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Winnetka, IL Real Estate News

By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(@Properties)
2011 Home Sales Better than 2010 Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth & Glencoe The Chicago Tribune reported today that there was a 14.2% increase in homes sales this year over 2010 across the state of Illinois.  The numbers were even better in the nine counties that make up metro Chicago:  sales in those areas rose 20.7% over last year.   Loretta Alonzo, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors said:  "Signs are emerging that a recovery in the housing market is underway including the steady uptick in home sales activity, which is expected to continue into the new year,"   The forecast (and hope) is that as sales increase, prices will stabilize. How did our local North Shore market (Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe and Northfield) fare this year.  Here are some numbers: 2011 S...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(@Properties)
Computer and Electronics Disposal in Winnetka   Is your house or office is overflowing with computer "stuff" and other electronics?  Did you know that the Village of Winnetka will take and recycle these things from you at no charge? The Winnetka Public Works has a facility located at 1390 Willow Road, just west of Hibbard Road in Winnetka.  Here you can bring and dispose of such items as: Televisions Computers/Tablets Printers Scanners Monitors Keyboards, Mice Cable/Satellite Receivers Video Game Consoles Digital Music Players Small Scale Servers Fax Machines Cell Phones VCR and DVD Players Digital Converter Boxes The Winnetka Public Works facility will be open to receive these items on Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 pm, and Thursdays from 1-3 pm.  Please call 847-716-3568 for more informati...
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By Judy Chapman
(Referral Network of Illinois LLC)
Homes sold in Winnetka (November 2011) 11 Winnetka homeowners sold their homes. 0 home(s) sold were Foreclosures. 0 home(s) sold were Short Sales. 139 homes are currently available for sale. Given these statistics, it will take 13 months to sell all homes, not counting other homes coming on the market every day. Following are some of the fabulous homes that sold in Winnetka in November. Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC and includes properties listed and sold by various participants in the MLS. Some charts powered by 10K Research and Marketing. Many of the homes sold were for prices considerably below Original List Price. If a home is overpriced, the market—i.e., homebuyers—will communicate the fact by simply not showing up. A house cannot sell if homebuyers don’t see it. So ...
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By Judy Chapman
(Referral Network of Illinois LLC)
Live the high life in Winnetka With a population of only 12,000, Winnetka is an exclusive suburb on the North Shore of Chicago. Hugging Lake Michigan, the village is convenient to just about everything suburban while providing easy access to everything city. In 2007, Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live ranked Winnetka as the 4th top earning towns in the U.S. And no wonder. The average price of a single-family detached house is around $1.2 million dollars. Even if you can’t afford to buy one of Winnetka’s single family homes, you can still take advantage of everything the town has to offer by buying a condo or townhouse. Over half of Winnetka homes were built prior to World War II. Nearly all of East Winnetka homes were built before WWII and can be rightfully classified as ‘vintage’. Th...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
The Economy and The North Shore Housing Market... A Total Disconnect? Historically, the housing market has been driven by the economy.  It only makes sense.  When times are good, people are confident about their financial situation and are interested in buying a house...or a bigger house.  It’s the American dream.  Right?Well, that has always been the case.  In times of economic downturns, the desire to make a commitment to a new house generally subsides somewhat.  This can be observed by looking at a chart of housing trends vs. economic cycles.  While demand may decrease, the desire for home ownership generally stays strong.                                           Fork in the Road At this moment, we may be seeing a disconnect from that traditional pattern.  It appears that there are ...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
What is wrong with this picture? If you haven’t noticed, we are great admirers of market  statistics. The following chart gives some very interesting information about the supply/demand curve in the Winnetka real estate market: (any errors in statistics are purely unintentional)Let’s start with the top end of the market...Year to date, 5% of the properties sold in Winnetka were at prices of $3 million and above.  Currently, 21% of the active properties are priced at $3 million or above.A total of 14% of the sales were for transactions of $2 million and above.  Currently, 37% of the active listings are priced at $2 million and above.55% of the active Winnetka listings are priced at $1.5 million and above, while only 30% of the transactions have occurred in the $1.5 and above category.Now...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
