The HousingCoach  Blog

Important and useful information about Home Buying, Home Selling and the Chicagoland Real Estate market, to help you make the most of Your Personal American Dream. Explore, Learn, and Take Action.

Renting or Owning, What Is Better for You?

Renting or Owning, What Is Better for You?

In a real estate market where home prices are rising, many have begun to reexamine the idea of buying a home, choosing instead, to rent for a while. But often, there is a dilemma: should you keep paying rent, knowing that rent is rising too, or should you lock in your...

2 Myths Holding Back Home Buyers

2 Myths Holding Back Home Buyers

Freddie Mac recently released a report entitled, “Perceptions of Down Payment Consumer Research.” Their research revealed that, “For many prospective homebuyers, saving for a down payment is the largest barrier to achieving the goal of homeownership. Part of the...

What is Important to Boomers when Selling their House?

What is Important to Boomers when Selling their House?

If you are a “baby boomer” (born between 1946 and 1964), you may be thinking about selling your current home. Your children may have finally moved out. Your large, four-bedroom house with three bathrooms no longer fits the bill. Taxes are too high. Utilities are too...

The Feeling You Get from Owning Your Home

The Feeling You Get from Owning Your Home

We often talk about the financial reasons why buying a home makes sense. But, more often than not, the emotional reasons are the more powerful and compelling ones. No matter what shape or size your living space is, the concept and feeling of home can mean different...

How Homeownership Delivers Unsurpassed Family Wealth

How Homeownership Delivers Unsurpassed Family Wealth

There are many financial benefits to homeownership, but probably none more important than its ability to create family wealth. How Housing Matters is a joint project of the Urban Land Institute and the MacArthur Foundation. It is an online resource for research and...

4 Reasons to Buy A Home This Summer

4 Reasons to Buy A Home This Summer

Here are four reasons to consider buying today instead of waiting. 1. Prices Will Continue to Rise CoreLogic’s latest U.S. Home Price Insights reports that home prices have appreciated by 3.7% over the last 12 months. The same report predicts that prices will continue...

The Ultimate Truth about Housing Affordability

The Ultimate Truth about Housing Affordability

There have been many headlines decrying an “affordability crisis” in the residential real estate market. While it is true that buying a home is less affordable than it had been over the last ten years, we need to understand why and what that means. On a monthly basis,...

Multigenerational Homes Are on the Rise

Multigenerational Homes Are on the Rise

As loved ones start to get older, we start to wonder: how long will they be able to live alone? Will they need someone there to help them with daily life? There’s a reason to ask those questions now more than ever, as the average age in the U.S. is 78 years old!  As a...

2 Things You Need to Know to Properly Price Your Home

2 Things You Need to Know to Properly Price Your Home

In today’s housing market, home prices are increasing at a slower pace (3.7%) than they have over the last eight years (6-7%). However, they are still are above historical norms. Low supply of listed homes and high demand from buyers has pushed prices to rise rapidly....

4 Most Popular Bottom Line Investments in America

4 Most Popular Bottom Line Investments in America

Every year, Gallup surveys Americans to determine their choice for the best long-term investment. Respondents are given a choice between real estate, stocks, gold, and savings accounts. For the sixth year in a row, real estate has come out on top as the best long-term...

Boomerang Buyers: Don’t Be Afraid to Buy a Home Again!

Boomerang Buyers: Don’t Be Afraid to Buy a Home Again!

According to CoreLogic, from 2006 to 2014 “there were 7.3 million housing foreclosures and 1.9 million short sales.” The hesitation some Americans feel after experiencing a foreclosure brings to mind the old saying: “Fool me once- shame on you. Fool me twice- shame on...

Are Older Generations Really Not Selling Their Homes?

Are Older Generations Really Not Selling Their Homes?

Many studies suggest one of the main reasons for the inventory shortage in today’s market of homes for sale is that older generations have chosen to “age in place” over moving. The 2019 Home Buyers & Sellers Generational Trend Report by NAR clarifies this point! NAR’s...

Starting the Search for Your Dream Home? Here Are 5 Tips!

Starting the Search for Your Dream Home? Here Are 5 Tips!

In today’s real estate market, low inventory dominates the conversation in many areas of the country. It can often be frustrating to be a first-time homebuyer if you aren’t prepared. In a realtor.com article entitled, “How to Find Your Dream Home—Without Losing Your...

Top Days to List Your Home for Sale [INFOGRAPHIC]

Top Days to List Your Home for Sale [INFOGRAPHIC]

Some Highlights: ATTOM Data Solutions conducted an analysis of more than 29 million single family home and condo sales over the past eight years to determine the top days to list your home for sale. The top five days to list your home brought in a 10% premium over...

What is Really Happening with Home Prices?

What is Really Happening with Home Prices?

Home values have softened over the last twelve months. We are no longer seeing 6-7% annual appreciation levels for the national housing market. The current numbers are closer to 4%. Some have suggested that year-over-year appreciation levels could fall to 3% or less...

4 Tips for Making a Competitive Offer

4 Tips for Making a Competitive Offer

So, you’ve been searching for that perfect house to call ‘home,’ and you’ve finally found it! The price is right, and in such a competitive market, you want to make sure you make a good offer so that you can guarantee that your dream of making this house yours comes...

A Lack of Inventory Continues to Impact the Housing Market

A Lack of Inventory Continues to Impact the Housing Market

The housing crisis is finally in the rear-view mirror as the real estate market moves down the road to a complete recovery. Home values are up and distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) have fallen to their lowest point in years. The market will continue to...

A Tale of Two Markets [INFOGRAPHIC]

A Tale of Two Markets [INFOGRAPHIC]

Some Highlights: An emerging trend for some time now has been the difference between available inventory and demand in the premium and luxury markets and that in the starter and trade-up markets and what those differences are doing to prices! Inventory continues to...

Mainstream Concerns about an Economic Slowdown Revisited

Mainstream Concerns about an Economic Slowdown Revisited

Recently, we reported that many believe a recession could happen within the next two years. We explained that 70% of economists and market analysts surveyed last year believe that a recession will occur in 2019 or 2020 and that 42% of consumers currently looking to...

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