Stone Tower Properties Real Estate in Geneva, IL
Happy Monday to all!
Yes, it’s been a crazy summer. Happy to report that all is well… kids are almost ready to go back to school, I am almost ready to drop them off, and I am definitely ready to get back to my blog.
Selling real estate is an obsessive little gig…. It seems as if EVERYWHERE I go, people always want to know “what’s up with the market?” “how much do you think the market has taken a hit… 10%, 20%..more?” “what’s up with the mortgage rates, do you think I could re-fi?” “are there any REALLY good deals out there?”…. They ask at church, they ask at school, they ask when we are downtown having a drink at Bien Trucha….. everyone is obsessed with real estate!It’s the American Dream AND the American Nightmare right now. Of course, I am in it up to my eyeballs and I am passionate about it, so it’s fascinating to me to realize how many others are interested in it as well. I know for most folks that it’s the largest investment that they have, so of course they want to check on it whenever they can. Unfortunately, they can’t just look at a ticker-tape on the CNN website to see how their “investment” is doing that day. So, they ask a LOCAL professional. Which brings me to my next point…. COME ON! If you are traveling to Disney next week, you are probably going to look up the weather for Florida. Maybe, if you are really type-A, you will zoom in as far as “Orlando” to get your information. Correct??? So, it goes without saying, that if you are in the need of a Realtor, why in the world would you use a Realtor from Arlington Heights to buy real estate out here? Or worse, to SELL real estate out here??? This is no lie… about 3 months ago I had a listing in Pepper Valley in Geneva. It’s a very nice community! It has a playground, tennis courts, 2 pools and a clubhouse, and it’s really close to several elementary schools. I had a TOP PRODUCER from St. Charles, part of a famous “team” of Realtors, call me to ask me all about the pool in Pepper Valley. He has been selling real estate in our area for YEARS and knew nothing about one of the great assets of living in Pepper Valley. Didn’t know where it was, and darned sure didn’t even know it existed until he showed my listing. Do yourself, and your family finances, a favor- use someone LOCAL when you buy real estate.
Thought I would throw a few statistics out there today!
- A Stone Tower Properties agent either LISTED or SOLD 43% of the Geneva properties that were $550,000 or MORE since January 1, 2010!
- 82% of all sales in Geneva (there have been 197 single family homes sold as of today) were $400,000 and UNDER!
- There are 234 homes on the market as of right this moment… from $154,900 to $1,899,000
- The most expensive home that has closed, through the MLS, so far in 2010, was $825,000. It was on the market for 664 days, and started out at an original list price of $1,195,000
- The least expensive home that has closed, through the MLS, so far in 2010, was $125,000. It was on the market for 478 days and war originally listed at $219,900. This property was a distressed sale (not a foreclosure, a short-sale)
Financing continues to be a thorn in our side. Appraisals routinely present problems. The closings routinely have complications that arise. The banks are CRAZY (Not a GOOD crazy!) However, in spite of all of that, buyers continue to buy! Sellers continue to sell! Rates are amazingly low, AMAZINGLY low! So, real estate continues to be an action-packed adventure, worthy of discussing almost everywhere you go! Go ahead, leave me a question below and let’s play “try to stump the Realtor!” Or, if you have a question in general, throw it out there in the comment section and I will answer as best I can…. looking forward to seeing what all of you are interested in!
THINK SOLD!
Teresa Keenan
