The Chicago 77

31 March 2010 ? There is no doubt about it, Chicago is a condo kind of town. With an estimated 260,000 condo units in approximately 12,000 buildings, Chicago ranks as the nation?s 3rd largest condo market. 2009 saw 10,070 condo units sold, which is a 20% decrease compared to the 12,596 units sold in 2008. [...]

Starting April 5th, 2010 the government is going to start the Home Affordalbe Foreclosure Alternative program, or HAFA for short. HAFA was created in 2009 with a goal of working with home owners to make their mortgage payments more affordable to avoid home foreclosures. Highlights of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Program Include: Not allowing [...]

24 March 2010 ? Last year, prices for condominiums ranged from $4,000 for 1,200 sq ft in South Chicago to $5 million for a 5,000 square foot penthouse in the Gold Coast. The 2009 median sale price of a condo citywide was $270,000 which represents a 13% decline compared to 2008 prices. Last week, I [...]

23 March 2010 The Republican party recommended yesterday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be phased out. In fact House Representative Barney Frank was referring to Fannie and Freddie and was quoted as saying, “We made a mistake. Partially public and partially private hybrids are not workable.” However, Federal Reserve Chief, Ben Bernanke is holding [...]

I recently came across a client that I met through social networking. She told me about a property that she has that was on the market a few times over the past few years at $500k but never sold. I checked it out on the MLS and found that, in addition to a few basic [...]

22 March 2010 Mortgage analysts have estimated that mortgage investors and banks have held a total of 645,000 of foreclosed homes in their inventory for the month of January, 2010. This number up from 617,000 in December, 2009. It would appear that supply is rising again due to banks determining that many homeowners will not [...]

18 March 2010 You either love it or hate it – the iconic purple brick hotel at the corner of Touhy and Lincoln. Previously a Hyatt, the hotel has allegedly been the site of a mob hit, raucous sex parties, and the base for Stuart Levine’s politically corrupt activities. Now, however, Lincolnwood town leaders are [...]

17 March 2010 ? Did you know that at any given time, there are approximately 10,000 condos actively for sale in Chicago? Annually, between 10,000 ? 20,000 condo units are sold in the Windy City. That represents about 2% of the 900,000 condos & co-ops bought and sold across the entire country. In 2009 the [...]

If you are a Chicago Public School Employee and You?re ready to acquire a home of your own, luckily, there?s a first time home buyer program perfectly suited for Chicago Public School’s employees that provides enviable incentives and a desirable APR (Annual Percentage Rate). When you?ve got your eyes on the prize of home ownership, [...]

15 March 2010 Foreclosures in Illinois increased 22% in February, 2010. The high foreclosure rate can be attributed to the high unemployment rate and declining home prices. With the declining market many people are finding themselves underwater in their homes. Meaning . . . they owe more on their home than their home is worth. [...]

12 March 2010 While the market for loop office buildings has been stagnant, the family that makes Jose Cuervo was expected to close yesterday on 303 W. Madison for more than $60. This will be the first sale of a downtown office building this year, and one of the first significant real estate investments made [...]

10 March 2010 ? Many people are wondering how the condo market is doing so far in 2010. In short, not bad! Here we are, only two months into the new year, and according to figures generated by MRED, our regional Multiple Listing Service, condo sales are off to a strong start compared to 2009. [...]

The single most important factor when selling a home is the list price. Before Nancy, my business partner, and I even talk about all the ways we can drive traffic to our listings, we talk about market value and where a home should be priced in relation to its competition. Why do we do that? [...]