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Monthly archives for September, 2009

Those Facing Foreclosure Deface Homes

Sep29
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Carrie

housekeys

A recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times discussed a subject that has been a topic of conversation for many news publications for a while now: foreclosure. However, this wasn’t your typical piece about the poor housing market or the mortgage crisis. This article, titled “Vacate with Vengeance,” concerned the vindictive actions of those homeowners facing foreclosure.

For a long time, the masses have regarded homeowners dealing with foreclosure with pity, as a group with whom they should sympathize. When lenders and banks take properties away from a struggling laborer, a single parent, a newlywed couple or a family of six, we can’t help but feel empathy. Yet many of those homeowners don’t walk away without leaving their mark.

The Sun-Times article first mentions a home in Orland Park (a suburb of Chicago), which sold for nearly one million dollars just three years ago, that would go for less than half of that because the current owners suffered from foreclosure. But why, exactly did the home sell for only $375,000? The owners tore apart the home, removing appliances, even plumbing, leaving a basic skeletal structure, taking away even more of the value (marked down already to $500,000) after foreclosure. And this is not the first time something like this has happened.

Many foreclosed homes in the Chicago area are being stripped of practically everything, including cabinets, countertops, fixtures, toilets and more. Some expensive items like granite counters or brass chandeliers end up on eBay or Craig’s List. A man in Chicago Heights was even arrested for trespassing and theft when he stole the windows out of his foreclosed house. While some real estate agents think that the homeowners should pay for the damages, there is usually no actual way to prove who defaced the properties, since most of the previous owners are long gone (with the stolen goods) before the lender/bank actually repossesses the property.

Posted in Market News - Tagged chicago, defacing homes, foreclosure, Market News, real estate agents, Sun-Times, vandalize property
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Fall Events: Orlando/Jacksonville

Sep29
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Carrie

jax

The fall season is a great time to call Orlando and Jacksonville home! Theme parks are usually packed throughout the summer. And during the winter, you’ll often find lots of people coming in from cold, snowy states to enjoy some warmer weather. But come September, October and November, temperatures begin to drop off into the 70s, and the humidity levels are almost non-existent. It’s the perfect time of year to step in out, perhaps in a light jacket, and enjoy the sights sans the crowds of tourists.

FALL EVENTS abound within the Central Florida. Whether it’s a holiday celebration or an entertainment festival, you’re sure to find something fun to do.

  • Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios
    For a few days in September and throughout the month of October, Universal Studios is transformed into a “labyrinth of haunted houses” and other scary attractions ripped straight from the movies that have terrified people for years and years. The shows, exhibits and decorations are updated every year, as well, so the park always keeps your heart racing and your blood pumping. General admission is $69, but you could purchase a Frequent Fear Pass, giving you unlimited access Sundays through Thursdays, for the same price. For more info, visit HalloweenHorrorNights.com.
  • Oktoberfest in Celebration, Florida
    Just outside of Orlando, the aptly named town of Celebration hosts a yearly Oktoberfest. This year marks only the second time that the town is putting on the event, which takes place Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10. There are hayrides, live music, tons of food and lots to drink… all boasting a German theme, of course. The best part of the event is that parking and admission is FREE!  For more info, visit CelebrationTownCenter.com.
  • Jacksonville Light Parade
    If you’re in Jacksonville for Thanksgiving, there is more to the holiday than turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. Because the city is close to the water, Jacksonville created an annual parade boats to dazzle crowds during Thanksgiving weekend. Bots are decked out in thousands of twinkle lights and sail through the riverbank near Metropolitan Park and Jacksonville Landing. A spectacular fireworks display follows the parade. For more info, visit COJ.net.

ORLANDO/JACKSONVILLE SPORTING EVENTS are starting up again in the fall. You’ve got hockey and basketball coming back in October and sticking around all the way until spring!

  • Last year, the NBA Orlando Magic won the Eastern Conference title. And even though the team has been around for 20 years now, they have never won an NBA Championship. It’s been a long time since the days of Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway, but the Magic hopes to go all the way this year behind the support of former NBA star, and now Orlando Assistant Coach, Patrick Ewing. The Magic takes on the Detroit Pistons, the team who ended their quest for the ring last year, at home on Friday, November 6. For more info, visit NBA.com/magic.
  • The NFL Jacksonville Jaguars began last season with high hopes, as they acquired some really good rookie players. However, the team finished 5-11, recording the worst record since 2003. Many of their key players suffered from injuries and were unable to compete throughout the season. This year, they hope to stay healthy and get a shot at playing in the coveted Super Bowl. The Jaguars open their season at home facing the 2008 Super Bowl Champion Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, September 20. For more info, visit Jaguars.com.

