I once had a chance to buy a house for $4,000. That's right, one four, one comma, and three zeros. Granted, it was last century (scary thought) and about 25 years ago. The town was Slippery Rock, Pennslyvania and was (is, I admit) also home to my alma mater. Yes, I somehow managed to accumulate a
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05/03/2007
Okay. This is a mouthful but I'm going to try and spit it out. It's a concept my Managing Broker Joe Pinto, refers to on occasion and in recent weeks, has played out more and more in my own daily routine of showing property in Chicago. The crux of the idea has to do with 'needs' vs. 'wants' in th
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04/25/2007
"We don't need more dots..." I hear the red-faced, stock picking pundit scream into the CNBC camera as I glance up from my laptop. Late afternoon cable TV is how I home school myself on these occasional slow days in the Chicago Real Estate bubble, correction, vacuum, surge or whatever they're cal
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04/16/2007
This is really not a 'retort' per se but rather, my personal response to some provocative questions posed by a young couple who frequent my primary Blog from time to time. (And the above title sounded a little more intriguing to me than simply, Answers To Real Estate Questions blah, blah, blah.
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04/04/2007
I try to constantly evolve as a Buyers Representative and thus, continuously explore different 'urban niches' in this Midwestern prairie setting I now call home. In the past few years I have come to work with many 'middle aged' out of town buyers (as I once was myself) as well as a steady drip o
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03/23/2007
There was a time in the not so distant past when almost everyone I knew on a personal level was either already a Realtor, studying to be a Realtor, or thinking of becoming a Realtor--either that or a Mortgage Broker, our Siamese twin back in those white hot Housing days of Post-Y2K. (Remember tha
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03/22/2007
True Story:...I was having a discussion with another Realtor this week when he mentioned to me that he had just been 'fired' by his client. The scenario followed along these lines: The young agent had identified and scheduled Saturday showings for a series of condominiums in Chicago. At the end
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03/14/2007
I never saw a Loft in person until I relocated to Chicago 12 years ago. Coming from the more traditional housing stock of the East Coast, the name alone (for me, at least......Loft...ahhhh) denoted not only the promise of a unique and hiply appointed dwelling space but a heightened state of ment
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03/11/2007
I'll omit the first part of the Jim Morrison verse (for you 70's rockers out there) and leave it simply with the second half, "...it looks like up to me." I believe the 2nd Commandment is disobeyed in the song. All I need is Google to spider profanity and they'll 'sandbox' me for sure this time.
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02/24/2007
I am not without my own personal demons and shortcomings mind you, so I think I can speak freely. I never was a supermodel or even a regular model (well, maybe a role model but quite possibly only to, in the words of a former coach, serve as a 'bad example') but when I knew that all eyes were upo
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02/06/2007
