Area, check the drop down menu above. “Market Reports“. And if you are really into it, you can subscribe to your own, free, weekly reports (Report Request). It is a service we provide to you at no charge because we believe the more information you have and understand, the better equipped you are to approach the housing market, whether buying or selling.

Naperville Housing Market Update

Homes in Naperville — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:40:08 +0000

Naperville Housing Market Heating Up

I have never seen a this level of activity in the real estate market in the month of January during my career. Buyers are buying homes. Listings (priced right) are selling. Listings that have been slow to appeal to the market are getting showings. Showing activity is up, way up for our office in Naperville. And, hold your breath, banks are being responsive on short sale offers. (There is a strategy to developing a short sale offer that my clients have found to be effective.)

If you are planning on getting into the market, you may want to take advantage of the Market Watch Report that is available to clients. Below is an excerpt from the latest for report for Naperville 60540. The report is customized for the price range and home size you are in. Download a copy by clicking on the link below, take a read, and if interested in subscribing, give me a call or drop me an email. If you are working with another Baird & Warner agent, contact them.

——————————————————————

[download id="30"]

“Market Watch Email for Naperville (60540)

Below is your Baird & Warner Market Watch report. This report provides you the latest real estate sale information on your local area. This information can help you learn what houses are selling for, and is an excellent starting point to help you understand what your home may be worth and what you might net should you decide to sell it.

Please understand that the Estimated Value Range is a starting point in this process and does not factor in all of the other market intricacies that go toward determining the actual price a house will sell for, such as entertaining offers, negotiating, closing costs, timing, etc. For this reason, you should always consult with your real estate sales professional for the fullest information.

To learn what your home might be listed for in today’s real estate market, please contact me at your convenience to schedule a free Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your home.”

Note: Please download the full report to see the statistics tables.

Preparing to Buy a Home

Homes in Naperville — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:23:22 +0000

The following video was recorded during an interview at the National Association of Realtors Convention in New Orleans in November 2010. To discuss this in greater detail or review your situation, please give me a call and let’s see what we can do.

Goodbye to Google Real Estate Search

Homes in Naperville — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:34:38 +0000

Google Real Estate Search to End

A little more than a year after its much heralded entry into real estate search has pulled back. Google says the feature, which let people find available homes and rentals in Google Maps and filter results by square footage and price, saw “low usage.” In a webinar earlier today another factor cited was Google’s comments that the existence of excellent property search tools on real estate websites.

From a Realtor’s perspective, Google was one more option for gaining exposure for a client’s listing. However, it was an entirely manual process to enter the listing data and keep it updated. They also crawled and collected from published sites. On the other hand, the Realtor.com’s, Zillow’s, Trulia’s and others of the world collect and present the data to the public. Agents have the ability to claim their listings and enhance the presentation. Much of this is from auto feeds from the MLS’s.

From a consumer’s perspective, I have not had any clients who talked about using Google as a primary search vehicle. Many have talked about how they Google addresses when out driving around to find information on homes. Many Realtor search sites, including this one, are Google friendly so that listings can be found when this type of search occurs.

I would be curious to hear your thoughts on this: No big deal? A crying shame? Meh…Enter a comment and let us know. (Psst, if you need to you can search the full mls from here…)

August September Real Estate Market Report for Naperville

Homes in Naperville — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:18:57 +0000

So what is the real story with the housing market? I’ve been been reading all the national reports, Case- Schiller, NAR, more local reports, and blogs from trusted sources from around the country. I recently had the opportunity to hear Steve Harney talk at the Illinois Association of Realtors Annual Meeting. Here are the highlights:
The federal tax credits brought very few if any, new buyers to the market. The incentives pulled purchases forward, in effect, robbing Peter to pay Paul. Now that those have closed, or will close in the next few weeks, expect to see a slowdown and darker reports on homes sold.
Foreclosures – Illinois is a judicial foreclosure state so it is one of the 23 directly affected by the banks freeze on current homes in the foreclosure process. Foreclosed homes that have either been on the market or waiting to come on the market (in redemption) are effectively off the market until this latest snafu is sorted out.
Locally, showing activity is up, sharply. The first weekend in October was the 3rd highest of the year for our office in terms of appointments for showings.
Homes that have been sitting on the market for extended periods have received multiple offers.
Personally, I have written more contracts in the last 3 weeks than any other month this year.

What does this mean? Smart buyers are starting to take advantage of the low prices and incredibly low interest rates. New buyers with nothing to sell do not view this as a bad market: to them it is an incredible opportunity to buy more home, for less money, than could have been done 5 years ago. Sellers – don’t look for any real pricing recovery for the next 18 months. We may see a temporary blip because of reduced inventory as a result of the foreclosure freeze (depending on how long it lasts), but expect a flat market for the most part.

That all being said, here are the latest Naperville Single Family numbers for August/September 2010:

August-September View

If you want to change the view period, adjust the slider at the bottom of the mini-graph.