Chicago Real Estate Podcast with Anant Deoras Anant Deoras

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report In many neighborhoods across Chicago, we have extremely low inventory and incredibly high demand. Chicago is experiencing an ultra-competitive seller’s market, which means buyers typically compete against multiple offers for their dream house. How do you make your offer stand out?  First of all, consider the price. When Chicago was in a more balanced market, you might have been able to start off with a lower offer knowing that the seller would counter. You can’t do that today because the seller won’t even consider your offer. You need to start off very close to listing price. In certain neighborhoods, you may even want to offer above asking price. Earnest money is also important. Typically, earnest money caps out at about 5%. I recommend putting down 10% in earnest money in order to prove that you’re serious and financially responsible enough to buy the home. Finally, pay attention to closing terms. If you can close quicker, that could make the difference in winning the bid, especially if you are up against a contingent buyer who needs to sell their property first. If you can close sooner, by all means, make that clear to the buyer.  Of course, these tips will only be successful if you are pre-approved. If you need to get in touch with a lender, or if you have any questions about today’s video, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you.

Whether you're putting your home on the market this year or in the next five years, it is a smart decision to start building your home's resale value now. Here are some ways to create a comfortable home while making it easier to put more money into your bank account on closing day. Small Maintenance and Repairs If you think that home maintenance on the weekends waste your time and energy, think again. The small chores you do around your home prevents it from losing value. Neglecting small maintenance and repairs causes 10% of your home's value to walk out your door and slip through your windows. Most appraisers claim that homes showing little to no preventative maintenance can depreciate from $15,000 to $20,000. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University shows that regular maintenance boosts your home value by about 1% per year. However, ongoing maintenance costs offset that value, which means that regular maintenance actually slows down your rate of depreciation. Furthermore, because home buyers generally notice any repairs needed upon buying a new home, proactive maintenance lets the home buyer know that he or she will not have to spend extra money to maintain the basics. This makes your home more attractive, and thus more likely to get higher priced offers. Maintaining the basics can cost you little money and certainly some effort, but there’s a way to accomplish this very important activity smartly. This article by HouseLogic, for example, shows you how to keep home maintenance below $300 a year.  Planning ahead will also help make maintaining your home easier. Most professional appraisers and real estate agents recommend a proactive maintenance schedule that includes: ·         Keeping enough cash on hand to replace systems and materials ·         Creating and following a maintenance schedule ·         Planning a room redo every year ·         Keeping a notebook of all your maintenance and repairs Landscaping The Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech published a study that shows landscaping can increase a home's value by 15%.  The study claims that a home valued at $150,000 could increase its value between $8,300 and $19,000 with the addition of landscaping. Particular landscape elements add different value. For instance, landscape design can increase your home's value by 42%, plant size can increase your home's value by 32%, and diversity in plants can increase your home's value by 22%. Replace Entrance Doors If your entry doors are wood, consider switching them out for either fiberglass or steel doors. Steel doors add style and architectural interest to your home while improving security; you can add a deadbolt and electronic keypads to keep out intruders. Unlike wood doors, steel doors do not rot or splinter. Alternatively, fiberglass doors can be designed to look like wood doors and give your home a modern look. Fiberglass doors conserve more energy than steel doors. Price-wise, a steel door will cost you $1,335 with a 91% return on investment whereas a fiberglass door will cost you $3,126 with an 82.3% return on investment. Garage Door Replacement At first, you might not think that your garage door increases the value of your home. However, your garage door distinguishes your home from the other homes on your block. As the largest entryway of a house, garage doors get noticed first because they're the focal point of your home. If you want to quickly increase the resale value of your home, you need to make the most of this space. Some interesting things being done with garage doors include: Increased Size: Bigger garage doors help homes stand out more. Bold Colors: Bright and bold colors now can complement the color of your home, or you can build a concept around the color of your home. Faux Wood: You can install fiberglass or steel garage doors that look like wood garage doors. This gives your home a new level of sophi

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report I’m honored to have my attorney partner, Kevin Mitrick, with me today to discuss the importance of having an attorney on your side when buying or selling a home in Chicago. In general, attorneys charge anywhere from $595-695 for real estate transactions. This is a flat fee, and the attorney will be doing various things from contract to closing. Primarily, an attorney will review the contracts and maximize the benefits while minimizing the risks to the seller. The attorney will also attend the closing and review the documents a final time before you sign. If your original attorney cannot attend, another will be called in place. In the state of Illinois, it’s very uncommon for a title company to assist in interpreting and signing documents because it borders very closely on providing legal representation, which is illegal for them to do. If you need to contact Kevin directly, you can reach him at kmitrick@ssvlegal.com or you can reach out to me and I’ll track him down for you. Here is one example of a real estate attorney contract. If you have any questions about Chicago real estate, then I’m the one to ask. I look forward to hearing from you!

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report Kevin Mitrick, an attorney with Spain, Spain, & Varnet P.C., focuses primarily on the representation of buyer and sellers in real estate transactions. Today, he joins me to answer the question, “What is a tax proration?” In Cook County, taxes are billed bi-annually and based off the previous year. The first installment is always 55% of the previous year's full tax bill. When a transaction closes, there will be a period of taxes that have not been paid yet, generally from the day the last bill was issued through the day of closing. At times, that can be a lengthy period. The goal is to come up with a calculation that both the buyer and seller agree with.   Although that can be difficult, buyers want to maximize the tax credit while sellers want to minimize the tax credit. Generally, the tax credit covers 100% to 110% of the prior year’s bill. That’s the basis for calculating the tax credit. If you have any questions for Kevin, you can reach him at kmitrick@ssvlegal.com or (312) 788-7684. As always, if you have any real estate questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report If you’re thinking about selling this spring, rethink your strategy. There’s a huge advantage to listing your property now before the spring market comes along. Today, we’ll discuss the top three reasons why. Overall, demand is strong. Although springtime is the busiest selling season of the year, the market still experiences lots of activity during the winter. When you compare this January to last January’s numbers, you’ll see demand is up by 8.4% in the city of Chicago. There’s less competition now. Inventory is down, and buyers have fewer options to choose from. From a quantitative measure, we’re down by 4.7% in the city of Chicago. There are fewer transactions. What does this mean for you? It means the closing process will be shorter and quicker, since the local industry professionals are dealing with fewer closings. If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the Chicago area this spring, please reach out to me at your earliest convenience. Let’s take advantage of low inventory and strong demand right away. Call or email me!

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report Today I want to talk about selling your home. Specifically, I am going to talk about why you need to sell your home twice in order to reap the benefits.  The first time you sell your home is when the property is on the market, properly priced and marketed, a buyer submits an offer, and you accept it. That’s the first sale. Then, unless the buyer is paying in all cash, they will be required to have an appraisal contingency. The appraisal is the second sale. The appraisal must meet or exceed the contract price in order for the financing to go through. If the appraisal does not come in at or above the contract price, I always advise my sellers to fill out an appraisal questionnaire online whenever there is doubt. The questionnaire is detailed and will cover all the figures that go into your home’s price. We will then send this over to the appraiser. So remember, the sale of your home is not complete when you come to terms. It also has to pass the appraisal test and if it doesn’t, the deal will fall apart. If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!