I™ve been showing a lot of homes lately, and I am always surprised how many sellers and/or their listing agents miss the basics. Here is a short list of reminders of how you can make your home showing-ready.

• Make sure your agent has professional photos of your home taken. A few times a month I preview a home on tour that is beautiful in person, but when I send my client an email of the listing, it looks dark and ugly on the MLS.
• Your home should not smell at all. It shouldn™t smell good, and it shouldn™t smell bad. Buyers don™t like walking into a room full of fragrance; it makes them suspicious that the seller is covering something up. A little neutralizing spray is o.k., but don™t overdo it.
• Carpets should be clean. It™s worth the $150.00 to have it done professionally.
• Windows should be clean, inside and out. It™s worth the money to have it done. Remove heavy curtains or drapes. Bare windows and minimal treatments are better.
• Bare bathrooms look cheap. Towel racks should be full of new, fluffy towels. Counters should be clear. Toilet paper rolls should be full, extra points if they™re folded over at the edge. Seats should be down.
• Base boards should shine.
• Front porches and patios should have potted plants and flowers.
• I love dogs, I truly do. But, not all my clients do. Some are afraid of dogs; some have allergies. So, I recommend taking your dog out of the house when possible during showings. Whatever you do, don™t leave your pup howling in a crate in a basement or laundry room. This is heartbreaking. My client and I end up worrying about your dog and forget about looking at your house.
• Hang pictures or mirrors on bare walls. Bare walls look cheap. If you haven™t had much time or interest in decorating, it™s important to do some for showings. You don™t have to spend a lot of money. Just pick up some trendy items from Target or World Market. Mirrors add light and sparkle. Pictures add warmth and focus.
• Don™t worry about getting rid of all your personal photos. This has been way over-stated with the onset of staging. Framed family photos add warmth to a home. As long as it is in moderation, it™s fine.

I hope this list doesn™t seem too harsh. It is easy to forget that little things make a difference, but a well-staged home is really just a bunch of little things remembered and well-executed.   A home that is well-prepard for showings looks well-maintained in general.

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The market is picking up.   I held an open house in Inverness today, and I had seven or nine groups through.   I lost count.   I had an open house in Palatine on Saturday for just two hours, and I had five groups through. Many of the visitors were serious buyers looking to purchase within the next few months.I also had several showing appointments over the weekend, and for the first time since last summer I saw some relatively brisk movement in the market.   One client of mine had his eye on two homes, and when I went to make showing appointments, I found out they both had sold during the week.

That kind of activity has been very unusual in this market.   Buyers have rarely had to hurry or compete with other buyers.   It™s a sign that well-priced, quality listings are selling.   Even in a slow market, good deals don™t last.

I don™t think this spring rush will last long enough to clear out the excess of inventory that we have, but I do think a lot of the best deals will move.   In the summer, prices will probably get even lower, so buyers will still have opportunities even if some of the prized properties have sold.

For an updated version of this blog, visit lauraslocal.com

Yesterday, Lake County residents voted overwhelmingly to extend Route 53 into Lake County. The vote was merely advisory and will not necessarily lead to immediate action. Route 53 currently ends at Lake Cook Road at the north end of Palatine.

Proponents of the plan believe that an extension of 53 would alleviate the gridlock that oppresses much of Lake County. Opponents fear an extension would undermine the quality of life for residents and destroy wildlife and nature preserves.

For perspectives, see Route 53 Referendum Question, Build 53 Yes, Vote No to Extending Route 53.

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A recent email I got from a client reminded me of a gender difference I consistently find among home-buying couples. Frequently, the wife is far more eager to buy a home than the husband.

I find that the wife is almost always one chapter ahead of her husband; or the husband is one chapter behind, depending on your perspective. Either way, they are not on the same page.

More often than not, the wife starts looking for homes a few months or a few weeks before the husband gives in to start looking. And even then, I frequently find that the husband doesn™t want to explore new homes and neighborhoods. He prefers to be shown a few homes that are the final candidates.

But, here is a crucial point: the men do become very excited about the final candidates. They spend a long time going over the homes and thinking about them. If they like a home, the husbands will become as invested as their wives about purchasing it.

In the end, when a couple finds a home that they both really love, they forget about the process and the timing and just focus on making an offer, getting through the home inspections, and learning about the neighborhood. This latter stage is embraced equally by both parties.

Buying a second or third home can be especially challenging. And, pressure is inherent to the process because most families plan to make their second or third home their forever home, i.e. the home in which they will raise their kids. The stakes are high. So, the fact that such a major decision has stress associated with it is not surprising.

I don™t find this gender difference to be a big problem. I do, however, know that it can be a source of tension for couples. So, it is helpful for couples to understand that it is normal.

I do wonder why women and men approach buying a home with such different timing and different styles. I know in my own case, my husband had to be dragged to look at homes. He didn™t enjoy visiting new homes or neighborhoods at all. But he loves the home we finally bought and is very emotionally invested in it now that we™re settled.

See lauraslocal.com for my updated version of this blog!

