For Buyers

Top 10 Ways I Convinced My Husband to Move to the Suburbs

I want to take a quick second to apologize for the recent absence of new blog posts here on BurbFeeder.com. I have achieved something monumental in the past couple of weeks that was several years in the making.

To start, let’s go back to February 2nd of 2005. It was a frigid, snowy Chicago Winter night. Too preoccupied to be cold and too rushed to be nervous, I dashed out of a listing appointment and raced to make a first date at a restaurant called Boka in Chicago. We said our “nice to meet you’s,” shared a couple of drinks and started to get to know each other. One year later we were engaged. Two years later we were married. Three years later, here we are. Within the past week, we’ve swapped our city digs for life in suburbia; the result of a major campaign on my part to convince my husband Bill that Barrington might be just as hip and happening as our old hood, Chicago’s Lincoln Square.

The task was far from easy. What could I possibly say to get a downtown dude to consent to leaving the daily city stimulants for life in the burbs? I appealed to his appetite, his pet peeves and his love of sports, of course. Here are the top ten ways I sold him on suburbia:

#10. Bike Paths and Forest Preserves - Lakefront, Shmakefront.
Who needs to dodge the running, biking and rollerblading
masses that swarm the shores of Lake Michigan?
#9. Thank You Express Train – A 45 Minute trip on the Metra will
transport us right back into the heart of the hustle and bustle.
Plus… no more long platform waits and stop-and-go commutes on
the drafty old EL
#8. Showed Him the Door – To the Basement of our New House
He always told me he wanted his own space to watch football,
keep his tools and hang is sports paraphernalia - Honey, Have at it!
#7. Goodbye Davis, Hello Catlow - Another neighborhood movie theater in our new neck of the woods
#6. Found Him a Place to Play Hoops - Signed Him Up at Good Shepherd Health and Fitness Center
#5. Wooed Him at Wool Street Grill - The closest sports bar & frosty
beverage are just a few blocks away
#4. Filled Him With Boloney at Boloney’s Sandwich Shop in
Barrington – He keeps asking me if I’m in the mood for a Sandwich
#3. Mayor Daley Made it Easier – Chicago’s Real Estate Transfer Tax
and Sales Tax are reason enough to say sayonara to the city
#2. Goebbert’s Pumpkin Farm - A great way to get our city friends to
to pile their kids in the car and pay us a Fall visit.
#1.  Hello Baby –  We found out we’re expecting our first child – just in
nick of time. Our baby is due in September and will love
the back yard and space here that would have cost so much more in any
of our favorite Chicago neighborhoods.

I sit, as I write, surrounded by unpacked boxes and giant balls of shriveled shrink wrap. The great irony is that since we’ve moved to the suburbs, business for me has picked up immensely in the city. I’m driving down there almost every day to show properties, connect with clients and check on listings. I’m happy to have so many reasons to go back. Bill is not the only one transitioning. We’re getting used to the new pace and change of scenery; new neighbors, new streets, parking places everywhere and far fewer sirens. Even a trip to good old Jewel feels a little foreign.

I’ve had so many clients who’ve made this move before me. Some who have shared my husband’s sense of major life change and even loss. It helps that we’re still so close to our favorite city and our friends. We’re settling, unpacking and adapting, one Boloney’s bite at a time.

Written by:
Liz Luby – REALTOR
The Luby Group – Coldwell Banker
Phone: 847-691-3150
Fax: 847-512-5466
Website: TheLubyGroup.com
Blog: BurbFeeder.com

Landa’s Lowdown – Why Aren’t Interest Rates Any Lower?

“Why aren’t the interest rates any lower?!?” The lament heard by loan officers everywhere. Contrary to the popular belief that when the Fed’s cut the Federal Funds rate that mortgage rates follow in lockstep; mortgage rates are actually about the same as they have been for the last three weeks. Which is, on average, 5.75% for the lowest-fee 30-year conforming loan. If you need confirmation; check out www.freddiemac.com. They provide a weekly survey that is minus any sales pitch or media spin.

It’s tough for hard working loan officers to overcome the media hype that accompanies a “dramatic” Fed move in rates. Is a 1.25% cut in 8 days in the Fed Funds rate “dramatic?” Absolutely. Does it mean that conforming loan rates are 1.25% lower than they were last month? Absolutely NOT.

Mortgages are priced off the 10-year Treasury bond – a wholly different instrument than the Fed Funds rate or the Fed discount rate. Currently, the yield on the 10-year note is hovering at around 3.60%. That yield gives us 30-year mortgage rates under 6%, which is much better that seven or eight months ago.

