Excepting the 2008 financial crisis, home prices have been pretty steadily on the rise across the US. According to Trulia, the median home value in over 100 neighborhoods hit 1 million, with larger cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Long Island, Brookline, and Boulder experiencing higher inflation rates.
Chicago’s North Shore area is characterized by charming, historic streets lined with gorgeous homes. Bordering Lake Michigan, you can find the neighborhoods of Evanston, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest, and Lake Bluff. Just inland, you’ll find Glenview, Northbrook, Deerfield, Vernon Hills, and Northfield. Each of these neighborhoods has their own unique attractions. Today, we’ll highlight six of our favorites: Libertyville, Wilmette, Lake Forest, Winnetka, Highland Park, and Glenview.
Based on 2018’s remodeling statistics, the remodeling market looks to remain steady going into 2019. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports a remodeling market index of 58 for the third quarter of 2018. (Any number above 50 indicates a higher number of remodels than the previous quarter.) Each quarter’s index numbers have steadily risen/been above 50 ever since the second quarter of 2013.
While there are a lot of nuanced considerations that affect your decision to go or stay while your contractor renovates your Chicago North Shore area home, we recommend starting with these basic questions:
As summer turns to fall, homeowners are returning from vacations, settling into work routines and school schedules, and quite likely considering the projects they wish they’d had time to tackle during the summer. But there’s good news--it isn’t too late. While many people assume that summer is the ideal season to address house improvements, the truth is that each season has its own advantage when it comes to remodeling in the Chicago North Shore area. Today, we’ll take a look at the unique remodeling opportunities for spring, summer, fall, and winter.
If you love “Love It or List It,” if you’re fixated on “Fixer Upper,” if you’re pro “Property Brothers,” and if you’re getting ready for your own real-life remodel, this article is for you. Particularly if you’re coming to us as a first-time remodeler, part of our job as your Chicago North Shore area contractor is to help you set realistic expectations. Today, we’re talking about the differences between reality tv remodeling and real-life remodeling. These differences fall under two basic categories: process and pricing.
Whether you want to ready your home for resale or you want to be sure that your personal projects add to its market value in the long term, it’s smart to research national and Chicago North Shore area ROIs for each home improvement project you’re considering. Today, we’ll synthesize statistics and advice from some of the largest and most reliable financial sources for home improvements: U.S. News and World Report, Bankrate, Remodeling’s Cost vs. Value, and Forbes.
One of the easiest ways to keep your sanity while living in home during a remodel is to know what to expect. This advice may sound obvious, but unfortunately, lack of preparation and unrealistic assumptions are both common for first-time remodelers in the Chicago North Shore area, and nothing is more stress-inducing than unmet expectations.
Like any visual endeavor, remodeling historic homes is an art. Many contractors can deconstruct and reconstruct, but creating an aesthetically satisfying and practically suitable home requires a designer sensitive to each architectural era and equally aware of the clients’ needs and the home’s structural makeup.
