Howard and Susan Meyers's Blog

Renter’s Dilemma...Why Buy The Cow....? Many of the people considering renting in today’s market are taking the old cliche to heart...why buy the cow when the milk is free?   On the North Shore, from a short term cash flow perspective, they are right.  When you evaluate the total out-of-pocket ex...

We Can Help We pride ourselves on listening to our buying clients on the North Shore.  We try to incorporate everything you tell us about what type of home you are looking for.  We listen to your priorities in regard to location (Winnetka vs. Glencoe vs. Northfield), or neighborhoods (Hubbard Woo...

The inventory of homes for sale on the North Shore has shrunk   There are fewer showings for each listing, but the buyers who are looking at homes are SERIOUS buyers   North Shore home prices have fallen much more in line with reality   Interest rates continue to be at/or near record lows (photo ...

The “Consumer is the Beneficiary of the Real Estate Revolution”   (photo courtesy of heyjudegallery) The internet has proven to be the ultimate destroyer of inefficiencies in EVERYTHING.  Through blogging, it has allowed the “little guy” to have an audience that rivals international news gatherin...

All I Really Needed to Know I Learned From My Dentist Although going to the dentist is not on the “Top Ten” list of things that any of us like to do, it is a necessary evil.  Many years ago, as a young, seemingly invulnerable person, I asked my dentist the question that he probably had heard seve...

We have read a few blogs recently which discussed the concept of “the best values in the North Shore market” being the homes that have been reduced the greatest from the original listing price.  We think this is “hogwash”.Many buyers are viewing these as the “real” bargains in the market.   There...

Your Reputation is Only as Good as The WORST Thing You’ve Ever Done     Yes, let me repeat that...Your reputation is only as good as the WORST thing you’ve ever done.  This is true in all aspects of life.  In the real estate business, your reputation is everything.  It provides you a platform for...

The Curse of the Billy Goat Chicago is a funny place.   There are two types of Chicagoans....Cubs fans and Sox fans.  Sure, there are people who are not baseball fans, but they don’t really count.  The critical issue is that there are not any dual fans of both teams.  There are people who claim t...

Lessons Learned From Moneyball Last night we saw the fabulous movie “Moneyball” from the best selling book by Michael Lewis,(The Blind Side”, The Big Short”,"Liar’s Poker")  which tells the true story of Billy Beane....the general manager of the Oakland “A’s” who revolutionized the methodology fo...

The Accidental Landlord and Other Tales of the New MarketMany of the current landlords on the North Shore did not intend to be in that position.  Not for a minute.  Nor did they have any idea what they were really getting into.  They didn’t know that there was a chance that their property was goi...