Rodkin on Buying a Two-Flat as a First Home
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, readers named Leanne and Mark from Uptown ask if it’s still true that a two-flat is the best place to start homeownership in Chicago.
Ad Categories: Real Estate
Foreclosure Comes to Exclusive Woodley Road
List Price: $1.549 million
Sale Price: $1.537 million
The Property: An 11,600-square-foot mansion on Woodley Road outside Winnetka has the dubious distinction of being the first foreclosure sale in that enclave of prominent families, high-level executives, and other eminent people…
A Can-Do Condo Builder in Kenwood
List Prices: $199,000 to $369,000
The Property: When work halted on a boom-years condo project meant to fill an unsightly gap in a block of historical homes in Kenwood, Lewis Korompilas spotted an opportunity…
Federal Vouchers Will Help 100 Homeless Cook County Veterans
About six months from now, 100 homeless military veterans in Cook County will have a place to live, thanks to a $760,872 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Those 100 vets represent a 55 percent increase in the number of Cook County veterans helped into housing through HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program (VASH)…
Rodkin on Selling a Home that Developers Might Tear Down
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Bob from Jefferson Park says developers have contacted him about buying his home. He asks if the house is a potential teardown that would allow him to sell as is, at a premium.
What Sold for $1 Million in March
During the month of March, four homes each sold for exactly $1 million. There’s nothing magical about that number, but as benchmarks go, it has an undeniable appeal. So what is a million-dollar house?…
From Bathhouse to Your House, in East Village
List Price: $2.2 million
The Property: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, working-class immigrants were pouring into Chicago, many of them into housing with little or no indoor plumbing. In response, the city built 19 bathhouses, where people could go to clean up…
More Evidence That Blacks, Latinos Were Hit Harder by Housing Bust
Positive signs in the housing market these days are outnumbered by negative ones—such as the data released Tuesday by Case Shiller that showed Chicago home values in January 2012 dipping back to January 2001 levels. And in neighborhoods that are largely African-American or Latino, the positives are even fewer…
A Rare Tiny House in Chicago
Tiny houses have a cult following on the Internet, but they’re hard to find in big cities. Fortunately, there’s one in Chicago—though it’s way, way out there in Dunning.
Rodkin on Composite Versus Wood Fences
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Gary from Chicago asks whether a composite fence or a wood fence would increase the value of his home.