I received this message from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) in my email box this afternoon: NAR Update: Congress Extends and Expands Tax Credit (pdf-file). President Obama still needs to sign this bill which apparently will happen tomorrow.

Major update here: Evidently, existing homeowners may take advantage of a tax credit as well, this time around, up to $6,500. Regarding eligibility, please consult with your tax advisor or attorney, because I am not him.

Update November 6, 2009: President Obama has signed the above mentioned bill today, as CNN/Money reports.

We don’t see RE/MAX balloons fly over Chicago very often. They are quite active in the suburbs though. Here’s an early morning commuter in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago who shot a video of a RE/MAX balloon landing.

[Hat tip: illinoisproperty.com blog]

It’s that time of the year again, when we anxiously wait to find out how our children collectively performed during the past spring / early summer rituals that are called ISAT, PSAE, ACT, and whatnot. We were already informed about our kids’ individual test results at the beginning of the school year, a couple of months ago, but now we’ll get to find out, how each grade did, by subject matter, overall, and compared to other schools in the district, county, and state.

For those parents, or would-be parents, who are contemplating a move to a certain neighborhood, academic scores for particular schools are often an important criterion to consider with regard to their home purchase or lease. The Chicago Tribune annually publishes these scores, and today, they published the 2009 figures. Head over to “2009 Illinois school report card: How did your school do?” and find out. If your child/children attend(s) a Chicago Public School in the 60646 zip code, and you don’t feel like searching, simply click on one of the links below to find your school’s results.

Wildwood ● Edgebrook ● Onahan ● Hitch ● Farnsworth ● Sauganash ● Solomon ● Taft

It’s been a homecoming of sorts, at my old (business) stomping grounds when I was associated with a real estate company that displays the Rock of Gibraltar, about five years ago. 6430 N Central Ave. in Edgebrook’s central business district, has been home to RE/MAX Cityview for the past year, and is now my new office as well.

The three years I spent at RE/MAX First Class Realty in Skokie were rewarding, from a business point of view, as well as socially, as I met a number of new and familiar colleagues, and Skokie clients. But given the fact that my business centers around Edgebrook, Sauganash, Gladstone Park, and Forest Glen, there was a need to relocate back here. Obviously, in Edgebrook, we’re not suffering from a shortage of real estate offices, and since I bleed RE/MAX red-white-and-blue, the decision to join RE/MAX Cityview was fairly simple. My sincere thanks go to the owners of RE/MAX First Class Realty in Skokie, the Kontos family, for providing me with a first-class business environment during the past three years, and for whom I have the utmost respect. I will miss them and most of my colleagues there, but it was simply time for a change.

RE/MAX Cityview in Edgebrook is owned and operated by Robert and Ramina Padron, a super dynamic couple who are on the fast track to turning this office into a neighborhood real estate powerhouse. I’ve only been here about two weeks, and I already feel at home. Here are a couple of snapshots of my cubical, and of our conference room:

My new office

Conference Room

During my first week, not only did Rob help me hook up my computer to the office/printer network, he also FIXED my PC with a printer problem that I was having for about the past year. And that’s because Rob is not only the broker/owner of this office, but he also has a information technology background. Right up my alley. Rob and the office staff have really done a tremendous job in making my transition super easy, as switching offices even within the RE/MAX system poses some significant administrative challenges. As if that wasn’t already enough of a nice welcome, check out what I ran into the other day, walking in to the office:

Welcome sign

I’m really not much of a ham, actually, more a shy kinda guy, but I suppose that at least all the visitors to Happy Foods now know that I work at RE/MAX in Edgebrook. Thanks Rob and Ramina. You guys really know how to make your new associates feel welcome. And I’m not even talking about the delicious designer cookie basket I found on my desk on my second day in the office.

So, now that we’ve got the big news out of the way, it’s time for you to visit me at my new digs. Whether you’re selling or buying real estate in Edgebrook, Sauganash, Forest Glen, Gladstone Park, or anywhere else in Illinois for that matter, contact me. I am as close as your phone, or email program.

Last week, I switched from my RE/MAX office in Skokie, to the RE/MAX office in Edgebrook (YAY!) to which I will dedicate a separate post sometime next week. That’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is to let you know that my mazadeh[at]remax[dot]net email address is currently not working. Why, and how do I know this? I received a text message from a client who informed me that he attempted to send me an email which then bounced back, as it couldn’t be delivered. Ouch.

A call to my regional RE/MAX organization confirmed that the problem is located at the RE/MAX International HQ in Denver, CO. One office signs off an agent. Paperwork needs to be forwarded to HQ. The new office then needs to forward paperwork to HQ to inform HQ that the agent is now on board of a new office. RE/MAX is a big organization. Things take a little bit of time, to fall into place. A big ship can’t be stopped and turned around on a dime. But,…, here’s the good news: Bureaucracy can’t stop modern communication, as my client’s text message proved (thanks Kevin). There are a whole host of other ways you can reach me. If you need to email me though, until my trusty old remax.net email address is functional again, you can do so by firing your message to markazadeh[at]gmail[dot]com. That’ll reach me 100%. Every time. In the meantime, please accept my apologies for any inconveniences caused. But I’m on it now. Have a good one.

