There's No Place Like Your Place Blog

Here is just a little follow up for all of us who participated in Earth Hour 2008 and information on the 2009 event-GREAT JOB!

One Hour, One Planet

"Congrats, Chicago! During Earth Hour, Chicago and Northern Illinois reduced their electricity consumption by 7 percent (or 818 megawatt hours)! That's the equivalent of eliminating 1.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions; saving 72,000 gallons of gasoline; planting 158 acres of trees; or taking more than 1 million cars off the road for an hour (courtesy of ComEd). What an accomplishment!
But we're not all that surprised.
The city of Chicago has amazed us time and time again during the build-up to Earth Hour. We watched with excitement as hundreds of businesses, organizations and individuals signed up to turn down their lights. Thank you, everyone, for your participation. Earth Hour Chicago will not be forgotten. Earth Hour was just the beginning. Across America and around the globe, we had tremendous turnout and success. Now it's up to you to keep us headed in the right direction.
Thank you - for March 29, and for every day from now until we win the fight to protect our planet. "

Mark your calenders....the next one is 3/29/09 at 8 p.m., but you do not have to wait until then to make small changes that help our planet.  Plus, it always just feels good to help!  Sign Up Here:-)

Click here to find out ways to make an impact on a daily basis.

Click here to visit World Wildlife Funds website-great information on climate change!

I love working with buyers, especially in this market! 

Here are a few helpful things for buyers to remember to bring along in your "Buyer's Toolkit"

when shopping for a home:

•  Your Buyer's Agent:  In my opinion, nothing can be more valuable when shopping for your home than a great buyer's agent who is working on YOUR behalf. 

• A Notebook: To keep detailed notes of the properties you visit.  Trust me, if you start to see more than 4 that day, they will all start to run together!

• Measurements of any furniture that is definitely moving to the home with you:  OK...this applies to your baby grand piano, your heirloom hutch, your prized 56" plasma TV, your California King Size bed, or any other piece that just HAS to fit in the home.   It just makes sense to be able to measure while you are there on the first visit.

• Tape Measure:  For obvious reasons-see above:-)

• Flashlight:  Handy for crawl spaces or any dark areas and especially handy these days when there are so many foreclosure and bank owned properties that may have utilities turned off.

• Pre-Approval:  This should really be the first step for any well informed and serious buyer.  Not only does it help you in negotiations and assist you to act quickly when you find the right property, but it also forces you to plan, in advance, which price range is comfortable for you so you shop IN that range from the beginning.  Once you see higher priced properties than you are comfortable paying for, it is very difficult to go DOWN in price range.  Nothing looks as good then as those more expensive properties you were looking at and are now tempted to stretch your budget and buy.

• A Relative:  OK.....this is not a MUST, but it IS necessary if there is someone whose opinion you value and whom you definitely want to view the property before you put in an offer.  Sometimes we want the valued opinion of a friend or relative, which is completely understandable, but they should also see the properties that were eliminated, not just your favorite.  It is too easy to walk in the "best" house and start to point out all of the negatives if you have not seen the properties that were not chosen.  Shopping for a home is a process of elimination, of choosing the home that has the MOST of the features and qualities that are important to you.  This is especially important for first time buyers who may be in a lower price range where the properties may need some work.  I have seen the look of disappointment on buyer's faces too often where after we have looked at 10-15 homes and they have found one that is above the rest and has the most value in their price range, only to have a relative or friend come in to see it and just point out all of the negatives.  The other reason is that, even in this buyer's market, you sometimes have to move quickly for the best properties, and the delay in your offer so you can have somebody come back to see it first may be a big enough delay that another buyer beats you to it!

• A List:  Keep a list with you of what you MUST have and what you would LIKE TO have in a home.  Home shopping can be emotional and impulsive, and this can just help to keep you grounded enough to keep your eye on what is truly important to you in a property.

• An Open Mind:  This market has so many great opportunities for any buyer who is ready to purchase now.  It can almost even be too many choices that sometimes it is overwhelming! So besides referring to your MUST HAVE list, have an open mind for properties that have potential but may not look like a polished gem today.  Sometimes these homes can give you the greatest opportunity to build equity and appreciation a few years down the road, when you are ready to go out with your Buyer's Agent again to look for a bigger home!

• Your "Poker Face":  It's hard to contain your joy when you walk through a home that feels "just right".  It is a very exciting moment but it is best to keep that emotion between yourself and your Buyer's Agent, not the sellers!  So keep your "poker faces" on if they are home and listening or watching your reactions to their home.  Although having appreciation, consideration and respect for the sellers and their home goes without saying, you do not have to gush about how much you love it IN FRONT OF THEM!  It just may cost you some money when your Buyer's Agent is trying to negotiate the best offer for you if the seller's know you are "in love"!

