As with all programs, there are eligibility requirements. Here are a few basic requirements:
• Qualified veterans and active military personnel
• Active military personnel must be a first time home buyer if taking advantage of a Mortgage Credit Certificate (explained below)
• Income and purchase price limitations ($89,760 income for 1 or 2 household members, $104,720 for 3 or more. Purchase price limit $373,670)
• Homebuyers must purchase a qualified 1-2 unit residential property within Illinois
• Home must be purchased as a borrowers’ primary residence

When a person qualifies for the program, a Program grant of $10,000 is provided for down payment and closing cost assistance. To avoid any confusion, IHDA does not lend the money for the mortgage but only provides the financing assistance. Borrowers can use a loan type of their choice (VA, FHA, Conventional) and would borrow through an approved lender such as Wintrust.

A Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) is a certificate authorized by the Federal Government and issued by IHDA. It allows the borrower to take 20 percent of the annual mortgage interest paid as a dollar-for-dollar reduction to their annual Federal income tax liabilities. There is a $500 cost for this program and the savings can be huge. As a simple example, if the yearly mortgage interest was $5000, the borrower would receive a $1000 tax savings.

There was much information given at the seminar and I’ve tried to explain it simply. If you think that you or someone you know may qualify for this program, contact me. I’d be happy to discuss real estate available in Lake Zurich, Buffalo Grove and other Lake, Cook and McHenry County areas and put you in touch with an approved lender.

Last fall when the Farmside Country Store and Winery in Long Grove closed, I was surprised. It had always been there. A sweet store sitting high on the corner of Old McHenry and Robert Parker Coffin Roads, it has been there in some form since 1869. Sure, the building is still there but it sadly stands empty. When I read the news that the Long Grove Apple Haus closed, I was shocked.

Having lived in Long Grove for over 25 years, I have seen stores come and go. But Farmside and the Apple Haus? These two stores were cornerstones of the village. Many a cider donut has been eaten in our house, brought to friends’ homes and to Coldwell Banker events. Our daughter Kristin rode her bike or walked to her first job at the Apple Haus. I’ve talked with others over the past few days and the sentiment seems to be the same: We haven’t just lost stores, we’ve lost a part of our community.

As a community we need to take action. We can’t just wait for the next small business to close and lament its passing. There are things that we can do right now and the very first is to shop at those businesses. I know that it’s sometimes easier to purchase a greeting card at the grocery store but I promise you that it’s not as much fun as shopping at Diane’s Hallmark in Lake Zurich. The women there are helpful and fun. It’s probably more convenient to run to the mall but have you been to Within Reach in Long Grove for a gift? You’ll be delighted by the beautifully arranged displays of unique items.

Next, tell everyone about your experiences at these establishments. When you eat at Enzo and Lucia’s, D&J Bistro or any of our local restaurants, let your friends know how great the food is. Tell everyone you know about the fine products and experiences at our locally owned businesses. Visit yelp.com and Yelp about it!

Adorable Baby Items at Within Reach

I’m committing to blog about at least one small business in the Lake Zurich area communities each week. If you know of one that you’d like to have featured, contact me. After you’ve read my blog posts, share them on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Together we can get the word out and help our local business owners prosper.

Friendly Faces at Diane's Hallmark

I have once again used the cuteness of Quinn to get your attention! Shameless, aren’t I? In my defense, this post DOES have something to do with the holidays and I DO love shopping for my littlest love! The following article was provided by Robin Baran of Wintrust Mortgage. It gives some great tips for shopping with our Smart phones. My favorite just might be Coupon Sherpa because I LOVE a great deal! From Robin:

With the most wonderful time of year upon us, finding the best deals or actually shopping can be exhausting. Here are some “SMART” phone ways to make the experience more enjoyable and actually fun! Warning: Some of these apps can be helpful and others can be harmful to your wallets!

 1. Google Shopper. Shopping has never been easier with the Google Shopper. Simply take a picture of anything or the barcode of an item. Another fun way to shop is the voice recognition feature. You can speak the name of the product and watch Google shopper work its magic in locating it!

2. Coupon Sherpa Say goodbye to coupon clipping. Download Coupon Sherpa and have instant access to coupons at major retailers like Coach Outlet, Banana Republic, Gap, Bath and Body Works, Ann Taylor and more. The cashier simply scans the coupon right from your phone!

