The Tanner Trails subdivision located off of Tanner Road in North Aurora is finally nearing completion despite a bankruptcy filed by the primary builder - Neumann Homes in October 2007. Many residents were concerned with the unfinished status of several of the streets and parks. However, in a decisive move, the Village of North Aurora utilized credit extended on the behalf of Neumann Homes to complete several projects around the community. The end result is an excellent community of just over 500 homes on over 350 acres of land surrounded by several parks, conservation areas and area hiking and biking trails.

Initial construction began in 2003 at Tanner Trails and it instanly became a popular place for buyers seeking large new homes at a reasonable price. Escalating home costs in 2004 and 2005 pushed home values in the subdivision from the low to the high $300,000’s yet interest in the homes remained brisk, even through the beginning of the market downturn in 2006. Currently, Tanner Trails represents a great place to look for resale values. Due to the size of the community, competition from the number of homes on the market continues to drive home prices downwards. If you’re looking for North Aurora homes for sale, make sure you keep Tanner Trails at the top of your list.

Buyers really have it good in today’s market. In some cases, too good. I have found in several circumstances that the extreme number of homes on the market right now is causing an interesting problem. The wide selection of choices available is causing some buyers to get “burnt out” of house hunting.

The problem begins with the buyers trying to see every home available in a certain market range. While this sounds like a pretty good strategy if you’re buying a home, consider that depending on the area and price range, a search of all homes available could yield hundreds of homes in the initial search with between 5 and 10 new homes appearing for sale every day. At first, buyers feel like kids in the candy store, but soon realize that going through hundreds of homes takes a lot of time and energy. Unfortunately this has caused many buyers to just give up on hunting altogether in frustration.

Back when we were at the crest of the housing wave and homes were selling rapidly, seeing every home out there made sense - there was less selection and buyers needed to often make quick choices. This made a “larger to smaller” approach to home searching make sense - there was a much smaller pool. In today’s market where there is an extreme housing glut, a “smaller to larger” approach makes more sense.

Buyers have to shift gears and be more selective in the initial searches. There are many great homes to choose from so chances are, you’ll be able to find exactly the home you’re looking for - it pays to be really picky in the beginning. If you don’t find what you’re looking for at first, then widen the search. Just remember a couple ground rules: the good homes still go fast even in today’s market. If you spend a week going through all your choices, by the end of that week, some of the best ones on your list will be gone. It’s better to start with a smaller list and add to it if you don’t find what you’re looking for. Also, don’t be afraid to go ahead and make an offer if a home you see fits your picture. I’ve worked with buyers that found the perfect home but wanted to continue to look and see “what else is out there” only to find that 3 days later, another buyer bought their perfect home while they were out looking at dogs. DONT LET THIS BE YOU!

Finally, it’s very important that you work closely with your REALTOR and be specific about your search requirements. If you’d only buy a home with a basement, it doesn’t make sense to see homes without one. If you’re thinking of looking for a home to buy this year, I’d love to talk to you about how I can make the search process easier. Just give me a call and I’d be happy to meet with you: 630-346-1041.

If you’re shopping in the $400-500,000 range, you really have the run of the store. You can pretty much choose your community, area and style of home. If a new home is on your shopping list, you might want to consider one of the custom homes located in The Reserves at Tanner Trails in North Aurora. There are currently several spec homes and builder models available in this community of custom and semi-custom homes located at the far western edge of North Aurora real estate.

R.A. Faganel Builders is currently offering a 4BR/2.5BA full-brick-front custom spec home packed with upgrades for around $435,000 and they’re also offering their builder model for sale featuring 4BR/3.5BA and over 3300 square feet with a natural stone front - also packed with upgrades for around $520,000. Another builder currently offering a spec home is Wyndham Deerpoint Builders who are offering a fully-built Richmond floorplan spec home featuring a gourmet kitchen with granite tops, 2-story fireplace and 4BR/4BA for right around $450,000. These prices and availablility is highly subject to change, so if you’re in the market to buy, jump on one of these deals before they’re gone.

