[HT Lani Rosales]

We were deeply saddened to learn over the weekend that Mr. Koshaba actually found his rather tragic demise in just the building in which he had invested a lot of his energy and resources. Our sympathies and condolences go out to Mr. Koshaba’s family and friends.

This home was built in 2007 on a 40′ x 125′ lot, but had never had any occupants since it was constructed. Its predecessor was a ranch without a basement. The developer tore down that home and excavated the ground to make room for a basement which boasts 9-foot ceilings today. In addition, this luxury residence offers two floors of living space, with a total of six bedrooms, 3 full baths, and one half bath. This property is 2 minutes walking distance from Sauganash Park, and since pictures are worth a thousand words, we’ll let you have a look at them below. We recommend that you click on the full-screen button to let the images really come alive. Enjoy.

Has anyone heard anything on the development of the ‘Shops at Forest Glen’..how long that will take or if it is even going to happen etc..?

What Linda is referring to, of course, is the parcel commonly known as 5353 N. Elston Ave. Chicago, IL 60630. Since it’s close enough to the homes of our Indian Woods neighbors, it might indeed be interesting to know what’s going on there. I’m sure our Forest Glen neighbors in Jefferson Park are just as eager to find out about the status of this project as well. Here’s what this fairly large parcel of land looks like, at the moment:

Future site of 'Shops of Forest Glen'

5353 N Elston Ave.

A quick peek at the permit that is attached to the chain link fence around this parcel indicates that the wrecking and removal of a 1-story warehouse was permitted on February 11, 2009. Well, that seems to be done and over with. The slate is clean, however, I wasn’t able to find a permit allowing the building of a new structure. And that may be just one of the reasons there hasn’t been any activity here, even though a Bobcat excavator is waiting patiently on the premises. The owner(s) may still be waiting for a building permit. Another theory might be that the current economic climate has not produced enough interest from prospective tenants, although the sign on the property indicates that “Garden Fresh Market” will be the anchor tenant at this property. I don’t have any definitive answer for you, at the moment, Linda. But if anyone does, please feel free to chime in in our comment section down below. In the meantime, I might just put in a phone call to Ald. Patrick Levar’s office to see what info they can provide us with.

Edgebrook Real Estate Market Conditions Q1 2009 ↓↑

In Edgebrook, five homes sold/closed in Q1 2009, for a decline of 62% quarter-over-quarter. It wasn’t a good start into the year, so we’ll have to hope that this shortfall in number of homes sold will be made up during the rest of the year. Edgebrook Q1 2006-2009 Units Sold As mentioned above, average home values in Edgebrook declined moderately Q-o-Q by 4.3% to $544,300. The median home value jumped by 23% to $615,000. However, please keep in mind that with a total of only 5 sales in the quarter, this figure may not hold much significance. Average market times in Edgebrook were nothing to write home about either, in Q1 2009: 244 days vs. 169 days in Q1 2008. Edgebrook Q1 2006-2009 Sale Prices And here’s the amazing thing about Edgebrook real estate values: For (at least) the third year in a row, sellers have not been willing to part with their homes for more than about 5% below asking (listing) price, despite rising market times. In Edgebrook, there have been very few pre-foreclosure listings, and bank-owned (REO) properties which in turn has lead to relatively solid home values. Edgebrook Q1 2006-2009 Sale-to-List-Price Ratio As of May 15, 2009 there are 53 single family homes actively for sale in Edgebrook which translates into a 31.8 month supply of inventory. This is a relatively high MSI (Months Supply of Inventory) figure, and I would anticipate that many of the homes currently for sale in Edgebrook, for one reason or another, won’t succeed in finding buyers this year, hence, bringing the MSI figure hopefully back down to single-digit territory. I hope they will sell though.

Sauganash Real Estate Market Conditions Q1 2009 ↓↑

A review of Q1 2009 real estate market conditions in Chicago’s Sauganash neighborhood cannot begin without acknowledging that 6 out of the 9 homes sold/closed in this quarter were short sales and REO sales!!! At present, this distressed property problem in Sauganash is nowhere near being resolved. As of this writing, according to Realty Trac’s records, there are 27 pre-foreclosure homes, 7 bound for auction, and 6 REO’s (bank-owned homes) between Peterson and Devon Avenues, as well as 9 pre-foreclosure homes, and 2 REO’s south of Peterson Ave. in Sauganash. This inventory will take some time to work its way through the system, the results of which we probably won’t see until some time in the third and/or fourth quarters of 2009. Sauganash Q1 2006-2009 Units Sold Consequently, the average sale price in Sauganash fell to $364,133 which represents a 43.9% decline vs. Q1 2008. At $338,700 the median sale price in Sauganash took even a bigger hit of -46.5% vs. Q1 2008. At 85 days, average market times held steady in Q1 2009 vs. Q1 2008. Rock-bottom pricing on most of the aforementioned distressed property sales likely had a positive (depressing) effect on market times. Sauganash Q1 2006-2009 Sale Prices The chart below shows the sale-to-list-price ratio in Sauganash which took a big nosedive in Q1 2009: Sellers (lenders in 2 out of 3 cases) approved a 10% discount below asking price. It’s a typical sign of the times where banks are attempting to get potential “non-performing assets” off their books. In a “normal” market like Sauganash saw even in Q1 2008, more than a 5% concession on the part of home sellers would have been hardly conceivable. Sauganash Q1 2006-2009 Sale-to-List-Price Ratio As of May 15, 2009 there are 56 single family homes actively for sale in Sauganash which translates into a 18.7 month supply of inventory.

