Hello everyone. This is Charles McShan from Century 21 Universal Real Estate. In January started to do this follow-up blog detailing The 2019 Housing Report For Cook and the Surrounding Counties of Chicago. So many things came up and this post was delayed. Now here in April, something more devasting has occurred. That is the invasion of the Cornora- Virus pandemic.in America.
Article Guide
What Is Going On In The World Today
Under this new normal rules have changed. Sellers and Buyers have had to adapt. Some sellers are not allowing buyers into their homes for fear they will infect their properties. Others are mandating how many strangers can come into their homes at a certain time. Buyers must wear protective gloves and wear facial masks Many Brokers are using virtual tours. For the time being, open houses have been banned. The general public will have to accept these changes and live by these temporary guidelines.
How long will this new normal last? We do not know. Will it ever go back to the way it was? We don’t know that either. But, here is what we do know,.All the Sellers, Buyers, Real Estate Brokers, Lawyers, Home Inspectors, Loan / Title Officers, Appraisers. Yes everyone associated with Real Estate Transactions has had to adapt and are using the latest technology to close the Real Estate transaction. Yes! the industry is reacting to this coronavirus in many different ways and changes are coming every day.
With All TheThings Going on Out Here Why Are You Writing A Blog?
There is a lot of mental pressure on everyone now. Our everyday life has come to a screeching halt The majority of jobs have been shut down along with all schools and various ways of entertainment. The majority of America has been at home under lockdown for over a month. You look at the news and read the news and the news is not good. It is hard to write a blog post with all of this misery going on and while I have been silent for the past 3 months that is now over. I had to resume blogging. Why?
1: It is best to try to keep busy. The corona-virus has changed us for the worse. A lot of us are at home away from our jobs, schools. We cannot do whatever it is that we do best. In my case, my laptop is in my hand just can’t sit, I must write/type.
2: As a Real Estate Broker we are part of the Essential workforce. This year’s housing market is similar to last year’s market The year 2019 saw few being while at the same time few homes were being sold on the market. The same rule applies to this year. None the less some buyers will have to move this year no matter what. For those who have vacated properties, the restrictions on showing those homes are less. Investors see this as a good time to buy properties.
What Is Going On In The Rental Market?
We cannot also forget the Rental market. The month of May officially starts the first part of the rental season in the Chicagoland area. With this pandemic going on everything has changed. The person/persons back in January who were thinking about moving from their rental unit in May had no idea that these things were about to occur. They had made their plans, they have either saved their money or were in the process of saving their money so they could move.
They felt their jobs were secure. Now the bottom has fallen out of their plans. He/She can’t go to work, they do not know if they will have a job when all this is over. He/She has to use their money to get through the day to put food on the table. The majority of bills are due now. If they were fortunate enough to pay April’s rent They will not have money to pay May’s rent. We are all waiting on those stimulus checks.
The month of April is also the time when tenants must tell their landlord if they are renewing their lease if they are moving elsewhere. Also, look at it from the landlord’s point of view, they realize that their tenants are not working and that they cannot collect their rent. The landlords, on the other hand, must also pay their mortgages and other bills so they too are behind. Add to that many tenants were planning to move April 31st when their lease expired. They due to no fault of their own are now broke, out of work and they still must move. What should they do?
Be open and honest with your landlord and hopefully they will give you a month to month extension until you can catch up. For the others out there who leases expire in September, you still have plenty of time to decide if you wish to move or if you wish to stay. So tenants, landlords, we are all in this together When this is over make no mistake about it we all will have to catch up with the majority of our past bills then we will be able to move forward.
What Will Buyers And Sellers Have To Look Forward To In The Coming Months?
For you Buyers/Sellers out there when the smoke clears what will you have forward to looking too? When we get to the other side, people will need reliable information to go by when they are ready to buy or sell a home. The title of this blog post once again is ” The 2019 Housing Report For Cook County And The Surrounding Counties Of Chicago” With this post, we will go outside the city of Chicago and we will check out the Suburbs that surround our fair city. Let’s jump into our car, head down on Interstate 57 an start with the Southern Suburbs of Cook County. Check out these 2 photos.
