BILL RUSS – LICENSED REAL ESTATE BROKER

I am a full service realtor serving the south and Southwest sides of Chicago and Suburban Cook County. My idea of "full service" is the ability to provide my clients with any service they may need or desire with respect to the buying or selling of residential and commercial real estate.

• RESIDENTIAL • TOWN HOMES • CONDOMINIUMS • MULTIPLE UNIT HOUSING • COMMERICAL PROPERTY

Increase Your Home's Value $$$ with these Home Improvements …

Make more money selling your home with these ideas!
Every home improvement you make increases your home's value and helps you sell it faster and makes your house more comfortable in the meantime. The following five improvement ideas are guaranteed to make the strongest impression on potential buyers.

1. Remodel the Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home, so expand and update it to modernize the feel of the entire house. Storage space is key. In addition to plenty of cabinets and generous countertop space, buyers like breakfast nooks with pull-up stools, rollout cabinet trays, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

2. Beautify the Bathroom
Add a master bathroom or update an existing one, and you're boosting your home's comfort and luxury factors. Buyers love spacious, spa-like retreats with deep tubs, stone or ceramic tiles, his-and-hers toilets in private alcoves and dual sinks.

3. Create Curb Appeal
A house's exterior charm attracts buyers and creates that vital first impression. Hire a landscaper to prune or replace overgrown shrubs, a lawn service to green up a dead lawn, and a painter to scrape away peeling paint and apply a fresh coat of color. Cover bare flower beds with wood chips. Pressure wash the awnings, deck, garage, etc…

4. Make More Room
Add a bedroom, office, family room or playroom to improve your home's value. Choose the addition based on who might move in: A new bedroom, for example, is great for a family-oriented neighborhood. Increase your living space by building up, bumping out, or by finishing a basement, attic, porch or room over the garage.

5. Upgrade Cosmetics
Home buyers have a hard time seeing past dated details. Tear out old wall to-wall carpeting, swap linoleum and vinyl for new ceramic tile, refinish dingy wood floors, replace low-grade moldings, hardware and lighting fixtures, and paint the walls in neutral colors. Add some nice lighting, put ground faults around any sinks, and install safety items like smoke detectors and CO monitors. Clean out the garage completely

HOW TO APPEAL YOUR HIGH PROPERTY TAX WITHOUT PAYING AN ATTORNEY

I am aware of the tremendous burden that property taxes can be, especially in these tough economic times. And although the Assessors office does it's best to get it right, no organization is perfect. The Assessors office itself recognizes that, and has set up an appeals process. What many people do not realize, however, is that you do not need to hire an attorney to represent you if you feel that your property has been improperly taxed. The following page shows you how to represent yourself in this process without paying for an Attorney. Please click here to read about process here >View PDF

Real Estate Broker
Bill Russ – Brookfield, Ill. 60513 –708-387-1366