A Bid to Buy
Web site helps would-be homeowners make an irrefusable offer
Ad Categories: Real Estate
A Close Call
Parties to deal agree to delay finalizing sale for seven months
Fending Off a Tax
Anticipating political change, seller cashes in on house
Sale of the Week—Real Cathedral Ceilings in Wilmette
List Price: $1,990,000
Sale Price: $1,725,000
The Property: There’s nothing half-apsed about this condominium in a converted, cruciform-shaped Catholic church in Wilmette. The 3,662-square-foot residence fills the entire third floor of the semicircular space that was once the church’s apse—or head of the cross—as well as its transepts: that is, the two arms of the cross, each graced with a tall, arched window. A dining room occupies one arm; the master bedroom, the other. The apse has been transformed into a…
On The Market—Two-Bedroom Plus Library at the Palmolive
List Price: $2,495,000
The Property: This two-bedroom condo at the landmark Palmolive Building has been sumptuously finished with extensive millwork, gracious chandeliers, and a home automation system that controls everything from the indoor temperature to the blackout shades on the…
Towering Ambition
The Chicago Spire aims to be the tallest skyscraper in North America. But will it get built? The twisting tale so far
Housing Bulletin— Melissa Bean and Mortgage-Aid Legislation
On May 8th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a mortgage rescue plan that, although threatened by a veto from President Bush, could help homeowners facing foreclosure stay in their homes with lower-cost loans.
Congresswoman Melissa Bean, who represents Illinois’ 8th District (Chicago’s north and northwest suburbs), authored three parts of the package that were expressly designed to keep the bill from rewarding irresponsible borrowers with government funds. “There’s an implication from opponents that this is somehow gifting taxpayer money to…
Sale of the Week—At a Loss in Wilmette
List Price: $1,199,900
Sale Price: $1,103,500
The Property: This large four-year-old house resides in a Wilmette neighborhood where new construction has replaced about one-third of the older ranch houses that still characterize the area. It has 13 rooms, five of them bedrooms (one is in the basement, where it would commonly be used for a nanny or guests), a pillared foyer, and a spacious kitchen lined with cherry cabinets. From the family room, French doors open onto a nice patio—but that’s about all there is to…
Who Will Buy the Condos?
Since 2000, developers have flooded downtown Chicago with more than 20,000 new condos and townhouses—yet at the end of 2007, nearly 8,000 of them sat unsold. Will that glut drag down the local economy even further, or will the lure of city living and an influx of international buyers rescue a failing market?
On The Market—Throwing Bucktown a Curve
Talk a walk around Bucktown with Dennis, and then a tour of the home with Tony Madonia. List Price: $1.9 million The Property: The architect John Hanna threw the rigidly rectilinear street grid in Bucktown a curve when he designed this contemporary home for a corner lot. The house appears impossibly slender when viewed from … Read more