The Gene Molloy Real Estate Blog

September 2007

Sep. 25, 2007 - Buying Into A Little Government

The other day, when I was visiting one of the many forums I read daily, a real estate agent asked a question about a Condominium Association that changed the rental rules for the association. The agent's clients had asked the question. That prompted the agent to ask other agents. I was in one of my replying moods and it went like this:

"As a REALTOR® and the President of the Board of Directors of my Condominium Association I see countless REALTORS® indulging in the listing and sales of condominiums before they are able to answer condominium specific questions. Not only should they familiarize themselves with The Illinois Condominium Property Act, but they need to go over the Declaration and Bylaws and the Rules and Regulations of each specific Association in which they wish to do business. They would also be doing themselves and their clients a favor if they read Article 11 of the NAR Code of Ethics.

Many residents in condominiums do not realize the importance of attending association meetings, checking the bulletin board, reading the association newsletters, etc. This is partly due to the fact that they are never educated to the fact that they will be buying into a small government, not just a dwelling place. They are given a copy (or should be) of the Declaration and Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, and the budget, for perusal during attorney review.

Unfortunately, some Associations are run by a Board of Dictators as opposed to a Board of Directors. If this is the case, and they do not operate in accordance with the Declaration and Bylaws as laid out in The Illinois Condominium Property Act, then your client most definitely can appeal with the help of a competent Attorney who is well versed in Condominium Law (Robert Nesbit comes to mind, look him up). However, if the Declaration and Bylaws was legally amended and your client just wasn't paying attention then the rules are the rules and there isn't much they do.

The best way to avoid all of this distress is, as a REALTOR®, know what you are selling and only sell what you know."

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

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Sep. 14, 2007 - For Sale Or Rent

Do you remember the old Roger Whatshisname tune that goes "Trailers for sale or rent"? Well in today's market some perfectly good home sellers have raised the bar and are singing that tune about their perfectly good houses. Some perfectly good REALTORS® are singing along with Roger as well: "Dang me, dang me, they oughta take a rope and hang me". Rental listing are practically a free services as far as the REALTOR® is concerned but the fact is, if you are truly going to serve your clients best interest, and put them first, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.

It doesn't do anyone any good to let a perfectly good house sit on the market, empty and unloved. After all of the homework and analysis has been done you can pretty well determine that no one is buying houses in a certain market. In a subdivision of similar homes it's pretty easy to see that price and condition are not the reasons houses are not selling. Even with price reductions, staging and repairs, they sit there racking up market time. Not just some of them, but all of them.

Could it be the location? I doubt it. The particular home I am talking about is in one of the most desirable school districts in the Northwest Suburbs. It's not for lack of marketing either. Buyers are just not active at this time.

And so, 7914 Kingsbury Drive in Hanover Park is now for sale or rent. Not only have the terms been extended to include Lease/Purchase and Rent with Option, it is also available as a straight rental. For just $1,450 a month some lucky family can sign a one year lease and live the good life in this beautiful 3 bedroom 1.1 bath tri-level. Take a look at the virtual tour and call me.

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Sep. 12, 2007 - Illinois To The Rescue

The good news is that The State of Illinois Department of Human Services will be handing out $1,700,000 in $2,000 increments to help some lucky first time home buyers buy houses. The bad news is that only 850 people will be able to get that money. It's not a windfall either. Moderate income folks are going to have to save some of their own money once they are accepted into the program. You will have to go through some credit counseling as well. As far as I can tell the whole thing is going to take about eighteen months.

The program is called Assets Illinois. If you, or anyone you know, have been dreaming of home ownership and could use a little boost from the government, just follow that link. Once there you can get all of the details of the plan and you will be able to download the required application to get started. Since only 850 folks are going to be empowered with a $2,000 grant and since it is going to take eighteen months to get the money, I wouldn't be dragging my feet.

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Sep. 6, 2007 - Hey, Remember Me

I know what your thinking. "Where the heck have you been Gene Molloy?" Or maybe not.

Just in case you have been wondering I will give you a bit of a run down. First and foremost I have been pulling out all of the stops trying to sell my listing in Hanover Park. The average market time on the houses that are selling in the area is 120+ days. I am about 48 days into the listing, so we are nowhere near that, but then I have always thought of myself as "better than average".

In my little corner of the world the market is slower than the freight trains in Des Plaines. No one seems to want to budge, either. I have been running around with a buyer client friend of mine, complete with his own money, who is looking for an investment in Addison and the sellers keep turning down perfectly good offers. They aren't exactly full price offers, but they aren't bad either.

All of those "the sky is falling" media reports have scared people into paralysis. Many of the "buyers" who are running around think that there is easy equity to bought by looking exclusively at distressed properties. They have the Mr. Potter mentality. "I'll pay 25 cents on the dollar for your shares, George Bailey." What they haven't seemed to figure out yet (I wonder what kind of agents they are using) is that the guy on the other end who is sitting in some bank in God knows where probably IS Mr. Potter.

So, since my little corner of the world has gone dormant for now I have been hatching ideas as to how I might expand my horizons. I have gotten a very grandiose idea and I have taken the first steps in implementing it. I am not going to divulge too much just yet, but I can give you a teaser. I still intend to stay in Real Estate and it involves interstate commerce. When I have more of the requirements in place I will tell you more. Until then feel free to hazard a few guesses.

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