Aug
12
What does the address mean when it has a directional letter in it?
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
Out here in unincorporated Kane County, Illinois the street addresses have a directional letter in them such as 7N400 Something Road. I often get asked what does this mean?
The “zero” point in Chicago is State Street and Madison Ave. From there all streets are North, South, East or West. The unincorporated areas surrounding the city have continued this system and the numbering is based on how far west, north or south the property is located from the zero point of State and Madison. (East is limited because Lake Michigan is east.) Most of the unincorporated areas of each of the counties surrounding Chicago also adhere to this addressing system. So it easy to figure how far you are from the city.
Learn more about the grid addressing system for Chicago from this Wikipedia article.
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Aug
8
Are you located in a flood zone? FEMA flood map link
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
If you are buying a home it’s a good idea to check if it is located in a flood zone. You may be required to pay an additional fee in your mortgage for flood insurance if your home is located in the flood zone.http://www.msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FemaWelcomeView?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1
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Jul
9
St. Charles chosen as a top 10 place to live by “Family Circle Magazine”
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
See why St. Charles, IL is a great place to live and was chosen by Family Circle Magazine as a top ten best town for 2011.
I love this community with it’s beautiful downtown with the Fox River at the center of all the scenery, the wonderful antiquing and restaurants, great schools, beautiful parks and convenient location to all that the major metropolitan city of Chicago offers.
Let me find you a great deal on a home in St. Charles, IL.
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Jun
12
St. Charles High Schools make national list
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
District #303 high schools; St. Charles East and St. Charles North have another reason to be proud after making the recently published list known as the : Washington Post High School Challenge
The list measures how effectively a public high school prepares it’s students for college. The simple formula divides the number of AP tests by the number of graduating seniors to get a rating.
Some local schools that made the list:
Saint Charles North, St. Charles East, Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Neuqua Valley. See the entire list when you click on the above link.
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May
23
The local schools will always have a significant impact on property values in a community. So when the schools reach achievment levels worth bragging about I like to let my clients know…especially my buyers with children. When doing your schools research be sure to check out the following map:Academic Excellence Award schools in the Fox Valley area.http://www.ilhonorroll.niu.edu/images/maps/AEA_ne_10.pdfFor more information on local schools check out my website: www.FoxValleyResidential.com and look on the left hand side for “Information on Illinois Schools”
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May
2
Absorption Rates
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
Realtors use absorption rates to determine the rate at which the market is absorbing the current level of inventory. In other words it is the rate at which homes are being sold. A rising absorption rate indicates there are more homes coming on the market than being sold and a declining rate means that the inventory is being sold more quickly than it is being replaced.For example in Saint Charles, IL the current level of detached SF Homes is 622.For the past 3 months 101 homes have sold which gives us a rate of 33.67 homes/ month. 622 divided by 33.67 (rate) gives us our current months supply of inventory for Saint Charles, Il which is 18.4 months.A Buyer’s market is over 7 months of supply.A balanced market is 5-7 months of supply.A Seller’s market is anything less than 5 months supply.The month’s supply of inventory for detached single family homes in these Fox Valley communities:Kane County, IL has 16.4 months supply of inventory.Geneva 20.5 months South Elgin, IL 17.9 months Batavia, IL 22 months Elgin, IL 16.9 months
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Apr
7
What is the likelihood of Radon in my home?
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
When purchasing a home in Northern Illinois a radon test is a typically performed during the Five Day attorney approval time period. If the home tests above 4 pCi/L then mitigation is recommended. The cost of the radon mitigation system can be negotiated between the parties, but customarily, in this area, it becomes the responsibility of the seller to pay for the mitigation.
What is the liklihood my home has radon?
Radon levels vary from home to home, but you can find out the radon levels that other homes have tested at within your zip code from this IEMA website. Here is a link to a map of reported Radon levels for Kane County, IL. Find other counties in Illinois from this IEMA website: Search: Radon levels in Illinois by County.
This Radon information link also had some helpful information.
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Jan
5
Is your Property Tax Bill too high?
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
Good news for IL homeowners. The assessed valuation of your home may go down because a new law requires that compulsory sales must be included in assessed valuations.
A compulsory sale is defined as a Short Sale or a Bank REO (Real Estate Owned)Sale and until now the IL tax assessors were not including the sale of these properties when figuring the formula for the assessed value of a property. Public Act 96-1083 (SB 3334) requires the Illinois Department of Revenue to include compulsory sales in its sales ratio studies for sales occurring on or after Jan. 1, 2011 if the compulsory sales compose at least 25% of the total sales for the geographic region.
This bill may provide some relief to homeowners who saw the market value of their home plummet while their tax assessed values stayed the same or sometimes increased. The link above will take you to a detailed version of the bill.
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Nov
5
Red Gate Rd Bridge moves forward
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
Another step forward for the Red Gate Road bridge project after St. Charles officials gave preliminary approval to hire a Chicago engineering firm to provide consulting services for the project. Alfred Benesch & Company will prepare plans & specs and help the city hire the contracting firm for the project. Construction is predicted to begin next summer and take 2 years to complete at a cost of approximately $18 to $22 million.
Find out more about the Red Gate Bridge project at the official website: www.redgatebridge.org
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Nov
1
Fire Hydrants? …at the corner of Silver Glen and Crane Roads?
Posted by cindystrahota under For Buyers, For Realty Professionals, For Sellers, General Information
I drive by this location several times a day and the installation of fire hydrants seemed curious to me. So I looked into it and I thought I’d let you all know that this parcel of property has been annexed to the Village of South Elgin in order to install water and sewer to the new elementary school being built by St. Patrick’s church on Crane Road.
The school will house 810 kindergarten through 8th grade students in 86,000 square feet of space. It is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2011 according to St. Pat’s website.
This must be the ideal location for educating students because an adjacent parcel is owned by St. Charles school district #303 where a new middle school was proposed and the Lutheran High School Assn of Kane and DuPage counties owns another adjacent parcel. The timetable for future schools to be built on these parcels is uncertain. Just like so much else in the economy right now. But a new elementary school for St. Pat’s is good news. Congratulations!
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