There are bandits in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon, Illinois area tonight. Masked and dangerous bandits. We thought the seed from our front porch squirrel-proof bird feeder was disappearing a little too quickly. (Don't you love how the evidence is all over his nose?) If you have a critter problem at your Madison County, IL home, here's a helpful link to the solution from the University of Illinois extension service. 06/12/2011

If you're relocating to the Edwardsville or Glen Carbon, Illinois area, you may want to start following these Twitter updates.  My favorite local Twitter users tweet on real estate, kids activities, community events, and -- best of all -- restaurant and shopping discounts and deals.  Follow these tweeple to learn more about your new Edwardsville or Glen Carbon home and I'll post more in a few days,: REAL ESTATE @JustDuckyHomes (That's me!) for real estate information in St. Louis' Illinois suburbs ATTRACTIONS @MillsAppleFarm -- Mills Apple Farm CLUBS & ORGANIZATIONS @EdwardsvilleGun -- the oldest continuously operating gun club in the U.S. @SIUEAlumni -- the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Alumni Association @EHSAlumni -- Alumni of Edwardsville High School EVENTS @SIUECab -... 06/06/2011

This holiday weekend I've spent both Saturday and Sunday working with a terrific couple who will be relocating to the Edwardsville, Illinois area very soon. They move fairly often and are familiar with the homebuying process. We have been communicating via email and phone for a few weeks and they spent time diligently looking though the listing cart I set up for them in our MLS, selecting their favorite properties and asking good questions. As we set out to see the homes in person, they each readied their clipboards and prepared to evaluate the pros and cons along the way. We saw about 10 properties the first day -- all located in the Edwardsville school district -- and while a couple of them would work, we decided to go through the MLS at the end of that very long day to see if anythin... 05/29/2011

Search for Edwardsville Homes for Sale and Real Estate with No Registration RequiredWant to search for homes for sale in Edwardsville, Illinois and surrounding communities but don't like forced registration on real estate websites?You know what?  Neither do I.Before I was a Realtor, I was a consumer, just like you. And one thing I hated was being forced to give up my contact info before I was ready. So when my teammate and I created the site for Goshen Realty Group at RE/MAX Preferred Partners, we tried a bunch of different options: immediate forced registration, forced registration after X number of page views, etc. You get the drift. Ultimately we decided that we wanted our site users to be able to look for their next home with no hassles.  So we took off the required registration and... 04/17/2011

Selling Your Home? There's Only One Good Way to Reach Younger Buyers Today -- By Texting. This revelation about the necessity of texting occurred to me a number of years ago when I was frustrated with trying to reach my daughter the old school way -- phone, email, etc. The only method that worked consistently was texting.   So I embraced texting in my personal life and have extended that communications method to my listings and our buyers here in the Southwestern Illinois cities of Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Collinsville and Troy. I welcome both sellers and buyers to text me at 618-791-8007 when they have questions about selling their property or buying a new home. And, of course, they're still welcome to call, email or connect with me on Facebook. My motto is -- whatever is ... 04/02/2011

Edwardsville Residents: Big Trash Pickup is the Week of April 4, 2011. Got junk? Then Edwardsville's spring big trash pickup can give you a place to put it. The week of April 4, on your regular trash day, you can kick your large, unwanted items to the curb. What qualifies as a large trash item? Furniture, mattress sets, appliances, etc. Carpets may be put out but should be cut into two-foot by four-foot rolled bundles. If you're disposing of glass from doors or windows, the glass should be broken and placed into a box marked "glass."  Construction debris such as concrete and shingles is not be permitted. If you have questions about whether your big items qualify, call Allied Waste's customer service number at 618-656-6883. Cleaning out your trash to prepare your home for sale? Call, tex... 03/31/2011

Are You Ready to Sell Your Edwardsville Home? Are you ready to list your Edwardsville home for sale? We like to call this time of year, "Selling Season." It's that time when the serious buyers pop out -- much like the February groundhog -- to see what's on the market and make their moves, roughly between Valentine's Day and the end of July. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of activity after this six-month period, but the vast majority of home buying will be done in these next few months. So if you're thinking about selling your Edwardsville or Glen Carbon home in 2011, it's time to call for a consultation. We'll walk through your property with you, discuss its top selling features, talk about your real estate goals and discuss our services for home owners. Once we've agreed to ... 03/24/2011

