When the world is in turmoil and the housing market is in the dumps it is important to remember what is really important in life and that is.. a good Chinese restaurant. Really, what can make you happier on a tough day than a good egg roll or some moo shu pork? In Orland Park there are some very good Chinese restaurants around but today I will quickly write about two: Lang Lee`s the old established place that has been around since Orland had cornfields instead of subdivisions. And Mo`s Chinese kitchen, the little bean sprout that`s only been around a few years. Ok I will state my favorite is Mo`s the lemon scallops are fantastic and now they have a new dining room that`s large and well decorated. Of course I will be glad to listen to other views and taste buds on what is the best Chines... 09/23/2009

  15710 Lake Hills Court Unit 1N, Orland Park 60462    MLS # 07198391  Original owner has maintained this 1st floor end unit condo impeccably. Open floor plan invites you to a warm neutrally decorated home. Light oak cabinets in wonderful kitchen eith new duraceramic floor and pantry.  Beautiful domed ceilings of lights with ceiling fan. Master bedroom with private bath and walk in closet. All windows are wood thermo pane throughout. Great park like location. To View This Listing in More Detail, Copy the Link Below and Put in Your Browser:    http://www.realestate4uonline.com/s=ilist   for Dennis   http://www.HouseByZip.com/s=ilist01 09/12/2009

Everyone is is always trying to be on the first page on the search engines, if not in that top spot. One way is to have many other websites linking to your website. When a site links to your page it is tantamount to that linking site telling the internet community that you have a site worth visiting. The more links to your site the better your SEO. But, be aware of using link farms, the search engines are much smarter that they used to be and link farms can actually hurt your SEO. You should only link with reputable websites. Many home inspectors around the country exchange links with each other. I will send an email to a home inspector in California, for example, asking if they would like to link. Usually, the answer is yes. I will send my link information to them and they send me thei... 08/23/2009

In today's slow Buyer's Market, it is interesting to see how many Orland Park homes for sale under $200,000 exist on any given day.  If you click the link you'll see that as of today, there are currently 7 Orland Park homes for sale available now priced $100,000-$200,000!  There is a search already created for under $100,000 but there's not usually anything available in that price range. These homes range in price from a low of $170,000 for a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom ranch style home (all on one level) up to a cute little dollhouse offering 2 bedrooms and 1 bath priced at $199,900.  Two are short sale listings and the rest seem to be regular owner sales. Within the past 6 months, there have been 14 closed Orland Park homes for sale under $200,000 and besides the 7 currently available, ... 07/23/2009

You can visit the #1 local website for Orland Park Homes (in Google) every day to see how the Orland Park real estate inventory is changing.  Today there are 345 single family Orland Park homes for sale. Prices start at $94,900 for a bank-owned reo 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch style home up to $2,395,000 for a 5 bedroom, 6 1/2  bathroom 2-story style home.  Of course, there is everything in between, meaning there is an Orland Park home for you. You can view details of the homes, view photos and even virtual tours (if the listing agents provide them) and find out price and address of the properties.  This is fine if you're just starting out in your Orland Park home buying search. If you're ready to start viewing properties, it is a good idea to get an Automated E-mail Search that will send li... 06/16/2009

First, let me acknowledge that this blog will be viewed by some as being controversial. In my opinion, I think it is educational. I want to be clear that I am not accusing ALL real estate agents and home inspectors of wrong doing. But, with any group of people there is going to be those bad apples. Most home buyers know that a home inspection is a good idea, they just do not know which home inspector to choose. There are a few resources that can be used to find a good home inspector. Some resources are real estate agents, friends, family, lawyers, mortgage brokers, and the internet. This is not an all inclusive list, but gives you a general idea of the resources available. Home buyers have a lot to do when trying to purchase a home, sometimes it can be overwhelming. The real estate agen... 06/05/2009

It's interesting how many people do not understand our current market in this recession.  When updating my Orland Park home sellers I send them an updated version of the following Orland Park Real Estate Supply and Demand Chart.  This particular chart is for Orland Park homes for sale for the past six months. Seeing data like this really makes your jaw drop.  Look at the large amount of inventory compared to homes under contract and homes that have sold and closed.  This shows why it is so important to price your Orland Park home properly.  Imagine being a buyer hit with all of this inventory.  They have a lot of choices and are only going to choose the cream of the crop.  That translates to the property that offers the most for the money.  If your home is not at the lower rung of its m... 04/29/2009

