Take a Test Drive in a House

Sometimes Reality TV gets it right. Mindlessly flipping through the channels I like to watch the other night, ESPN, CNN, HGTV, MTV (by the way, when is MTV going HiDef?), I land on this happy little show where potential home owners are going to be spending the night in a house they are considering. This is genius. Immediately I want to call all of my home sellers to suggest that we offer this for anyone seriously interested and qualified. Obviously, I do not make these phone calls, but I will share my thoughts of it with you.

I am someone that needs to take a lot of time to purchase things. I bought one car on a whim 9 years ago, but other than one exception, I will do vast amounts of research on any big product that I want. I help people to make what is often the biggest purchase of their lives. I approach each of these with the diligence that I would want for myself. I have used the words “Can you be happy waking up in this room for the next 5 years?” and “Will you be happy every month writing your mortgage check for this view?” I actually ask a lot more questions, but you get the idea. I want people to make a good decision and be happy with that decision on a long timeline.

But there are things that you can never, ever really account for no matter how many times you see a property. You will not see the sunrise in December if you are looking in May and you will not hear the over night sounds of your neighbors TV that is background noise for them to sleep. You will not actually know the subtleties and nuances that truly make this house a one of a kind item. That is where the test drive would come in handy.

We could offer potential purchasers the opportunity to spend a night or two in the house before closing. Sellers could offer this as an incentive to purchasers, especially if there is a perceived objection that could be overcome (e.g. Proximity to noisemakers); buyers could make the contract contingent upon spending a night in the home prior to closing. In many ways, I see this as winning proposition. I think this type of agreement could make both parties feel more at ease with the transaction.

There are some risks associated with this type of agreement; those would certainly need to be addressed before this could ever become a common real estate practice. One thing that would certainly have to be addressed would be security of both parties. Its one thing to open closets during showings but entirely another to be left alone in someone’s home for hours at a time. That is really my biggest concern. I will ponder the ways to manage this risk. I bet the TV show has a 32-page small type rider the parties must fill out and of course cameras to document the time “alone”. Maybe I will call the producers to get a slot on that show. I don’t know if I am ready to be the next reality TV superstar.

The hyper local Real Estate Market

I was at the “Do Division” street fest last night to see Mucca Pazza in all of their marching band gala. I ran into some neighborhood friends and casually mentioned that I started a blog. Hilarity ensued. My friend asked me a provocative question that has been resonating all day “What do you want people to learn from your blog?” I have been thinking about that question all day as I work my open houses. I think I have the answer.

I want people to understand that the Real Estate market is a local market. When I say local market, I really mean a hyper-local market. We all know that Chicago is a city of neighborhoods and our Real Estate market mirrors this sentiment. While large media outlets make glaring generalizations regarding the overall state of the market, it is important to remember that these are generalizations, often deduced from large statistical pools. When referring to Chicago, they are often referring to the Chicago statistical region that stretches from Kenosha to Gary. While that statistic is useful when comparing regions, it doesn’t do much good for individual home sellers in Riverside, IL or Wicker Park, Chicago.

Fortunately, the US Census bureau has broken this statistical area into hundred of smaller communities. I am not one to bore you guys with stats, but in Chicago proper, there are 77 such neighborhood designations. Wow. Within each of these 77 communities, there are neighborhoods. Within neighborhoods, there are sub-neighborhoods. West Town is one such community within Chicago; some of the neighborhoods in West Town include East Village, Wicker Park, Noble Square and Ukrainian Village. There is a website www.chicago.everyblock.com that breaks it down into individual blocks.

I am a West Town real estate expert. I have been living and breathing this neighborhood for nearly ten years. I live in East Village. I know the inventory and have walked though many of the listings myself. I can answer questions and offer directive and insight. I shop in the new Dominicks that used to be Edmar. I enjoy the farmer’s market in Wicker Park and playing softball in Eckhart Park. My blog is essentially a community project that focuses on West Town because I want to share the joys of my community with everyone. My company is currently number three in the area in sales volume, not too bad for boutique office on North Ave.

