Residents of Illinois have enjoyed 15 straight days of above-average temperatures. While this isn’t
great for fans of a white Christmas, it is great for home buyers. The warm
weather has allowed many buyers to get out over the holiday weekend to shop for
homes. Buyers looking for Aurora
real estate have enjoyed temperatures sometimes hitting the 40’s and
sunny days right when most people have time off from
work. That has contributed to a mini-spike in real estate
activity for the past few days and have had home sellers often
scrambling to clean up after the holidays to be ready for showings. Despite the
small interruption in holiday plans, many sellers are more than happy to accommodate
buyers, as the current activity is a welcome change from the lull we
experienced in December.

 

Aurora Real
Estate

Naperville
Real Estate

This evening, one of my featured Aurora homes for sale has gone
under contract. The house is located at 1221
Cottonwood Drive. It is a beautiful
4BR 2.1BA home with full basement, 3 car garage and a
host of other features. The home was on the market for approximately 79 days.
This figure is quite surprising because of several factors: the home was priced
very well and it was also showing beautifully. In fact, of all the Aurora real estate buyers
that visited the home during our open houses, most were very impressed. This is
yet another indication that our market is slower than normal and Aurora real estate
sellers need to continue to be patient before a sale can be expected.

Eric Rogers – REALTOR

Century 21 Pro-Team

erogers@c21proteam.com

630-346-1041

Aurora Real
Estate

Naperville
Real Estate

Oswego Real
Estate

I just wanted to wish everyone out there a happy holidays
and a great start to 2007. To all of my clients – it was great to work
with all of you this year and I’m looking forward to continuing to work
for you in 2007. For everyone else, have a happy and safe end to 2006. At the
heart of my real estate business is the desire to help you all achieve your
real estate goals. Whatever your goals are in 2007 I hope I’m able to
play a part in making them happen for you.

Eric Rogers – REALTOR

Century 21 Pro-Team

erogers@c21proteam.com

Aurora Real Estate

Now and for the past couple weeks we
have been experiencing a slowdown of our local real estate market. Many buyers
are taking a break from house hunting over these next few holiday weeks to
spend time with friends and family. This isn’t unexpected – in fact
it’s usually the case during this time of the year. What’s going to
be more telling is what happens in the weeks following New Years. Interest
rates have been dropping and there are lots of great deals to be had right now.
The big questions is: why aren’t more buyers
taking the plunge? It could be several factors – fall elections, world
events, even the media perception that the market is a down market – but the
point is, this is perhaps the best time to purchase real estate. The market
being understandably slow for the holidays is no news, but what we’re all
eagerly awaiting is to see how quickly and to what degree it begins to heat up
after January 1^st. Many experts are now predicting an extremely hot
spring this year. As inventory balances out, many buyers will finally be
induced to make a purchase. Interest rates are predicted to stay firm if not
fall slightly over the next few months. If this happens, we should see a hot
spring.  

Eric Rogers, Realtor

Century 21 Pro-Team

ph: (630) 346-1041

fax: (630) 897-8774

erogers@c21proteam.com

http://www.illinoislandandhomes.com/

One of the biggest questions facing home sellers during the holiday
season is how to decorate. Done correctly, holiday decorating can help sell a
home. Done poorly and you might turn off potential buyers. The big question is:
where to draw the line?

There is one overriding factor that you have to keep in mind when
considering the issue of if or how to decorate real estate. Your home is the
Product. You have to make decorating decisions based on whether or not they
highlight or detract from your product and not personal tastes. If you are just
starting to dig into those storage boxes for decorations, consider the
following before putting them up:

1. Not too little, not too much. When you consider what to put up this
year, remember that sometimes, less is more. A few small items can help give
your home that holiday feel without going too overboard. Holiday
candles, stockings, a wreath or small tree, tastefully decorated are perfect.
Do too much and buyers might see your home as cluttered and too small.
Especially watch out for too many lights on the exterior, too large of a tree
and too many holiday knick-knacks lying about.

2. Go for non-denominational. This is a touchy issue – some
people are very proud of the religious nature of the holidays – but not
everyone. I’m not a huge fan of political correctness – I feel that
mutual respect of each others’ beliefs should rule – but in this
case, it helps to down-play religion in your holiday decorating. Making buyers
feel “at home” in your house is paramount and because religion is a
very personal thing, overt displays really makes this difficult, especially if
your buyers have different beliefs. Have fun decorating the tree, hanging
stockings and putting up lights. But leave the nativity, menorah and other overtly
denominational items packed up – just this year.

3. Avoid messy decorations. Real trees can dry out and drop needles,
swags and other decorations made from living plants can drop leaves, sap or
other detritus, still others can scatter glitter etc. All of these things can
make it difficult to keep your home clean and tidy. This year, stick with
decorations that won’t create or leave a mess.

4. Use decorations to accent. Decorations should highlight a home and
not be the center focus. Remember, buyers will be looking at your home and not
necessarily at your decorations. Keep the tree and wrapped gifts out of the way
and underfoot. Stockings or candles can help highlight a beautiful mantle and a
bow or wreath can help brighten up a doorway. Lights can help highlight
landscaping and holiday place settings can bring a holiday feel to your table.

Many of us (me included) really get into the holiday spirit and it can
be a little difficult to distance yourself and take a critical look at how your
decorations affect your product. For those of us that really get into it, your
REALTOR or another neutral third-party is a great resource. Get a friend to
take a tour of your home and ask them to honestly assess how your decorations affect
it. Don’t hesitate to move or change anything that takes away from what
you are ultimately trying to do – sell your home.

Eric Rogers –
REALTOR

Century 21 Pro-Team

erogers@c21proteam.com

http://www.illinoislandandhomes.com

Serving your Real Estate needs in the communities of Aurora, Naperville, Oswego, Montgomery,
Yorkville, Sugar Grove, North Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles and Northern Illinois.

Now’s a beautiful time to be a home buyer in Illinois.
The only negative is actually trying to get a good look at the homes. Due to
the 8-10 inches we got last Friday, the city is still trying to dig its way
out. There was nary a snow plow in site for that first day. That gave us all a
chance to drive on the snow and pack it down into a nice compact sheet that
then froze overnight. From that point on, it’s been interesting driving
in some areas of Aurora, Naperville
and Oswego. Word to the snow plows:
get out sooner. It seems like everyone knew there would be a big storm but you.

The snowfall is also making things difficult for buyers. Getting into a
home is now fraught with problems like navigating an un-shoveled driveway and
front walk, getting into doors that are sometimes frozen shut and even seeing
the condition of exterior features. This afternoon while I was showing some Aurora
real estate to a homebuyer I’m working with, we almost gave up trying to
judge the condition of roofs. At my listing in Boulder Hill Subdivision in Montgomery,
I had to remove the sheets in my drive-by brochure box because they had frozen
together into a big block of paper. On the other hand, several communities that
I also work in such as Naperville, North
Aurora, Batavia, Geneva
and even Yorkville seemed to fare better with the snow plows.

Despite all the difficulties, this is a great time to get out and make
a purchase if you are a home buyer. Real Estate is extremely slow due to the
holidays and the snowfall has put a further damper on it. Home prices are
continuing to fall along with interest rates. During the next few weeks, you
might just snag a real housing bargain if you can brave the weather and get out
there and choose your next home.

Eric Rogers –
REALTOR

Century 21 Pro-Team

erogers@c21proteam.com

http://www.illinoislandandhomes.com

Serving your Real Estate needs in the communities of Aurora, Naperville, Oswego, Montgomery,
Yorkville, Sugar Grove, North Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles and Northern Illinois.