Hard-Hit Homeowners Getting More Aid from Illinois
The web of assistance for struggling Illinois homeowners got a little stronger after a pair of announcements from the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) last week…
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Rodkin on Where to Buy a Single-Family Home—Hyde Park or Bridgeport?
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Donna from Ravenswood asks which South Side neighborhood she should choose to buy a single-family home in the $300,000 to $350,000 range.
Bank Eats Over $1 Million on Naperville Short Sale
List Price: $1.199 million
Sale Price: $1.05 million
The Property: This 16-room house on the far western edge of Naperville sold in November for $1.05 million. That’s 38 percent of what it cost to build…
A Spruced-Up Sears Home in Rogers Park
List Price: $479,000
The Property: There’s a quiet block of classic houses and apartment buildings in Rogers Park where you can tell what a rooted part of the neighborhood it is just by looking at all the well-designed front gardens—several of which still look nice in late fall…
Winnetka’s Maverick House Back on the Market
One of the quirkiest houses on the North Shore—with light fixtures carved from wooden salad bowls, a Western-themed mural above the living room, and a distinctly offbeat fence—came back on the market this month, five years after it went up for sale for the first time since it was built more than 90 years ago…
Rodkin on How to Sell a Condo Unit with a Noise Problem
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Stephanie from South Loop asks for advice on how to reduce the noise coming from her upstairs neighbor’s apartment now that she wants to sell.
WGN’s John Williams Sells La Grange Park Home
List Price: $589,900
Sale Price: $590,000
The Property: Last Thursday, November 29, John Williams, the afternoon host on WGN Radio, and his wife, Brenda, sold their home of 11 years, a brick Tudor in La Grange Park…
The Five Buckinghams
List Price: (See individual condos, below)
The Property: Today we’re looking at five different condos for sale in the Buckingham. That just happens to be the same number of musicians that were in the Buckinghams, the Chicago-based band behind the 1967 tune “Kind of a Drag”…
Push Is on to Extend Tax Forgiveness on Foreclosures, Short Sales
Part of a distressed sale—a foreclosure or a short sale—or a loan modification entails the mortgage lender forgiving some or all of a homeowner’s debt. Formerly, tax laws counted that forgiven amount as taxable income. But in 2007, President George W. Bush signed legislation that temporarily exempted forgiven mortgage debt from taxable income. That law expires December 31—unless Congress acts to extend it…
What to Fix First Before Selling—Interior or Exterior Flaws?
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Jill from Brookfield asks which should be repaired first—scratches and cracks on the interior doors or cracks and crumbles on the exterior concrete steps—before putting her home on the market.