3. Shopkick Shopkick turns shopping into a game. You rack up rewards with “kicks” or points just for visiting a store. Just walk into one of 1,300 Best Buy stores and almost 1,000 Old Navy stores in all 50 states, and hundreds of Target stores, Macy’s, American Eagle, Sports Authority, Crate&Barrel, West Elm, Wet Seal and the largest Simon malls! Open the shopkick app on your iPhone or Android phone in the entrance area, and wait for a few seconds. That’s it! Your shopkick app will reward you instantly. It’s fun. shopkick is adding more stores in more cities every month.

4. Gift Plan I am not sure how most people manage gift giving, but I like to brainstorm in advance and come up with multiple gift ideas, eventually narrowing the list down to the cheapest and most practical option. Gift Plan allows you to add any number of people manually, or by importing birthdays from your Contacts or Facebook. Do any of you need my info? Anyway, this app allows you to jot down ideas, sizes, likes and dislikes. The app’s “Occasions” tabs shows upcoming birthdays or holiday’s color coded. The “shopping tab” helps keep track of gifts you play to buy and the best part: password protected from prying eyes! Gift Plan keeps you organized! (NOTE from TERRY: I could only find this app for iPhone.)

5. Lemon Epic! Digitalize your receipts with Lemon. Scan your receipts with phone cameras and the service automatically identifies the name and location of stores along with the amount and the date of purchase. You can see the whole receipt if you want. It’s also great for online shopping. Online retailers can send your receipt to your lemon.com address so they are easier to keep track of.

6. Amazon Mobile One stop shopping! No need to worry if you are getting the best price or not. Amazon Mobile App allows you to quickly search and compare by barcode, text or snapping a picture. Great feature also is access to product reviews.

7. Redlaser Owned by E-Bay, Redlaser is amazing at finding items online and in nearby brick and mortar stores. Has a feature for making lists and “history” that records all items you looked up so you can find them later! You can also use this app to scan food items for allergy and nutrition information. This feature works with almost every brand name packaged food in the US.

8. Starbucks Mobile Maybe the most important Holiday app out there! Starbucks Mobile allows you to check your balances, gives you discounts, reload your card or just have the ease of scanning your phone.

If a new home is on your holiday list, I am always here to assist! If a refinance is in your plan, give me a call and I can give you contact information for Robin. Thanks, Robin, for sharing this article.

My fellow Realtors and I at Coldwell Banker Buffalo Grove are excited to once again sponsor the Fall Festival! On Saturday, October 15th, stop by and see us between 11 am and 3 pm. We’ll be waiting for you with a free pumpkin (while supplies last), face painting and tattoos, games and prizes for the kids, and refreshments.

We’re also having a coloring contest. If you haven’t received an entry and would like one, give me a call or send me an email. I’ll be happy to deliver one to you or send it by return email. We’ll have a coloring station set up on Saturday if the kids want to create their masterpiece then. Prizes will be awarded in 4 age groups.The contest is being judged by Susan Dubin of the Buffalo Grove Countryside. Susan has been our judge in the past and also written about the winners in her column. Thanks, Susan!

Regional Manager Jeff Polanzi and Friend at a previous event

This event has been sponsored by Coldwell Banker Buffalo Grove agents almost every year for the past 25 years or so. It’s always been fun and has evolved from dressing up and handing out pumpkins in the parking lot to today’s “festival” with added activities. This year we’re asking those who can to bring a nonperishable food item that we will donate to the Vernon Township food pantry.

Thanks to Lori Amato (American Home Shield), David Weinberg (PHH Home Mortgage), and Cindy Lachowicz (Burnet Title) for assisting us with the refreshments, decorations and prizes. They’re a very important part of our team and will be helping out at the Festival on Saturday.

Our Coldwell Banker office is located at 350 Half Day Road, Buffalo Grove. Our agents and support staff are working hard to make this our best event ever and we’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Quinn at the corn maze

Fun For the Whole Family at Didier Farms

Several weeks ago I enjoyed a walk through a corn maze in Wisconsin with my daughter and her family. It was so much fun that I wanted to check out local corn mazes and pumpkin farms to recommend to readers. I had to look no farther than (almost) my own back yard.  Each day as I drive to my Coldwell Banker real estate office in Buffalo Grove, I pass by Didier Farms in Prairie View. Didier is the place where I took my children to purchase their pumpkins when they were small. But it sure has expanded over the years! The whole family can spend a fun-filled day there with a variety of activities.

