THE LONG SUFFERING SELLER SYNDROME

It has happened again; I watched a very nice single family home sit on the market for 8 months, from early April of this year, during the prime selling season of Spring and Summer. It was not my listing, but I had visited the property since it was very close to my own home. I thought it was overpriced from the first day. A home is worth what the market is willing to pay for it; that's just the way it is. I don't know if that original list price came from the seller or the listing agent, but the end of the story was predictable. That seller carried the cost of ownership for 10 long months, watched the neighboring homes sell over the summer, and went through the stress of multiple price reductions in an effort to attract a buyer. So this listing closed this week, for 17.3% under the original list price. Factor in the real estate taxes the seller had to pay, insurance, etc., it makes me sad, literally sad, for the seller. This was not a short sale, not a distressed sale in any way. Please make certain your list price is the RIGHT price, the price at which it will sell. There is no such thing as "let's give it some room for negotiation" option in this market, readers. There is far too much on the market for the buyers to pick from, to make them want to negotiate with a seller whose price is so far off the mark. Want to sell your home? Pick the Realtor to help you who will present you with a realistic market value of your home, and take that agent's advice.

Realtors are Homeowners Too (and share the same challenges as everybody else)

Hurrah!

I received a letter from the County Board of Review recently, giving me the results of my property assessment appeal.

Along with 17 other owners in my townhome community, I traveled to the heart of the County's administrative building in Chicago's Loop last month to make a case for a reduction in my property assessment. The assessment that was delivered to all of us late last year reflected an unrealistic fair market value of our homes. It was rather absurd, really, overstating our value by some 28%.

One of our neighbors took the lead in organizing our mass appeal to the County, and spent many hours of his own time to investigate, interview, argue, and otherwise open the door for all 36 of us to plea our case to the people at the County seat who have the power to change an assessed value of a property. Thank you, Tom!

So today was the big day for me; I pulled an envelope from the mailbox on the front porch, labeled as coming from the County Board of Review. I couldn't wait to pull out that letter, announcing my property tax fate; relief! A 19.25% reduction in assessed value!

Life is good today. Now if only we could do something about the weather around these parts ...

The Dreaded Property Tax Deadline Approaches

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Cook County property tax first installment on the 2009 year is due this Tuesday, March 2. Be ready to monitor your payment made by your mortgage lender (if your lender keeps a property tax escrow account on your behalf), OR make the payment yourself: online at www.cookcountytreasurer.com, by mail, or at a branch of Chase Bank (or one of 200 other community banks that are listed on the Treasurer's website).

Consider this a public service announcement, if you would. No particular words of wisdom today, but advice to save you being charged a late fee!