What Real Estate is SELLING in Chicago! (Mark: real estate market, foreclosures)

[Jesse69]

My kid neighbor used to work FT as a Real Estate Agent selling houses in the Wicker Park Area. He said the market started acting funny 2 years ago so good move ... - he applied for and got a good city job checking businesses. But he still does RE Max real estate PT... Anyway, I asked him how things are going and he said his office has sold NO HOUSES within the past year! He said all that's selling is FORECLOSURES!

Yeah, houses are still TOO EXPENSIVE, and living in Chicago is too expensive too [high rents]! If both of my Parents died, - they bring in $100K / yr with a Sr citizen housing tax discount - I wouldn't be able to afford living in my Wicker Park home!

Had to rant this...

If you're trying to sell your house, what's your experience of it?

[Intergalactic]

Chicago Tribune - Illinois Property Transfers

[Jesse69]

Nice link!

Oh, Humbolt Park houses are so cheap! Cook County - Real Estate Market Pulse

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

A friend of mine who's in real estate sold 5 properties in two weeks recently. Properties are moving. They're just moving more slowly and for a lower price point.

[Lookout Kid]

My friends in West Ridge sold their place very quickly after they got smart and started listing it in an Indian newspaper.

[Drover]

Your story sounds fishy to me, particularly the part about your friend selling real estate part-time for Re/Max. They don't do the standard 50/50 commission split like most agencies do. Re/Max only takes 5% but they also charge their agents a "desk fee" of about $1,000-$1,500 per month. That's a hell of an expense for someone doing real estate part-time.

[long101]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

My friends in West Ridge sold their place very quickly after they got smart and started listing it in an Indian newspaper.

that is genius for some neighborhoods

[Chi-town Native]

a lot of seller have had to come back down to earth. the reality is that people who bought at the peak of the bubble are going to take a loss if they sell now, and people who tried to time the market and didn't sell at peak are now dealing with what the market can bear.

[long101]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

a lot of seller have had to come back down to earth. the reality is that people who bought at the peak of the bubble are going to take a loss if they sell now, and people who tried to time the market and didn't sell at peak are now dealing with what the market can bear.

You know the way I look at this... Just about all housing prices are down. so when you sell your house you obviously get less money for it, but then when you buy your house you also pay less. So it kinda evens out. I know this is vague due to some housing markets totally busting (AZ, Las Vegas, ect..) and others being pretty stable. I would think that if you move to a generally the same area as before it would be within a few % points difference.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by long101

You know the way I look at this... Just about all housing prices are down. so when you sell your house you obviously get less money for it, but then when you buy your house you also pay less. So it kinda evens out. I know this is vague due to some housing markets totally busting (AZ, Las Vegas, ect..) and others being pretty stable. I would think that if you move to a generally the same area as before it would be within a few % points difference.

This is the smart way to look at it if you are just selling one house and buying another. You will gain back your lost money when your new house appreciates. The problem for people like me is that I bought in 2005 and most of my equity has been wiped out, so I have very little down payment to put into a new home (or perhaps none after paying a realtor). Many who bought in 2006 and 2007 are now upside down on their mortgages--especially if they were first-time buyers with small down payments. So some people truly can't afford to come down much with their asking prices, and they will either have to bring money to a closing or stay put until they have built up more equity.

Looking at comps, I could sell my place FSBO and walk away with maybe a few thousand bucks right now. We basically feel like we're saving for a down payment AGAIN. But if the market does recover its losses some day, we'll get the money back. We just picked a lousy entry point into the market, and now have to deal with the consequences.