We here at 60646 Blog hope that you had a wonderful holiday season, and are ready to tackle the challenges coming your way in the new year.

Photo credit: Môsieur J.
Fourth quarter 2008, as well as total 2008 sales figures for Edgebrook and Sauganash are still a few days away, as I want to make sure that all year-end closings are properly accounted for and recorded in the MLS, prior to publishing them.

2008 was a challenging year in many respects, and one of the major lessons that we learned was that neighborhoods previously thought of as recession-proof, are not immune from the forces that determine the market value of homes. In Edgebrook and Sauganash, we experienced that for the first time – in a long time – in the second quarter of 2008. I remember in the mid 1990′s, when I first started my real estate career in Chicago, our training instructor who was teaching us the art of composing a property market analysis, would always emphasize the importance of including only closed transactions in our analyses that were at “arm’s length”, or else the analysis would be “diluted”. What a difference 13 years make. With the staggering amount of distressed and bank-owned properties on the market today, it seems as though less than arm’s length is the order of the day. REO’s and short sales are the new relevant comps; ask any appraiser.

Although the parameters for selling a home in today’s market have changed considerably, compared to only a few short years ago, the process itself has not. Successful home sellers are successful in selling their residences because they understand the importance of two things: Pricing their property correctly, and having their Realtor expose (market) it efficiently. With relatively fewer bona-fide home buyers in the market today, the challenge is on for you to compete even harder with your selling neighbor, two streets down. Carpe diem. 2009 is your year. Don’t forget to call us before though, to give yourself an unfair advantage. Happy new year to our entire readership.

P.S.: If you own a residence in Old Edgebrook (and Old Edgebrook only), and are contemplating selling it in the near future, please give me a call at (773) 230-4104. I have someone who is interested in buying a home there, as soon as something becomes available.

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