We are REALLY excited about 2012!  We already will have quadrupled our business by the end of January, compared to January of last year.

Now is the time to start working on your house if you are thinking of selling this year.  Start by de-cluttering and de-personalizing!! 

• Go through cabines, closets, clear off counters, tables etc..  You'll be amazed at how much more spacious it already looks. 
• Get rid of any plants that are not doing fabulous.  Dead or droopy plants are dead energy!!! 
• If the colors are outdated, update them.  Watch HGTV --- see what's in. 
• Replace flooring that looks tired , dirty or worn if it's not going to clean up. 
• Paint walls and ceilings if they need it. 
• Check the wood-work.  If it's painted, it may need freshened.  If it's stained, go over with Old English.  After you've painted the walls, don't put much back, if anything. 
• If you have any wallpaper at all, TAKE IT OFF!!!  I listed 2 houses this past year that had been listed by another agent that had wall paper.  They chose to remove when I listed, but only did so after a couple of months.  The next people to look at both of them bought the houses-yay.  It's a hassle - but worth a sale and the sooner it sells, the more money in your pocket!! 
• Go through your closets, take items that you haven't worn or are out-dated to a resale shop.  At one point, Curt was making 2 trips a week to the LSA resale shop. 
• If there is a basement and it's finished, all of the above suggestions apply.  If not finished, paint walls, floor and ceiling if at all possible.

Before it goes on the market, make sure the following are new or "like new":

• landscaping
• front exterior lights
• house numbers
• door handle, lock, etc..

You never get a second chance for a first impression!  The buyer sits in front in the car and stands on the front porch critiquing the house.  It's your only opportunity for the first impression!

Yes, I did all of this to my house.  We had a contract in 1 week.  You can either do all this work up front or after you put in on the market - reducing the price as you go.  It is a tough market, but if you want to sell as soon as possible for the most money in today's market, our team would love to help you!  If you want me to stop by and give you suggestions, it would be my pleasure, just let me know when.

We had a team advance (retreat is going backwards) at my house in December.  Goals set for 2012 and a great deal of discussion of new ideas and ways to help us be better at what we love doing!  We all left excited and energized!

Let us know who we can assist!  When you hear of someone needing our services, tell them to call us, then pick up the phone and give us their name and number.

It is an absolute pleasure to be of service!  Can you tell I have a true passion about this business?  God has blessed me abundantly each and every day and I love sharing!!

Pre inspected! New hardwood floors through0ut main level. Main floor washer/dryer. Open family room kitchen area with a beautiful fireplace. 4 great size bedrooms. Large master suite. 3 car attached garage.  Wonderful deck on the back for enjoying a meal or a book!  Forsyth schools!

A Note from the current homeowners:

Dear Future Home Owner,

We have thoroughly enjoyed our home and life on Cale Court in Forsyth, Illinois.  However, our children our grown and gone. Now our elderly parents may need to come and live with us and this beautiful home will not be accommodating to their physical limitations.  Therefore, it is time for us to say goodbye to this lovely and spacious abode.

Not only has this home had lots of room for all our entertaining and storage for all of our “stuff,” we have daily enjoyed its beauty and brightness as the sunlight fills each room.  Our children loved their large bedrooms, and I enjoyed the kitchen located in the middle of the home so I could watch the evening news as I fixed the dinner meal.  We just recently added the wood to the floors, and we are enjoying the easy clean up with the broom and dust pan.  I also liked the space as everyone could come together, or retreat to a quiet place when needed.

The location of this home was probably the selling point for us.  When we moved here 9 years ago, we had two children to enroll into High School and Maroa Forsyth had some of the best state tests scores around.  Not to mention, that since we have lived here, their sports teams have frequently excelled as well.  We have really enjoyed the walking and biking paths.  Walking to Menards in the summer to pick up a few grocery items was also fun. 

Forsyth has several summer events especially for families and you can watch the fireworks right down the street.  The neighbors are all terrific!!!!  The street has families both young and old which is a great mix.  We always shared our adjustable height basketball goal which was professionally installed by the previous owners.  What a great gift for my sports loving family!

The front bushes are rhododendrons and will blossom beautiful purple blooms in the Spring.  Also the back bushes are Lilacs and Forsythia and will also add Spring color to the yard.  The two back yard trees will add color in the fall as they bare red foliage in the Fall.  I put in a perennial flower bed in the back corner, and last year joined in with my back yard, neighbors and added a vegetable garden.  Fresh tomatoes and radishes were a nice summer treat. 