This morning I went to the eye doctor for my annual check up. I was driving home feeling good that all is well with my eyeballs, and thinking about fixing the brakes on my daughters bicycle. I get a few houses away from my house, and I noticed something about my house that just made me say, UGH!!!! It is that time of year again. ALREADY!?!? When you think about doing something twice a year it seems pretty easy. But, when it is this. it seems like just yesterday that it was done. If I let it go it can lead to all kinds of problems like water in my basement, rising damp in the exterior brick work, efflorescence, insects and other issues. Whenever I perform a home inspection I suggest to the clients that they perform this maintenance twice a year to avoid the issues already stated. Here is... 04/18/2009

I received a phone call just a few minutes ago from a prospective (hopefully) client. It got me thinking that I should blog this issue. She is looking at a house in Markham, Illinois. She wants to have the house inspected, but her husband said it didn't need to be inspected because the city of Markham requires that the home be inspected by the city inspector, for a $60 fee of course. She wanted to know the difference in the inspections. I told her that the "city inspector is basically going to check for code issues, will probably do the inspection without them present, would most likely only spend about 30 minutes on site, they would receive no education about the systems or components of the house, and that a code inspection does not necessarily mean best practice or safe". A home insp... 04/15/2009

The new custom IDX on www.orland-park-real-estate.net offers a quick glance at a full search for all active Orland Park condominiums and townhomes for sale for any given day.  Click on the link to get to the page. At the time of this post, there are currently 297 attached properties for sale in Orland Park, IL.  Prices range from under $100,000 to the high $500,000's.  This search combines condominiums, townhouses, duplexes and any other type of attached property. This is a very general search.  If you want a search to fit your exact criteria you have a choice of either doing an Orland Park MLS search or filling out the Automated Home Search form.  Either way you do it, happy searching!  If you want to view any Orland Park real estate give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200 or use the cont... 01/24/2009

www.orland-park-real-estate.net has a new, custom IDX search.  You can see at a glance on the Orland Park homes for sale page how many homes are currently active.  Today there are 245 single family homes available and 296 condos/townhomes. Of course, you can do an advanced MLS search and choose any town, price range and other amenities.  You can save your searches, see a map and get directions and figure out your mortgage payments on the calculator. Some listings have multiple photos and virtual tour links.  The main Orland Park page will also give you information on this popular southwest suburb.  With these low interest rates now might be the best time to buy - so start your search today!  If you'd like to see any Orland Park homes for sale give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200 or Cont... 01/14/2009

UPDATE:  Topix no longer allows the public to be editors. I was introduced to Topix here at AR.  I joined as an editor for the area I live in, Oak Lawn, Illinois.  In fact, one of my Topix posts caused my standalone blog to exceed its bandwidth.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a post about real estate.  But it did get some views! My main office is located in Orland Park, so I thought it would be fitting to also be an editor for that village.  Being an editor only takes a few minutes a day. I use my own posts from my multitude of blogs or I'll read through Google Alerts for the towns.  I don't like to put police blotter type links up as I like to post more important news.  Some of the news is negative such as break-ins, shootings and robberies (there was a bank robbed in my town recently not t... 12/16/2008

There was a beautiful Orland Park home for sale that had originally been listed at $379,900 in May of 2007.  I did not show it at that price and am not sure if the owners still resided in the home when it was first listed.  MLS photos showed it fully furnished.  It went through many price reductions and I believe when I first showed it, it was listed at $319,900 and was vacant. This was a very grand looking home from the exterior and when you entered the home you were welcomed with gorgeous Brazilian cherry hardwood floors and an updated kitchen.  The house was a very spacious quad level that had a lot to offer. (Note:  the photo is clip-art I paid for and is not the actual listing, but reflects the nice brick home this once was). My buyers did not jump on it and I showed them other hom... 11/10/2008

