I don’t know what it is, but I’m late with everything this Christmas season.  I went back and forth on what I wanted.  At first I wanted an HD Flip Video to take quick and easy virtual tours of my listings.  But my son showed me some reviews and comparisons and suddenly the Flip didn’t sound so great to me.

You see, I’ve taken some videos of my grandchildren with my Kodak digital camera.  I have yet to make an actual video from any of them but I think once I learn it will become easier.  And from what I’ve quickly seen on the computer, the videos from my digital camera don’t look any worse than those from the Flip camera I’ve viewed.  So why have two little cameras?

I’ve been thinking of some kind of jewelry box just for my necklaces.  It’s difficult storing necklaces.  Most of them are draped on either side of the mirror on my dresser in my bedroom.  They become tangled and it doesn’t look good.  I saw something cool from Avon to store jewelry but it has to hang in a closet or on a hook.  It’s one of those vinyl things so you don’t want it out in the open.  My husband told me to just get a stand-up jewelry box.  He even volunteered to clean up his “corner of junk” to put it in.

Then I kind of freaked out.  I had viewed stand-up jewelry boxes and they are not all built the same.  They are a piece of furniture and I have certain tastes.  So I told him not to go out and buy me one as I’d need to pick it out myself.  Who knows when that will happen?  Maybe next Christmas.

So we’re watching TV the other day and an infomercial comes out for a new Kodak camera that you don’t have to focus or adjust.  That’s my problem with taking photos of homes I list.  So many are out-of-focus and shaky looking (I finally bought a tripod for my next listing) that I now take 3 shots for every photo in the hopes one turns out good.

So my Christmas present just got sent out today and hopefully I’ll get it before we leave for Arizona next week.  I can’t wait to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be (it sure was a good infomercial)!

My husband’s present is in the mail (a good set of knives - he almost lost a finger at Thanksgiving, although I think a better and sharper knife might have sliced off what our old knife just cut.

Most of my son’s presents will be delivered after Christmas.  I usually give him money but he spends it immediately on junk (he’s 25 going on 12), so I decided this year I’m buying presents.  I just decided a little too late.

Another present I gave “myself” (and any prospects on my websites), is a new IDX MLS search.  It’s a custom search and takes time to implement everything I want.  In fact, I still need to order some features today that will get put in the queue so I’m not sure when this will be finalized.

I actually received an e-mail telling me how terrible the new search was (this was when I was given a bare bones set-up just to have something as my old service expired).  It is almost finished (I hope) and with the final additions should be better than my original search.  So give it a try by clicking the link above.  Right now it takes you to my other main website but it will be embedded in this site when they’re finished.

I’m leaving soon to finish off my late Christmas shopping.  Although I’ve had some years where I did all of my shopping on Christmas eve late at night, I’m usually a bit more prepared.  I don’t know what it is this year, but I’ll be glad when it’s over - and when we all finally receive our presents!

Have a great holiday season!

If you’re thinking of taking advantage of the current low interest rates give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200

I wrote two posts about Mancari Chrysler in Oak Lawn, Illinois with their “Buy One - Get One for a Dollar” deal.  The second post I wrote was about people calling me as if I were Mancari Chrysler, just because I posted the story.

We know the auto industry is in trouble, just as the housing industry is.  I got my real estate license during the recession of the 80’s.  I don’t remember any buy one - get one free offers from auto dealers back then.  I do remember as soon as I got my license interest rates jumped from 10.5% to 12.87% to 18% and I think we even had rates above 20%!  Our rates are still historically low today, but the housing market is in a terrible slump.