Homes for Sale in Edwardsville's Dunlap Lake Neighborhood Lake living in Edwardsville, Illinois? Yes, you can be close to town and still enjoy all the benefits of living on or near a beautiful lake. Established in 1939, the Dunlap Lake neighborhood is filled with attractive single-family homes in a variety of styles and ages that boast lakefront property or lake views. Click here to see the homes currently for sale at Dunlap Lake. Fishing and boating are allowed at Dunlap Lake. Note that all anglers 16 and older need to have an Illinois fishing license. Boats must be less than 20 feet in length (pontoon boats may be 25 feet) and need to be registered with the state. Only small motors are allowed on the thousand-acre lake. Homes off the lake can use the association's access areas to laun... 03/24/2011

Visit MyEdwardsvilleHome.com for Listings by Neighborhood in Edwardsville, Illinois If you've decided to relocated to or within Edwardsville, Illinois, you'll want to check out the helpful blog, MyEdwardsvilleHome.com. Created as a service from the Realtors of Goshen Realty Group at RE/MAX Preferred Partners, MyEdwardsvilleHome.com presents listings by individual neighborhood in Edwardsville. So if you're looking for a home in Historic Leclaire Dunlap Lake The Oaks Gettysburg Arbor Lake ...we have you covered. We're adding new neighborhoods all the time, so check back often for new ways to search for homes for sale in Edwardsville's charming neighborhoods and popular subdivisions. The blog also separates listings into a wide variety of specific categories to meet buyers' needs such as..... 03/24/2011

BUYING AND SELLING EDWARDSVILLE AREA SHORT SALES We get a lot of questions about short sales. From the basics, "What is a short sale?" To the unanswerable, "Why does it take so long for the bank to approve my short sale?" This blog post will give both buyers and sellers in the Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Collinsville and Troy areas enough information to make some decisions about buying a short sale or working with a Realtor to short sell your property. BUYING A SHORT SALE HOME Are you armed with buckets of patience?  That is the first questions we always ask buyers who tell us they want to work with us as buyer's agents to purchase a short sale home. If the answer is an outright "no" or if the buyer has to be in a new home by a certain date, we suggest that they are not the id... 03/14/2011

Visit MyEdwardsvilleHome.com for Listings by Neighborhood in Edwardsville, Illinois If you've decided to relocated to or within Edwardsville, Illinois, you'll want to check out the helpful blog, MyEdwardsvilleHome.com. Created as a service from the Realtors of Goshen Realty Group at RE/MAX Preferred Partners, MyEdwardsvilleHome.com presents listings by individual neighborhood in Edwardsville. So if you're looking for a home in Historic Leclaire Dunlap Lake The Oaks Gettysburg Arbor Lake  ...we have you covered. We're adding new neighborhoods all the time, so check back often for new ways to search for homes for sale in Edwardsville's charming neighborhoods and popular subdivisions. www.MyEdwardsvilleHome.com The blog also separates listings into a wide variety of specific categories to ... 03/12/2011

If you're experiencing a financial hardship that has caused you to fall behind on your house payments, there is hope. 1.  Don't feel embarrassed.  With the recent economic downturn, many people are going through the same experience you are.  You are not alone. 2.  Don't give up.  Communicate with your lender - the worst thing you can do is try to ignore the problem.  Since late payments are so common in today's lending environment, many lenders will work with you to lower your payments or help you work out a loan modification. 3. Foreclosure isn't the only option.  If you can't qualify for a loan modification or you think you have no other options, a short sale may be your next step. With those points in mind, you may be wondering what exactly a short sale is and what it means for you a... 03/10/2011

The 2010 Census figures have been released and many Madison County, Illinois cities, towns and villages continued to grow in the last decade: Maryville grew by 61 percent from 2000 to 2010 to 7,487 residents. The village of Glen Carbon saw its population rise by 24 percent to 12,934. (That's the Glen Carbon covered bridge to the right.) Troy added 16 percent more residents to reach 9,888. Edwardsville grew by 13 percent to 24,293. Collinsville added 3.5 percent, making it home to 25,579. While I am not a population trends expert -- and I don't play one on TV -- there are some great real estate-related reasons that these popular communities might be adding residents:  Great existing housing stock; proximity to a major educational institution, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville ... 02/25/2011

