News on The Chicago Real Estate Scene
Jah Reid Buys House in Reistertown, MD
Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Jah Reid has paid $317,500 to buy a four-bedroom, 2,560-square-foot house in Reisterstown, Md., in northwest suburban Baltimore.
In his second year with the Ravens, Reid, 24, is a Florida native who played football at the University of Central Florida.
Built in 2001, Reid's new two-story house sits on a private cul-de-sac and has hardwood floors on its entire first floor. Features include 2-1/2 baths, a first-floor master bedroom, a home office and a large deck.
The house's seller once had wanted a whole lot more for it. In early 2010, it was listed for $430,000. The home underwent a variety of price cuts over the next several years, to $399,900 (September 2010), $360,000 (September 2011), $343,000 (October 2011), and $329,000 (November 2011).
Bob Goldsborough
Zak DeOssie Buys Condo in Hoboken, NJ
New York Giants linebacker and long snapper (and special teams captain) Zak DeOssie has paid almost $1.13 million to buy a two-bedroom, 1,393-square-foot condominium unit in Hoboken, N.J., just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
In an exclusive, we can report that the two-time Super Bowl-winning DeOssie, 28, and his wife paid $1,128,336 for the eighth-floor unit in a new condo building on the Hudson River waterfront. The building is part of a community that includes condos, town homes and on-site retail, along with a waterfront park.
Features in the two-bedroom unit include 2-1/2 baths, views of the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan and generous amounts of closet space.
DeOssie’s teammate and friend, New York Giants star quarterback Eli Manning, long has had a place in Hoboken, about four blocks from DeOssie’s new digs.
Bob Goldsborough
Mortgage Rates Stay Low
Freddie Mac Mortgage Rate Update:
Chicago Celebrity Real Estate Show: Eddie and Jobo
Listen to the Chicago Real Estate Scene's Scott Berg as he interviews Celebrity Real Estate columnist Robert Goldsborough about Eddie Volkman of Eddie and Jobo, Vince Vaughn and Oprah Winfrey.
Home Christmas Display in River Forest
Is your home decked out for Christmas yet?
Sure you may have lights but have you broken out the teddy bear Ferris wheel yet?
Check out this home on the 900 block of River Forest...
Home Builder Numbers and Confidence Is Up
The number of new home building starts is up according to the US Census Bureau as reported by Inman News. The reported numbers are the best seen in 4 years adding to more evidence of a recovering housing market.
Chicago Real Estate News 11/21/2012
A quick update on the Chicago Real Estate Scene and general real estate news.
River Forest Real Estate Market
The real estate market in River Forest looks to be improving.
Although at the high and low end of the market the median sales price has had a serious drop, the middle market properties look to be down only slightly.
The monthly supply of inventory looks to be improving which should eventually push prices up.
Market time is way up for the high end homes which seemed to be the soft spot in the market.
Chicago Bears Bullish on Real Estate?
The Bears season is now over, and the Chicago Bears' fortunes ebbed and flowed throughout it. They started off slow. Then in mid-season quickly gained steam only to lose a few key players and fall flat at the end of the season.
Ebbing and flowing is a great way to describe the real estate market in recent years, which has taken homeowners on quite a ride. All kinds of athletes – including current and former Bears – have not been immune from that ride. Former Bears have taken major losses on their home sales, and several past Bears (David Terrell, R.W. McQuarters, Leon Joe) even have had their homes become subjects of foreclosure proceedings.
With such recent real estate pain, are many current Bears actually homeowners in the Chicago area? Perhaps surprising is that the answer is yes. No fewer than 11 current Bears – plus head coach Lovie Smith – own houses in the Chicago area. Let’s do a head-first, Walter Payton-style dive into where today’s Bears hang their helmets—er, hats.
The Northern Suburbs Are the Place to Be
Historically, most Bears have chosen to settle in the northern suburbs, in order to be close to the Bears’ Halas Hall indoor and outdoor practice facility in Lake Forest. Some past Bears have chosen to live downtown, but most prefer the leafy environs of Lake County, with a few of the better-paid players selecting North Shore communities along Lake Michigan. Many homeowning Bears players have selected fairly unremarkable suburbs (think Vernon Hills, Grayslake, Libertyville, Lindenhurst and Lake Villa) and have bought modest homes – some of which are even town homes. In many cases, the modest housing is borne of the fact that these players have another, more permanent home elsewhere in the U.S.
Interestingly, not a single current Bear lives in downtown Chicago. This is a departure from the past, when several former Bears (Marty Booker, R.W. McQuarters, David Terrell) opted to reside downtown.
