Untitled Document <!-- .style1 {font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif} -->   We've just finished the latest Chicago Home Buzz second quarter market statistics for Chicago's near north side including the Gold Coast, West Loop, Loop and South Loop neighborhoods. As has been the trend, the Loop is completely dominating the downtown area in condo sales with 788 units sold in the quarter but down 22.29% from the 1000 sold in 2007. Median prices dropped to $300,952 versus $368,041 from the prior year. Gold coast (Streeterville) sales were off from the previous year with 192 units sold as compared with 239 in 2007. Sales volume is down just over $9M or 14.86% from 2007 at $61,719,029. Market time did increase as well from 103 up to 131 days but the area did see a modest 2.44% increase ... 08/06/2008

In and around Chicago, median home prices have fallen as much as 9% over the past year.  But why haven't real estate taxes followed? Unfortunately for homeowners, Assessed Property Valuations are based on the prices of similar homes that sold within the past two or three years- and some of these comparables sold when the Chicago Real Estate Market was at its peak, in 2005, and 2006. In Cook County, the county in which the City of Chicago is located, assessed values are calculated on a tri-ennial basis.  The last assessed value was determined for city residents for the 2006 Real Estate Tax Year, for taxes due last year, in 2007.  These assessed values were set, last year, through the 2009 tax year, and taxes due in 2010.  Individual Real Estate Tax Bills can and do go up in between years... 08/06/2008

Good Morning, Folks!  Another hot day on tap for Chicago, after a crazy weather week - and very scary thunderstorms and high winds on Monday night. These days, even a Mortgage Commitment Letter is not enough to assure a home closing.  Nearly-weekly changes to lending rules, and Private Mortgage Insurance Requirements, sometimes cause last-minute conditions that could get in the way of a successful closing. The biggest of these - a requirement that a "Declining Market Premium", an additional 5% down payment - be added, often just a day or two before closing. Look at it in this example, as we have, several times in 2008 - A buyer purchases a $400,000 Chicago Home, and gets pre-approved for a 90% LTV Mortgage.  However, the PMI company, two days before closing, imposes a 5% down-payment in... 08/06/2008

Granted Chicago is $400 Million in the hole and at 8:15 last night, there was a rain storm that beat all.  I was hoping for duct tape being left in my drawer to put up on the front windows for the just in case because those babies were warbbling like crazy!  At first, just like a car wash, one can "mist" the car to prepare for the cleaning and as I saw the rain coming down, just right, I then was thinking, oh, heck, where is the Jet Dry Soap?  (for the dishwasher).  It was perfect for washing the car because the rain came, stopped. Thought:  Quick find the Jet Dry, Soap and wash the car with every once of my being to get the three weeks worth of dirt off of the car before the "rinse" hits again!!! Dreamin:  Yeh, well too late.  I'm telling you, now it was like a scene from Marilyn Monro... 08/05/2008

Like many new home buyers, I'm still trying to get up to speed with the ever-evolving trend of "green," eco-friendly homes. About a month ago I attended a seminar in my neighborhood on how to make your home more energy-efficient. While I was there, I met Kirk Fox, a certified eco-broker, who was giving a presentation on searching for green homes and ways to upgrade your existing home with energy-efficient appliances and insulations. Kirk Fox is a certified eco-broker in Chicago with Helios Sustainable Development. Over the last five years or so, there's been an emerging niche of Realtors called eco-brokers. This breed of broker and agent specializes in finding green properties for environmentally conscious home buyers and helps current homeowners connect with other energy-minded contrac... 08/05/2008

Some of the subjects covered: Roles of the Lender/Mortgage Broker Credit Pre-Approval Roles of the Real Estate Agent Searching for Properties Contracts Negotiation Closing Class Location: SuburbsPequod's Pizza, 2207 N Clybourn Ave., Chicago, IL Thursday, September 25th at 6:30 p.m. To RSVP, please call or e-mail Ryan Gable at:RyanGable@startingpointrealty.com(847) 348-1154 08/04/2008

