My Home Search is a very popular part of my website. In fact, I’ve had over a thousand searches performed in just the last couple of months. Sometimes, I have a person that might do the same search several days in a row. I don’t want you to have to take your valuable time doing this, day after day! My best suggestion is to just let me set you up using my automated system. It constantly checks for new or updated homes in the area, and will send you an email as soon as anything occurs.

Some people enjoy doing the web searches themselves, though. That’s great, and I don’t mind at all! But, I want to make your life a little bit easier. No longer will you have to come to my website and select all of your criteria each time that you want to do a search. Now, my website will automatically remember the recent searches that you have done. As you can see in the picture (click it for a larger view), your recent searches are listed, and you can easily perform the same search as before by just clicking a single button. Check out my Home Search to start building your own list of recent searches.

I hope that you enjoy this feature, and I often add things to make my website more useful based on your feedback. Please let me know what you think!

Note: You might think that features like this only help out home buyers. But, if you are thinking about selling your home, see me! Features like this bring more home buyers to my website. Why not have your own home featured on a website that buyers like to use?

As I take potential home buyers around to look at properties, one of the questions that often comes up is "How Long Has This Home Been On The Market?". I just added a feature to my website that makes it easier for you to answer this question.

When you do a home search, you will now be automatically told how long a home has been on the market. On both the search result page, as well as the details for an individual home, there will be a bullet item indicating the number of days that a home has been on the market.

You might wonder why the answer to the question even matters. It can actually make a lot of difference! Here are a few reasons why:
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When a lot of my clients start looking for a home, location is very important. Not only is the neighborhood important (contact me for information about neighborhoods in the Champaign-Urbana area that you might be interested in), but people also care about how close a home is to things they care about.

For instance, a very common question is, "How far from work is this place?", or "How far is it to little Johnny’s school?". I have found that clients who are moving to the area are very concerned about this, as well as those of us who care about how much gas we use. I have just added a new feature to my website that will make answering this question much easier for you.

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Did you know that 55% of all homes for sale do not have a virtual tour?  I found this statistic as I was working on my brand-new home-search page, http://aroundcu.com/search.  Give it a try and let me know what you think of it!

The virtual tours that you will find when you search for homes are simply links to external sites that have more than the maximum 9 photos that are in the multiple listing service (MLS), the main real estate database that Realtors use.  This database is what you can access through my website.  

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You have probably heard the news about the housing slump, and the “buyer’s market” that we are currently experiencing. A buyer’s market occurs when supply and demand factors shift to cause a drop in price. Due to the increased supply of homes from excess building and foreclosures, with demand remaining constant, prices of homes drop. The Champaign-Urbana market does not experience the large fluctuations that other areas do, but it is not completely immune. This buyer’s market is a great time to buy. Although this seems to be bad news if you are wanting to sell, it is really not bad news if you have been thinking about purchasing a larger home.
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When you search for a home on my website and view the "Detailed Information" link for a home, you will see something like this:

If you look at the "Lot Size" field, you will see a set of numbers. If the numbers are something like 100×100, it’s easy: a square lot with each side measuring 100ft. But 72x70x99x45x26? Which side is which dimension, and what is the total overall size?

Let’s start with the basics. Standard convention says that the street side is the first dimension listed, and then the other dimensions follow clock-wise. For example, if you have a lot size of 60×130, the street side measures 60ft and the lot goes back 130ft. (more…)

These last several weeks have been very busy! As I have been taking buyers around to view homes, I have begun to notice a pattern that has solidified my views regarding the importance of curb appeal. I have been amazed at the striking correlation between curb appeal and the overall condition of a house. (read more and view photo)