I’ve seen a lot of folks predicting a lot of things about the housing market. First, know that real estate is local. Market conditions in other parts of the country will change differently than our area. I feel it’s impossible to “peg” the market in general as far as what’s going to happen. However, in our area, I see a lot of optimism for this year. Let’s take a look at the factors:

There hasn’t been a lot of market activity over the past couple years. Buyers have been waiting for a good deal. Foreclosures are moving briskly but there’s an ever-plentiful supply. This has made it difficult to impossible for existing home owners to move. This pressure has created pent-up demand in the market.

Mortgage rates are extremely low right now. Close to the levels they were back in 2005 before Greenspan messed them all up. Lenders have tightened restrictions but those that can buy will be getting a good deal on loan rates.

There is increasing national attention being put on the housing crisis and the extreme number of foreclosures. The government may be stepping in at some point this year to stem the tide of foreclosures. Once the foreclosures slow, values will begin to rise.

Rentals are now getting harder to find and rent prices are rising. Rent prices are now getting higher than the cost of owning a condo or single-family home. This increases the number of buyers in the market as renters decide it’s better to buy than pay more in rent.

We’re now entering the spring market - a naturally busy time. This should reduce inventory as buyers begin to take up the slack. If the number of foreclosures begins to slow, we’re going to see a further reduction in inventory for the fall. This points to the possibility of an uptick in the market beginning this fall. I predict conditions will remain flat during the spring and summer as the existing inventory begins to be eaten up by buyer demand but this fall we should see a slightly better market.

What does this mean for home buyers? If you haven’t yet entered the housing market, now is the time. You want to buy when the market is at or close to bottom - not after it has started to recover. If you’re looking for the point at where there’s the biggest inventory at the lowest prices, put yourself in the position to purchase this spring and summer.

If you’re in the market to buy or sell a home, eventually you’ll encounter an appraisal. Most folks know that it deals with home values but many might not understand exactly how important a role the appraisal plays in the home buying process.

First it’s important to distinguish between two different types of home value estimates. First, the report a real estate agent often does for a home seller in order to arrive at a list price for the home is commonly known as a Comparative Market Analysis. However, this is almost never an actual “appraisal”. An appraisal is a home value estimate that is compiled by a licensed real estate appraiser. The appraiser is often hired by a lender, bank or other mortgage company to determine an official value of the home for loan purposes. The distinction between a market analysis and an appraisal can sometimes be very small but in other ways very large. For example, the way a real estate agent prepares a comparative market analysis is by examining the sales prices of similar properties in the area (known as “area comps”). A real estate appraiser may use this same technique to arrive at the value of the home, however appraisers often have several different methods they can use.

Perhaps the biggest distinction between the value arrived at in a comparative market analysis and that of an appraisal is that only an appraisal is accepted by lenders as an “official” estimate. This creates an interesting situation because the appraisal can sometimes differ from the value arrived at in a comparative market analysis, especially if the appraiser is using a different method than pulling the “comps”. This is perhaps one of the biggest issues that can occur between buyers and sellers after an offer on a home has been negotiated and accepted. Consider the following situation:

A real estate agent estimates the value of a home using area comps at $325,000 and a buyer comes allong and offers full price for the home. Later, the lender hires an appraiser to do an official appraisal on the home and they use a square footage method for determining the value and arrive at a value of $300,000. Now there’s an issue because the lender is unwilling to lend more to the buyer to purchase a home than the home is actually woth. So the end result is, in order for the sale to progress, the seller must agree to reduce the sales price by $25,000.

In many ways, a home is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, however, that value must still pass muster by the appraiser. This is perhaps the biggest reason why pricing a home correctly from the beginning is so important. Many sellers have the idea that by pricing the home high initially, they can always “get lucky” and find a buyer willing to pay more for the home. However, because the home has to eventually pass the appraisal, even if the home were to sell at an inflated price, it wouldn’t pass the appraisal.