Some of the subjects covered: Roles of the Lender/Mortgage Broker Credit Pre-Approval Roles of the Real Estate Agent Searching for Properties Contracts Negotiation Closing Class Location: SuburbsPequod's Pizza, 2207 N Clybourn Ave., Chicago, IL Thursday, September 11th at 6:30 p.m. To RSVP, please call or e-mail Ryan Gable at:RyanGable@startingpointrealty.com(847) 348-1154 08/04/2008

Some of the subjects covered: Roles of the Lender/Mortgage Broker Credit Pre-Approval Roles of the Real Estate Agent Searching for Properties Contracts Negotiation Closing Class Location: SuburbsPequod's Pizza, 2207 N Clybourn Ave., Chicago, IL Thursday, August 28th at 6:30 p.m. To RSVP, please call or e-mail Ryan Gable at:RyanGable@startingpointrealty.com(847) 348-1154 08/04/2008

Good morning, AR! Here's the latest Stat Summary on the Chicago Real Estate Market, based on data pulled yesterday evening, August 3, 2008 - The "bottom" of the real estate market.  Have we seen it?  Or, is it near? Active Listing Inventory continues its pattern of stability we have seen over the last few weeks, while Average Sales Price has trended stable, despite reports last week of a continuing downward median price trend in much of the Chicago Real Estate Market.  Pending Sales continue at a slow weekly rate, although up from a couple of months ago, while Closed Listings and Expired Listings show the usual end-of-month jumps. Average Market Time continues high, and Sales Volume ended the month on a high note. Absorption Rate, or average inventory turnover, fell considerably, by 7.3... 08/04/2008

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday evening folks!  Want to get my blogging done early tonight - want to catch that Mad Men TV Show on AMC Cable in a few minutes. Is there any silver lining to the recent dark housing market cloud - here in Chicago, and, perhaps, in your neck of the woods? Perhaps, if you're a landlord! As recently as a couple of years ago, being a landlord here in Chicago was a little challenging.  You had to offer rental incentives - like reduced security deposits (never a good idea, in my opinion), free months of rent, or more tangible incentives like free Internet and subsidized off-street parking - to entice the smaller pool of potential renters. Things aren't quite as bad now, as many would-be home buyers are still waiting on the sidelines, for home prices to possibly... 08/03/2008

Here in Chicago, we take our Smoke Free Illinois Law very seriously - virtually NO EXCEPTIONS, even for actors performing in a live stage play. This mini-controversy came up recently when a Chicago theater-goer complained that performers in the smash hit, "Jersey Boys." lit up constantly during the course of the play.  Most know this play chronicles the rise of the very popular early 1960's vocal group, The Four Seasons.  Smoking was a part of the culture way back then, as many of us Boomers vividly remember.  (This is not to endorse the way things were, only to acknowledge them). But the customer complaint brought down the wrath of the Smoke Free Illinois law on the play producers, and required them to snuff out the smokes, even during the course of the performance, from now on.  Accor... 08/03/2008

There is alot of posting about home inspections lately and since I'm originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, I don't remember home inspections way back when ..... you know in "my day".  So now that you know that my photo is of me on one of my first days in real estate with Opa, my grandfather, you may consider me qualified for the age of the average Realtor, as per NAR's report.  All fun aside, I just read a post where the Realtor mentioned that "the home inspection was to protect the buyer".  I'm racking my brains to think when all of this began and why it began.  Was it because deals are no longer done on a handshake?  When we no longer to leave our doors unlocked during the day when we left the house?  (okay, that's a long time ago) ..... but honestly folks .... what generated the ho... 08/03/2008

No, this isn't being married for the second time.  It has to deal with marketing and confronting expired or cancelled listings.  I started working with expired listings because - well, obviously that failed to sell.  I'm the Second Time Around Realtor who takes these listings, reinvents their appearance, gives them the sparkle that they need to draw the attention, to be honest with the sellers or for a better word "forthright" about the marketplace, what is happening, the rate of absorption, what it will take to get noticed, etc. What does it take to get noticed?  Well, think about that first day with the one you wanted to impress.  What did you do that maybe your date didn't know you did above and beyond but it made you relax, feel better about yourself whereby you were maybe more rela... 08/02/2008