Price Compellingly Only If You Want To Sell It took a while, but it seems that just about everyone in the North Shore real estate community now understands the concept that if a property is offered at a compelling price, it will sell quickly and relatively close to that price.  Many homeowners on the North Shore are still a little slow to accept this concept.  We would go as far as to say that if you don’t price it well to begin with, it is highly probable that it will eventually sell at a lower price....and the market time will be drastically longer.   This chart tells the story for 2011 for all of the communities that feed in to New Trier High School as well as Evanston: The top (green) line shows the percentage of the original asking price  properties sell for when they have not had ...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(@Properties)
Pre-Bubble to Present - Where Are Home Prices Now Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, and Glencoe There is hope on the horizon - not all real estate news is bad news.  In fact, the number of homes sold in the North Shore towns of Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe and Northfield have held steady during the long slide from the boom years.  Obviously, prices have dropped considerably, but demand is still there. I have estimated that North Shore home prices have dropped around 30% during the past four years of this recession.  Nowadays, many home sellers understand the market and price according to their real estate broker's opinion.  This has has a good effect on the local market: fewer days on market and a sale price that is much closer to the list price.   This chart shows some interes...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
Some Interesting Market Statistics for Winnetka     The fall and early winter is generally a slow period in the North Shore real estate market.  Inventories general dip due to the holidays and showings also drop as both buyers and sellers retrench with holiday shopping and decorating.  This year is no exception, but the velocity of the drop in units on the market has increased dramatically. An example is the Winnetka market as shown in the following chart: This bodes well for the properties that are currently on the market.  As the number of showings has slowed down, it appears that the buyers who are actively searching right now, are serious buyers.   The “tire kickers” are out fighting for bargains in the mall while the genuine home buyers are viewing properties with a careful eye.   ...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
Do Home Sale Contingencies Work For Anyone? While “Home Sale Contingencies” (HSC) were never a common practice in the North Shore market, we began to see a growing number of them during the first years that the market began to fall.  Typically, they would be in effect for 90 to 120 days after contract signing. There would generally be a “kick out” clause that would allow a seller, who received another offer, to force the HSC buyer to either drop the contingency or walk.  This is the long and the short of it....but who benefits from it?         Let’s look at the buyer’s position...The buyer has either been unable to sell their house or has yet to put it on the market so their hands are tied until they have unloaded it.  They see a house in Winnetka that they really like, but can’t make a...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(@Properties)
Winnetka Holiday Sale Sunday, December 4 For those of you wanting to shop locally AND get some things on sale, this is the weekend you have been waiting for.  The annual Winnetka Holiday Sale is this Sunday, December 4 with some stores offering as much as 20% off all items in their store. The festivities actually begin on Friday, December 2 at Metra Park across from the Winnetka Village Hall.   6:00 pm marks the illumination of the holiday lights throughout the business district. Carolers will be singing and hot cocoa will be provided. On Saturday, December 3, area businesses will host holiday events and activities. And then on Sunday, the holiday sale begins. For a full list of participating vendors and business hours for the sale, please see:  Winnetka Holiday Sale. Shopping locally h...
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By Judy Chapman
(Referral Network of Illinois LLC)
Homes for Sale in Winnetka (November 2011) If you’re a homebuyer looking for a great deal, look for properties where the homeowners are motivated. One indicator of motivation is market time: how long the property has been for sale. Another sign of motivation is by comparing current list price to original list price. The greater the price deduction, the more the homeowner has settled into the realities of the marketplace. Usually the two go hand-in-hand … but not always … since homeowners who understand the value of their house are willing to wait for the right offer. Currently, there are 120 single family homes for sale in Winnetka. Below is just a sampling. It’s Judy … your North Shore Chicago real estate agent.   Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC (MRED) multiple listing ser...
