Deal Estate - October 2011

10/31/11

Chicago’s Haunted Real Estate

These are scary times in real estate, with the ghosts of our homes’ lost value spreading gloom. But a few houses around Chicago are rumored to be truly haunted. Here’s a look at four of them, only one of which is still a residence...

Posted at 9:15 AM in Housing Bulletin | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/27/11

Aloft Armour Square

List Price: $525,000
The Property: Set in a small tower atop a five-story loft building in Armour Square, this three-story loft sits among some of the Near South Side’s most interesting neighborhoods. The dining, shopping, and culture of Chinatown, Pilsen, and Bridgeport are all in easy reach—and they can all be seen from the loft’s four different balconies...

Posted at 10:00 AM in On the Market | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/26/11

US99’s Drew Walker Puzzled by His Cook County Property Taxes

Late this summer, when Drew Walker and his wife, Jill, got the latest installment of the bill for their 2011 property taxes, they noticed that the assessment on their house had gone up 17 percent from the year before. “I don’t get it,” says Walker, the afternoon host at US99. “My home’s value has done nothing but nose-dive since ’07...”

Posted at 10:05 AM in Housing Bulletin | Permalink | Comments (2)

10/25/11

Rodkin on a Reader’s Home Purchase

Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, Bob from Winnetka asks whether or not he got a deal on his home, which he bought without an agent.

Posted at 1:23 PM in DEQ's | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/24/11

A Record-Setting House Sale for Park Ridge

List Price: $3.95 million
Sale Price: $3.19 million
The Property: Frank Calabrese, a longtime owner of thoroughbred horses with impressive records at Arlington Park and in Florida, has sold his custom-built 15-room house in Park Ridge for $3.192 million. According to Midwest Real Estate Data, that’s the highest sale price on record for that northwest suburb—and Calabrese’s agent, Danny McGovern, says that the buyers paid cash...

Posted at 9:15 AM in Sale of the Week | Permalink | Comments (1)

10/20/11

At the Heart of the Woods, in Oak Brook

List Price: $2.999 million
The Property: Today’s house is named Woods End, but given its sylvan setting, it really ought to be called Woods Heart. It’s a series of steep-roofed pavilions, each containing a major part of the living space and topped with huge skylights. The rear of the house is walled with windows and wrapped with an elevated 175-foot-long deck...

Posted at 10:00 AM in On the Market | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/19/11

Why Do You Keep Paying Your Mortgage?

We’re five years out from the beginning of the housing market’s crash, and home values are lingering at about where they were in early 2002. Many forecasts predict the dark clouds will stay put, both because of the huge overhang of foreclosures and because the federal government has been slow to do anything effective about stopping the decline...

Posted at 9:58 AM in Housing Bulletin | Permalink | Comments (6)

10/18/11

Rodkin on How to Attract More Buyers to a Slow-Selling Home

Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, Sherry asks about garnering more buyer interest in a home with seemingly great appeal.

Posted at 2:51 PM in DEQ's | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/17/11

Builder Raves On in East Ravenswood

List Price:$2.3 million
Sale Price: $2.3 million
The Property: This newly built 15-room house scored the record price for a residence in East Ravenswood, the Chicago neighborhood that is home to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The house, two blocks south of Emanuel’s house, is the third on its block built by the developer Christopher Olson...

Posted at 9:15 AM in Sale of the Week | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/13/11

A Roomy Beauty in the Villa

List Price: $1.19 million
The Property: In the early 20th century, the Villa neighborhood was advertised as “The Beauty Spot of the Northwest Side.” Its Arts and Crafts houses are still there, as are the landscaped parkways and the stone light posts (although those are now used as planters), and only a few out-of-character buildings have been added...

Posted at 10:00 AM in On the Market | Permalink | Comments (2)

10/12/11

Chicago’s Clogged Foreclosure Process—and a Cusack Sells in Lincoln Park

In Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and Indianapolis, the rate of homes going into foreclosure is about the same. But according to a new study by analysts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, distressed homes here stay in foreclosure longer than they do in those other markets—which means they are likely to drag down our local housing market longer than the distressed homes in those other cities...

Posted at 9:35 AM in Housing Bulletin | Permalink | Comments (4)

10/11/11

Rodkin on Selling a Less-than-Ideal Location

Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, Beth from Lockport asks about selling a home that neighbors a cemetery

Posted at 3:26 PM in DEQ's | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/10/11

Mike Royko’s Widow Sells Historical Graystone

List Price: $1.995 million
Sale Price: $1.8 million
The Property: Judy Royko, the widow of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, last Monday sold the 116-year-old Lincoln Park graystone she bought in 2003, six years after her husband’s death...

Posted at 9:15 AM in Sale of the Week | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/06/11

Less Is Moor on the Gold Coast

List Price: $899,000
The Property: Among the many well-preserved historical homes in the Gold Coast, the one at 1325 North Dearborn Street stands out for its façade, which is graced with 17 Moorish arches, most of them trimmed with blue mosaic glass. Known as the Lucius Mantonya Flats and dating to 1887, the building, designed by Curd Gottig, was originally the single-family home of L. B. Mantonya, a prominent Chicago shoe and boot wholesaler...

Posted at 10:00 AM in On the Market | Permalink | Comments (1)

10/05/11

Are We Still Looking for the Bottom?

Last week, while I was on vacation, the release of the latest monthly Case-Shiller home price index brought a glimmer of good news: in July, for the third month in a row, local home prices were up. Could this be a sign that the Chicago real-estate market has finally bottomed out?...

Posted at 9:35 AM in Housing Bulletin | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/04/11

Rodkin on Renting Versus Buying in This Market

Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, Mandy from the Loop asks about the factors that can influence the decision to rent or buy a home.

Posted at 12:51 PM in DEQ's | Permalink | Comments (1)

10/03/11

Missed It By That Much

List Price: $1.2 million
Sale Price: $1.05 million
The Property: When this hilltop mansion in Beverly was last sold (in 1995), it was the first home in the neighborhood to sell for more than $500,000, recalls its latest selling agent, Sandra Bianciotto...

Posted at 9:15 AM in Sale of the Week | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 2011

10/31/11

10/27/11

10/26/11

10/25/11

10/24/11

10/20/11

10/19/11

10/18/11

10/17/11

10/13/11

10/12/11

10/11/11

10/10/11

10/06/11

10/05/11

10/04/11

10/03/11

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