The Didier Pumpkin Fest is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm through October 31st. In addition to buying the perfect pumpkin, here are some of the activities:

• Hay rides • Petting zoo • Corn maze • Straw maze • Pony rides
• Moon bounce • Mechanical rides • Bird exhibit• White tiger exhibit

Didier also has beautiful mums in a plethora of colors to decorate your home. Parking and admission are free. Check out the Didier website for information on activity costs. I recommend that you get there early; the parking lot is filling up when I drive by in the morning.

Things certainly have changed at Didier over the years. It’s nice to see that this family-owned, local business continues to thrive with support from the community.

As I drive down Route 22 in Lake Zurich, I can see the activity at the St. Francis de Sales Jubilee Garden as they prepare for their fall sale. The sale will begin on Saturday, October 1st, from 9 am to noon and continue on Saturdays in October. The Jubilee Garden is non-profit, self-sustaining and relies on volunteers and financial support from the community to stay in “business”. This is their only fund raiser this year. Available for sale will be orange pumpkins from $1-$3 each, Cinderella pumpkins @5 each, and corn stalks @$5 each.

The Jubilee Garden grew approximately 2000 pounds of produce and 500 ears of corn this year that is donated to local food pantries including Emmaus House Community Dinner, St. Vincent de Paul and Alpine Church. The Garden land is donated for use by a local family and garden volunteers come from many organizations including Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Helpers also come from high schools doing service projects. The Lake Zurich Fire Department lends a helping hand by filling the water reservoirs. Hawthorn Gardens provides a variety of plants. It’s great to see so many people in the community coming together to provide fresh, organic, locally grown produce to those who may not otherwise have it.

The St. Francis de Sales Jubilee Garden is located in Lake Zurich on Route 22, about ¼ mile east of Quentin. Pop by and purchase a few pumpkins and corn stalks to decorate the exterior of your home. You’ll be helping to purchase the items needed for next year’s garden. At the same time, you’ll be getting great prices on cool fall items to enhance the curb appeal of your home. I’ll be stopping by this Saturday before the Long Grove Apple Fest. Hope to see you there!

Jane Austen said “Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness”. If you agree, then you’ll be absolutely blissful this weekend at Long Grove’s 19th Annual Apple Fest! Apple Fest is my favorite of all the Long Grove festivals. Cool, crisp weather, yummy food booths, entertainment, great shopping, and FESTIVAL DONUTS(!) are all great reasons to visit Long Grove Apple Fest.

Apple Fest has a full line-up of entertainment. There’s sure to be something that a-peels (sorry, I couldn’t help it!) to everyone. Bands and performing artists will be featured at the Gazebo, Towner Green, Beans and Leaves, Covered Bridge and Fountain Square throughout the weekend. Long Grove features its own “Man vs. Food” with the Ice Cream Eating Contest and Apple Pie Eating Contest.  There are child friendly activities including face painting.

While you’re strolling the cobblestone paths, stop in at one of the 70 Long Grove stores or restaurants. Many will have apple themed dishes and merchandise. Food vendors will be set up throughout the village offering not only apple creations but other goodies like roasted corn. You can create your own caramel apple outside the Apple Haus.

I can smell the food and hear the music from my Long Grove home. If you’d like to check out homes for sale in the Long Grove area, click here to see some of the homes currently on the market.

Apple Fest is fun for the whole family. The big challenge will be finding enough time to see everything. The second biggest will be to only eat one apple cider donut sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar that are made special for Apple Fest. I hope to see many of my friends this weekend at Apple Fest!

Finished!

The most important feature in “curb appeal” is your front door. My wood double doors were suffering from the intense western exposure. The sun had baked the finish right off. It was time to either purchase new doors or give mine a facelift. The cost-effective and eco-friendly way was to give refinishing a whirl. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?? See how I did it! 
  
1. If you have glass, tape it off. Also tape off all hardware: hinges, locks and doorstops. Many home improvement websites suggest removing the doors and all hardware. How the heck am I supposed to do that when it’s my front doors?!

2. Wipe any dust and dirt off the doors with a damp cloth.

3. Sand the doors. I used an electric palm sander with 80 grit sandpaper. You can do it with a hand block sander but it takes longer and is a lot more work! Sand in only one direction with the grain wherever possible. Wipe the door down with a damp cloth. Repeat sanding with 120 grit sandpaper for a smooth finish.