Update 10/25/09: My mazadeh[at]remax[dot]net email address is functional again, and I am now officially part of the RE/MAX office in Edgebrook.

● Borrowers rush in as mortgage rates slip below 5% (Chicago Tribune)

● Chicago single-family-home sales jump, but condos are still suffering (Chicago Tribune)

● Short sales spread across real estate market, leaving frustration in their wake (Chicago Tribune)

● Local home sales up for 2nd straight month (Chicago Real Estate Daily / Crain’s)

● How this week’s FOMC statement affects mortgage rates and homeowners (The Mortgage Reports / Dan Green)

● What the housing ‘rebound’ means for you (CNN Money)

● Rents could skyrocket due to tax increases (Chicago Sun Times)

Be sure to visit one of the 60646 weekend open houses. Have a great weekend.

It’s almost back-to-school time again. Only one more weekend left before we all have to get back to the grind. But here’s the awesome thing, and you already know this if you’re sending your child/children to this school: At Wildwood Elementary Magnet School, our children attend a Chicago public learning institution that leaves nothing to be desired. Fantastic teachers who feed the hungry minds of our kids, in a fantastic environment. The environment is what I want to talk to you about. On a bike ride with our daughter, we passed Wildwood School today, and noticed some of the exterior improvements that were made to the school over the summer break.

Freshly poured concrete in entrance walkway, with modified corners

Did you notice the rounded corners where the sidewalk meets the school’s main entrance walkway? Every morning, about 250 children line up in this entrance way, waiting for the school doors to open. They now have a little more room to squeeze in, rather than spill out on the Hiawatha Ave sidewalk. Brilliant idea, folks. And the concrete walkway is brand-spanking-new, as well. But wait, it gets better …

New air conditioning unit for main building

Yes ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at a brand-new commercial grade chilling unit behind the teacher parking lot that will keep our children in the main building comfortably cooled during the most furious heat waves we might ever experience in future summers. Students in the main building dodged a bullet this summer, because the weather wasn’t really hot. But boy, are they going to love this AC next summer.

And one more thing: I’m not sure who exactly financed this year’s school improvements, but the Wildwood PTA and the parents who – rain or shine – contribute to WPTA funds all year long, EVERY year, need to be commended for major school improvements to Wildwood Elementary School. Without WPTA, a lot of these improvements would not have been made. Now, have you spotted any other improvements that we may have missed? Send us your pictures, and we’ll publish them here. Can’t wait for Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Have a great Labor Day weekend.

The widget on the front page of 60646 Blog indicates that the deadline for the $8,000 first-time home buyer credit expires on November 30, 2009. While that’s true technically, mortgage broker Dan Green throws us a curveball with this post, opening our eyes as to why postponing, delaying, or, *gasp* procrastinating the closing of your first home purchase until November 30, 2009 might be fraught with a variety of pitfalls. Here’s the thing: Generally, I don’t like to pimp promote any mortgage broker’s business on 60646 Blog, but anyone who has the foresight to alert the home-buying public about potential scheduling conflicts that may arise in conjunction with an important tax date, deserves to be a recommended read on my blog. Having said that, I recommend that you take a couple of minutes to read “Forget November 30, 2009 — Make November 16, 2009 Your Personal First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Deadline.”

Addendum: The Chicago Association of Realtors® in an email provided the link to this article today, regarding the extension of the $8,000 Tax Credit.

The latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices were released last week, and the findings for Chicago were as follows: a 1.1% home price increase from April 09 to May 09 and a 17.5% price decline when comparing May 09 to May 08. Needless to say that Case-Shiller’s findings seldom match up with what we find home values to be in zip code 60646, and that’s not only because Case-Shiller don’t track home values on a quarterly basis. Judging by the blogosphere’s commentary, the latest Case-Shiller figures seem to be the strongest in nearly three years, however, in large metropolitan areas such as in Chicago, where we might be interested in specific neighborhood stats, Case-Shiller figures aren’t really helpful.