So you see, when you live in this home, you are getting so much more than a beautiful home to relax and create memories in, you are also gaining huge benefits right outside the home in great neighbors, great yard, and so much to access right outside your door. 

Sincerely,

Home Owners of 315 Cale Court, Forsyth, Illinois

Nice Montgomery Hills home close to restaurants and shopping. 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths and wood burning fireplace in the rec room. Lots of room for a family to spread out and enjoy. Deck and fenced yards is perfect for the kids and pets.

Superior quality home, over 4300 SF finished living area. Two story entry with maple stairway. Kitchen boasts maple cabinets, granite counters, ceramic floor, desk, china cabinet and butler's pantry. Great room with built-in maple bookcases. Bay door entry to 3 season room from kitchen dining area. Master bedroom with 18'x5' walkin-in closet, bath has jetted tub, seperate shower and 2nd walk-in closet. Jack and Jill bathroom with double sinke plus 4th bedroom with it's own fulll bath and walk-in closet. Trayed ceilings in dining room and master bedroom. Recessed lighting and pocket doors throughout. LL family room with surround sound and mini bar with refrigerator. 12'x8' LL bath has heated floor.  Front and back sprinkler system.

Love note from the current homeowners:

We will really miss our home.  If it were possible, we would take out house with us.  Although our home is quite spacious, it is cozy and comfrotable and full of amenities that we will sadly miss.  We love the natural flow of the rooms, the foyer maple staircase, the two gas fireplaces and the butler's bar just off the kitchen, the beautiful kitchen with granite couter tops, pantry and the maple cabinets.  We will really miss the many roomy closets and bathrooms, as well as our newly finished lower level with our surround sound plasma television system.  We also love dining in the threes season room with the beautiful views of our flower gardens and landscaped yard.  We will always remember the special times we spent with family and friends in our lovely house. 

Ranch on corner lot with great potential as it's in a very nice area and has great bones. Large rooms and very large bath.  Nice covered patio.  Needs updating.

Great opportunity for first time buyer programs through IHDA or grants through Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund program or Home Investment.

Spectacular Hoyt Home, 5295 sq ft of finished living space. Entire house has extra large hallways, stairways and rooms. Hardwood entry hall into spacious family room, large eat-in kitchen and main floor master bedroom suite. Upstairs has 2nd master suite with sitting room or office pluse jack and jill bedrooms. Lower level is a dream cave for your kids boasting a spectacular theatre room complete with theatre seating, a spererate game room with 2 gaming chairs, and a rec room with pool table. 7 car attached garage with 13x12 office plus storage room for lawn equipment with entrance to back yard. Large corner lot and plenty of parking. MUST SEE!

A note from the current homeowner:

We built our house in the later part of 2002 and moved in January 2003. To say that we love this house is an understatement.  We built this house to include everything we desired including larger rooms and entertainment areas.  We also included larger hallways to ensure moving furniture was never a problem to any level of the house.  

We designed a number of special features into the house.  The first feature is two master bedroom suites, one on the first floor and one on the second floor.   We designed the basement to be a combination of entertainment areas including billiards, electronic gaming room, ping pong room and a movie theater room.  The garage is designed to be extra large for vehicles or other purposes such as indoor playground space for children.  The office in the garage can easily be used as a wood-shop or for other needs.  Accompanying the garage is an extra large driveway for children or to ensure guests never have to park on the street.

While there is still remaining space in the basement that can be finished into even more rooms/bedrooms/bathrooms or other purposes, we simply used those areas for storage.  The combined  basement storage, 3rd floor storage room, closets and the garage storage is tremendous.

We have made the following improvements to the house across the past few years.

 New Family Room and Master Bedroom flooring 2011
Upgraded theater room HD video and audio 2011
New siding 2010
New Water Heater 2009
New Sump Pump with automatic backup system 2009
Upgraded backyard deck 2009

We have complete construction photos and blueprints that will accompany the house.

Well maintained home! Updated flooring and colors. Bath and windows updated as well. Screened in porch for relaxing. Close to St. Mary's Hospital.  Great opportunity for first time buyer programs through IHDA or grants through Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund program or Home Investment.