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The Cook County Housing Report For The Year 2019
These photos were taken in Homewood Ill on March 3rd. I met a past client and he took me to Starbucks for coffee. This Starbucks was adjacent to the Illinois Central Railroad tracks. I turned to the right, saw this old train station and I was teleported back into time to the late ’60s and early ’70s. The station has been remodeled but it still resembles the original structure. Homewood Illinois was the first station top on the former mainline of Mid-American the Illinois Central Railroad. This former 6 track mainline once feature many Passenger trains, freight trains along with the Commuter trains of that era. When I was younger I was a train bluff I would ride trains and I would watch freight/passenger trains fly bye at high rates of speed. I saw a video of that earlier time and I have posted it below.
That time has passed, few passenger trains come bye along with fewer freight trains and the only thing left is the Metra electrics that still take commuter passengers to Chicago. With that being said the town of Homewood today in 2020 is still vibrant and alive. How did this Suburban Cook County town do in 2019 in regards to the housing market? You can read the report for this town and other Southern Cook County Towns and Villages by clicking the link below. Southern Cook Housing market reports
Western Cook County
The next step is looking at the cities, towns, and villages that make up the Western part of Cook County. Places such as Oak Park, Maywood, Melrose Park, LaGrange and the town of Countryside. How did this Western part of Cook County fare in 2019? Check it out by clicking the link here >WesternCook County for 2019
Lake County
Well, we have done the Southern and the Western parts of Cook County that leaves the Northern part. If you want to know about towns such as Skokie, Evanston, Park Ridge, Arlington Heights and the town of Niles please click the link here>Northern Cook housing report for 2019
The Other 3 Surrounding Collar Counties
From here let’s cross Lake-Cook road and check out towns such as Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Lake Forest, Gurnee, Zion You know what to do click the link here > Lake County Housing report for 2019
You want to know about towns such as Wheaton, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, St.Charles, Oakbrook, Naperville and the town of Aurora. These towns are located within Dupage county. Plenty of buyers/ renters have called me about finding homes/rentals in the town of Hinsdale so their teenagers can go to Hinsdale Central. That is a very sought after school. How did Hinsdale and other Dupage county towns fare in the year 2019? Please click the link here > Dupage County Housing report for 2019
The county of Will is the last one we will look at. This county is Southwest of the city of Chicago. Some of the towns located in this area are Homer Glen, Tinley Park, Frankfort, Joliet, Romeoville and the town of Plainfield. For the Will county report please click this link below. Will County Housing report for 2019
There you have it. That is the Complete 2019 Housing Report For Cook and the surrounding Counties of Chicago. Lake, Dupage and Will are easily accessible to Chicago by Auto and Metra rail. Not included in this report are the counties of Kane, Kendall, and McHenry.Oh Yeah! someone said do not forget Dekalb county. We might be way out there but we feel that we are still part of the Metro Chicago area. So Shouts Out! to those other counties and Dekalb county and their college, Northern Illinois University. Before this year is over somebody somewhere in these County areas will information to make an informed decision on whether or not they should buy or sell. Hopefully, this information will benefit them.
Latest Chicago Housing Statistics.
Last but not least, in my last blog post I gave you the January and February 2020 housing statistics for the City Of Chicago. Here is the complete February report check it out by clicking the link here > Chicago housing report for February 2020
Here is the Chicago housing report for March Please click here > Market Activity for the Chicago Association of REALTORS® March 2020
Here is the 2020 Lender Mediated Report for March for the complete city of Chicago please click here> Lender report for City of Chicago for March 2020
This concludes the Real Estate Housing reports for the city of Chicago. I wrote this blog as a follow up to the earlier post entitled “The 2019 Housing report for the city of Chicago”If you would to read it please click here>
That first post was very long. I included data from every Chicagoevery neighborhood. That blog post along with this was were written to provide data. You hear the word data mention a lot medically today on the news as it applies to the coronavirus. The majority find data boring but some people thrive on it. If you are one of those persons, These 2 Blog posts were written just for you.
Why Mention These Surrounding Counties?
My Century 21 Universal Office is located at 7300 N.Western Ave. Suite I Chicago Illinois 60645. We are well known in our area and the bordering Suburbs. A lot of people assume that their local Real Estate Office only operates locally. For the most part that is true but do you know that your local Real Estate office has listings in areas far from there office That is true for their office as well as our office. Our office has or had listings in Lake, Dupage, Will and all of Cook County. For my clients, I have traveled the Chicago expressways, the Tolls Roads, County roads and roads wide and narrow. For our clients, we travel far and wide. Once again, my offices have listings in your areas and that I am ready to come there to be a service to you.
What does the Future Hold for Us!