Edgebrook Real Estate Market Conditions Q2 2009 ↓↑

If you recall, in Q1 2009 we ended up with a sale of only 5 homes in Edgebrook, and my hope then was that we’d stage a come-from-behind type of sell-a-thon the rest of the year to make up for this low figure. Well, it hasn’t quite happened, although with 18 homes sold in Q2 2009 we did a bit better than the same quarter last year, in Edgebrook. Luckily, the year is not over yet. Edgebrook Q2 2006-2009 Units Sold Here’s the good news: In Q2 2009 the average home value in Edgebrook was 6% higher than in Q2 2008, and the median home value … wait for it … was even 15% higher, quarter-over-quarter. More good news: The average market time sank from 199 to 189 days in Q2 2009 vs. Q2 2008. Now, you’re probably thinking “ridiculous”, but hey, at this stage of the game, I’ll embrace ANY good news on the market conditions front, no matter how small it may be. Edgebrook Q2 2006-2009 Sale Prices Here now, comes a little bad news: The average sale-to-list-price ratio took a bit of a hit in Q2 2009. It stood at 90% which means that 18 Edgebrook home sellers were willing to part with their homes for 10% below their average asking prices. Just in the last quarter (Q1 2009) I was impressed with how this figure in Edgebrook refused to go below 95% (well, 94.9% actually) but I guess in this economic climate and buyers’ market in general, one needs to do what one needs to do, in order to accomplish one’s real estate goals. Edgebrook Q2 2006-2009 Sale-to-List-Price Ratio As of August 5, 2009 there are 64 single family homes actively for sale in Edgebrook which translates into a 10.7 Month Supply of Inventory which is an absorption metric that’s pretty close to single digit territory, as I had hoped for at the end of the last quarter.

Sauganash Real Estate Market Conditions Q2 2009 ↓↑

In Q1 2009 Sauganash had a slight distressed property problem, where two thirds of all closed homes were either short sales or foreclosures. In Q2 2009, this was no longer the case. To be sure, with 12 closed homes in Q2 2009, we’re still far removed from the glory days of real estate sales in Sauganash. But of these 12 homes, only one property was a distressed sale. Insert a little shameless self-promotion at this point: I was actually responsible for the sale of the most expensive home in Sauganash in Q2 2009. Sauganash Q2 2006-2009 Units Sold Sauganash average and median prices in Q2 2009 were down 7.5% and 5.9% vs. the same quarter last year, and the average market time increased to 266 days, quarter-over-quarter. Ouch! Sauganash Q2 2006-2009 Sale Prices More bad news about Sauganash market conditions: The average Sale-to-List-Price Ratio continued nosediving to 92.2% in Q2 2009. Still better than in Edgebrook though, and testimony to the fact that the distressed property problem in Sauganash – while not yet completely resolved – is slowly but surely being overcome. Sauganash Q2 2006-2009 Sale-to-List-Price Ratio As of August 5, 2009 there are 60 single family homes actively for sale in Sauganash which translates into a 15 Month Supply of Inventory.

South Edgebrook/Gladstone Park Real Estate Market Conditions Q2 2009 ↓↑

Market conditions in Chicago’s South Edgebrook and North Gladstone Park were nothing to write home about either, in Q2 2009. Four homes sold which is exactly one more than in Q1 2009, and on par with Q2 2008. Less than half the amount that were sold in Q2 2006. SEdgebrook-GladstonePk Q2 2006-2009 Units Sold Average and median home values were down 6.2% and 5.2% respectively quarter-over-quarter, but again, with four units sold, I don’t know if there is any statistical significance to these figures. The good news: Vs. Q2 2008 (210 days), the average market time in Q2 2009 dropped down to 90 days which is actually a “normal” figure. The explanation for that might be in the last graph. SEdgebrook-GladstonePk Q2 2006-2009 Sale Prices Average Sale-to-List-Price Ratio in SEGP followed suit with Edgebrook and Sauganash in Q2 2009 and stood at 90.2%. This means that this year in SEGP, four buyers got relatively better deals than four buyers around the same time, last year. It could also explain why market times decreased to 90 days, on average. SEdgebrook-GladstonePk Q2 2006-2009 Sale-to-List-Price Ratio As of August 5, 2009 there are 21 single family homes actively for sale in South Edgebrook / North Gladstone Park which translates into a 15.8 Month Supply of Inventory. Also, in SEGP, currently there are 19 multi-unit buildings (2-4 flats) for sale, between $300,000 and $590,000.

Edgebrook Post Office

It’s not like we’ve got tons of USPS offices located around Edgebrook. And they’re contemplating closing the only one we’ve got at 5424 W Devon Ave? I mean, there are only two employees working the service desks (one during non-peak hours), and maybe one or two employees in the back office. So, how “unprofitable” can this post office really be?

This morning, I had to drop off a few things at the Edgebrook Post Office. Before it was my turn to step up, I overheard a customer at the service counter asking one of the employees about the imminent closing of this office. The postal worker’s response was that they keep hearing this “story” from customers but nobody has officially told them anything. Sad really, to find out about a possible upcoming pink slip from your customers rather than from your employer.

To get back to the possible closing of this location though: Where are we expected to go for our postal service needs in the future? Jefferson Park? Norwood Park? Lincolnwood? The Niles post office at 6977 W Oakton is probably the closest one to us. But really, should we have to drive all the way to Niles for our postal service needs? Let us know what you think.