CONCERTS in Central Florida suit every music taste from adult contemporary to teen pop. Here is a little something for everyone, regardless of age or taste in music:

  • Brad Paisley: Thursday, October 15, JAX Veterans Memorial Arena
  • Shinedown: Wednesday, October 21, House of Blues Orlando
  • Metalocalypse: Saturday, November 7, Hard Rock Live Orlando
  • So You Think You Can Dance, Saturday, October 24, Leon County Civic Center

For other acts, as well as scheduling and ticket info, visit Ticketmaster.com.

Posted in Buying Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged Celebration, fall events, Halloween Horror Nights, jacksonville, Jaguars, Light Parade, Magic, NBA, NFL, Oktoberfest, orlando, Universal Studios
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The Basics of Pricing Your Home

Sep28
2009
1 Comment Written by Blog Master

save money

You probably already know how significant the listing price of your home can be. Price too high, and you scare away qualified buyers; price too low, and you get less money than you could have. We’ve written here at the Buy Owner Blog about the perils of poor pricing before, but let’s talk now about the way to do it right:

Determine Your Margin
One of the first factors you need to consider is equity. If you’ve been in your home for several years or if you put down a large down payment, you have a pretty good idea how much money you’d like to get out of the house when you sell. That number may be tainted by your financial situation, if, say, you’re in financial trouble and need to sell quickly, in which case it could be best to lower your price, even if you take a short-term loss. No matter what, you need to make sure you’ll get enough money out of your house to pay off the mortgage and find new living arrangements. In today’s market, in some areas, the upside-down nature of real estate could make this a difficult proposition.

Do Some Research
The local MLS and a quick online search can help you identify properties that are considered to be comparable to yours. If you want to sell your house quickly, price your home as the best deal on the market by setting your price lower than all similar ones in your area. By using Buy Owner, you’re already cutting the cost of commissions, so lowering your price should be possible to do without taking a significant hit to your profit.

A real estate appraiser can also help you price your home. Most buyers will need a recent appraisal in order to qualify for a mortgage on your home anyway, so it may be worth the small investment required to have the home appraised prior to putting it on the market. Any time you can sell your home “below appraisal,” you have a better chance of selling it quickly.

If you price your home and no one comes to see it, you may have priced it too high. Remember that one of the best reasons to sell by owner is the flexibility it allows, and you can always lower the cost of your home if activity is less than you desire or if offers come in significantly lower than your asking price.

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged home price, home selling, how to sell, pricing your home, selling your home
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Living Green with Pets

Sep25
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

dog

Though we love the friendly creatures that roam our houses as members of the family, potential home buyers or guests may not see them that way. With pets come dirt, fur, fleas, odors and a disarray of belongings. In order to keep your house as eco-friendly as possible, while keeping your pets as healthy as possible too, green cleaning and care options are your best bet.

• How often you bathe you pet depends on how much of an odor it submits. Too much bathing will cause its skin to become irritated. When you do bathe it, get it wet, turn the water off while you suds it up with basic soap or pet shampoo, then rinse after five to eight minutes.

• To keep skin or fur healthy and clean, feed your pet fresh, whole foods without preservatives or artificial coloring. The fresher the food is, the healthier the pet’s coat will be.

• To kill fleas and other annoying pests that are attracted to your animal, vacuum and dust at least twice a week, especially during humid, rainy seasons. Change your vacuum bag often, because fleas can still hatch their eggs there.

• If your pet has a bed or a favorite pillow or blanket, wash it often. Choose a bed with a removable cover. Cedar-filled beds repel fleas best, according to National Geographic’s Green Guide.

• Fill your home with scents of lavender, mint, rosemary and cedar, all which repel fleas and other pests. Cedar oils are available as insect repellents for pets.

• Before throwing away an old pair of shoes or a worn-out piece of Tupperware, offer the safe, unwanted item to your pet as a toy. That’s one less item to buy, and one less item to lead to a landfill.

• Instead of spraying your yard with insect killers rich in chemicals, introduce natural predators to eliminate the unwanted pests. Plant flowers rich in nectar, create shaded areas full of moist and shade, or purchase harmless bugs meant to kill the unwanted bugs.

