There seems to be a mismatch in what you list as the number of sales in March of 2009 in this post (20), compared with what you posted as the number of sales in March of 2009 in a post on April 11th 2009 (13).

Which is the accurate number for 3/2009, 20 or 13?

Thanks,

Dan

I hope that Illinois takes this a step further and require that homes be tested to keep sellers “honest”. That is the only way to insure that someone doesn’t buy a home that’s contaminated. It would also protect the seller from any possible lawsuits in the future.

Disclosure laws are ok, but they leave too much room for deceit to step through. If you buy a home in a state where there’s a disclosure law in place and later find out that its contaminated. You get the health problems and medical bills and the bill for the lawyer you’re going to have to hire to try to get your money back from the seller. Where do you live in the meantime? You’ll be paying for that too.

Suing the person or agency that sold you a contaminated home can take years. Lawmakers need to enact laws that do what they are supposed to do – protect the public’s health and safety.Too many innocent people, including pregnant women and young children, are suffering life changing health consequences. States need to need to take a stance and protect them!

I congratulate Illinois for finally enacting some protection against these toxic homes, but I hope they understand that disclosure laws still leave a gaping hole through which innocent families can fall through.

Dawn
methlabhomes.com

Great questions. For the Evanston single-family market, I have not seen this year a noticeably larger influx of first time buyers who are motivated by the federal tax credits. Those buyers are typically seen in the condo market. I have not seen too many FHA loans in the single-family market or an uptick in those loans as a Realtor or appraiser. FHA loans seem to be more common in the condo market. As for percentage of down payments in the single-family home market, I think there is probably a greater number of buyers with less cash for down payment and earnest money simply because there is a portion of the home buyer market that is having difficulty selling their condos to purchase a home. These buyers are seeing their equity melt away, and they are coming into the single-family market with less cash. This in part is affecting the value of single-homes.

I have seen a large number of single-family home buyers in Evanston who are young couples with small children or ready to start a family looking to move-up.

It has been my experience without researching significant data that homes below the jumbo rate do sell faster and more often simply based on the logic that there are more buyers in that price range. I hope this helps. Thanks.

It’s always interesting to see this comparison data for the Evanston market.

I’m curious what sort of differences you’ve seen in the mix of buyers this year compared to 2008 and 2007. First-time buyers vs. move-up buyers, FHA loans vs. non, % of down-payment used. Also, any thoughts on differences in how well properties above and below the jumbo mortgage line are moving?

FYI, the shrubs have been trimmed in the backyard of 2829 Sheridan Place, greatly improving the view of the lake.