After a strong run to close out 2010, the market for home resales softened a bit in January. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Pending Home Sales Index dropped 3 percent last month, and December's figures were revised downward for a loss, too, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. A "pending home sale" is defined as a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed.  The forward-looking index is now at a 3-month low on a national level, but still well ahead of its rolling 6-month average. Unfortunately, national data isn't overly helpful for buyers and sellers of real estate. The National Association of REALTORS® knows this, of course, and makes an effort to get more granular, supplementing the Pending Home Sales Index report with a region-by-region breakdown.  Between D... 03/01/2011

Not all housing reports are sunny, it seems. In its monthly New Home Sales release, the U.S. Department of Commerce showed a 13 percent drop-off in annualized new construction sales between the months of December and January. It's the biggest one-month drop in New Home Sales since May 2010. In addition, the supply of new homes for sale spiked higher to 7.9 months last month.  "Home supply" is defined as the amount of time it would take to sell the complete "for sale" inventory at the current pace of sales. In December, the supply measured just 7.0 months, Don't fret the news, however. For buyers of new construction in Oak Lawn , falling New Home Sales figures can be terrific. Weaker markets put pressure on the nation's home builders to sell their respective homes more quickly. To reach... 02/25/2011

Homebuilder confidence in the market for newly-built, single family homes appears stable as the spring buying season gets underway in Chicago. The confidence reading is recorded and reported monthly by the National Association of Homebuilders. For the 4th straight month, the group's Housing Market Index reads 16. As a market indicator, Housing Market Index has been tracked for more than twenty years and reports on a 1-100 scale. A value of 50 or better indicates "favorable conditions" for home builders. HMI hasn't read higher than 50 since April 2006. Broken down, the Housing Market Index is actually a weighted composite of 3 separate surveys measuring current single-family sales; projected single-family sales; and foot traffic of prospective buyers. February's surveys showed slight im... 02/16/2011

If consumer spending is a keystone element in the U.S. economic recovery, a full-on rebound is likely underway. Tuesday, the Census Bureau released its national January Retail Sales figures and, for the seventh straight month, the data surpassed expectations. Last month's retail figures climbed 0.3 percent as total sales receipts reached an all-time high. It's good news for the economy which is scratching back after a prolonged recession, but decidedly bad news for people in want of a mortgage across the state of Illinois. This includes home buyers and would-be refinancers alike. Because consumer spending accounts for the majority of the U.S. economy, Retail Sales growth means more economic growth and that draws Wall Street's dollars toward riskier investments, including equities, at t... 02/15/2011

Mortgage markets worsened for the 7th straight day Tuesday, equaling the longest losing streak of the last 5 years. Conventional, 30-year fixed mortgage rates are now scratching 5 percent, with FHA mortgage rates running roughly the same. This is a huge increase from just 11 weeks ago when mortgage rates were riding an 8-month-long hot streak, and appeared headed into the 3s. Then the Federal Reserve intervened. On November 3, as additional support for markets, the Fed announced its second round of bond buys, a $600 billion program dubbed QEII -- short for Quantitative Easing, Round II. Wall Street got spooked on the news; investors feared runaway inflation. That's when low rates ended. Here's why: (A) Inflation makes the U.S. dollar lose its value, And, (B) U.S. mortgage bond payments ... 02/09/2011

Real estate in Northern IL is normally seasonal and things start to slow down right after the school year starts.  So it's always interesting to me to see how many homes are up for sale in the towns I work in.  Today, there are 207 Tinley Park homes for sale.  Prices start at $95,000 and go as high as $825,000, showing that there is something for everyone in Tinley Park. To break it down a bit, 23 of those homes are in contingent status, meaning they have an accepted offer and are waiting to close.  These are still considered active listings even though showing appointments are usually stopped once an offer is accepted. There are 12 pending listings that are not part of the active listing count.  Pending listings usually already have the closing date set, although some agents enter a li... 10/05/2010

UPDATE - Our website has changed since this photo, but you can still click the link below to see all current Tinley Park homes.   One of the most popular local Cook County and Chicago Suburbs real estate websites has a new look.  It has been upgraded with a new color scheme plus a custom MLS/IDX search.  The main page has information on why you might consider looking in Tinley Park if you're thinking of moving.  It also has a list of available Tinley park homes for sale without even having to do a search. The new Tinley Park MLS search allows you to create a more advanced search of properties for sale and it offers much more data than before.  You can search for multiple parameters and truly drill down to what you're most interested in. There is also a new page for Tinley Park condos an... 09/09/2010

