Rubloff Agents to Chicago Home Buyers: Your Advantage Won't Last Forever

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release
Contact: Tom McGavin 312 264-5854

Veteran Agents Advise:
Buy Now Or It Could Cost You In The Long Run

No doubt about it. Current market conditions markedly favor the home buyer. But they are not forever lasting.

That’s what a recent poll of sales agents at Rubloff’s corporate headquarters revealed. In fact, a high percentage of the agents, many of whom have witnessed other severe downturns in the past 20 years, say they are advising clients to buy now or face paying the price later.

History is on their side, the agents say, and they point to signs that indicate that the climate favoring buyers will one day disappear. Possibly sooner than later.

“We are already seeing signs of an uptick,” observes Tom McGavin, a broker associate at Rubloff. “The Federal Reserve running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is one. Others, mentioned in the survey, are the dollar beginning to rebound and oil prices spiraling downward. (And McGavin points to existing home sales rising nationally an unexpected 5.5% for September.)

McGavin, a Chicago Association of Realtors “Top Producer” award winner, says he and his colleagues keep a constant eye on…“ever-looming” inflation because a heat-up in inflation would cause a real spike in real estate prices.”

Further, he said, surveyed agents caution that waiting for more deterioration in property values could prove false economy. “They point out that the savings of a lower purchase price would be wiped out if interest rates suddenly begin to climb.”

McGavin said agents cite several advantages that buyers have working for them right now. Number one is interest rates running at their lowest levels in several years. Even dipping below 6% at one point. Also, sellers have grown weary of lagging market times and are eager to strike a deal before winter hits. And with fewer buyers showing up, sellers have become more flexible when offers do come in.
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McGavin said high home inventories, which translate into better selection, and more choices, which mean less compromise, are two other buyer advantages frequently mentioned in the Rubloff survey.

“As a group, Rubloff agents feel there are many good deals out there, but buyers must act to capitalize on them,” he emphasized.

McGavin, who specializes in working with sellers and buyers primarily in the downtown Chicago market, noted that the real estate business in the city has not suffered nearly as severely as in markets like California, Ohio, Florida and Nevada.

“Total unit sales are down and market times are up compared to last year,” he notes. “But prices have remained strong in many neighborhoods. For example, prices in Lakeview have increased 7.6% versus a year ago, Lincoln Park, 11.89%, Roscoe Village, 12.1%, South Loop, 46.5%.”

Buy while the buying is good. That’s the word Rubloff agents are spreading.


Notes: Rubloff Residential Properties, an independent brokerage, was founded in 1930. The company maintains seven sales offices in Chicago, The North Shore and in New Buffalo, MI. Active sales associates annually sell nearly 2.5 times the industry average. Tom McGavin’s sales in 2008 are up 15% over a year ago. He joined the company in 2001.

Zounds! Chicago home buyers are buying.

The resale housing market in Chicago is doing a lot better than in many parts of the nation. That was driven home to this broker associate just the other day. Left a showing request with listing agent for home in Lincoln Park that had been on the market for only three days. The response back: property under contract. Another indication that a combination of nice homes and reasonable prices make a market. At least in Chicago. Aren't we fortunate.