Even though I am an expert in the West Town area, I am currently working an open house in Lakeview. I have made myself an expert regarding this specific listing as it relates to the block and the community. I know how much the other homes like this one are listing for in the area, I have walked through many of them so that I can have a frank discussion with customers who visit my open houses. While I don’t know Lakeview as well as West Town, for all intents and purposes, I know the listings surrounding this home as well. I have done the same in other communities as well and I have even ventured to the suburbs selling properties in such places as Oak Park and Lemont.

If you really want to know the state of the housing market in your community, visit the top brokerages in your community. Ask the agents for their honest opinion of their immediate area. Some agents may be reluctant to share bad news, you can always ask them to provide you with hyper-local statistics regarding market times, list price to sale price ratios and pricing. Carefully examine the stats, and then you can deduce the relative strength or weakness of your specific market. Beyond that particular resource, the internet provides a wealth of information for those who are seeking it. Hence, my happy little blog focusing on my community.

Coed Prison Sluts will be returning to the stage.

I opened my email today to find a happy announcement from my dear friend Sarah that my favorite musical, “Coed Prison Sluts”, is returning to Chicago as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of The Annoyance Theatre. The fact that I have a favorite musical may come as a surprise to many of you, but this isn’t your mother’s musical. Here is some more trivia for ya, this is Chicago’s longest running musical. Take that Wicked. To revel in some nostalgia, I have probably seen this particular musical 11 times. I can sing the words to their popular songs “Hey We’re in Prison” and “Sh*t Motherf*cker” and I remember such quotes as “Ow Henry, that hurts” and “I ain’t f*ckin’ your dog.” This fringe storefront theater on Broadway (the Theater has relocated several times, my earliest memories of it are on Broadway south of Belmont) was my first taste of up close live Chicago theater. It was amazing. Everything was so right and so wrong all at once. It was a classic black box theater. They allowed us to smuggle in cans of beer. They told the story of a Co-Ed prison through song. Everyone laughed out loud. It was rude and crude and an amazing introduction to Chicago theater.

So, I implore everyone who loves Chicago and everyone visiting Chicago this summer, Make “Co-ed Prison Sluts” something you do this summer. You will be happily rewarded with a campy good time and inappropriate songs that you will want to sing out loud. You have the opportunity to experience something uniquely Chicago with this limited run. I am smiling a big goofy smile right now as I type this because I simply cannot wait.

Foreclosure rant. Unedited for your reading enjoyment.

I am so tired of reading the news. Not all of the news, just the news as it relates to my particular profession. I know that sounds terrible. I wonder if its even true. I like to be up to date on the particulars of my industry. I like to know what developers are building and where. In fact, that is a big reason why I started this blog in the first place, because I wanted to share my love of new to the market homes with more people. I wanted to share other things too…neighborhood insights, like the ongoing debate regarding the potential Walgreens at Ashland and Division. It sucks by the way. How many generic corporate drugstores does one neighborhood need? There is a Walgreens at Milwaukee and Wood and another at Chicago and Paulina. But, I have been reading a lot of news lately. I am sick of all of the negativity. I read in Crains Chicago Business that vacancy in Chicago is at a 10 year high. No kidding. They say it chiefly reflects the rising number of foreclosures, which by the way have doubled between 2004 and 2007. And they all have an explanation for it. I have an explanation for it too, but its not nearly as sugar coated and nice as everyone else. This is a real life example of a small group of idiots ruining it for everybody. My friends heard me predicting this three to four years ago while not so rhetorically asking why on earth anyone would accept an interest only loan with no money down? Asking why the banks would lend money without documentation of incomes? Asking my broker what is going to happen if they change the rules and people can’t refinance when the adjustable rates come due? Guess what, we are halfway through the race and they have changed the rules. The mortgage companies in essence are saying “Sorry, although you are more qualified now for a loan, I cannot offer one to you as I have changed my lending standards, your payment will now be doubling, good luck trying to sell” I wish that someone had the balls to stand up, point the finger, and tell everyone who did it. I wish the irresponsible lenders and brokers would take accountability, admit they were greedy, admit they messed up and take the financial losses that they deserve. Every foreclosure has a story behind it, most of these are real people with genuine losses. I hate the lack of reverence the mainstream shows these individuals. They are more than statistics, they are people. They are people going through a really rough time who could use a little compassion and esteem. I remember that with every negative story that I read.