Wow!  Sprawling brick ranch on 2.2 acres!  Beautiful cherry wood floors, exposed brick, 3 fireplaces, solid cherry doors, crown molding, marble countertops and luxurious updated baths.  Large 4 season room overlooking heated saltwater pool and waterfall.  Walk-out lower level with 2nd kitchen, family room and a 2nd 4 season room!  Maintenance free decking with gazebo and tons of space for entertaining.  The grounds are park-like and a pleasure to see!  2 two car garages, one attached and one detached. 

Improvements by the current homeowner:

2001

• replace roof
• new refrigerator (main level)
• new oven & microwave cabinet

2002

• natural gas grill
• parking pad in front

2003

• new kitchen countertops (main level)
• custom kitchen cabinets (main level)

2005

• new water heater
• update all 4 bathrooms (stools, countertops, sinks, cover bathtubs, light fixtures (all but ½)... lower level bath received new ceilings, walls, flooring)
• new furnace & A/C
• replaced one window in sun room (main level)
• new refrigerator in kitchen (lower level)

2006

• new Hunter Douglass blinds (entire house)
• removed and replaced all front landscaping

2007

• replaced 2 more windows in sun room (main level)
• add lower level sun room
• replaced pool heater
• added second garage and back driveway
• replaced gutters
• replaced all flooring downstairs
• added outdoor lighting/plug-ins
• new electrical box in garage

2008

• replaced 2 more windows in sun room (main level)
• new "trax" deck and gazebo added
• black topped both driveways and parking pads
• replaced dining room, bedroom and master bedroom flooring

2009

• added patio door and connecting wood deck
• new pool liner
• stamped surround
• walls
• fiber optics
• computerized sal water system
• electric pool cover
• added 12" insulation in attic

2010

• all wiring brought up to code
• rewired new electric box
• replaced lighting in kitchen, family room and added pendant lighting over bar
• added radiant heat to downstairs sunroom
• new top of line dishwasher added

In addition, they have added 70 Arborvitae in 2008, removed 25 trees and planted 15 new trees.

Unique features:

• Pella windows
• 2 complete kitchens
• 2 seperate driveways
• 2 garages
• crown molding
• inground salt-water pool w/waterfalls
• 2 sun rooms
• 2.06 acres
• 4' square concrete drain tile through entire front of property
• 3.5 baths (3 have marble flooring, 2 have marble tub surrounds & marble entry)
• solid wild cherry flooring in kitchen, living room, beams, all woodwork
• concrete between teh thick wooden floors of the entire house
• whole house attic fan

This home was built by a commercial builder for his own personal home and the quality is very apparent and could not begin to be replicated in today's market

All brick is "porcelainized" and cannot be drilled into.

Wonderful location! Views of the lake, 4 large bedrooms with living room, family room and rec room! Nice eat-in kitchen with breakfast bar. Terrific screened in porch overlooking the beautiful wooded back yard. Great place for family cook outs or having a glass of wine after work.

Great family home in Maroa Forsyth school district. Open main floor with living room, dining room and kitchen. 3 upstairs bedrooms with full bathroom, master has trayed ceiling, full bathroom with walk-in closet and skylight. Family room in lower level has ? bath and gas fireplace. Rec room in lower level has bar, laundry area and storage room. Washer and dryer stay.

Can you believe that?  FHA, VA, and rurual housing rates are 3.875%.  Conventional rates with loans over $100,000 with credit score over 740 are also 3.875%.

so how much is that per $1,000?  $4.70 per thousand on a mortgage.  For a house with a $100,000 mortgage, that is 470 per month, Now that is great!!!

Who do you know that is thinking about moving?  Please do two things:

1. Tell them about us
2. Pick up the phone and tell us about them

Life is good in this well maintained cottage! Watch golfers tee off on #11 from your 25x8 screened porch or relax on the 12x22 back deck and enjoy the lake. Kitchen and bathrooms have been updated. Open living area with eat in kitchen, master bedroom with double closet and full bath with shower and jetted tub. Half bath and laundry room off den with patio door to large deck. 292 sq ft unfinished basement for storage and golf cart plus garage area for one car. Must be SSCC member plus yearly maintenance fee of $250 (includes road maintenance, snow and leaf removal, garbage service and night lights).

