Even people with great jobs can have a hard time buying a home. They may have the income to qualify for a loan but not the cash for the down payment. In the good old days of the housing boom, zero down loan programs were plentiful and easy to come by. But those days are gone. Ever since the mortg
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10/20/2013
Most of us don't buy a home very often, so we don't get a mortgage very often and we don't understand the pitfalls of not choosing our lender carefully. We think to ourselves, "I'll go online, Google home loans, find the best rate, lock it in and I'm done." But that would be a mistake. These days
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10/18/2013
Although the market has slowed since the frenzied spring market, it still remains more active than this time last year. Home sales were up 44% vs, September 2012. The median price for the month was up 43%, but that is just for the month. Year to date prices are up 5%, more in line with economists
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10/17/2013
403 Grove St., Glencoe, IL Want a larger house but can't find one that fits the bill? Why not build one? Then you can have everything you want. Team up with Greenview Homes to build your dream home on a fabulous lot on a great Glencoe street. The property is 100 x 196 square feet (almost a half
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10/17/2013
One of the first questions homeowners will ask when we sit down to talk about listing their house is, how are you going to market my home? Now, being an ex-marketing executive, that's music to my ears. I love marketing, and Paula and I are always looking for the best ways to maximize exposure for
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10/17/2013
I just received an email from my friend Mike Basil reminding me that it's Pedal Power time again. Pedal Power collects used bikes once a year and donates them to Chicago kids who can't afford to buy a bike. The bike drive was started in 2007 by Nicole Basil, then 9 years old, and is still going
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10/17/2013
There's nothing like a good rummage sale to get my shopping juices flowing. Even my husband and kids have become converts. At one of last spring's sales I gave my twelve year old daughter ten dollars and she came home with two pairs of shorts, four T-shirts and nine hockey pucks. She was thrille
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08/18/2013
481 Grove Street, Glencoe, IL Here's an incredible opportunity to build your dream home at an incredible value. Located near Skokie Country Club, this proposed new construction by award-winning Greenview Builders will be a Nantucket style cedar and stone house built with exquisite finishes and t
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07/30/2013
A couple of weeks ago a local brokerage here on the North Shore ran an ad in the paper with the following headline: “Don’t Let Your Agent Hide Your House in His Pocket” What they were referring to is “pocket listings”: the practice of brokerages selling listings without putting them into the Mul
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07/28/2013
595 Park Avenue, Glencoe, IL Relocating to the Chicago area and need a home to rent? If the North Shore appeals to you (and why wouldn’t it?), this Glencoe home may just fill the bill. This elegant custom home is located on a lush half acre just a few blocks from the Village center. Built in
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07/25/2013