The chart below shows the Supply and Demand Data for Tinley Park homes in 2009. If you've seen any of my other charts (I've created a Supply and Demand Chart for Oak Lawn and Orland Park homes), you won't be surprised at the discrepancy between Tinley Park homes on the market (red line) compared to those that went under contract (blue line) and those that sold and closed (green line) in 2009.  This is what is meant when referring to a Buyer's Market.  There was much more inventory in 2009 than ready, willing and able buyers. This chart also gives you an idea of peak sales months.  Although March showed the typical jump in Tinley Park homes under contract, the month of August was the peak for homes under contract in 2009.  Then you can see how activity decreases once the school season be... 05/04/2010

Price: $218,500 FIZBER.com ID 13758637 Condo/Townhome/Co-op with 2 bed, 2.0 bath, in 7907 Belle Rive Ct Tinley park, IL, 60477 http://www.fizber.com/13758637/ 7907 Belle Rive Ct - For Sale By Owner Property Details: Type: Condo/Townhome/Co-op Address: 7907 Belle Rive Ct, Tinley park, IL, 60477 Sq footage: 1350.0 Floors: n/a Bathrooms: 2.0 Bedrooms: 2 Year built: 1994 View full property details and seller's contacts. View more Illinois homes for sale. Homes for Sale by Owner. Description: This perfectly designed and well cared for home includes tile in high traffic areas and new, plush carpet in other areas for you to relax. Newly updated dual pane windows will help keep you comfortable while keeping the electric bills reasonable. And don't worry about parking outside, this lovely home ... 01/12/2010

Tinley Park, IL Real Estate Market Tinley Park is a SW Suburb of Chicago and located in both Cook County & Will County, IL. It is growing community with highly rated school districts. It offers many suburban amenities of local shopping districts, abundance of local parks & walking paths, Recreational Facilities including a popular White Water Canyon Water Park, Tinley Park Junction Mini Golf & Batting Cages, Vogt Visual Arts Center, Tony Bettenhausen Recreation Facility, and Tinley Fitness. Many local festivals & a weekly Farmers Market are located the recently renovated Downtown Area. Tinley Park offers a wide variety of housing style, price ranges & aged homes. It is accessible to local expressways & offers all the amenities home buyers are looking for. We continuously monitor the loc... 08/31/2009

UPDATE:  These units are sold, but you can find more Tinley Park townhomes for sale by clicking the link. I currently have two beautiful Tinley Park townhomes for sale (click the photos):   7018 Plymouth Ct. - SOLD! 2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms with a 2 car garage, fireplace, huge loft, main level laundry room and a full finished basement in Meadow Mews subdivision. 6832 W. 179th St. - SOLD! 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms with a 2 car garage, new gleaming hardwood floors, loft and a basement close to downtown Tinley Park How many attached Tinley Park attached properties for sale are there today?  Click on Tinley Park townhomes and you'll see that there are 318 attached properties currently available that include condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, etc. If you're interested in purchasing a Ti... 07/03/2009

Now you can see how many active listings are in Tinley Park at any given time without having to do a search.  Today, there are 192 Tinley Park homes for sale.  Prices start at $149,900 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath split level styled home and go up to $1,200,000 for a 6 bedroom, 6 bath custom built 2-story home with a 4 car garage.  There are many price ranges for first-time buyers and up.  Styles in Tinley Park start with ranch style homes all on one level to cape cods, split levels, raised ranches and 2-stories.  There is something for everyone in Tinley Park, IL. Of course, you can create an Advanced Tinley Park MLS search to get your specific price range and any specific amenities you're interested in. If you're interested in Tinley Park homes for sale give Judy Orr a call at 708-536-8200... 03/04/2009

~~A STELLAR YEAR~~   I have only been the real estate field for six ( 6) months).  Things have been rather slow.  Those who have been agents alot longer than me keep telling me that things will get better.  There are those who say they have been through this kind of thing before.  I have heard from a number of people that the market is definitely going to rebound.  Well, I believe what they are saying. I am working with a few clients at present.  I believe that some wonderful things are going to happen in 2009.  The economic forecasters may give a dismal projection about what is to come in the future.  What they say may be true for some individuals.  However, I am not accepting what they say for me.  I am looking forward to 2009 to be my STELLAR YEAR!!! 12/29/2008

