November 2005

I read an interesting article in an e-mail I received from the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.  Sales of single family homes dropped off 2.9% compared to October of 2004. . However, the Illinois condo market has remained strong.  Condo sales were up 10.2% from October, 2004.

I don’t remember condo sales outpacing single family homes.  I certainly could have missed some past statistics but this surprised me.  I guess with the huge price increases we’ve seen in the past 2-3 years, many first-time buyers are simply being priced out of single family homes.  Or, maybe it’s that baby boomers are downsizing.  Could be a bit of both.

The median home price in October went from $184,000 in ’04 to $209,900 this year, a 14.1 percent increase.  However, it is

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I was surprised to read an article about some of the negative state of affairs happening in Illinois regarding wages and income levels.  Although our employment status is showing moderate growth, there has been a continuing decrease in higher paying jobs with the usual perks and benefits.  That might not affect most of us, but there has also been a decrease in median income in Illinois.  In fact, it has fallen 12% since 1999! On a positive note, diversity in the work force has increased.

I think we can all understand how this can affect the real estate market.  Have you ever driven through another new upscale subdivision being built and wonder how so many people can afford these kinds of homes?  If things continue as they are, those types of homes will

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If you ask someone what their opinion is on real estate in 2006 with interest rates inching up, you'll get many different answers. Here are some of them:

    The Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) interviewed several people. The first is Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial in Chicago. Diane feels the real estate market will be slower but not a collapse. I agree with Diane that although Illinois certainly felt the real estate boom of the past 5 years, we were not on the highest end of that frenzy. So our softer market won't be as drastic as other markets.

    IAR also interviewed Lawrence Yun of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). I will sum up his interview. Mr. Yun feels that rising interest rates are certainly not going to be good, yet at a

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Lake Katherine Nature Center and Botanic Gardens is one of my favorite walking trails. The surroundings are beautiful and the actual trail winds around Lake Katherine in Palos Heights. There is a waterfall to the east which allows a view from the top (I've used a few photos of Lake Katherine on my photo slideshow on this website).

You can start at the waterfall and catch up with the main trail, but if you have strollers there is a steep incline going up. The trail is mulched and no bikes are allowed, no picnics nor can you fish. I prefer a pure walking trail over a bike/walking path any day. However, be prepared to empty your shoes of mulch.

If you want to bypass the waterfall you can cross over the bridge which leads you to the circular trail. On

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Yesterday my youngest son, Matt and his girlfriend, Jamie, invited me to go see the newest Harry Potter movie. We have many movie theaters in our area but they insisted on going to the Quarry Cinemas at 9201 W. 63 St, Hodgkins, IL 60525. The phone number is 708-352-0767.

My husband asked them why they wanted to travel farther to The Quarry Cinemas as we have closer theaters. But I didn't have to ask since The Quarry theaters are newer and offer stadium seating. I didn't actually take a count of the actual number of theaters but on one source I saw the name listed as The Quarry Cinemas 14, so I'm assuming that's the number of available theaters. Harry Potter was running on a different theater almost every hour. There were also 12 other listings for the

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This Stickney home is sold! - This family cape cod style home is located on a quiet, dead-end street. Drive by and see the great curb appeal with new landscaping and a new cement side drive to the big 2 1/2 car garage with double overhang doors; one for driveway access and one for alley access. They each operate on an automatic garage door opener.

This charming home offers 4 bedrooms, a formal dining room (currently used as an office) and a bonus room that is now being used as an eat-in area but could be a family room, office, etc. The bathroom features a whirlpool tub. The back yard is privacy fenced with a built-in gas grill for entertaining.

Call Judy Orr at 708-536-8200 if you're looking for a new home. Since this home is already sold, fell free

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I read another article yesterday that was almost unbelievable. It stated that recent census reports show that more than three million couples actually live in separate residences.

The article was about a couple that got married and stayed in their respective homes instead of moving in together because they already had their pet peeves about each other. One was that she was a neat freak and he was a pack rat. The other was the fact that he had a music studio in his place and she needed quiet to do her work at home. They actually split up the wedding gifts between the two homes and they do spend nights with each other and have dinner together. They also conveniently live across the street from each other.

I consider myself to be open but I don't know

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Although the weather changes a bit from downtown Chicago near the lake, Midway airport and the north, west and south/southwest suburbs, the chart below gives you an idea of area averages.

Average Chicago Climate

The following chart shows Chicago weather data from The Weather Channel 2013

Item	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High	31	36	47	59	70	80	84	82	75	63	49	35
Low	18	22	31	42	52	62	68	66	58	46	35	23
Avg	22	27	39	50.5	61	71	76	74	66.5	54.5	42	29
Precip"	2.1	2	2.7	3.6	4.1	4.1	4	4	3.3	3.2	3.4	2.6
Snow"	10.8

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Sometimes it seems like there is just no way you'll ever be able to afford purchasing your first property. As prices increase, the dream of home ownership drifts farther away. There are many different rules and ways of obtaining financing and/or funds. Here are two you might want to consider.  Please consider the date of this post and double check with your IRA or 401K provider to make sure what current rules are.

1. If you are a first-time home buyer you are allowed to withdraw up to $10,000 from your IRA without penalty. You will be taxed on the withdrawal, unless you have a Roth IRA, as you were already taxed on those contributions.

2. You'll need to check the rules for your 401(k). Although you can take the money out, you'll be penalized 10% of

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This home has been sold, but if you'd like to see Palos Park homes that are currently available for sale, just click the link.

SOLD! This is a 4 year young custom brick 2-story in prestigious Palos Park on .83 of an acre lot. The view coming up the driveway is breathtaking with the beautiful landscaping and natural pond.

The exterior entry is impressive and you step into an open foyer welcoming you into the home. The living room is warm and inviting and the formal dining room is large with a dry butler across the hall for extra storage.

The gourmet eat-in kitchen has an eating bar area plus a separate dinette overlooking the huge front yard. The family room is open to the kitchen and has french doors opening to the front porch area with space for

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