Now a long-time Tinley Park automobile dealership, Bettenhausen Dodge, is offering a “Buy One - Get One Free” deal.  Not a dollar, but free!  And unlike Mancari Chrysler, who offered only one deal (they wanted to get rid of 6 gas guzzling Chrysler Pacificas (priced from $37,000 - $40,000) and you’d get a PT Cruiser for a dollar, Bettenhausen is offering what looks like 4 combinations:

• A 2008 Durango SXT with a 2008 Avenger
• A 2008 Charger RT with a 2008 Caliber
• A 2008 Grand Caravan with a 2008 Sebring
• A 2008 Dakota with a 2008 PT Cruiser

Although the ad shows prices for each of the cars I couldn’t read the fine print for the exact details of this deal.  I’m assuming you pay for the highest priced vehicle but these prices don’t seem overinflated, although I haven’t checked Bluebook values.  I’m sure there’s even finer print and am not in the market for a car so I won’t dig too deeply.

But I hope they sell some cars and I hope the public gets some great deals.

Last week I wrote a post about Mancari Chrysler of Oak Lawn, IL offering a PT Cruiser for $1.00 with the purchase of a $37,000-$40,000 Pacifica.  The post was Buy One - Get One for $1.00.

Since I am the Oak Lawn editor for the online news source, Topix.com, I used that post as one of the daily news items.  I got so many hits that when I checked it out I saw that I exceeded my bandwidth.

The post generated some comments on the Topix forum and also a few phone calls to me.  Funny thing is, the people calling on my post were asking me if I still had cars left for the “buy one - get one for $1.00 deal.”  I had to explain to these people that I just wrote the article - I was not the car dealership.

I think it’s funny because this story got nationwide coverage.  You could read about Mancari’s deal on any online news service.  So I don’t understand what made people think I was the car dealership.  I just posted about it like so many others did.

Talk about a great advertising gimmick!  I wonder how many cars were sold because of this.  Of course, not everyone would have purchased the Pacifica-PT Cruiser duo.   But I bet it brought a lot more people through the doors.  Brilliant!

Now if only I could think of something that would sell some of my listings that was out-of-the box like this.  Of course, whatever would be offered would be coming from the sellers so it’s very different than selling cars from one dealership.  Selling houses is an individual transaction between one seller and one buyer.  Not quite the same as a dealership with a large inventory of automobiles.

[where: 60453]

You know things are getting bad when you see headlines like the one on this post!  And it’s true.  Mancari Chrysler, located at 4630 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453, is offering this crazy deal.

They are trying to get rid of 5 Chrysler 2008 Pacificas remaining on the lot.  To do so the dealership is offering a PT Cruiser for $1.00 to five Pacifica buyers.  You buy the gas guzzling SUV and get an economy car to balance it all out, for only a buck extra!

I had to do a search for Pacificas to see what they look like.  I’m sorry, but I don’t find them too appealing. They look more like a large station wagon than an SUV.  And this is from a person who owns a Chevy HHR with wood-look sides, aptly named Woody.  You might have seen my husband or me driving around the Oak Lawn area in it.  I have nothing against station wagons, but this SUV/wagon/whatever doesn’t do anything for me, especially for the price tag of around $37,000-$40,000 according to owner Frank Mancari.

I wouldn’t mind a PT cruiser as it looks like a shrunken HHR in a way.  But I wouldn’t want to have to buy a Pacifica for that kind of money to get the Cruiser.  I’m not in the car buying mode, maybe if we needed two new cars it would be worth it to us, but I’m not sure that would even be a choice we’d make.

I’m hoping when I’m ready to buy a new car there will be some better hybrids on the market.  The last thing I want is a gas guzzler.  But I’m sure there are 5 people that will eat this one up.

Selling Houses and Cars

This reminds me of a story about a home for sale in California during another rough market when million dollar homes were a dime a dozen.  The home sat on the market for around a year.  The sellers hired a new agent who thought outside the box as she viewed an older Jaguar they had in the garage.  She asked them how much it was worth and at the time they figured it was worth around $27,000.  She asked them if they got their price if they’d consider throwing the car in and they said, “Sure, if it will sell the house!”

She advertised “a beautiful home with a Jaguar” and it sold very quickly for a price that all were happy with.  So if home sellers have something of value to keep with the house (maybe a large flat-screen TV, for example), now is the time to try something different to get your listing noticed and cause that emotional “I want it” feeling in buyers.