This move by the Fed will certainly help homeowners who are currently in adjustable rate mortgages. It can even be advantageous to recent home buyers who locked their rates in the 6.5% range last summer. Depending on the size of their loan, a refinance may be in order. And, it’s certainly a GREAT situation for home buyers in the market right now – they can buy more house for the same monthly payment they were looking at last year.

The rate cut seems to be having the immediate sought-after effect – a shot in the arm for the ever popular “Spring” housing market. Now is a great time to buy – there is lots of inventory out there to pick from and great financing options.

Written By:
Terri Landa
Mortgage Advisor
Coldwell Banker Home Loans
Office: 847-382-3780
Cell: 847-921-6817
Email: terri.landa@mortgagefamily.com
TerriLanda.ColdwellBankerHomeLoans.com

Tags: 60010, Barrington, Barrington Real Estate, Illinois, Mortgage, Interest Rates, Fed Rate Cut, Home Buyers, Refinance, FreddieMac, Home Financing

Waterfront Weekend Getaway on 153′ Stretch of Big Green Lake in Wisconsin – Less than 3 Hours from Chicago!

The Waterfront Views Speak Volumes

Less than Three Hours From Chicago
W2107 Irving Park Road
Green Lake, Wisconsin

List Price: $2,650,000 – PRICE JUST REDUCED!

Unbelievable Opportunity and less than a 3 hr. drive from Chicago. Truly breathtaking in any season. This home is located on beautiful Irving Park Road, has a heavily wooded, secluded driveway and only 1.5 mi. from town in beautiful Green Lake, Wisconsin. Fantastic family home with enough room for vacations and holidays for the whole family! Situated on a wooded acre that boasts 153 feet of North Shore lake front property. This 7 bedroom, 6.5 bath classic lake house has a gourmet kitchen, private office, workout room, and vaulted wood-beamed ceilings in kitchen, great room and bedrooms; 9 ft. w/b stone fireplace in the family room w/ wet bar, 2 car attached plus 2 car detached garage. Too much more to mention! This peaceful setting is truly sensational- sure to make lifelong memories on the finest shore of the best boating, swimming and fishing lake in Wisconsin. Call Susan Prokos at 224-639-0227 for more information or to schedule a private showing. For more photos & virtual tours, please visit TheLubyGroup.com.

Click Here for the List Price and Property Details

Click Here for Virtual Tours and Additional Photos

Tags: Real Estate, Homes For Sale, Waterfront, Frontage Property, Green Lake, Wisconsin, Marina, Boating, Swimming, Fishing, Wooded Lake Lot

Real Estate Investing – MADE EASIER

When I got married earlier this year, I became part owner of my husband’s investment property. It’s a brick two-flat in Chicago in Lincoln Square and it has definitely been an adjustment. We live upstairs and rent out the unit below to tenants who are pretty agreeable and generally on time with the rent. It’s a new sort of living arrangement for me, it’s a little small for the two of us and, to be honest, it’s been the source of several heated arguments.

They went a little something like this:
I say: “Shouldn’t we focus on purchasing a home we can grow into rather than stretch to afford a rental property that’s too small?”
Bill says: “Don’t you see how this living situation will enable us to have another source of income down the road? Can’t you live with this for a while until we can afford both?”
I say: “Wait how long? Are you crazy! Why didn’t we talk about this before.”

You get the idea. Bill’s a long term thinker, I live more for the moment and we would both benefit by meeting somewhere in the middle.

This all comes to mind as I decompress after this very intense course on building wealth in real estate that I completed earlier this week. When I look closely at the numbers, what I learned in this class made my husband’s arguments make a lot more sense. In fact, what I learned opened my mind to a whole new way of thinking. Now I’ll admit that I’m still more excited than ever to buy our first place together, but I’m not so quick to complain about where we are today.

Not only did this class help put our personal investment choices in perspective, but I’m now armed with a wealth of information to help our clients make smart choices about investing in real estate rental properties in Chicago or in the Suburbs. Have you ever thought about purchasing a rental property? Would you like to learn more? I’ve got some great formulas that will help calculate the estimated post-tax return on your investment. Are you currently comparing two property options? If so, these formulas might help make it a no brainer. Are you considering investing more in the stock market? WAIT! If you’re a long term thinker and planner like my husband Bill, let’s talk about some real estate options first.

Thanks for reading,
Liz Luby
The Luby Group – Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
847-691-3150
www.TheLubyGroup.com