Kimball Hill and Naperville
Kimball Hill homes is still trying to make things work at the southeast corner (currently known as Mayneland Farm) of Mill and Bauer. A community of 59 and 22 single family townhomes is having a hard time getting passed, neighbors are concerned about density (understandable) and Kimball Hill is concerned about utilizing the property correctly (also understandable)
On another front they are also attempting to build on a large parcel of land just south of Ogden and east of Rt59... a townhome community (280 units - called Townes of Greenbriar) located behind the Krispy Kreme (does it seem like I think of food all the time?) While this spot is contiguous to other residential development, about 30 acres of it is currently zoned commercial... district 204 is concerned about the additional students this could bring.
On a completely different scale Kimball Hill is developing
Settler's Ridge (along the RT30 extension... that's the Sugar Grove exit from I88) this will be a "high concept" community of 1300 acres and almost 2500 homes. Lot's of preserved space is in the plan.
Kimball Hill has been building in the Chicago area for many years, including developments in Carol Stream, Naperville, Aurora and Yorkville.
Possibly what they are best known for is creating the city of Rolling Meadows.
Posted by Angus at 3:00 PM
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Another Favorite Restaurant
Have I mentioned Angeli's?
This is small storefront restaurant on Chicago Avenue in the strip mall just west of Naper. Family owned, Angeli's is known for their catering... but as a restaurant it's a terrific place. Italian food (betcha guessed that one!) is the specialty... all of the Pastas are good as is the Veal Piccata.
However, I have a favorite that has to be requested: "Santa Fe Chicken" (not on the menu) Yes, Yes I know... it doesn't sound very Italian but it's become the dish that we look forward to. We had the Santa Fe Chicken there as a special once, and later found out that several other people love it too, so they are willing to make it on request. It's a cream based sauce (a little spicy.. southwest!) with spinach and chicken.
Simple decor with abundant locals in attendance. Angelis is a delight not only for the tastebuds, but the wallet as well.
Visit their site here
Posted by Angus at 6:35 PM
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Interesting Naperville Real Estate Agent Numbers
Thinking of a carreer in Real Estate?Naperville's official population in 2003 - 135,858
As of todays date:
There are 1837 Realtors working in Naperville Real Estate offices.
In 2005 there were 3300 real estate transactions in Naperville according to the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois. This includes houses, condos townhomes, land, rentals, deeded parking spots, mobile homes (not that there are any of those) etc...
So what does that mean?
Too many agents. When agents define their business we do so by counting sides, there are two sides to each transaction: Buyer/Seller, Lessor/Lessee etc.. This is because each side is usually represented by different agents or companies... and each is paid on this principle.
So the 3300 transactions are really 6600 sides (or 6600 transaction as viewed in the industry) 6600/1837 = 3.59 transactions per agent. Even with todays higher prices the agent at that average would have serious problems paying their dues and business expenses, much less make a living. But the reality is much worse.
Most folks like to quote the 80/20 "rule": 20% of the people are doing 80% of the work these days those numbers would be conservative, it is widely believed that in Real Estate it's more like 90/10. But sticking with the 80/20 "rule":
20% of the agents = 367 agents
80% of the Transactions = 5280 transactions
or 14.3 transactions per top 20% agent
Leaving 1470 Agents to share the rest of the 1320 transactions.
What's worse is that Naperville agents aren't the only ones doing business in Naperville. 870 of those properties were listed by agents outside of Naperville.
Is that really what happens? No.
There are several agents in Naperville doing more than 100 transactions per year, there are also quite a few doing 50-100. So what does it mean?
There really are many agents doing little or no business. But what the stats don't show is that the Naperville agent is also a dominant force in the surrounding towns... For example: The City of Aurora had 3849 Transactions in the same period (7689 sides) with only 370 Realtors in town... Naperville agents do a large part of the business that is available in Aurora (1376 of those properties were listed by Naperville agents... and that does not include the selling portion) They also do a large part of the business in Lisle, Bolingbrook, Plainfield, Oswego and Warrenville. Along with a scattering of business in other areas.
As of 1/31/06 there are:
1,265,569 Realtors in the World (an increase of 12.78 % from a year ago)
54,729 Realtors in Illinois (an increase of almost 10%)
California has the most Realtors with 189,063 (an increase of 15.54%)
While Idaho has only 7735 agents they experienced the largest percentage gain of 23%Just food for thought
Posted by Angus at 8:56 AM
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