• Whenever cleaning your house, use chemical-free, eco-friendly cleaners. For a list, read our blog here.

• Instead of using your average kitty litter, which is hazardous to the environment, use substitute litter like ground corn cobs, recycled newspaper, pine sawdust or straw pellets.

• If you want to go all out, consider installing a “doggy loo” to your yard, which is basically a toilet for your dog’s waste. A bucket with a hole in the bottom is placed into the ground, and an enzyme is added that breaks down the matter. After you fill it, you pour water down it, and it is all flushed deep into the ground.

For more information, visit thegreenguide.com and greenlivingtips.com.

Posted in Green Living, Tips and Ideas - Tagged Green Living, home ownership, pets
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Small Bathroom Upgrade

Sep24
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

bath2

1. Fresh Paint: Adding a new splash of color to your walls can make a big difference! Try painting just a border or doing a faux finish if you’re looking for something more interesting, and choose soothing neutral colors that will increase your home’s value.

2. New Towels: Even just updating you displayed hand towels can give the bathroom a new look, and they are something visitors are sure to notice when they’re washing up!

3. New Shower Curtain: Because it takes up so much visual space in a bathroom, a shower curtain can greatly affect the area’s overall appeal. Try updating yours with one in a soothing palette that goes with your bathroom’s overall color scheme and style.

4. Decorative Touches: Smart, simple accessories tie a bathroom’s decor together. Consider adding candles, vase with fresh flowers, new soaps—little touches that affect the overall appearance.

5. Little Upgrades: Replacing the towel bar, the toilet paper holder and/or the trash can up the style in your bathroom, or you may consider adding an inexpensive towel warmer for a heightened sense of luxury.

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged bathroom, decorating, Home Improvement
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Have You Subscribed to an eCatalog Yet?

Sep22
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

eCatalog

There’s never been a better time to buy a new home, especially when you buy one through Buy Owner, meaning no commissions and much more control! If you’re in the market and looking for a way to stay updated on new properties that come available, we’ve got the tool for you: the Buy Owner eCatalog!

Our popular magazine is now available online for many regions. In these issues, you can flip through and zoom into pages of information-packed home advertisements. Feel like a hard copy? You can also print individual pages within the eCatalog.

To be updated when new issues are available, head over to our eCatalog page, where you can subscribe to your choice of editions. Then, you’ll be e-mailed as soon as a new magazine is placed online.

Head over to the subscription page for more information!

Posted in Buying Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged eCatalog, magazine, real estate, real estate market, subscription
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Selling a Furnished Home

Sep21
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

staged3

While it’s most common to sell a home unfurnished, so that you can transport your existing belongings into your new location and buyers can bring theirs into your old one, there are homes bought and sold fully furnished all the time. In certain cases, it’s a situation that makes most sense for the seller and the buyer, and here’s why.

Why Sell Furnished?
Sometimes, whether because of downsizing or extensive relocation or something else, sellers cannot bring all of their furnishings to where they are moving. They are then faced with not just needing to sell a home but also the majority of its contents, and so lumping everything together saves a step. Other times, the property may be a vacation home, in which the sellers do not need to keep the furnishings or specifically purchased them for that individual location, so it doesn’t make sense to transport them.

Why Buy Furnished?
Buyers sometimes prefer furnished homes, particularly when they are significantly upgrading, moving from somewhere very far or purchasing a vacation home. The furnishings offer convenience and time-saving help so that their move can be a little simpler.

Cautions & Advice
If you are a seller thinking of offering your home fully furnished, there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind.

First, consider the quality of the furniture—is it clean, in good condition, free from damages? In order for the furnishings to be an incentive, they must be showroom-quality. Otherwise, buyers will find it better to buy a vacant home to fill with the right kind of merchandise.

Second, look at staging for inspiration. Professional home stagers make their living off helping people stage their homes to look impressive enough to buy. Statistics favor staging as a fantastic method of not only increasing a home’s selling price but also decreasing its time on the market. Use this information to your advantage by making your furnishings work for you, not against you!

Third, eliminate that which clutters. All excess furniture and decoration should be put away, whether sold, donated, stored or trashed. If you don’t want to take it with you and it doesn’t add to the value of your home, get rid of it!

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged home sale, selling a furnished home, selling a home, selling your home furnished
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Renovations Sell Houses?