Try not to "stalk" the house, either before or while negotiating an offer, either.  Although it may be prudent to drive through the area on some different dates and times, and maybe even talk to the neighbors if you have questions on the area, if you are driving by over and over, believe me...if the sellers do not see you themselves, the neighbors will tell them and they again will know you are "in love"!  It is OK to feel this way, of course, because it is so exciting to have found the right home, but just keep your "poker face" on until the negotiations are over.If you are not already working with a Buyer's Representative in Northern Illinois that is working in YOUR best interests, please feel free to contact me:-)

Free Home Finding Service

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me.  It will be my pleasure!  By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them.  I am grateful to you thar my business keeps growing from your referrals. 

My Direct Number At The Office Is 847.516.6760

Happy Earth Day!

There are so many things we can do to live more "green" and in honor of Earth Day.

I just came across a GREAT web site full of ideas that are easy to implement by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

There is information on Energy Star rated appliances, lighting, rebates, appliances, common home problems, home electronics, tools and resources, green buildings.....the list goes on and on!

Click here for a Energy Star podcast for simple ideas for every room in your home.

Even if you do not have the time or resources to make this a priority today, do something quick and free!  Take a quick walk in the forest preserve, smell a flower, listen to the birds, watch the wonderful reflections of light on the water, enjoy the sunset tonight or the sunrise tomorrow!

The photo below is a beautiful sunrise I took on Meyer's Bay, Pistakee Lake, Chain of Lakes, Lake and McHenry Counties in Northern Illinois.

You don't have to do something BIG to make an impact.  Just do something, and it all adds up:-)

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me.  It will be my pleasure!  By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them.  I am grateful to you that my business keeps growing from your referrals. 

My Direct Number At The Office Is 847.516.6760

Lake County Discovery Museum!

Last week a friend and I ventured out on a rainy, stormy afternoon spring afternoon in Northern Illinois to celebrate a birthday.  We went to the Lakeside Inn in Wauconda and had a very nice lunch. The Lakeside Inn is a small local restaurant and bar in a historical building was built in 1847 and was supposedly a stop over for Al Capone when he would pass through on his way back from Lake Geneva (according to the story on the menu). 

After a tasty lunch (they have very good food!), we went over to the Lake County Discovery Museum to view the LP Art show!  As we walked around and viewed sixty years of outstanding album cover artwork in the LP Art special exhibition, it was like a trip back in time!

It was fun to see the albums we grew up listening to and they even had audio so you could listen to some of the music.   It certainly made that Birthday sink in a little more seeing "our" music up on a wall in a museum!!

They also had other interesting exhibits of old advertisements as well as postcard art and a gift shop.  If you find yourself in the area, stop in and check it out.   If you live in the area, plan a visit.  It really is a nice facility and right in our own back yard!

LOCATION
The Lake County Discovery Museum is located in the Lakewood Forest Preserve on Route 176, just west of Fairfield Road in Wauconda, Illinois.   Click here for a map and directions.

ADMISSION
$6 for adults and $2.50 for youth ages four to 17. Children three years and under are free. Seniors are $2.50 after 2 p.m. On Discount Tuesdays, admission is $3 for adults, and youth 17 years and under are free. Admission is always free for museum members.

HOURS
Monday - Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Per the website it runs until August 3, 2008.  I'd recommend checking thier website to double check the information in case of any changes.  Please note they are closed on some holidays as well.

You can go to their website  to double check information and to download a coupon for $1 off Museum admission.

The LP Art Exhibit is proudly sponsored by the Daily Herald.

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me.  It will be my pleasure!  By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them.  I am grateful to you that my business keeps growing from your referrals. 

