Surgery, Convalescing and Getting Antsy

I had major surgery on March 29th and am just about two weeks out in my recovery phase. I may need follow-up treatments. I cannot drive until a month after surgery. Thank goodness my husband, James Herter, got his real estate license just prior to my operation. We are now a real team and James is out there pounding the pavement.

I can handle behind-the-scenes stuff like marketing, e-mail and phone communications, blogging and website maintenance and setting appointments. Jimmy is out there taking buyer clients out.

This is the time of year that I try to get new listings by contacting expired sellers and for sale by owners (FSBO's). I use a great postcard campaign and get a lot of listings by doing this. This year I will concentrate on Orland Park and Homer Glen homes. I am trying to make my listing side of the business super local.

My husband is too new to the business to be able to handle a listing appointment on his own. So we'll have to wait a couple of weeks until I heal more as I never know how quickly I will get an appointment request from the postcards.

Sitting home can get boring, especially with these couple of days of beautiful weather. I am raring to get out there and be more active with my buyers and sellers. I have some plans for new marketing techniques this year and am anxious to give them a try.

How Does Weather Affect Real Estate Sales?

We had what was termed "the Blizzard of 2011" last week and it certainly halted real estate sales and almost all shopping, dining and entertainment. I don't know of any agents that showed houses last Wednesday, and I stayed home on Thursday, too.

But there were other consequences of the heavy snow storm. There were many closings that could not occur on Wednesday. Some sellers had moving trucks set-up that had to be changed. Some buyers had to stay put another day or so.

I had an Orland Park real estate closing last Monday and the sellers were supposed to be out on Wednesday but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. They were moving out of state and the moving truck broke down on Thursday so the move did not happen until Friday. I'm wondering how many sellers and buyers that depended on professional movers had to reschedule, and how many days they had to wait.

Our little "blizzard" is no comparison to some of the bad weather that has caused disaster areas because of hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, etc. Our snow storm just affected things for a day or two, maybe a little longer for some. I didn't hear anything about sellers having damaged roofs but I'm sure it probably happened to someone.

Our winter weather was truly a small blip on the radar compared to some of the ravages of areas like Florida, Louisiana, Texas, etc. I can't imagine how life, not just real estate, changed in those areas.

Best Resources for Palos Park Real Estate

Sometimes Google just doesn't give you what you want. Many of the top Google spots for real estate searches are large national (even international) portals that are difficult to maneuver. All they really provide are listings and maybe some data.

Below are some web pages created by a local agent that shows and sells Palos Park real estate (since 1983) and knows it first-hand, unlike those huge, generic real estate websites:
Palos Park homes - not only can you see at a glance all available Palos Park homes for sale, but you'll get some local information on this popular village nestled in forest preserves.
Palos Park MLS - This search is already started for you, but you can add more towns and other values to really hone your search down.
Palos Park real estate - This is another page on a real estate blog that is constantly updated.

Tinley Park Real Estate

What's available for sale today in Tinley Park? There are currently 179 Tinley Park homes on the market as of today's date. These homes range from a low price of $82,400 for a brick cape cod featuring 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and a basement! It is a Freddie Mac HomeSteps foreclosure home. The listing office is expecting multiple offers and it has only been on the market for 3 days, with a final date of January 13th, 2011, to submit offers.

The current highest priced home in Tinley Park is priced at $825,000. It was built in 2001 and offers 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms, a partially finished basement, 4 car garage and 5,000 sq. ft. of living space. It has been on the market for 183 days without any price reduction. It was also up for sale, seemingly by the same owners, in 2006 (at a lower price, which doesn't make sense since prices have been declining since) for 124 days. That listing expired and they're trying again.


This is the highest priced home in Tinley Park right now with no competition. The next highest price is $599,000, so this is going to be a long, tough sale. I wish these sellers the best of luck and hope they can find a buyer in 2011.

If you're interested in Tinley Park real estate, click the link above and use the contact form on the website, or use the Quick Contact form on the left-hand side of this blog.

Orland Park Real Estate Resources

Sometimes when looking through websites doing a Google search, I will find some so difficult to maneuver that I leave and find something else. I try to create my websites so they are easy to use and you can find what is needed quickly.

The following are some great Orland Park real estate web pages:

• Orland Park homes for sale - view all available homes for sale in Orland Park without having to do any kind of search. They are also broken down by price range to make it easier to find what you want.
• Orland Park MLS - this is where you can search for exact amenities you desire along with price. You can also search multiple areas (it is currently set for Orland Park, but by using the Ctrl button you can search for other towns simultaneously.
• Orland Park real estate - This is another website/blog page with a description of this popular village.

If you're interested in Orland Park real estate, these pages (especially the top two), are all you'll need. Happy Orland Park house hunting!

Lemont Homes For Sale

Lemont is one of my favorite villages in the southwest Chicago suburbs. We looked for a home in Lemont but found a fantastic foreclosure in Homer Glen. We are happy with our Homer Glen home but I still love the Lemont area.

If you love the history and location of this charming village, you might want to see Lemont homes available for sale. As of today's date, there are currently 188 homes for sale in Lemont.

Prices start at $125,000 for a 3 bedroom, 1 bath home with a 2 car garage that is an estate sale. The priciest Lemont home for sale is $1,599,000 for a 4 bedroom, 4 1/2 baths, 3 car garage brick two-story that has approximately 3,785 square feet.

Like most surrounding villages, there is a price for everyone in Lemont, IL. You can view homes for sale using the above link or you can expand your search to other towns by using the Lemont MLS search. Either way, you can view all homes for sale with photos, descriptions and much more!

Homer Glen Homes For Sale

As of this writing, there are 226 Homer Glen homes available for sale. Prices start at $172,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath foreclosure in the Pebble Creek Subdivision up to $2,100,000 for an 8,100 sq. ft. home built in 2009 located in Evlyn's Gate.

That's a wide price range and shows that Homer Glen offers single family homes in all price ranges. You can be a first-time buyer or maybe you're interested in a custom, upscale home - Homer Glen has it all!

The link above will allow you to view Homer Glen listings without even having to do a search. You will get choices of price ranges if you want to drill down to the price you're qualified for. Once you see a property you're interested in, just click on it and you'll get all the details you'll need to see if it might be a home you'd like to see.