Friday's Home Section (10/10/2008) had a first-page article titled "A Tale of Two Orlands." It offers a little history, Orland Park amenities and a bit of Orland Park real estate info. Judy Orr was interviewed for the article as her office, Classic Realty Group, is located in Orland Park and Judy has been selling real estate in the village since 1983. There were a few other locals interviewed for the article and it gives a nice community profile of this thriving village. The article even mentioned that Orland Park has been on Money Magazine's list of the Top 100 Cities to Live In. I wrote a post about Orland Park in Money Magazine last year.  In my opinion, Orland Park is one of the most popular southwest suburbs. If you're interested in moving into this popular southwest Chicago suburb... 10/11/2008

I have a beautiful Orland Park home for sale that was a previously expired listing.  The original pricing was in the $500,00's with a reduction to $499,900 before it expired.  I took it at $489,900 and we quickly got two offers.  However, neither of the potential buyers had their homes sold and neither had their homes up for sale.  That along with offers that seemed low to my sellers, we turned down those buyers and waited. The sellers worked with me by reducing the list price until we got down to $450,000.  We got increased activity and received two offers in one day - a seller's dream in a market like this.  In fact, one of the buyers couldn't believe that there was really another offer on the table.  That buyer did not get his offer accepted. Everything was working out.  You see, I s... 09/29/2008

If you are relocating to the Orland Park or Tinley Park area, please call LaNita at 630-341-1545 or visit http://www.lanitacates.com/. Having worked with families relocating to these areas, LaNita is the obvious choice to help you find your new home. As a full-time licensed realtor servingthe Orland Park and Tinley Park (illinois) real estate market, LaNita is the type of agent that will work with you from the beginning all the way to sitting with you at the closing table.  LaNita works in the Aurora real estate, Joliet real estate, Naperville real estate and Plainfield real estate areas also. 03/20/2008

          ORLAND PARK REAL ESTATE We at the Miller Team of RE/MAX 10 continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends.  Below you will find Orland Park Real Estate Statistics for the 1st Week of July, 2007.Single Family HomesTotal Number of Homes Available:          320New Homes on the Market:                     15Number of Homes Under Contract            42Number of Homes Sold w/i last month:     38Number of Homes Expired:                      11Average Days on the Market:                 147Average List Price:                       $ 591,591Average Sold Price (last 6 mo)      $ 400,574Average Days on Market (Sold)              112 Condos & TownhomesTotal Number of Homes Available:         305New Homes on the Market:   ... 07/10/2007

I have has so many people ask me how much is my home worth? Do you think  I can get $500,000 for my home? or When a lender calls me and asked can we get $750,000 for this home? One response I have come up with to avoid talking about value is I say I have to complete the appraisal process first. They say then will you be able to tell me how much? I say yes, first my fee must be upfront in certified funds! Then I will have your report in a couple days. Most people do not understand what the appraisal process is. So here are a few pointers when explaing to someone who might ask. The appraisal process is the method used by appraisers to derive a value estimate. The appraiser must define the problem, the first step of the process.Then must perform an anaysis.Collect any & all dataDetermine H... 04/14/2007

That city is Orland Park IL and it is listed as the 45th best city to live in according to Money Magazine's 2006 list.  Money Magazine uses many different demographics to create their annual list. I have to agree since Orland Park is one of the most popular southwest suburbs that I work in.  One of my brick and mortar offices is located in this bustling village. I also have a web page created for Orland Park Real Estate and the surrounding towns which are also popular in the southwest Chicago suburb area.  Of course, as Orland Park's popularity grows and gets publicized, the prices go up.  The average price for single family in Orland Park in 2006 was $422,090.  There is also a huge selection of condos and townhouses for sale in Orland Park. What makes this village so popular?  Although... 04/09/2007

I have been a member here since June of '06.  I joined and got two members to join under me.  I started getting e-mail notifications about people I didn't know telling me they added me as one of their associates.  I didn't know what that meant.   I was notified there was a blog feature.  I created my blog and made one post.  I never came back.  Why? Well, I treated Active Rain like a directory because I had never been involved with a community like this before.  I've been a member of many different forums over the years, not all real estate related.  In fact, I am a moderator at a popular real estate forum.  So I hang out there a lot. It's not that I'm not Internet savvy.  I have more than 5 real estate related websites.  Here is my Orland Park Homes page.  So it's not that I don't know... 04/07/2007