Sep18
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

renovate

According to a recent New York Times article entitled “Spending to Sell,” many of today’s sellers are approaching this slower buyers’ market with a can-do attitude: rather than sit back and wait for buyers, they’re doing something about the wait. They’re renovating.

“Some sellers are making the bold move of renovating their homes to sell them,” writes Vivian S. Toy. “Brokers say that this strategy can help keep the price out of the basement, and more important, help the home sell much more quickly.”

In other words, if you can’t lower your price (or even if you can), improve your property.

Because today’s buyers have so many homes to choose from, and, given the market’s recent struggles, a lot of leeriness about jumping into purchases, renovations make sense. Get your home looking better than the competition, and price it fairly, and you have a recipe for a successful sale.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

To read previous Buy Owner Blog articles that focus on renovations, click the below links:

  • Increase Your Home’s Value
  • Cost-Efficient Ways to Add Value
  • Does Going Green = More Money?
Posted in Market News, Tips and Ideas - Tagged Market News, real estate market, selling a home
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Green Your Kitchen

Sep17
2009
2 Comments Written by Shanna

kitchensink

When you’re looking to make your home more eco-friendly, the kitchen is the best place to start. Why? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, kitchens account for 41.5 percent of the energy consumption in a home!

In keeping with that idea, here are a handful of green products that can help improve your kitchen:

  • Biodegradable Trash Bags: Created by Perf Go Green, these kitchen trash bags can be used and thrown away; they’ll be totally broken down within two years. Made of recycled plastics, they are fully biodegradable, making them a smart, green solution for disposing of your kitchen garbage.
  • Energy-Star Appliances: Appliances with the Energy Star rating are said to offer the best performance with the benefit of energy savings.
  • New countertops or cabinetry: Today’s building industry offers a variety of eco-friendly materials with which to outfit your kitchen, from concrete to formaldehyde-free to EnviroSLAB. If you’re planning to update your kitchen anyway, why not do it with green products?

For even more eco-friendly kitchen improvements, check out this Buy Owner Blog post from last fall: Green Living: Kitchen.

Posted in Green Living, Tips and Ideas - Tagged eco-friendly improvements, Green Living, Home Improvement, kitchen
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Fall Events 2009: Chicago

Sep15
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

pumpkin

It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year again, with kids back in school, Labor Day over and the prospect of cooler weather and changing leaves on the horizon, but here we are halfway through September.

And whether you’re a long-time Chicago resident, a suburban home owner or someone looking to make a move before December, you’ll want to check out this list of events, activities and ideas for making the most of the autumn in Chicago!

Festivals:
As the one of the largest city in the nation, Chicago offers all kinds of festivals, not just in summer but year-round! In addition to what you’ll find downtown, local suburbs and neighborhoods provide their own events, too, so it’s worth checking into your town’s schedule to see what’s available there! Here are a few city highlights:

  • Oktoberfest, September 25, 26 & 27: Bratwurst, beer and bands with live music create a slice of Bavaria at Lincoln and Southport in Lakeview.
  • Country Music Festival, October 3 & 4: Two days of live country music at Jackson and Columbus, Grant Park.
  • The Free Daley Plaza 12th annual Halloween celebration, formerly called “Pumpkin Plaza:” Afternoons in late October, come out to enjoy the haunted village, pumpkin decorating (weekends only), storytelling, live performances and more.

Athletics:
Being active has never been easier than during the autumn months when the weather is at its most comfortable. And in Chicago, you’ll find plenty of athletic options, whether to compete in races or watch your favorite sports teams!

  • Chicago Marathon, October 11: Attention, runners! This Bank of America Chicago Marathon will be held on Sunday, October 11, 2009.
  • Chicago Bears: Catch a game this fall at Soldier Field!
  • Chicago Bulls: This year, the Bulls host their season opener October 29, against the San Antonio Spurs.

Seasonal Activities:
Savor the season by taking time to enjoy it with hayrides, pumpkin patches, fresh apple cider and more! Here are a few ideas for making the most of fall:

  • Pumpkin Patches: Pick your own pumpkins, snap some scenic shots and bring them home to carve!
  • Apple Orchards: Nothing says fall like picking fresh apples and sipping hot cider while you much on homemade doughnuts!
  • Green City Market, 1750 North Clark Street: This organic fresh market runs all the way through October 29th, so you can grab some produce to celebrate the season.
Posted in Buying Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged 2009, autumn 2009, chicago, fall, midwest
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