It’s a sign of simmering frustration over the housing crisis—now in its second half-decade—that Jamie Dimon, one of the nation’s top bank executives, complained last Friday that “there is no one really in charge” of fixing the problem. “It is just kind of sitting there,” he said. The Obama administration also signaled this week that it hasn’t done enough to help homeowners…
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Mike from Beverly asks if PMI is becoming a trend when refinancing.
BRING BACK THE BOOKS: Homeowners remove hot tub in $5 million Uptown home
List Price: $1.299 million
Sale Price: $1.5 million
The Property: Trusts in the names of the two daughters of the financial whiz and philanthropist Richard Driehaus have sold a storybook-style Italianate Victorian that they had owned since 2001…
List Price: $1.59 million (under contract)
The Property: City homebuilder Bart Przyjemski has been doing so well with his contemporary-styled homes that he had this one in Lake View under contract before we could get there to shoot video. But it serves as the model for his next few homes—and quite a model it is, with its bold glass and panelized exterior…
Momentum is gathering behind the idea of converting large numbers of empty foreclosed homes into rentals. The Tribune reported last week that Chicago is selling entire condo buildings to apartment developers. And Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, wrote that large-scale foreclosure-to-rental programs would help heal the housing sector—a concept that is reportedly central to a plan being developed by the Obama administration…
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Stevie asks about buying vs. renting a condo in the $270,000 price range.
INSIDER’S GUIDE: From contemporary art to craft beer to upscale Chinese food, this Near South Side neighborhood offers plenty of local color
List Price: $1.795 million
Sale Price: $1.47 million
The Property: About a year ago, construction ground to a halt on this 16-room mansion in South Barrington, leaving much of its interior unfinished—including a planned copper dome, which had only been framed out with wood. But that didn’t stop the selling agent from making a silk purse out of this 22,795-square-foot sow’s ear…
List Price: $810,000
The Property: A traditonal-looking neighborhood is springing up next door to Libertyville’s charming downtown. SchoolStreet, a New Urbanist development on the site of a failed townhouse project, has been selling well, and its promised front porches are becoming more numerous…
