Real estate market???? (Chicago, Humboldt: houses, condos, rent)

[chicagodoc]

Prices are expected to decline another 5-10% this year. I wouldn't even think of buying anything until 2009.

[Calidreemer]

Chitowner when can we leave Chicago and get to California????????? I'm cold.

[sullyirishtwins]

Originally Posted by gardener34

This crummy winter that won't end makes people hibernate inside too. Don't rule that out as a factor.

That's so funny! We would LOVE to move now and sell our house but w/the market and economy around us is bad. It is the "buyer" that making it way to buy new home.

We want to move into a bigger house as our last move for the kids to grow up. And having to say that our next dream house is down the road from us! We check w/our realtor and told us to hold down until about 2 years from now. And that dream house will probably be GONE w/no lot left. On top pf that our subdivison homes comp isn't nearly what we wanted to sell for our house after a few remodels have been done. The good thing we didn't go over board like our neighbor did, sshhh.

[sullyirishtwins]

Originally Posted by NYrules

You're doing good with that. (couple showings) My neighbors have both had their homes up now for 5 months without a SINGLE showing! And thats in Orland Park! That is scary. Nobody is buying anything and I don't blame them. Who can afford it. This country is in BIG trouble. Nobody can afford anything, prices keep skyrocketing, prices on homes are pretty stagnant now, but people are not willing to come down on their home prices and quite frankly I can't blame them, jobs are scarce and don't pay worth a crap, more and more companies keep fleeing over to China to avoid the high costs of doing business here, and it really looks like gas is going to $4 a gallon this spring... I dunno this is really getting bad.

I agree w/you on everything you said....we really want to move one last time but damn the dream house won't be there for us. I certainly hope our next president will get our country's economy to be taken seriously!

[cmoscinski]

It's really discouraging to hear all of this negativity about the market being "sooo" bad. That is the main reason people DO NOT WANT TO BUY.

If your house is not selling, it is more likely that your home is priced TOO HIGH for your particular market. And, if your neighbors house has not sold in 5-6 mos. that is too probably the reason.

Advise, clean up the clutter and make a few updates/changes to the way your house "looks" that creates appeal and you will help your situation.

Buyers are out there but they are VERY picky and rightly so, there are conditions caused from the REO and foreclosure markets (I am sure you've heard) that are causing so much inventory. People want move in ready, bottom line.

The banks are not making it any easier due to the credit crunch and strict guidelines - they do not want to take risks right now. Until that is straightened out, we will see buyers stuck renting and houses staying on market for longer periods of time.

But homes WILL not be FREE or drop to zero. Prices are expected to level off this end of Summer 08'.

If you want your house to sell, you have to work hard to get it to the condition buyers are looking for or LOWER the PRICE.

[SDM]

Well Chitowner, I just did an MLS search in Orland Park, price range $300k-$600k, for the past 5 months and only 28 homes have sold. Same search in Tinley= 16 sold, Palos Park=3, Homer Glen=11 just give you some sort of idea what is going on.

The number of homes for sale in Orland Park with the same criteria as above=174. If you do the math at 6 homes per month you get about a 30 month supply. Well, I wouldn't go that far but I think you can see what I am getting at. Still, a few homes are selling. What do you need to do to become one of those chosen? Ask your agent. Reduce your price, offer incentives, or if you have to take too big of a hit, and don't need to move, what until things turn and inventory is reduced. If trying to sell by owner, you are going to have a very tough time. You just can't get the market reach that an agent can get.

Anyway, that is what I came up with. Those are the numbers, and everyone will have their own ideas on what is going on. Buyers are sitting on the sidelines just watching right now.

[chet everett]

A lot of the homes that have long TOM would have had long TOM even in the hottest stretch of 2005-2006, don't ya think? I saw a place last night that I swear made be check the calendar. Yep, 2008. Yep a living room with BROWN paneling and plastic slipcovers...

Ok, so its an estate, put please kids, toss out grandma's treasures so that clients are not creeped out. They actually asked if thought somebody died there -- as in IN the house. Thank goodness it was at least clean and odor free.

ARGH -- catboxes. People, just because its been a long winter and YOU are immune to the stink doesn't mean normal people are. Clean up already. Has everybody canceled their HGTV channels or what???

[STL Mom]

Chet -
They buyers looking at my house are watching too much HGTV. The last feedback we received included suggestions for rearranging the dining room and great room furniture, and a suggestion that we stage our bedroom with additional, rented furniture.
My house is not on TV! I'm not having open houses so you can critique my furniture arrangement! Buy my house and arrange your own furniture however you like.

[chet everett]

You might be on to something -- if potential buyers are watching the "fantasy" thinking it is reality and sellers are living in REAL reality that leads to a mismatch in expectations.

I don't think renting furniture makes sense, but sometimes a wee bit of tweaking can help people see that there are options.

I've even heard of folks emptying out rooms snapping pictures for a web site or brochure and then moving everything back so the owners can live like they're used doing. Might work.

Heck the weather is getting better that ought to spark the market -- SOMETHING has to!

[pman1]

As someone who just purchased a house in the last month, here's my humble opinion:

My wife and I probably looked at nearly 30 properties, and I would say saw very little value in nearly everything we saw. I agree with the previous poster - prices have a lot to do with it.

It's laughable when I think about some of the duds we looked at. Cheap remodeling, misrepresentation (it's 4 bedrooms - 2 are in the basement.), etc. I'm sure this is not unusual when shopping for a home in any market, but when you are asking insane money for little value, don't be surprised if I balk at it. I've worked too hard for too long getting a down payment together to bail out your bad decision or finance your retirement.

There is still a skewed sense of 'well, my neighbor sold his 2 years ago for x, so I'm entitled to it, too.'

There are buyers out there, and they are being pickier because they can be. I have to admit, I felt great as a buyer because I knew sitting on the sidelines during all the crazy price run-ups of the past few years was worth it when I got my price.

You have to price according to the market, and realize that any potential buyer is assuming a risk because no one knows where the market is headed.

That being said, with gas prices where they are, you may have to make your pricing that much more attractive if you are in an outlying suburb. If gas prices stay where they are at or keep climbing, no one is going to want to fill up twice in a week to get to work (unless you live by a train line).