4. After sanding, I noticed that the doors had a few tiny cracks. I filled these with wood putty and sanded again.

5.  Clean all sanding dust with a vacuum. Remove remaining dust with a tack cloth.

Tinted Primer

6. In my case, I decided to paint my doors red to make them “pop”. I applied a Behr tinted primer. Let the primer dry for 4-6 hours.

7. Paint the doors with an exterior paint using a 3 to 4” brush or small roller. I used Benjamin Moore paint along with the roller and a brush for the curved windows.

8. Allow paint to dry for at least 4 hours in good drying weather. That means low humidity. Apply the second coat when completely dry.

9. Remove all the tape, add a wreath or door decoration,  and enjoy your new look!

I am lucky to have a husband who can do almost any home repair or improvement. But, as he reminds me, he’s only one man! I am inspired by women like my sister Susan and friends like Sarah and Sis who do so many things around the house. The first step is confidence – believe that you can do it and you will.

This was my first big project on my own and I couldn’t be happier! Not only do the doors look great, but I feel good knowing that I saved some big bucks and my old doors aren’t rotting away in a landfill. With those beautiful front doors, the shutters are looking a little tired. Maybe next weekend!

We owe our veterans a huge debt of gratitude. There’s an easy way for residents of Lake County to show their thanks. The Vernon Hills Police Department, in conjunction with the Veterans’ Assistance Commission, is collecting coats for Lake County veterans and their families. Vernon Hills High School (September 30) and Grayslake High School (October 14) join in the effort by organizing a collection of coats during one of their football games. The Vernon Hills Police Department is also accepting donations.

Mike Peck is the Superintendent of The Veterans’ Assistance Commission. On October 18, 2011, they will be conducting a Stand Down for homeless veterans and veterans in need.  A Stand Down allows veterans in need to receive a medical and dental assessment, a haircut, and a referral for other counseling services, if needed.  With winter approaching, the VAC has long strived toward the goal of providing each veteran in need with a winter coat. More than 300 Lake County Veterans are expected to participate this year. Last year the winter gear was all taken within the first two hours.  They need our community support!

The need is greater this year than ever before. 792 Lake County veterans have registered with the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program. These veterans and their families are at risk of becoming homeless as they struggle to make rent or mortgage payments.

Take a look through your closets and find a gently used men’s, women’s or children’s coat. Or, shop a sale and purchase a new one! Also accepted will be new hats, gloves and scarves. If you’re a fan, attend the Vernon Hills or Grayslake High School footbal games and bring a coat. I will also accept donations at the Coldwell Banker Buffalo Grove office (350 Half Day Road) and deliver them to the Vernon Hills Police Department (740 Lakeview Parkway).  If you live in the area and have a donation but just can’t get it to any of the donation points, contact me and I’ll pick it up!

The days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler. This is a great weekend to get some outdoor time in before it’s too late! Here are 5 fun and inexpensive things to do this weekend in and around Lake Zurich!

1. Take a Forest Fitness Hike: The Lake County Forest Preserve offers a Fitness Hike each week at a different preserve. This week’s is Friday, September 9th at the Half Day Preserve in Vernon Hills. It goes from 8 am to 9 am and the cost is $1 for residents and $2 for non-residents. For more information, visit their website.
2. Visit a Farmers Market: We only have a few weeks left to support our local markets! Visit one of these:
        *Long Grove Farmers Market – Sundays from 8 am to 1pm through October.  
        *Buffalo Grove Farmers Market – Sundays from 8 am to12:30 pm through October 16th. .
        *Hawthorn Woods Farmers Market – Fridays from 3 to 7 pm through October.

3.      Looking for a little more excitement? Attend the Wings Over Waukegan Air Show on Saturday, September 10th. It starts at 10 am and tickets are $5 for adults. Kids 12 and under are free.
4.  Visit the Chicago Botanic Garden. I haven’t been there in a while and can’t wait to see the changes in the Garden. There’s a plant giveaway today and a Roadside Flower Sale on Friday. Check out the full calendar of events.
5. Last, but not least, simply take some time to have an impromptu barbeque with family and friends. Play a little bocce or bags and enjoy the important people in your lives!