I look forward to that day when this is at least 80% over. We all must remain upbeat.and look to the future. Yes, some say this coronavirus is unprecedented, it is not. The Bible writer Luke at Luke 21:11 wrote centuries ago that this time we are living in would have viruses that would affect all mankind. The Bible also tells us that soon death and disease will be a thing of the past for mankind. That topic is for another time For now, this pandemic will soon be over and the majority of us will survive and get to the other side. What will the other side look like? We do not know? With all the death, misery, pain, and chances of reinfection things will never be the way they were. Prepare for that reality.
Businesses and every other form of organized activity will not just come right back. Yes, it might be Mid-May or June before business crawls back to life. As of today, April the 20th, protesters in various States including our State are demanding to go back to work. When that day to reopen finally arrives, all of us will rejoice. The first call the majority of us will make will be to our barbers and hairstylists. They will be the first to make a lot of money. Their lines will be long, why? I do not like what I see when I look in the mirror at myself. What about you? Next, when the social distance is over we will need to lose these added pounds and that means going back to our health clubs. How they maintain social distance in the business world for the rest of the year will be a challenge.
For the Sellers, Buyers, Renters who are ready to move now, you can use the virtual tours and dealings are closing. But on the other hand, those tours can only go so far. People are buying cars online but if you are over 6 feet tall would you buy a car online? You need to see how far your knees are from the dashboard when the seat pushed back. Add to that are questions like how comfortable the seats? Can you feel the lumbar support by looking at photos? Does your head hit the ceiling? All these are good questions or to say it in another way, you need to smell the car.
The same rule applies to buy a home. You need to smell the house.,To check the doors, the height of the ceilings and basement height if you are over 6 feet. Your eyes will search for water damage at the baseboard. Your fingers will turn on the water and do every other little thing you need to do by touch. If the home or apartment you are interested in is vacant you can personally do those things. So the choice is yours. Buyers are closing deals base on viewing a virtual tour. Others still prefer the more traditional way.
If on the other hand if you were one of many planning to buy a home this summer/fall. Guess what? You did not plan on being out of work, spending all of your savings and living now day to day in survival mode. But here you are and that is your life now. Do not panic. Deal with the situation. Keep doing what you are doing. Take care of your family, get back to work. Pay your past bills off an save money when you can. When you get back on your feet, there will be homes on the market and we will be here.
When I say we, I am not just talking about me I am talking about all the Realtors as a group nationwide. Remember people will always have a need are to buy, sell and rent. That is the American way and no coronavirus will change that.
In Conclusion
Locally, We at Century 21 Universal are mandated an essential business by the Governor so we must be open. We have a large office with over a100 Brokers but to maintain social distancing we are not all in the office at the same time. For now, the majority of the Brokers are working from home but will come in when needed by our clients. Our office is disinfectant daily, our conference rooms are still open. Keep in mind that we are independent contractors. We do not punch a time clock. If you come to the office on the spur of the moment to see me or any other broker, we might not be there. So never assume your Broker is just sitting in their office reading something., Always call ahead to and set up an appointment. The main doors are open 9 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday During those hours there is someone at the front desk to greet you and the office is always open to walk-ins. For the clients who can only come in after they get off work we also set up after hour appointments. For your safety and our safety, whenever you decide to come we ask that you please wear gloves and some sort of facial mask.
So in closing remember that we are all in this together. People are going out of there way to help each other but also remember there are also the scammers who will always try to prey on you when you are down so beware of e-mails, phone calls and people showing up at your door looking to exploit you. Stay at home when possible continue to practice social distancing, stay safe may God bless you and your family and I will see you on the other side. Take care.
Charles McShan
Website https://www.charlesmcshanchicagolandrealtor.com
Facebook business page https://www.facebook.com/charlesmcshanrealtor/
Pinterest account https://pinterest.com/cmac2121/ I also want you to leave you with 2 Videos
The first is a video going back into time that harmonized with the first photo at the top of the blog about Homewood Illinois. I grew up around the Illinois Central Railroad. Outside of Chicago, their Passenger trains use to fly through local train stations. I use to be right there as a kid at the edge of the platform enjoying the moment as that train flew by. I used to get yelled at but I loved it here is a youtube video of a past moment like that. You young high tech gamers out there might not appreciate this video but you old-time railroaders who love the trains of the past, this video is for you Check it.out.
The next video is up to date and it shows Chicago the 3rd largest city in America bought to a halt all because of coronavirus. Check it out.
Thank You