Hey, hey - Chicago Commuters!  Don't you love the summertime? Warm weather.  Outside activities and Chicago Festivals.  Chicago Cubs Games at Wrigley Field. And what else? Road Construction.  Road Construction.  And more Road Construction.  It's one of our two seasons, you know - the other being "Winter!" Those daily commutes north of the City of Chicago will soon be getting a bit more easy to take, however.  The massive resurfacing project on our Edens Expressway (I-94), which runs between Wilson Avenue on the Northwest Side of Chicago, to Lake Cook Road near the Chicago Suburb of Northbrook, is within sight of the end. Last Thursday, crews opened up a third traffic lane in both directions north of Old Orchard Road, in Suburban Skokie IL.  By the end of this month, a third lane will re... 08/01/2008

THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG! Boy, my paws just fly across the keyboard each Friday morning - my Blog Day! Often times, new laws are written close on the heels of tragedy.  You know, that red light getting installed after a tragic accident on a corner.    Masonry inspection on larger Chicago buildings only after a piece falls off with disastrous consequences. A recent Pit Bull attack on the South Side of Chicago, on a mother picking up her children from day carer, has prompted renewed interest in legislating mandatory spay or neuter of dogs and cats over the age of six months throughout Chicago.  The legislation was proposed by Chicago Aldermen Edward Burke and Ginger Rugai earlier this week.  Support comes fro... 08/01/2008

I personally think that Chicago is one of the greatest cities.  There is so much to do and experience in Chicago it is difficult to know where to begin.  To get an overview of the city you may want to visit the Sears Tower Skydeck or the John Hancock Observatory.  While you are Downtown you do not want to miss Navy Pier.  There are a variety of boat tours and city bus tours that depart from Navy Pier as well as other city locations. If you want to visit a museum you are definately in the right city.  The museum campus is loacted near Soldier Field (This is where the Chicago Bears play) is home to two wonderful museums The Field Museum and the Adler Planetarium.  Also located in the museum campus is the Shedd Aquarium which is the largest indoor aquarium in the world featuring more than ... 08/01/2008

In the 1920's, so-called "experts" warned that too much listening to the radio can damage your hearing.  "Experts" in the 1950's cautioned that sitting too close to the TV set could blind you.  The 1960's - watch out, said "experts," that microwave oven could give you "radiation poisoning."   In the 1990's - keeping that darned cell phone too close to your head could lead to a brain tumor, according to the "experts." Today, in the 21st Century - loud cell phone conversations in a public space are just plain annoying.  But using your text message function at the inappropriate time could be downright dangerous. I swear, as I was driving down the Kennedy Expressway on the Northwest Side of Chicago the other morning, I saw some lady thumb-keying her Blackberry, while traveling at 60 miles p... 07/31/2008

Hey, AR! As we all know, President Bush, without much fanfare, signed the Housing Relief Bill into law yesterday morning in the White House.  Here is a brief summary of its most important provisions. $300 Billion in new loan backing for distressed homeowners, many of which financed within the past few years using sub-prime mortgage loans. Nearly $4 Billion in U.S. Government Money to help local communities invest in blighted, foreclosed properties in their jurisdiction. A $7,500 Tax Credit, repayable over 15 years, for first-time home buyers. A new measure to allow certain distressed homeowners, meeting certain qualification requirements, to refinance into more affordable, FHA-back loans.  Lender cooperation is required, and homeowners would have to demonstrate that their house payments... 07/31/2008

  I was recently interviewed by Chicago Magazine on how I pick a home for my clients to rehab.  Rehabbing can be fun and exciting but it is also taxing on the brain, pocketbook but the results are customized, a by-product of your lifestyle, where you control the type and quality of windows, your insulation - whether it be soybean bio-base foam (which reduces heating bills by approximately 50% and are healthier homes for the lungs) of blown in loose cellulose or single batt fibreglass insulation.  The list goes on and on but I'm going to show you the adventures, trials and solutions to rehabbing a home.  Actually, this home at 5110 North Claremont in Chicago, Illinois. This property is located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood and was marketed as a two flat.  Little did we know that, e... 07/31/2008

I am a new member from Chicago looking for some blogging tips. 07/31/2008