If you’re planning on selling your home and moving some time in the near future, you should think about the features in your house, and whether or not buyers want what you’ve got. Yet a lot of home buyers might be hesitant to blow money on upgrades if they don’t plan on taking advantage of them for long.

Think about it, the cost you incur to make these upgrades might be a lot less compared to the loss you’ll take upon the sale of your home if you don’t include certain features that buyers in your area desire. It really can mean the difference between getting the price you want, and letting the listing go stale.

Here are a few popular features that will most likely help you sell your home faster.

Gourmet Kitchen

The kitchen is always a huge selling point for homes. Buyers love it when they walk into a home and see a kitchen masterfully outfitted with updated features and appliances. Kitchen makeovers are always at the top of the list when it comes to the biggest ROI.

What exactly sets a typical kitchen update apart from a gourmet kitchen?

Three features are a part of this equation:

1) Cutting-edge appliances

2) Gorgeous surfaces

3) Tons of storage

You can’t call a kitchen ‘gourmet’ if it’s not equipped with a top-of-the-line gas range and deep refrigerator. Don’t forget the convection double oven, warming oven, and microwave drawer – gourmet cooks appreciate having these features in their kitchens. At the very least, consider installing stainless steel appliances, which are always sharp-looking and make a statement.

When it comes to the surface that cooks like to work on, consider stainless steel or stone counters. If these aren’t in the budget, you can mimic the look with a laminate. People who watch all those home improvement or cooking shows expect kitchen to look like the ones on TV.

Potential buyers will definitely be going through all the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Those with ample space will always score big points.

Energy Efficient Appliances, Windows and HVAC Systems

Buyers are savvy these days, and they are increasingly expecting homes to feature energy-efficient windows and appliances to help shave the cost off their monthly utility bills.

Energy Star windows come with an invisible glass coating, vacuum-sealed gaps with inert gaps, durable weather stripping, and high quality framing materials – all of which can help to cut down energy costs by as much as 15%.

‘Green’ HVAC systems can cut 20% off your annual utility bills, and can provide efficiency even in extreme hot or cold weather conditions. The cutting-edge technology used to adjust heating or cooling can manage the air temperature in the home for the ultimate in comfort, while using the least amount of energy possible.

Refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers are all energy-suckers, which is why making the switch to energy-efficient models makes sense. You can save a few hundred bucks at the end of the year by opting for appliances that use less energy to complete the same tasks as their non-energy-efficient counterparts. And the government might even pitch in with incentives if you choose to make the switch.

Knowing that your home is easy on the environment and affordable to operate is a huge feature that buyers look for.

Backyard Deck

After checking out all the rooms in the home, buyers love ending off their tour by walking out to an expansive and well maintained deck in the backyard. Millennials in particular have come to expect this feature, so give them what they want and build one if you haven’t already got one.

Even if you’ve got a teeny tiny yard, that doesn’t mean you can’t install one. A deck that fits a couple of chairs and a little table is just enough to provide an outdoor living space. Aside from pressure-treated pine (which is a common material used in building home decks), there are other materials you can consider using, including concrete or composite materials that require less maintenance than wood.

Throw in a few built-in pot lights and you’ll thoroughly impress buyers.

Open Concept

Plenty of homeowners with a separate formal dining room rarely use the space. Actually, scratch that. It is used, but more often for storing junk than for actual sit-down dinners.

These days, millennials prefer an open floor plan with minimal walls that cut off the space. Instead of a separate dining room, living room and kitchen, consider knocking down a few walls to open up the space and bring in more light.

Not only is an open floor plan brighter and more functional, it’s also more conducive to interaction among everyone in the home. Parents can keep tabs on their kids better, and guests can socialize amongst each other regardless if one is in the kitchen and the other is in the living room.

Storage Space in the Garage

Garages aren’t just for storing vehicles – they’re also hugely depended on by homeowners to store things. This is especially true for young couples with growing families. In addition to the basement, the garage tends to be depended on to store all those big items, like strollers, bikes, patio chairs, boxes of old toys, and other things that you’d rather not lug up the stairs from the basement.

Additional storage in the garage allows homeowners to ensure that the inside of their homes is not cluttered and much more organized. After all, the less stuff you have in the house, the less organizing and tidying up is necessary.

Adding this extra storage is easy, and you don’t need a massive garage to make it happen either. All you need is some cabinetry, a peg wallboard to hang your tools, and some lighting to make finding your items a cinch.