My Direct Number At The Office Is 847.516.6760

Debra Kukulski RECS, GRI, ABR, e-PRO RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest April 2008 Send an E-Mail - By Voice! This is neat! These folks convert your telephone voice into emails, text messages, reminders, lists and appointments. You can use this service to create text-based reminder e-mails to yourself or messages to pre-set individuals or groups. In a car it's a lot safer than thumb typing a message on a Blackberry or calling each individual person. Simply enter your phone number and e-mail address and set up a contact list - and Shazam - you're in business. Just call the toll free number - say the name of your e-mail recipient (or say "myself") and record your message which gets converted to text and e-mailed to your recipient(s). There are other clever bells and whistles - and the price is right. It's on the house! Click Here for This Cyber Trick We are always pleased to be of service to our Cyber Friends and to provide you with these monthly CyberTips. As members of the Real Estate CyberSpace Society we are always current on ways to expand our normal high standards of service with the very latest Internet and other CyberSpace strategies and tools. Click Here for hundreds of Cyber Tricks and Great Places in back issues. Keep Track of the Cussed Cap Locks Key! Have you ever typed six lines of text before you discovered that the Caps Lock on your keyboard was on? Some folks are often tempted to cuss when this happens - and we'd bet it has happened to you. Here's a little trick that will alert you when you have accidentally turned the Caps lock on. This works in Windows XP and a slight variation will get you set up on other operating systems. Open the Control Panel ("Start" and then "Control Panel"). Click "Accessibility Options". Click "Keyboard". Check "Use ToggleKeys". Click "OK" and close the Control Panel. Now you have a private butler who will ring a little bell when you accidentally hit that Caps Lock key. Saves a lot of cussin'! Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved Cyber Specialist Search Real Estate Bookstore Real Estate On-line Expo CyberTips Library National Real Estate Industry Blogsite Listen to The Station You Want With a Click! Here's a great place to easily find and play your favorite AM/FM radio stations and to browse and discover stations from around the world. You can search by location and type of programming. So far you can play US stations from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, and Washington, DC. Each city features dozens of the major broadcasting stations (and some you didn't even know existed). Many international locations are also featured including Beijing, Hong Kong, Israel, London, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo. Just pick your favorite news, music or talk show and these folks whisk you off to a new land with one simple click! Click Here for This Great Place Get Insiders Travel Information! Sure you can search the internet for your next flight by the best fares or shortest flight but until now there has been no place on the Web to determine the quality of your trip - factors that include not only price and speed, but also comfort and ease. This great place allows you to obtain a best/worst ranking for your list of possible flights. Rankings based on each of these factors helps you wade through the hundreds of flight options on the market. They analyze speed by the number of stops, travel duration, on-time stats and security wait time. Comfort factors include: leg room, aircraft type, aircraft age and historical load factor. Ease of flight factors include: connect time, routing quality, lost bags rank and gate location. Although this great place is still in Beta, it looks like the day of the automated travel advisor is close upon us. Click Here for This Great Place

Debra Kukulski Email: deb@debrakukulski.com Phone: 847-516-6760 Fax: 847-639-6666 Web: http://www.debrakukulski.com/   RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest 445 Park Avenue Cary, IL 60013

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me.  It will be my pleasure!  By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them.  My business keeps growing from your referrals. 

My Direct Number At The Office Is 847.516.6760

How is the current market in Lake In The Hills, McHenry County IL?

As of this morning, per MLSNI-MRED, for the past 3 months:

• We currently have 293 Single Family detached homes on the market in Lake In The Hills that are active and available.
• They have been on the market for an average of 175 days.
• The average list price in Lake In The Hills is $306,603.
• During the past 3 months, 35 Single Family homes have successfully closed with the help of their Realtors.  This only represents 52% of the market that have had success.  They took an average of 127 days on the market to get SOLD.
• The average list price of the SOLD Single Family homes is $232,989 and the average SOLD price is $219,855.

          So, on the average Single Family homes in Lake In The Hills have been getting an average of 94% of their list prices, with the help of their Realtors.

• We currently have 143 Attached homes on the market in Lake In The Hills that are active and available.
• They have been on the market for an average of 171 days.
• The average list price is $194,392.
• During the past 3 months, 15 Attached homes have successfully closed with the help of their Realtors.  This represents 56% of the market that have had success.  They took an average of 124 days on the market to get SOLD.
• The average list price of the SOLD Attached homes is $189,335 and the average SOLD price is $182,750.

So, on the average Attached homes in Lake In The Hills have been getting an average of 97% of their list prices, with the help of their Realtors.

We are still experiencing a Buyer's Market in Lake In The Hills, McHenry County, IL.

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me.  It will be my pleasure!  By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them.  My business keeps growing from your referrals.

I can be reached at my direct number at the office: 847.516.6760.  I look forward to hearing from you!

How is the current market in The McHenry Area, IL?

This report also includes statistics for McHenry County Areas: 

Holiday Hills / Johnsburg / McHenry / Lakemoor / McCullom Lake / Sunnyside / Ringwood. 

As of this morning, per MLSNI, for the past 3 months:

• We currently have 648 Single Family homes on the market in The McHenry Area that are active and available.
• They have been on the market for an average of 226 days.
• The average list price in The McHenry Area is $326,893.
• During the past 3 months, 70 Single Family homes have successfully closed with the help of their Realtors.  This only represents 48% of the market that have had success.  They took an average of 159 days on the market to get SOLD.
• The average list price of the SOLD Single Family homes is $218,350 and the average SOLD price is $204,723.

          So, on the average Single Family homes in The McHenry Area have been getting an average of 94% of their list prices, with the help of their Realtors.

• We currently have 141 Attached homes on the market in The McHenry Area that are active and available.
• They have been on the market for an average of 183 days.
• The average list price is $185,176.
• During the past 3 months, 22 Attached homes have successfully closed with the help of their Realtors.  This represents 59% of the market that have had success.  They took an average of 142 days on the market to get SOLD.
• The average list price of the SOLD Attached homes is $163,954 and the average SOLD price is $155,351.

So, on the average Attached homes in The McHenry Area have been getting an average of 95% of their list prices, with the help of their Realtors.

We are still experiencing a Buyer's Market in The McHenry Area.

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me.  It will be my pleasure!  By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them.  My business keeps growing from your referrals.

I can be reached at my direct number at the office: 847.516.6760.  I look forward to hearing from you!