Blogging an open house in West Lakeview

So this person walks into my open house today on George Street. That sounds like a bad joke waiting to happen. “What’s wrong with this house?” he asks. Puzzling question, people do not usually walk into THIS house and ask what is wrong with it…this is a new construction home with six bedrooms and an elevator. I do not think I have ever had to answer that question before…So I proceed with cautious candor “Nothing a new owner won’t be able to handle.” The answer throws him off guard a little; we share the pleasant formalities of introduction. Then his follow-up question, “Why is this house vacant? Did the seller go broke?” In my head, I am thinking “WHAT?” No. I reply “This is a new construction home; we are considering having the home staged, but have not made the final decision regarding this choice.” This guy is intent on grilling me today. He asks, “Why isn’t the home finished?” I really want to say something sarcastic “We can only build during months with the letter ‘R’” instead I respond with something along the lines of ‘we are 95% complete, we are just waiting for that special buyer to come in and put the finishing touches on it.’ Aaah, the simple beauty of the truth. I then offer the exhaustive list of features and amenities as well as an itemized brochure containing the floor plans and specs. As he walks up the stairs over his shoulder he opines, “You will never sell this house until it’s finished.” I reply, “That is an opinion.”

I like to let people kind of walk through open houses on their own. I feel like it makes them more comfortable not to have some hovering agent over their shoulder. So he is upstairs and I am just thinking I can’t figure out this guy’s motivation…maybe he just likes to be combative…maybe he can’t sell his house, so he is trying to test me…Maybe he is a builder shopping for agents. He quickly navigates all 6000 square feet and returns to continue his inquisition.

“What types of people live around here?” He asks. Great, the loaded demographic question. My canned answer to this varies from area to area, customer to customer. This guy has been ruffling my feathers a little bit. “The type of people that can afford $2 million for a house.” He looks at me puzzled, and then finally cracks a big smile. I got him. He drops that tough exterior and shares with me that he is trying to sell a place on his own and is probably shopping for an agent. We ended up having a very nice conversation about the pros and cons of using an agent, specifically in tougher market with longer market times. I can only offer general pointers to this person, because to sell a home I have to walk through it then do a comparative market analysis. I do not believe in gimmicks to sell houses, I believe in appropriate pricing and aggressive marketing. I host open houses like this to sell houses for one reason, because they work. This particular customer is not hosting open houses, does not have intra-office referrals and may not have the price right. He is not ready to sign a contract with an agent, but he is out shopping the competition. I hope that our time together was informational for him. I wished him the best with his marketing efforts on his home and I truly meant it. Although he came across tough, he was a pretty cool person to talk to.

The photos below are of the house in question. I think it looks great, but some people are looking for the negatives rather than the positives. I have more pictures if anyone is interested.

East Village Graffiti Art.

“Graffiti writing breaks the hegemonic hold of corporate/governmental style over the urban environment and the situations of daily life. As a form of aesthetic sabotage, it interrupts the pleasant, efficient uniformity of “planned” urban space and predictable urban living. For the writers, graffiti disrupts the lived experience of mass culture, the passivity of mediated consumption.” – Jeff Ferrell, Crimes of Style

This is why I love my life in the city. I turn the corner, open my eyes, and get to see something entirely beautiful, unique and creative.

A challenge to my readers…All of these photos were taken on the same block in East Village, can you name it?

The beginning of beauty, documenting a Chicago new construction project. The MaP collection.

These vacant lots are not a scene of urban decay, rather of urban renewal. For those familiar with the Chicago Landmark Goldblatt building in West Town, on this site was the large public parking garage that serviced that facility. This flat earth is located on the 800 blocks of Marshfield and Paulina.

