Why buy a home in the winter on the North Shore? Here are the reasons why and how to go about it!

Here are my real estate tips on getting the best-priced real estate in Chicago land for 2014!

Year after year real estate does a roller coaster ride. It is typical for prices to fall in the winter and rise in the spring/summer. Here are four reasons why:

1. Sellers who have their properties still listed in the winter are very motivated to move their property. These sellers are usually more willing to negotiate on price because of the time of year.

2. In the Midwest, properties have less curb appeal in the winter as they do in spring/summer.

3. Kids are in school, so families will not consider a move until after the school year ends. There are less buyers to compete against.

4. If a property hasn’t sold by the start of a school year, realtors will request price reductions. These price reductions will usually continue until there is steady interest or an offer. 

Statistics

Single family homes that sold in 2013 illustrate that the lowest home prices occurred from January to March and the highest closed prices occurred from June-September.

(Below are average sold prices in the North Shore that take account sales in Glencoe, Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield, Kenilworth, and Glenview-Golf)

(Average Sold Single Family Home Prices)

January 2013-$690,528

February 2013- $773,648

March- 2013- 688,398

June-$969,792

July-$849,034

August-$857,358

Sept-$872,509

How do you find real estate deals?

If your goal is to find a great deal in 2014, here are the various types of real estate sales you and your realtor should be looking at:

Relocation sales-Properties that involve a relocation typically means the owner of the property listed is moving out of the area or out of state. A third party relocation company is often hired and is responsible for many of the logistics of that new employees transition. This may include purchasing the property from the employee. The relocation company's key objective is selling the property as soon as possible. Relocation pricing is fairly aggressive and usually properties are priced lower than what the market averages.

Foreclosures-Properties that are foreclosures (“Bank-Owned or Corporate Owned) have taken several years to go through a lengthy court process in Illinois.  Once a bank takes back a property, they have already lossed tens of thousands of dollars due to legal and court costs. The bank also has to maintain a vacant property and pay for expenses such as property taxes. The bank wants to unload these properties as quickly as possible. Foreclosures usually go under contract very quickly because they are priced well below the market. These properties are sold "As-Is" and the buyer has to assume any material defects that the property may have.

Guardianship/Estate sales-These properties are sold because the owner is either incapacitated or they are deceased. A trustee is selling the property on behalf of that owner. The process of selling one of these properties may take longer because many of these sales will require court approval. Guardianship sales are typically neglected and may require clean-up and updating by the new buyer.

Short Sales-This type of sale is also referred to an owner being “Upside Down” with their mortgage/s. Sellers owe more on their mortgage/s than what the property will command.  A bank will have to approve any short sale. Sellers typically will list their property beneath the list price of comparable properties that are on the market in order to get it under contract quickly so the bank approval process can take place.

Most short sale property sales will take a minimum of 90 days and sometimes over one year to close. Having multiple loans on a property, such as a first and a second loan (home equity loan), may convolute the process of getting a short sale completed and this can be incredibly frustrating to a buyer.

Unlisted Property-Sometimes knocking on a door, hearing someone wants to sell through a relative or friend, leaving a personal note in a owner’s mailbox will elicit a great buying opportunity.

Sellers typically believe that by saving to pay a commission that they are saving money, but usually the opposite is true. They end up selling their property an average of 10% less what the market will bear.

So, act now, contact your realtor and get that great real estate buy in 2014!

Harry Maisel has been an IL. Licensed real estate broker for 24 years and works at At Properties out of Winnetka and Chicago. He has personally purchased, sold, leased, built, and rehabbed a multitude of properties in the Chicagoland area including single family homes, condos, and multi-unit property.