Are you ready to list your Edwardsville home for sale? We like to call this time of year, "Selling Season."  It's that time when the serious buyers pop out -- much like the February groundhog -- to see what's on the market and make their moves, roughly between Valentine's Day and the end of July. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of activity after this six-month period, but the vast majority of home buying will be done in these next few months. So if you're thinking about selling your Edwardsville or Glen Carbon home in 2011, it's time to call for a consultation. We'll walk through your property with you, discuss its top selling features, talk about your real estate goals and discuss our services for home owners. Once we've agreed to work together, my team will gather a large am... 02/09/2011

Wish I had a dollar for every question I am getting from buyers asking, "I hear that the housing market is going down more. Why should I buy a house now?" Thanks for your question, but I have to tell you that you have just asked one of life's unanswerables. No one can tell you if housing prices are going to go up or down in your area during any period of time anymore than they can tell you if a certain stock is going to go up in the next 12 months or if it's going to rain 10 days from now or if their horse is going to win the Derby. If they tell you they can, they're lying.  And if I could tell you, I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams. People buy houses because they want a nice place to live in a specific location. And they do that on their own personal timetables and when their own fi... 02/01/2011

How did the real estate market in Edwardsville, Illinois fare in 2010? Here are the totals: From January through December 2010, 317 new and existing homes valued at $70.6 million were sold in Edwardsville. (This compares to 334 homes sold in Edwardsville in calendar year 2009, a minor drop of 5.1 percent.)  Existing re-sale homes that sold during 2010 were on the market an average of 150 continuous days prior to selling (compared to 143 days in 2009). New construction homes were on the market longer before selling -- an average of 251 days in 2010 which is much improved from 2009 when the average new construction home was on the market 312 days before selling. Additional homes expired or were withdrawn from the market without selling. Homes that are priced too high for market conditions... 01/18/2011

Would it surprise you to know that often the most challenging part about working a short sale here the Edwardsville IL area isn't dealing with the lender? It's making sure the seller is providing me with all the information and signatures I'll need to be successful in saving their home from foreclosure. If you have had a hardship -- such as a job loss, unexpected medical bills, divorce, etc. -- and can no longer afford to make payments on your house, do not simply walk away. Working together, we may be able to get your lender to accept an amount less than what you owe on the property. This is called a Short Sale and despite the name it can be a long process, but it could help save your financial future. This may be especially important for people who bought homes at the height of the ma... 01/18/2011

Are you looking for a home in the LeClaire area of Edwardsville, IL 62025? Here is an interested article written by Terri Maddox in our local newspaper Belleville News Democrat along with Cindy Reinhardt who has written a book called LeClaire after she has discovered many details of the  original founder's area. http://www.bnd.com/2010/11/14/1472226/leclaire-is-a-neighborhood-with.html There are currently 10 Active homes for sale in LeClaire Status - A TOT LP: $219,000 HI: $219,000 LO: $219,000 MEDIAN: $219,000 AVG: $219,000 AVG DM/CDM: 81/81   Property Type - N TOT LP: $219,000 HI: $219,000 LO: $219,000 MEDIAN: $219,000 AVG: $219,000 AVG DM/CDM: 81/81   Grand Total: TOT LP: $1,561,100 HI: $219,900 LO: $93,900 MEDIAN: $143,400 AVG: $156,110 AVG DM/CDM: 57/65   Displaying matches 1 throu... 11/14/2010

  For more information about this or any other home for sale in the Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Bethalto, Wood River, Alton, and Godfrey areas, email Stacie. 09/19/2010

                  Varsity Saturday 8/28      11:00AM @ Lincoln Way East  Saturday 9/4        7:00PM vs. Bogan High School  Friday 9/10          7:00PM vs. Belleville East High School  Saturday 9/18      1:00PM @ East St. Louis Senior High School Friday 9/24          7:00PM vs. Collinsville High School Friday 10/1          7:00PM @ Granite City High School  Friday 10/8          7:00PM vs. Alton High School  Friday 10/15        7:00PM @ O'Fallon High School  Friday 10/22        7:00PM @ Belleville West High School   Sophomore Saturday 9/11 11:00AM @ Belleville East High School  Monday 9/20 4:00PM vs. East St. Louis Senior High School  Saturday 9/25 11:00AM @ Collinsville High School  Saturday 10/2 11:00AM vs. Granite City High School  Saturday 10/9 11:00AM @ Alton High School   Saturday ... 08/28/2010