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By Judy Chapman
(Referral Network of Illinois LLC)
Winnetka Homes Sold in October 2011 Last month, 14 Winnetka homeowners sold their homes. 0 homes sold were Foreclosures. 0 homes sold were Short Sales. Currently, 144 homes are for sale. 10 homes have pending contracts. Based on last month’s sales, it will take 10 months to sell current inventory. Following are the fabulous homes that sold in Winnetka last month.   Data provided by the Midwest Real Estate LLC (MRED) multiple listing service and includes properties listed and sold by various participants in the MLS. Data supplied does not reflect all market activity in the area. Extraordinary value Houses that sell faster offer extraordinary value. Houses that offer extraordinary value are priced correctly at the get-go and show like a model home. If you want to sell your home quickly, y...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
The Statistic that Concerns us Most Yes, we’re numbers people.  We like to use statistics to tell a story.  Of course they’re open to interpretation and misrepresentation, but they sure beat “seat of the pants” analysis.  As real estate professionals on the North Shore, we try to pay close attention to the macro-stats as well as the micro-statistics.  We all know that all real estate is “local”, but certainly no man...or place...is an island (ok, some places are islands) and the tide lifts and lowers all boats to varying degrees.  With this in mind, we look at a wide range of numbers and try to put together a coherent description to both our buyer and seller clients.  There is a lot of conflicting information out there and not all of it is pointing downward.(photo courtesy of Stig Nygaa...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
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 expense of renting vs.ownership, you can often save substantially.  You can actually rent much more for comparable dollars vs. what you can purchase.   (photo by Neil D'Cruze on Flickr) A “perfect storm” of circumstances have created this current situation. The  biggest factors which have allowed for this is that there are many homeowners who are hanging onto their home and becoming lessors because: They feel they cannot sell their home; They want to “wait out the market”; or They just need cash f...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(@Properties)
 Winnetka Nursery Schools UPDATED 2022When I first moved to the North Shore in 1986 I had a one-year-old in tow - thoughts of any type of school were not on my radar. When I began hearing that I needed to sign him up ASAP otherwise there's no chance of getting in, I got to work. The most wonderful thing was that it simply wasn't true. I did not need to register my son at age one in order for him to be admitted two years later. Urban myth perhaps?If you are thinking of moving to Winnetka and would like more information on Winnetka nursery schools, here is some information to get started:Willowwood Preschool684 Oak St., Winnetka, IL (corner of Cherry and Maple, at Episcopal Church)847-441-6393Helps children to play, grow, and learn and prepares them for the upcoming experiences that await...
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(@Properties)
Winnetka and Northfield Homes for Sale Market Snapshot Inventory in Winnetka is higher than in previous years, but sales are holding fairly steady. In fact, the total number of sold homes year-over-year since 2007 has been remarkably similar, the big differential is the price.  More homes are coming on the market that are priced well and have motivated sellers - most but not all!  It's important to hire a buyer's agent who is local and knowledgeable about the market to represent you and help you determine what is best for you. This chart illustrates the current status as of November 15, 2011 of homes for sale in Winnetka and Northfield:     Under contract and pending are slightly different:  under contract means that a buyer has put in an offer but there is still a contingency period wh...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
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 Woods vs. Kenilworth Gardens vs. East Winnetka) or school districts.Of course we need to know your general parameters including:    old vs.new, homes needing some work vs.homes in “move-in” condition,   particular house styles,  minimum number of beds and baths, level of finishes, finished basement etc.   (photo courtesy of Chief Trent's photostream) We’re listening very closely here   We are VERY knowledgeable about the inventory of homes for sale We tour every week and we are very familiar with t...
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By Howard and Susan Meyers
(The Hudson Company Winnetka and North Shore)
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 courtesy of Jeff Zimmer) Well priced properties are going under contract  quickly This is a great time to list your home...if you are serious about selling     Less competition serious buyers record low rates.... what are you waiting for?    
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By Margaret Goss, Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate
(@Properties)
UPDATED 2019  Moving to the Suburbs? Winnetka or Hinsdale?  Hinsdale or Winnetka?   Hmmm . . . The truth is that if you are living in Chicago and considering one of these suburbs in which to buy a home, you are indeed a very lucky person. The price point of homes, good schools, and a cute downtown are attributes that both Winnetka and Hinsdale have in common. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about Hinsdale, but I have plenty of good, positive things to say about Winnetka and the other nearby North Shore Suburbs of Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe and Northfield where I have lived for since 1986.. Winnetka is part of a contiguous area that stretches along the North Shore of Chicago - it is mostly residential and there are no interruptions or major expressways.  Lots of tree lined s...
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