South Edgebrook/Gladstone Park Real Estate Market Conditions Q1 2009 ↓↑

This marks the inaugural (separate) review of South Edgebrook/Gladstone Park real estate market conditions. If you recall, at the end of 2008, we decided to separate sales activity in the “SEGP triangle” (South Edgebrook Gladstone Park triangle, hey I think I just coined a new term), because we wanted to avoid mixing these figures with those of Edgebrook, as they’re quite different markets, in terms of housing stock as well as price levels. Alas, I’m afraid that going forward, we may not have enough sales activity in this market to justify a separate review. In Q1 2009, only 3 single family homes sold/closed in SEGP. While this represented an improvement Q-o-Q, it’s still dismal, let alone insignificant, statistically speaking. Of all the neighborhoods in 60646, SEGP is the one with the most multi-unit building (2-4 flats) inventory for sale. In fact, there are twelve multi-unit buildings for sale in SEGP, as of this writing. However, in Q1 2009, not one multi-unit in SEGP sold/closed. In all of 2008, there were only 3 sales of multi-unit buildings in SEGP. And don’t even get me started on condos or townhomes, because that’s not what sells in SEGP. SEdgebrook-GladstonePk Q1 2006-2009 Units Sold Average sale price dropped in Q1 2009 by 18% to $310,000 vs. Q1 2008, and median sale price fell by 33.9% to $250,000. Again, statistically not really significant with only 3 sales in Q1 2009 and 1 sale in Q1 2008. Average market time in Q1 2009 was 105 days. SEdgebrook-GladstonePk Q1 2006-2009 Sale Prices Sale-to-list-price ratio in Q1 2009 stood at 94.9% which is remarkable, because one of the three closed homes was a bank-owned (REO) property which sold for full asking price. Again, not much sales activity in SEGP, but home values have continued to remain stable. SEdgebrook-GladstonePk Q1 2006-2009 Sale-to-List-Price Ratio As of May 15, 2009 there are 25 single family homes actively for sale in South Edgebrook / Gladstone Park which translates into a 25 month supply of inventory.

A local resident Realtor who was interviewed for the story opined that “the neighborhood has not been impacted by foreclosures”. I hate to disagree with my colleague, but Sauganash short sales put a significant dent in the first quarter 2009 home values in Sauganash, as I will outline in a blog post next week.

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget that we Sauganash and Edgebrook residents love our neighborhoods, regardless of where property values are.

Why is this important to know? It’s not, unless you’re in the market to purchase real estate. More specifically, it is extremely important, if your mortgage application has already been approved, and the only thing your lender is waiting for, is your decision to lock in an interest rate for the mortgage that you’re approved for. But with multiple rate sheets being issued daily, how do you know when to lock in your rate? The short answer is, you can’t possibly know, as locking in your interest rate is almost like gambling in Las Vegas. I say almost, because even though you can’t possibly time a bottom for your rate, the mortgage market provides one with clues about the future movement of mortgage interest rates. If you work with a mortgage broker, he/she almost certainly monitors this market in real-time, anticipating rising or declining rates. But do they timely communicate this information to their clients (you)?

One of the mortgage pros that we work with is Dan Green with Mobium Mortgage. As a mortgage planner/mortgage broker, Dan and his team use Twitter to disseminate information about the mortgage market. As a Twitter user, I happen to follow a number of other “Twitterati”, including Dan, but Dan’s “tweets” (messages, updates) are thus far the only ones that are being forwarded directly to my mobile phone, in the form of alerts. In other words, if you asked me, in passing, what mortgage rates are doing, I might give you one answer in the morning while we stand in line at Starbucks, and another one in the afternoon, when we bump into each other, at a gas station. Based, of course, on Dan’s Twitter updates. Does your mortgage broker keep you in the “loop”? Below, are a couple of screenshots from my Blackberry Storm that show Dan’s mortgage market updates throughout the day, for several days. You can follow Dan Green on Twitter at @mortgagereports.

Supposedly, he’s being treated at Resurrection Hospital. Good grief, couldn’t they have taken him to Northwestern, or at least to Lutheran General?