Today is a great day to swing by any homes or neighborhoods you™re interested in.   Check to see where water collects and what kind of flood mitigation is in place.

If you already have a home under contract and are waiting to close, I suggest trying to get into see the home to check for water in the basement.   It is better to know now, so you can ask the seller to fix any leaks or problematic grading around the home.

Local Realtors who have been in the area a long time tend to know which areas are prone to flooding.   A good Realtor will help you avoid those areas.   But, it doesn™t hurt to double-check on days like today.     Because our area is so hilly, bermy and filled with waterways, buyers need to pay attention to topography.

Tags: Barrington Real Estate, Barrington Realtors, Inverness Illinois, Palatine Real Estate, palatine real estate agents

You can get a great deal on new construction right now.   No doubt about it.   And, this summer, I would expect even better deals. There are some cautions to consider, however, when looking at newly built homes.

1) Is the home completely finished? If not, how long has it been unfinished and why?   If a home has been unfinished for a few months or more, I would begin to worry if the builder has run out of money and can™t finish the project.   You need to make sure the home will be finished before closing and that the builder can afford to finish it.

2) How long has the home been vacant? Was it vacant over the course of a winter? Two winters?   How was the home maintained during these periods?   You need to make sure that pipes didn™t freeze, crack, leak, or burst.

3) If you™re looking at new construction that is part of a development, I would be very cautious about being one of the first purchasers. If the builder goes bankrupt, you don™t want to be stuck living next to piles of dirt, dust, and debris where homes were supposed to be.

You don™t have to work with a Realtor to buy new construction, but it can be a good idea. Realtors often know the œword on the street about a particular builder or new development. They also can pull comps and make a case for a strong offer favoring the buyer.

A good Realtor often knows the history on a given property and perhaps can tell you that the home was on the market last winter and wasn™t well taken care of.   Or, the Realtor may have worked with a particular builder in the past and can tell you that he did a great job and has a great reputation around town. The more information you have, the greater your peace of mind.

All that being said, there is a lot of great quality new construction on the market right now. And, builders are ready to deal.

Relatively speaking, it wasn’t that bad.

While 2008 total sales were down 26% in the Chicago Metropolitan Area compared to 2007, the median home price was down just 5.5%.

In the city of Chicago proper, the 2008 median price was off by just .5% compared to 2007.   The median price for state of Illinois as a whole was down 7.8% compared to 2007.

Nobody likes to see depreciation; however, the Chicago area has not seen anything like the numbers that we™ve seen on the coasts or in Arizona and Florida.

The key to gauging values is, as always in real estate, paying attention to location, location, location.   As broker Pat Callan of Wheaton explains, œWhile prices in some neighborhoods remained   relatively stable this year, others fell depending on their exposure to subprime loans   (iar.org).

The Barrington and Palatine areas, while they have seen some foreclosures and short sales, have not been hit as hard as other areas in Illinois.

*The Chicagoland primary metropolitan statistical area consists of Cook, Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, DeKalb, Grundy, and Kendall counties.

Barrington Illinois, Palatine Illinois, Inverness Illinois

Mortgage companies are falling behind on mortgage and re-financing applications. Historic drops in interest rates have prompted homeowners across the nation to apply for re-financing.   Low demand in the fall, however, caused many companies to lay off workers, so downsized offices are now struggling to keep up with an overflow of applications.

Fast closings, e.g. in thirty days or less, are   currently not realistic.   Buyers who go with a more traditional 45 day closing period should, however, be fine.   Underwriters are scrutinizing loans more closely, too, which can further delay the process.

Still, it is important to remember that buyers with good credit and a down payment are getting loans every day.

Barrington Real Estate, Palatine Real Estate, Barrington IL, Palatine Illinois

You may need it to qualify for a mortgage.

O.k., maybe not really.   But, the pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other.   We went from œno-doc during the bubble to œall docs you got today.

Mortgage lenders are playing it safe, which is probably a good thing.   I can remember when I first heard of œno-doc, i.e., a loan that didn™t require documentation of income and assets, and I thought it was crazy.

Now, lenders want to see income taxes, banking records, pay stubs,   “basically everything related to income, savings, assets and debt.   If you™re in good shape financially, you should be fine.   You™ll just need some patience and some time to organize.

For more on getting   a mortgage under today™s stricter guidelines, see Mary Umberger™s helpful article in Sunday™s Trib: Is ˜Good™ Credit the Best You Can Do?

Barrington Real Estate, Palatine Real Estate, Barrington Illinois, Palatine IL

A colleague and I held an open house this past Sunday afternoon in downtown Barrington.   We were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a nice turn-out.   We had three sets of people come through in two hours.   That may not sound like a lot, but this past fall, we held open houses with no attendance at all.

Given the cold weather and football schedule, three sets of visitors is encouraging.

For more information, visit my new blog barringtonlocal.com

Laura Cannon serves Barrington Illinois, Palatine Illinois, Inverness Illinois, Lake Zurich Illinois, Barrington IL, and neighboring suburbs.