Our Local Favorites

 We are regularly asked about the top spots for Eating.

               Here are a few of our favorite places:

Lansing: 

Mancino Grinders for the best sandwiches. Hands down the very best!

Schererville: 

Longhorn Restaurant is excellent. Try their Wild West Shrimp appetizer. Their Parmesan Crusted Chicken is delicious.

G Gin Chinese restaurant is another personal favorite.

Lou Malnati Pizza, the Chicago Classic is our favorite pizza.

For Breakfast you can't beat The Omelette House.

St. John:

We love Livio's! Best food and atmosphere of any Restaurant in St John.

Lake Perch lightly breaded and baked is fabulous as well as the Chicken Florentine.

Their Soup is fantastic.

Interesting Fact about Disney World

 

Disney may lose self governing status in Florida.

For those who aren't from Florida and will spend thousands on a Disney World vacation, the land Disney occupies is called the Reedy Creek District. 

In 1967, that land was designated as a separate entity from the state of Florida. They can make their own laws. They have their own police force. And the law states they keep that status as long as they own title to all the property there.

 

When you drive past those high rises at Lake Buena Vista, you should know they are leasing the land from Disney. Buy a house at Celebration? No title. Just a 99 year right to use.

And thanks to Disney's attempt to interfere in Florida's legislative process, the Reedy Creek District just might lose that status.

Well, I was going to go looking for my Golf Ball

 

Real Estate Data Bits

 Home Prices are still soaring, even through the end of March 2022.

If you've been wanting to sell your home, now is a fantastic time.

Call us for the details on the current market and how we will get your Home Sold for Top Dollar!

Internet Home Estimate Sites are not Accurate

 

If a realtor tells me my house is worth 380k and an Internet Home Estimate site says 440k, who do I believe?

 If the Realtor has five or more years of experience in your local market, has been inside your home, has noted the lot characteristics, has found comparables and provided a market analysis, and has discussed with you the features of your home that both add, and detract, from its value, you can bet their estimate of your home’s value is more accurate than an Internet Home estimate site.

These internet home estimate sites are notorious for over, and under, estimating home values. They don’t make house calls and have never been inside your home. They can’t see (or can’t subjectively evaluate) your ugly bathroom, your tired kitchen, your out-of-date finishes.

Their algorithm doesn’t compensate for your house backing to a busy road, a fast-food drive-through window, or a sewage treatment plant. When it comes to subjective determinants of value, these internet home estimate sites miss the mark. Every time.

It’s folly to try to compare an experienced human real estate professional to these inaccurate home estimate sites.

I know it’s tempting, but just don’t do it.

Good News about Credit and Medical Bills

 

The country’s major credit-reporting firms will soon remove roughly 70% of medical collection debt from Americans' credit reports, Axios' Pete Gannon writes.

Why it matters: Medical debt is the most common source of collection-related black marks on credit reports. It can lower people’s credit scores, making it harder or more expensive to secure mortgages, auto loans and other credit — and even make it harder to secure a job.

Details: The three major credit-reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, outlined three changes in reporting:

• First, all paid medical collection debt will no longer be included in reports as of July 1.
• In addition, people will have 12 months, up from six, to settle medical bills before unpaid collection debt appears on reports.
• The third change, slated for the first half of 2023, will eliminate the reporting of all medical collection debt under $500.

The backstory: The agencies pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for the changes.

• But they have also been under pressure from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has focused on credit reporting and inaccurate medical debts in particular, under director Rohit Chopra.

Of note: Medical debt collections are considered less predictive of future payment problems than other debt collections, as people rarely choose to incur it. (You agree to pay back a loan before taking the keys to a new car, but you didn’t necessarily plan to be accountable for a medical bill.)

Crazy Buyers Market Question and Answer

 Question: We are first time homebuyers. What is going on with this crazy buyer’s market?

Answer:  Any prospective buyer who thought last year’s dramatic jump in home prices was rough, should be prepared for this spring to be even worse. A home buyers nightmare of fast-rising housing prices, increasing mortgage rates, and record-low inventory of homes for sale is likely to present a tough real estate market for those looking to purchase a new home.

The nation has been stuck in a housing shortage for a while now, but it’s now grappling with the fewest homes for sale ever. The lack of inventory is happening at the worst possible time as more Americans are hitting their prime home-buying years—and not finding anything on the market. The Covid Pandemic has only accelerated the problem as buyers sought out more spacious homes.

Buyers will probably pay more for housing, as prices continue accelerating. Last year, all-time-low mortgage rates helped to offset the higher prices. But buyers won’t find that relief this spring now that rates are at 4+% - which may significantly increase a borrower’s mortgage payment.

That doesn’t mean it will be impossible to successfully purchase a home, it just won’t be easy.

The competition from other buyers could thin out a bit as more folks are priced out of homeownership. If there’s less demand, it could mean fewer (or at least less heated) bidding wars that don’t result in mind-boggling offers over the asking price.

It would make sense that, as mortgage rates rise, home prices would fall or at least stabilize. Logic would suggest that there has to be some limit on how much buyers can afford to spend on housing. Right?  

Nonetheless, in the short term, instead of prices stabilizing, they’ve been shooting up at a faster clip, as home shoppers rushed into the market hoping to lock in a home at a low mortgage rate before rates rise even further.

Are home prices going to fall in the near future? It would require a tsunami of newly built homes going up for sale for prices to stop their seemingly unstoppable rise. And that doesn’t seem likely as builders have struggled to ramp up construction and the demand for housing just keeps growing.

Rising interest rates and a very unstable economy are factors to watch!

Zip Liner Traffic

Zip Liners find congestion down the line!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyjMyY1JFYk

The Incredible Sellers Market

We have never seen a market for selling, this good. Illinois and Indiana.

Not so good as a buyer, but incredibly good as a seller.

What we have read is that this up surge could last well into 2022 raising home prices a bit higher.

But, we live in a very volatile World.

Some economists are worried that inflation and rising interest rates could trigger the burst of the housing bubble, by losing many potential buyers who no longer can qualify for a home.

No one can predict the future. All we know is the past and present and it is an amazing sellers market now !

We totally understand if you are planning on staying in your home, we just want you to be aware of the incredible sellers market.