Not only should you eliminate features in your home that are considered outdated and unattractive (popcorn ceilings and peeling vinyl floor tiles, that means you!), you should seriously consider incorporating some of the above features to attract the masses of buyers. In addition to these features, there are plenty others that can do the trick to bring in the offers. Consult with your real estate agent for more tips and ideas to get your home sold quickly.

September 5, 1882 was the United States’ first Labor Day, celebrating the social and economic achievements of American workers. 

Over the years, it’s also come to mean the end of summer. (insert crying emoji) 

If summer must end, as it always does, what better way to celebrate than three days by the lakefront, celebrating the oldest of Chicago’s free lakefront music festivals?

The Chicago Jazz Festival has been part of the city’s summer music lineup for more than 40 years. The range of artists run the gamut from jazz legends to influential modern masters and crucial new voices in the genre’s continuing evolution.

The Roots of Chicago Style Jazz

Jazz began as a fusion of African and European musical traditions in the Deep South. 

The “Chicago style” of jazz originated in southern musicians moving North after 1917, bringing with them the New Orleans “Dixieland” or sometimes called “hot jazz” styles, according to Wikipedia sources.

As Wikipedia sources tell it, King Oliver and Jelly Roll Mortonbecame stars of the Chicago jazz scene. King Oliver brought Louis (‘What A Wonderful World’) Armstrongto Chicago in 1922 while he was performing with his Creole Jazz Band. In the WTTW-produced jazz documentary ‘From Riots to Renaissance: Jazz and Blues in Chicago,they say ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong came to prominence as a precision cornet player and later as an energetic trumpeter. He created a new sound known as “scat” — singing nonsensical syllables in lieu of lyrics — using his voice as another instrument.

As WTTW’s documentary tells it, as more musicians came to the Windy City, they found themselves influenced by urban sights, sounds, and rhythms. The music evolved and grew, and with the help of Chicago’s recording industry, the sound of popular bands spread to every corner of America. Out of these beginnings came thousands of variations, including bebop, soul, fusion, swing, cool, and free jazz. 

According to Wikipedia, important musicians coming out of the Chicago style included Lovie Austin, Muggsy Spanier, Jimmy McPartland, Bix Beiderbecke, Eddie Condon, Bud Freeman, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Frank Teschemacher, and Frank Trumbauer.  

The gangsters of Chicago engaged musicians like Earl Hines, who led an orchestra in one of the city’s top locations. Louis Armstrong was also friendly with gangsters, such as Al Capone who frequently paid for private use of jazz clubs.

Chicago Jazz Festival History 

Shortly after Duke Ellington’s death in 1974, a festival was organized to honor him in Grant Park, according to Wikipedia sources.  

More than 10,000 jazz fans attended, and it became an annual event, attracting crowds of up to 30,000. In 1978, another group organized a Grant Park festival to honor John Coltrane.In 1979, the Jazz Institute of Chicagobegan preparations for its own Grant Park Festival, which would have resulted in three separate jazz festivals being held in Grant Park at the end of August, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events stepped in and joined the three different festivals together into the Chicago Jazz Festival.

Four Days of Jazz: August 31-September 3, 2023

Today, jazz remains relevant in all its forms, and those who have followed have improved on the masters listed above. 

The 2023 edition of the Chicago Jazz Festival begins at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 E. Washington Street, 2^nd Floor North: 

• From 11am-12pm, the Festival gets underway with the ‘ Live the Spirit Residency Young Masters.’ 
• From 12:15-1:15pm, it’s the Asian Improv, Francis Wong’s “Legends and Legacies”
• 2-3pm – The Fred Jackson Quartet – Presented by The Elastic Arts Foundation
• 3:15-5:15pm – What is this thing called Jazz? Presented by the Education Committee of the Jazz Institute of Chicago.

At Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 8/31

• 6:30-7:30pm – Chico Freeman-100 Von Freeman Centennial
• 8-9pm – Ron Carter and Foursight 

The Chicago Jazz Festival is free, and a complete schedule can be found by clicking here. 

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago

The idea of emotional intelligence has been around for a while now. Its importance in business cannot be denied. It can have quite an impact, helping you feel less overwhelmed and more successful at work. Much of what has been written about EI makes it seem like it takes a huge amount of effort and a lifetime commitment to learn, so it’s easy to see why someone would be a bit overwhelmed. But there are a few things we can do everyday to boost our EI!