The Well-Heeled
The current Bears player who has paid the most for a house is linebacker Brian Urlacher. He shelled out $2.312 million in early 2004 for his 6,829-square-foot house in tiny Mettawa (the same small suburb where until recently, former Bears offensive tackle John Tait had owned a home as well). Urlacher’s mansion, which was built in 1987, sits on a whopping 9.39 acres.
After Urlacher, the Bear who has paid the most for a house is linebacker Lance Briggs. He purchased a newly built, five-bedroom, 5,158-square-foot house in Northfield for $2.3 million in 2008. (Briggs continues to own a small town house in Northbrook that he purchased in 2006 for $371,500.)
Bears wide receiver and punt return specialist Devin Hester also has paid more than $2 million for his house – and, he’s also the current Bear who happens to have the most extensive Chicago-area real estate portfolio. The master punt returner spent $2.2 million in October 2008 for a mansion in Riverwoods. That’s on top of a house he purchased in Gurnee for $436,000 in late 2006 and a house in Lake in the Hills that he bought in early 2007 for $205,000. Hester continues to own all three homes.
Bears defensive end Julius Peppers is the Bears homeowner whose seller far and away was the most famous. Peppers paid $1.8 million in early 2010 to buy his 12-room, 5,923-square-foot home in Highland Park from retired Chicago Bulls guard B.J. Armstrong. B.J. owned that house for more than 15 years, but barely made a profit on it; he had purchased it in 1994 for $1.599 million.
Other current Bears who have purchased area dwellings for $1 million or more include cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman, who paid $1,249,500 in 2007 to buy his house in Green Oaks (which most recently has been listed for $1.225 million) and placekicker Robbie Gould, who paid $1.2 million in early 2009 for $1.2 million. Tackle/long snapper Patrick Mannelly just misses, having paid $961,000 in 2008 to buy a house in Libertyville. Ditto for Bears center/guard Roberto Garza, who paid $865,000 in 2006 for his house in Waukegan, and for running back Matt Forte, who paid $830,000 in 2008 for his house in Vernon Hills.
Modesty Is a Virtue
Some Bears players live in far more ordinary residences. Such is the case for cornerback Corey Graham and wide receiver Johnny Knox. Graham paid $349,000 in 2008 to buy his four-bedroom, house in Lindenhurst’s Grant’s Grove neighborhood, while Knox forked over $332,957 for his three-bedroom townhome in Gurnee.
One of the highest-profile Bears, quarterback Jay Cutler, does not own in the Chicago area at this time. However, for the last two seasons, Cutler has been renting a fairly modest, 2,188-square-foot home in Lake Forest.
Da Coach
Bears head coach Lovie Smith has owned his Chicago-area house longer than any homeowning Bear with the exception of Urlacher. Lovie paid $1.625 million in late 2004 to buy his 4,851-square-foot house in Lake Forest. Interestingly, Lovie is not the only current or former Bears head coach to be a Lake Forest homeowner; former head coach Dick Jauron, who now is the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator, has owned his 3,204-square-foot town home in Lake Forest’s Conway Farms neighborhood since buying it in 2006 for $766,000.
Real Estate Agents with Connections to the Bears
This is a fairly tricky subject, since any discussion of agents may suggest an endorsement by us of any of these agents (and none has authorized this discussion). So, we will leave agents’ agencies (and contact information) out. Instead, we’ll simply note that two former Bears themselves, Emery Moorehead and Ahmad Merritt, have gone into real estate are licensed agents. Moorehead and Merritt both occasionally represent current and former Bears. Also, the wife of the recently traded, former Bears tight end Greg Olsen also has represented several players in recent years.
Post by Bob Goldsborough
Condo Market in Lincoln Park
This market analysis of condos and townhomes in Lincoln Park - Chicago includes all bedrooms, all baths and all price ranges.
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The median sales price of condos in Lincoln Park is down 3.9% from Nov. 2010 to Nov. 2011.
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The number of units for sale has gone down 18%. Units under contract has gone up 50% and unit sold has gone up 14.6%
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The monthly supply of inventory is down 49.8% from Nov 2010 - Nov 2011.
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The sales absorption number look good with the percentage of inventory under contract up 84.7% and the percentage of inventory sold up 41.1%.
Overall I would say the numbers point to a recovering market for attached single family homes in Lincoln Park (condos and townhomes) although how strong a recovery will be affected by further economic recovery, mortgage interest rates, and consumer confidence.
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