If you are like me, you are wondering why on earth do I care about vacant lots and parking garages? This is not the future home of the Chicago Cubs nor will they replicate the Taj Mahal in efforts to attract tourism. That would be cool but it is not the case. This is the future home of the Marshfield and Paulina collection.

This unique development will be one of the first of its kind in West Town. From www.northclybourngroup.com, Not on The Market. The MaP Collection Phase 1, Spring 2009, Pre Construction Offering – Wide Expansive 4 bedroom Row Homes – 3564 sqft- 4176 sqft, Spectacular Finishes, In-House Design Team Services. Intimate Neighborhood Setting, 5 minutes to Downtown. From $829,000. Listed by Karen Biazar of North Clybourn Group. 773-645-7900.

I will be checking in on this project once the ground is broken. My plan is to document the progress of this property from beginning to end. I am not setting any additional limitations on myself. We shall see where this goes.

Celebrity Etiquette: A Wicker Park Rock Star

There is one issue that has not been addressed during my 8 years as a Real Estate professional. What type of etiquette is considered proper when in the home of a celebrity? Now I use the term celebrity loosely, because they are very few true celebrities who actually reside in Chicago. I would venture to guess Oprah is the most famous Chicagoan, although Kanye may voice some displeasure with that choice. I am thinking that Oprah doesn’t host many open houses when she sells her place. However, there are many niche celebrities here in the city like actors, basketball players and musicians. These people live in neighborhoods and go about their daily business unencumbered. When they go to sell dream homes, they do have open houses like everyone.

So here I am in this nicely appointed gothically decorated Wicker Park single family home. This place is obviously occupied by someone with taste that skews from the norm…I like it. They have a security camera in front. At this point, I am standing the kitchen talking to the listing agent. I have no idea who lives here…but he is giving the usual details about rooftop decks with hot tubs and oversized garages with custom choppers…While these types of luxuries are eccentric, my friend’s father is a ceo with these types of taste, so it really could be anyone. As I head upstairs, the agent informs me the homeowner is down in the family room with their dogs. Cool.

I am finishing my tour at this point, heading down the stairs to family room. There on the sofa sits Mr. Rockstar himself. At this point I am thinking, wow, I was just listening to your album two days ago. I really do not know what to say at this point. Its not that I have never met celebrities before, but I have never looked opened their closet before now. So I just run up to him and sing the chorus of his most popular song. He joins in with me obviously impressed by my fanhood. We then go verse, chorus, verse with another of his popular hits. That would have been so epic. Instead, I totally wussed out. I politely introduce myself and he responds in kind. I am thinking to myself “I know who you are, why is your voice not growling when you speak?”

What is the etiquette when inside of a celebrity’s house? Should I have said something? I genuinely like this guy’s music, and recognized him. I could have complimented his latest album, great taste in décor or even his chopper. However, at the time I thought that would be weird. I still drive by that house (still on the market) wondering if he is writing his next hit song inside.

Today on Damen Avenue

As I dodged the flashing yellow construction arrow, I noticed an over sized sign in the front yard as though the building were being advertised for sale. I like to catch the unique things that make my city, well, my city. If there is a corporate retail store on the corner, I am in anywhere USA. If there is random Elvis sighting, then I know I am either in the heart of the South (Looking for BBQ) or I must be in a quirky Chicago time warp.

This is a test.

I originally posted this photo as a test, but then I sold the house. In the life of a Real Estate professional, there are few things more gratifying than placing the under contract sign on the property. That single act is the announcement to the world that you have done your job and done it well. But, you see, you wouldn’t know that by looking at this photo of our listing. The stupid mls will not allow agents to have their signs on photos in its database. Ridiculous! So after I took this photo, I had to figure out how to Photoshop this 4′x5′ sign out of the photo, mind you, this sign is strategically placed directly in front of the property, a novel concept when selling a home. While I am sure that is a snap for a professional photographer, that is like three afternoons of complete and utter frustration for someone like myself who only uses Photoshop for the cool effects it can add. Editing this photo became a second job for me. So, this is a test on many many levels. Enjoy this original photoshopped image of 2110 Fletcher.

2110 Fletcher