I'm new to the field of Real Estate.  I took the course last year and passed the exam on November 1, 2007 but did not start working until the middle of June 2008.  There was an unseen family emergency that delayed my starting to work. It seems as though I started at a time when it appears as though the bottom is falling out of the market.  Listening to commentators there seems to be doom and gloom.  I'm not quite sure what the bailout will mean for the market. We have mentors at our office and receive good training on the using the Internet and technology.  With all of the social networking and using the Internet -  prospects yet seem pretty dim. My dilemma is - how does a newbie stay motivated in tough times?  Are there any secrets to getting that first deal? I would be interested in h... 10/07/2008

Okay, so this is my very first blog post, so please be kind.  I've be trying to figure out what to use for my first post and with all of the chatter about short sales in the market right now, I think I found a good topic to start with.  Lets start with the first question that most people have, "What is a Short Sale?"  A short is essentially just what it sounds like, the seller is "short" of what they owe their lienholder in the "sale" of their property.  Why would a homeowner want to do a short sale on their property and secondly, why would a lender want to accept less than what is owed?  Short sales are not for everyone. And contrary to popular belief, just because you owe more than what you could sell your property for under current market conditions and want to sell does not mean tha... 09/21/2008

I noticed that some folks have text under their pictures and name in the blog that is not present on mine. Why is that? Is there a setting that I need to activate? I am not able to find anything that mentions this. I am new to blogging so please be patient with me. I appreciate the help. 09/21/2008

I recently made a post about my first ever Squidoo lens I created on a popular village in my area, Tinley Park.  At the time I worked on the lens I wasn't quite sure what Squidoo was about.  But I went on to make a second non-real estate related lens. Squidoo is just another community on the Internet where people congregate to create and share "lenses" or pages of anything that interests them.  Some people make very basic pages and some put a lot of time into them.  Others even create mini-sites with their separate lenses - something that could easily be done with real estate.  There are also groups you can join with lenses of the same interest you have. About a week after I created my lens it rose to the #1 spot for the "Local" section on Squidoo.  I don't know why, but I checked keywo... 03/10/2008

I was actually going to title this SquidWho but Squidoo now has a feature titled exactly that, so I didn't use it. There have been many posts on AR about Squidoo but we all know that posts get stale and sometimes you need a new reminder about different things. In fact, going through the list of Squidoo posts here I found two I really liked: Created by Kay Frenzer - I Squidoo - Do You? Created by Maureen McCabe - ActiveRain vs. Squid Zipper - local expert Kay's post offers some nuts and bolts basic information on Squidoo lenses. Maureen's post is about Squidoo's local expert offering. My first Squidoo lens was created about the active, popular southwest Chicago suburb called Tinley Park. Since I'm a Squidoo newbie it's pretty basic and I'm trying to learn how to customize my squid lens. ... 03/01/2008

Tinley Park, IL Real Estate Market Tinley Park is a SW Suburb of Chicago and located in both Cook County & Will County, IL. It is growing community with highly rated school districts. It offers many suburban amenities of local shopping districts, abundance of local parks & walking paths, Recreational Facilities including a popular White Water Canyon Water Park, Tinley Park Junction Mini Golf & Batting Cages, Vogt Visual Arts Center, Tony Bettenhausen Recreation Facility, and Tinley Fitness. Many local festivals & a weekly Farmers Market are located the recently renovated Downtown Area. Tinley Park offers a wide variety of housing style, price ranges & aged homes. It is accessible to local expressways & offers all the amenities home buyers are looking for. We continuously monitor the loc... 07/11/2007

The Realtor Association of West South Suburban Chicago-land is our local Real Estate Board located in Tinley Park, Illinois.  We are pleased to have access to the professional staff provided. I wish to spotlight our Customer Relations Director, Connie Pierrepont. Some of her responsibilities include setting up information sessions for Brokers, keeping members abreast of current news regarding Fair Housing, conducting their training, serving as liason for the Housing Affordability Task Force, and a host of other positions.Connie has gone beyond caring in her efforts to motivate Realtors to participate in sponsored events and education.  This is our little attempt to appreciate her for the small and great things we have observed her do.  Many times staff members are taken for granted and ... 02/25/2007