Long Grove & Northern IL Real Estate

Stage to Sell Your House: If your home isn't selling, try some of these low-cost ideas:

1) remove the clutter

2) clear off the kitchen counters & remove the toaster, coffee maker, etc. - polish them and make them look spacious

3) remove any magnets and photos and calendars from your refrigerator

4) pack up your personal photos - remove unnecessary furniture

5) clean out the closets & clear off the shelves to find some empty space

6) rent a storage unit for the extra stuff you don't need - start packing

7) pay special attention to the front door - make sure it is free of spider webs & put in a new clear light bulb to illuminate the front entrance

8) wash the windows; store the screens

9) kitchens sell homes - make yours look as spotless and updated as possible

Sellers in Northern Illinois: click here for a market analysis that will be emailed to you.

Buyers in Northern Illinois:  click here to have all listings emailed to you from our MLS.

posted by: Carol Best | Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Barrington, IL

If you are a single family, townhouse, or condo buyer and have been searching for bank-owned homes or bank-owned foreclosed properties in the Northwest suburbs or Chicago, IL, simply sign up here for a no-hassle search of our MLS.  The results will be emailed to your inbox.

When you are ready to work with an agent, we'd be delighted to work with you.  Should you have any questions, we're here to help.  Simply call or email us @ 773-799-5939 or Carol@CarolBest.net *

by Carol Best of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate | Barrington, IL

 

In our real estate market here in Illinois, I see many Realtors take listings - some as many as 30 to 50 listings, and these agents have not had 1 sale [Sold Property] the entire year... yes, for 12 months, not one single property sold.  Sellers should ask some or all of the following questions [take notes], so they can dramatically improve their odds of having a successful home-selling experience:

1.     How many years have you been an active, full-time Realtor?
2.     What professional designations do you have and what advanced training have you recently completed?
3.     How many homes have you listed in the past year?
4.     How many homes have you sold in the past year?
5.     What’s the average # of days on market before it goes under contract?
6.     How does your average sale price compare to the original list price?
7.     How many homes are your currently marketing? (A successful top producing agent may be more effective at managing many listings than a less experienced agent.)
8.     What can you tell me about your broker's market share - please provide a 12-month graph of closed properties.
9.     What percentage of your business is based on referrals?
10.     Do you have a personal staff? How many are licensed? (A Realtor who has a support team to handle office chores and routine details can usually devote more time to the business of serving a client’s highest priority needs and getting the home sold.)
11.     How will you market my home? Please provide copies of all internet sites w/printed examples.
12.     Do you have your own personal website?  How many hits daily?
13.     How will you stage my home?
14.     How will you keep me informed?
15.     What listing price would you recommend for my home?  How did you arrive at it’s price?
16.     What’s your pricing/marketing philosophy 30/60/90 days down the road?
17.     What is your commission rate?
18.     Please provide me with copies/samples of brochures you do for your listings. Do you have any personal marketing materials I can review? (The quality of a Realtor’s own marketing pieces is a good indicator of how well he/she will represent you and your property.)

Sellers - click here for a No-Hassle email Market Analysis.

Buyers - search the entire MLS to find properties for sale.

* by Carol Best of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage | Barrington, IL | Call or Text Carol for a private consultation @ 773-799-5939 or Sold@CarolBest.net *
 

Find Listings & Homes for Sale in Barrington, IL - Search the MLS

Click here for an easy No-Hassle search of our entire MLS - when your ready to view homes in person, simply email us.

Buyers - sign up here:  Find Northern Illinois Homes

Posted by Carol Best with Coldwell Banker in Barrington, IL 60010

Here are the real estate charts for which broker has closed the most single family homes in Cook County, IL.  The facts tell the story - Coldwell Banker has the greatest market share and largest dollar volume in closed transactions.