A word of advice - give us a call - Do NOT wait until Spring.  There are a lot of people waiting until Spring to list their house.  We have buyers NOW!!  Call and let's strategically work on a plan to market your property! 

My mother always told me "the early bird gets the worm"!

There is also a 3% grant for any other 1st time buyer.  Please call us at 875.8081 or email at glenda@glendawilliamson.com for details.

My husband, Curt and I attended the Open House Sunday at St. Mary's!  Wow!  It was a wonderful event and a very impressive addition!!  From Kevin Kast meeting and greeting everyone at the front door to the speaker, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, to the food to all the old photos!  There was an aerial picture of the facility at an open house back in 1961 - with all of the old cars in the lot.  Lots of memories for me!!  I worked there in 1961-62 as an X-Ray tech when Dr. Snullen was head Radiologist and Jack L Fond, Chief X-ray tech - sure has changed.

Jacke Joyner-Kersee spoke.  What a wonderful lady.  She had me previously with young athletes.  She is such a splendid person and gave back to her East St. Louis community!

     Sports Illustrated for Women magazine named Jackie the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century.  On three different occasions (1994, 1987 & 1986), she was honored by Track & Field News as the World Athlete of the Year.  She also was named as the top American Athlete five times (1994, 1992, 1991, 1987 and 1986).

Hats off to all of the people participating - made the event happen!!  Most of all to all of the faithful, loving and dedicated people that work at St. Mary's and love what they do!  God Bless!!!

UPDATE:  As of today 12/15/11, the Toys for Tots program in our area is short on toys for Girls, ages 8 - 11.  Suggestions are: make up, bath sets, anything at Claire's, etc.

This will be our first year of many serving as a "drop off" location for the Marines Toys for Tots!  We love our community and wish to serve in any way we can.  Our location is a great North side location surrounded by many wonderful residential neighborhoods.  Please don't hesitate to stop in during regular business hours, Monday through Friday to donate (1110 W. Arbor Drive, Suite D)!  Toys for Tots campaign request new, unwrapped toys.

 We have some suggestions for you...

Suggestions of what to avoid:

• Toys with many small parts
• Toys with breakable parts
• Toys that require batteries, unless you purchase the batteries as well
• Toys that are cheaply made in foreign countries (try your best)
• Freebie toy giveaways (from McDonalds Happy Meals, etc) as these toys are often recalled
• Toys that require extensive adult involvement to assemble
• Food toys, toys with liquids, electrical toys, plug-in toys and unsafe toys
• War toys, weapons, guns
• Video or digital products

 Suggestions of what to buy:

• Familiar name brand toys
• Inflated soccer, football, basketballs kick balls, jump ropes, hand ball and racquet ball, tennis racquet and balls,  any sports equipment
• Art supplies:  markers, chalk, washable paints, self contained art kits, drawing pad, colored pencils, play-do, moon sand
• Blocks, building toys, Lego products
• Baby dolls and accessories
• Backpack or purse with jewelry, hairbrush, personal care items, hair toys
• Games card games

Did you realize that the police department takes an average of 5200 calls per month - that's 300 incidents a day!  Wow... Kudos to them!!!

Of the 7 homicides this year, there have been 6 arrests and police have invested 1000 additional hours (overtime).  That's a lot of very dedicated people working to retain our SAFETY!  That means they are giving up time with thier fammilies and friends to keep us protected!

Next time you see an officer - tell them THANK YOU!

Our Open House on September 25th was a Great Success!  Thanks so much to all who attended.  What a gorgeous day.  Everyone had such a fun time!!  It was like a huge neighborhood tent party that also included our friends, families and fantastic clients.

The children had so much fun in the bounce house, getting their faces painted and having Sally the Clown make their favorite things out of balloons.

It is our way of giving back and saying thank you to everyone that supports us at Glenda Williamson Realty.  We could not have done it without the wonderful donations of door prizes from our local business partners, clients, and friends... a great big THANK YOU (you know who you are)! 

Next years' open house is scheduled for Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.  Mark your calendars and invite your friends and family!

To see more photos, "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/glendawilliamsonrealty!!

The LSA Golf Outing was a great event with wonderful weather! 

Glenda Williamson Realty sponsored the "Splash for Cash" hole.  Curt drove the golf cart and I was the photographer... what a fun day!!!

 To see the photos "like" us on FaceBook and check out our photo album for that day.