Becoming more aware of your feelings is an important first step. Take a minute to use words to describe your emotional state. This will give you a sense of awareness and control. Share one positive emotion with another person. Something that they said or did that made you feel good. 

Try to avoid monologues. When talking to someone ask yourself if the topic you are excited about would be of any interest to them. We’ve all been in a situation when someone goes on and on talking about something that we have no interest in. We try to get away as soon as possible. Instead ask them about their life. Most people love to talk about themselves. This will help you forge deeper connections as they will understand that they are important to you. 

Try and listen more. Often when others are speaking, we are thinking of what our response will be. Next time focus on what they are saying. Ask questions. People are so used to not being listened to you will receive their respect. 

Sometimes you just need a time out. We all feel powerful emotions and it’s good when they are positive, like when your team wins, but many times we can experience anger and it is not a good idea to express it immediately. Give yourself a time out. Count to 10 or hum a tune in your head. Find something that works for you. It may save you from saying something you may regret. 

At the end of the day do a review. Consider what went well in your interactions with others and what did not. Give yourself congratulations for those that worked out and celebrate that you are in charge of your emotions and feelings. If something didn’t go well, think of different ways you could have handled it better and resolve to do it. Remember that any progress is a win and will keep you moving in the right direction!

Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago

WOW — we were definitely hit by the dog days of summer this past week!  However, this weekend plans on bringing us a cool down so we can wrap-up another summer month filled with lots of good eats and more!  Are you ready?

Come experience traditional Mediterranean dishes at the 33^rd annual Taste of Greektown Festival this Saturday and Sunday along Halsted Street from Adams to Van Buren Streets in the West Loop neighborhood.  Of course, the neighborhood’s acclaimed Greek restaurants are the stars of the show cooking up lots of tasty dishes.  But there’s more to help you experience Greek culture first-hand with lively Greek bands, Greek dance troupes, unique shopping, family friendly on-site activities such as a gyro eating contest, and more as you celebrate Hellenic cuisine and culture!

Chicago’s very own James Beard Award winning food journalist Steve Dolinsky is hosting the 2^nd annual Pizza City Fest this Saturday and Sunday at The Salt Shed (1357 N. Elston Ave.) in the West Town neighborhood.  Twenty different pizza makers will be on hand each day representing 10 different styles of pizza such as deep dish, stuffed, tavern, Sicilian, and others.  Plus, educational seminars on pizza and dough making with leading pizza pros will be featured as well as sides, salads, desserts, and live entertainment.  And all this for one price!

The glorious taco is taking the spotlight again this year at the 10^th annual Lakeview Taco Fest this Saturday and Sunday at the Southport Corridor (Southport Ave. & Addison St.).  Over 10 local restaurants will be serving delicious creations of their take on this fav tortilla-wrapped dish.  While chowing down, guests can also enjoy live music on two music stages, Mexican wrestling, special beer pairings, and a kids’ zone!  Don’t forget to text your vote for Chicago’s “Best Taco!”

Calling all dog lovers! The Great American Dog Show takes place this Saturday and Sunday at McCormick Place (2301 S. King Dr.) in the South Loop.  Meet, pet, and play with over 200 different dog breeds.  Watch amazing tricks, agility, obedience, and dock diving demonstrations.  See famous dogs from around the country compete for Best in Show.  Browse around to find unique products and gifts for your pooch at the Vendor Village.  Get personal tips from top dog trainers, breeders, and vets.  Plus, kids can also enjoy free face painting, bouncy-houses, and kids only dog rings in the Kids’ Zone.  As the saying goes, there’s something for everyone at this show!

Just when you thought Chicago’s traffic couldn’t get any worse, here comes the Chicago Triathlon this Saturday and Sunday which means street closures!  The first race is the protected harbor Swim.  Then it’s on to a multi-level, scenic, flat Bike ride that is 100% traffic-free down Lake Shore Drive and then wrapping up with a rousing Run through the Museum Campus and the Lake Front Path finishing in Grant Park.  Also, there are different courses for athletes of all levels, so everyone gets to experience the Chicago Triathlon on the shores of Lake Michigan!

Chicago’s only free chalk art festival Chalk Howard Street takes place this Saturday (11 a.m.-8 p.m.) on Howard Street between Paulina Street and Ashland Avenue.  Be prepared to tour some of the best and most amazing 3D chalk designs by internationally renowned artists.  Then enjoy some food, drinks, live music and more!

Sue Moss and Dean’s Team Chicago