Curious as to what homes are Active, Pending & Sold in your neighborhood?  Sign up here and the report will be mailed to your inbox: Northern Illinois House Values *

This chart for the entire year 2011 shows the total # of units/single family homes sold/closed in Cook County:

Lake County, IL Single Family Real Estate Sales Volume

Coldwell Banker is #1 again in both # of units closed and total dollar volume.  These statistics for the entire year of 2011 were just pulled from our Agent Metrics website. 

If you are interested in receiving the approximate value of your home via email, simply register here:  Northern Illinois House Values & a recap will be emailed to you.

Chart for Lake County, IL single family homes - total # of units closed for 2011:

Realtors Cost of Doing Business Continues to Rise...

Home sellers seem to think our brokers pay all costs in real estate.  Here’s a basic recap of what it costs us to be in business & provide sellers with extensive online marketing that is NOT paid for by our brokers.  Not all Realtors spend money to extensively market your properties for sale, but here’s my yearly total for 2010:

VEHICLE: gasoline, maintenance, tolls, parking                      3,538
    Mileage costs - NOT included

OFFICE EQUIPMENT: printers, laptop, monitor, wi-fi, iPad,
    iPhone                                                                            2,988

2 TOP AGENT SEMINARS/YEAR: advanced learning to get
    listings sold w/the latest online marketing & learning to
    work with younger Buyers & sellers & social marketing       4,372

ANNUAL DUES:  
    National & Illinois Association of Realtors                           2,216
    Other Association Dues                                                    2,239
    E & O Insurance                                                                 700

MARKETING:
    Postage, postcards, Coldwell Banker training, Broker Exam,
    continuing education, websites, IDX, background check,
    printer ink, Trulia, Zillow, GoDaddy, Blockshopper,
    Unique Homes                                                               15,666
                                        

TOTAL EXPENSES:       $2,643/month                $31,719
                          

Brokers with the highest total dollar volume closed year-to-date 2011 in Lake County, Illinois for single family & condos/townhomes is featured below.

Posted by:  Carol Best | Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Barrington, IL | The Carol Best Team - We Offer the Best | Carol@CarolBest.net | Call/Text @ 773-799-5939

Sellers:  Receive a Market Analysis via email - click here

Buyers:  Search the Realtor MLS with No-Hassle - click here

Light GREEN=Total $ Volume | Dark GREEN=Sellers | Yellow=Buyers

A Big Congratulations to
The Carol Best Team with Coldwell Banker Real Estate Barrington, IL
for an outstanding year thus far in 2011!

We are experiencing a record-breaking year with our sales and have 30+ closed/pending deals... and it's only September 14th! 

We'd like to especially thank all our Buyers & sellers for their patience & understanding.  Much has changed in real estate - for Sellers, it's all about online marketing and properly positioning your property to sell, also known as pricing it right.  For Buyers, there are a lot of details and paperwork requirements to get approved for a mortgage these days, and unfortunately not every purchase closes on time.  Appraisals - that's just a moving target of maybe it'll appraise out. 

It takes a lot of experience & perseverance to achieve a successful closing.  We do a lot behind the scenes that you never see, so it's best to have three qualified Brokers on your side & working hard just for you. 

Work with The Carol Best Team - We Offer the Best!

Ask to work with Carol Best, Bev Bedoe, or Kourtney Bedoe.  We're all about achieving your desired results! 

eMail Carol with your questions | Call/text her @ 773-799-5939

Brokers with the highest dollar volume of closed business year-to-date 2011 in Cook County, Illinois for single family & attached condos/townhomes are featured below.

List your home with a Coldwell Banker agent who actually understands market positioning/pricing & online marketing & you just might sell it!

Posted by:  Carol Best | Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Barrington, IL | We Offer the Best | Hire a CRS! | Carol@CarolBest.net | Call/Text @ 773-799-5939

Sellers:  Receive a Market Analysis via email - click here

Buyers:  Search the Realtor MLS with No-Hassle - click here

Dark GREEN=Sellers  |  Yellow=Buyers  |  Light GREEN = Total