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.

This past Monday I had the pleasure of attending the regional Century 21 convention out at Navy Pier in the Grand Ballroom. It was a great day and I got to spend some time with some of my fellow real estate agents from our office as well as the other 8 Pro-Team offices. We took the Metra in from Aurora and took a short but nail-biting cab ride down to the pier to get there. We got there just in time to hear the current president of Century 21 do a talk about corporate branding and the company vision for the next few years. Afterwards, the vice president of marketing did a talk about some of our new advertising campaigns and we got to see a few of the new commercials that will be comming out this summer.

Afterwards, we got a fairly spartan box lunch but eating it out at the end of the pier on a nice sunny day made it a great experience. A group of vendors were also open during lunch so I got to talk a bit with the representative from Top Producer (who seemed a little defensive about some of my “suggestions” about the features they offer). I also spoke with a rep offering website design services. I was asking about a custom IDX solution and think I confused him a bit as to what I wanted. Oh well. I also had a nice talk with the folks from Spot Runner.

After lunch, we had the pleasure of hearing a talk by Jim Dross, a former top agent for the Century 21 system worldwide. He had some very insightful things to say about the market and how to generate business, especially in a down market. I’m in the process of incorporating many of his ideas into my own business plan and expect to see some good results.

 All in all, a great day, lots of good informaiton and lots of fun spent with my fellow Century 21 real estate agents.