Qualified buyers have a smorgasbord of properties to view and are very picky with their final choice.  In fact, many have a second choice if the first sellers don’t accept their offer.  We’re in a worldwide economic crisis and you need to price it right or make an offer they can’t refuse by offering concessions.

I can’t help you buy or sell a car (or two), but I can find you a home (and/or sell your’s) in the southwest suburbs, so give me a call at 708-536-8200 or use my contact form.

[where: 60453]

I have several websites and blogs. I don’t believe in putting all of my eggs in one basket, even with my Internet presence. Plus, I’ve found several different websites and blog platforms that all over something a little bit different. As prospective buyers and sellers are all different, I try to offer as many different options for them to be able to educate themselves with the current real estate market and learn new buying and selling trends.

One of those websites is a long-standing Chicago Suburb Real Estate website that I use mainly for off-line advertising. I have had this site for several years and the great thing about it is that once I post a new listing on the site it gets sent to and shared with 100’s of other sites. Some of those sites are popular real estate portals such as Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle and many others. The other shared websites are other local real estate agents that share their listings with each other. This site offers full synergy that provides a huge Internet presence for my listings.

I have recently upgraded this site and one of the features of this upgrade is the ability to create another blog for South Chicago real estate news. I have different blogs for different purposes. Some are to give support to my main real estate blogs. This blog is a hodgepodge of local news and more general real estate information. But the new blog will be geared specifically towards buyers and sellers of southwest suburban real estate. It will feature listings and sales activity and will hopefully offer prospects enough information to bring them back to the main website or give me a call.

So please take a look at my upgraded website and blog. Be sure to sign-up for the RSS feed provided in the top menu. Give me a call at 708-536-8200 if you have any questions pertaining to real estate or any suggestions on what you’d like to read about.

That is the lament my husband has lately, and I had to join him today. This morning I left Oak Lawn to go show some Tinley Park real estate. I took my normal route of Central Ave. to 115th St. to Ridgeland to Oak Park Ave. and then to the first showing. I was early since I wasn’t stopped by a train on Central. I’m always afraid of that.

On the way home I ended up on Harlem Ave. which was down to one lane going North because of construction. I got off on the first street which was 143rd. Of course, many others did too but I wasn’t sure when the construction ended.

When I reached 95th & Central, there was sewer work being done although I just had to cross the intersection so it didn’t really bother me. I will say that I do love those smooth new 95th St. Oak Lawn roads. I tried to take a photo the other day in the car but it’s difficult taking a picture of a street, especially from a car. The angle wasn’t good. But those streets sure are pretty now!

Halloween is my favorite holiday and not too much real estate gets done on that day. In fact, today I have to run and get more candy. I forgot that my granddaughter needs to bring candy to school. I can never figure out how much to get, either there’s too much or not enough. Mostly it’s always too much.

I always wonder if home sellers want to decorate their houses for sale or decide not to. A home near mine has a nice, tasteful autumn decor which really highlights the quaint house and I think adds to its character. But I’m not sure a home seller should go all out with too many decorations. Save that for the next place.

As much as I love Halloween I have never been to Bengston’s Pumpkin Farm. I just buy my pumpkins and gourds at the local grocery stores. I was driving down Central Ave. last week and noticed a church having a big pumpkin sale. They had already set out a large amount of pumpkins but I could see they were still setting up. I would have stopped there but I was driving to appointments.

Speaking of appointments, although there seems to have been a tiny spike in home showings, it still remains a very slow market. I’m getting more seller calls than buyer inquiries.

I hope we get some nice weather tomorrow, the last couple of Halloweens were pretty chilly! And I hope that parents taking their kids door to door might get that spark to move. Yes, prices are definitely down but if you’re moving up you’ll actually be in a good position.

If you’d like to take advantage of the fall season’s declining prices give me a call at 708-536-8200 or contact me.