November 7th, 2007
I don’t have much new to say on real estate this week so I thought I’d look in our real estate database to see what are the top land deals of the year. It’s always interesting to see what things are selling for.
In August, a 580,000-square-foot industrial building in Rochelle sold for $26.8 million. That’s the priciest land do so far in 2007.
In July, Zeman Home and Neighborhoods bought the 117-acre Forest View manufactured home park for $14 million.
In October, Kerasotes sold ShowPlace 14 in Machesney Park to an entity called National Retail Properties for $11.8 million. Kerasotes sold ShowPlace 16 in 2005 for $20.9 million.
In June, the Extended StayAmerica at 653 Clark Drive in Rockford was part of a national sale of extended-stay hotels by New York-based BlackStone Group. The 104-room Extended StayAmerica was $8.5 million of the deal.
In September, OSF Healthcare System bought the Featherstone Clinic for $8.3 million. OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center now is operating it under the name OSF Specialty Clinic — Guilford Square.
In September, the former Pool-A-Rama building at 7511 Park Place, Loves Park, sold for just less than $8 million.
In August, a pair of apartment complexes, 6526 Spring Brook and 347 Trainer Road, sold for $6.8 million.
In January, the Grand Victorian, an upscale senior housing home at 3495 McFarland Road, sold for $6.1 million.
In June, 181 acres on Cherry Valley Road sold for $5.3 million.
In May, Petry Trust No. 1989 — an entity of Petry Trust, the area’s third largest home builder, bought nearly 128 acres of farmland along Illinois 173 and Swanson Roads for about $5.1 million.
In May, the old Colman estate at 4102 Spring Creek Road sold for $1.4 million, in what may be the highest price paid for a home in Rock River Valley history.
The largest purchase by a taxing body was Hononegah High School District’s $1.57 million purchase of a farm on McCurry Road in September.
For cities and counties, it’s been a quiet year. The largest deal has been by Boone County, which bought 14.7 acres along U.S. 20 in July for more than $550,000.
So even though houses aren’t selling in record numbers, the price of commercial property continues to soar.
November 2nd, 2007
Today your credit score may trump everything else about you.
Are you a philanthropist? Are you a long-time dedicated worker in one career? Are you an elder of your church?
When it comes to credit risk, none of that really matters anymore. You are a number and the higher that number the better off you are.
The Rockford Area Association of Realtors is holding several seminars this winter to teach people how to build better credit and repair past credit. The first is Monday, Nov. 12, at RAAR’s headquarters, 6776 E. State St.
In the seminar, you will learn how to manage your credit, understand your credit report, how to dissolve disputes, learn about alternative credit and — since this is the Realtors association — discover the benefits of buying versus renting.
Understanding your credit score and how to fix mistakes is critical. I’m refinancing to renovate our basement — we were the only house in Loves Park to flood on Aug. 7 so it kind of forced our hand — and I discovered a mistake by the old Firstar Bank is still on my credit report.
In 2001, we paid a car off three years early. Whoever was in charge of keying in the fact it was a closed account didn’t do so. So even though we never received any more bills — we had a zero balance afterall — the computer was marking us delinquent. We didn’t discover it until 2003 and the bank that bought Firstar said they would take care of it.
Well, it’s still on my credit report.
November 1st, 2007
The housing slowdown in the Rock River Valley showed no signs of ending in October as fewer sold, the average price fell and they took longer to sell.
In October, according to preliminary figures from the Rockford Area Association of Realtors, real estate agents sold 469 houses and condominiums, the lowest total for an October since 2000. It marked the 16th straight month sales were down compared year-over-year.
The average sale price, which has been holding its own despite the slowdown, also fell 2.3 percent to $141,142. The big decline was in existing homes, which sold for an average of $123,283, down 3.8 percent.
In October 2007, homes spent an average 73 days on the market before selling — up from 61 days a year ago and a low of 53 days in October 2003. Existing homes this October sat on the market for an average 68 days; new homes took an average of 90 days — nearly three months — to sell.
