Chitownproperty

A quick rundown of the best of this weekend’s real estate news sections:

• The Historic Chicago Bungalow Association has made $750,000 available for grant funding so that bungalow owners in need of assistance can make repairs. Bungalow owners making less than 80 percent of the area’s median income can apply for grants of $3000 to $5000 to make repairs on roofing, plumbing, electrical systems, and furnace and water heater upgrades.
• Home decorating trends in 2006 are leaning towards more personal touches, bringing out a home’s individuality with unique and repurposed items instead of expensive matched furniture sets.
• Learn how to remove ice from your walkways and patios without destroying the surface underneath.
• Make a New Year’s resolution to secure your home by fixing up your fireplace, checking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, patching slippery surfaces, and installing good external lighting.
• Bathroom decor is becoming as lavish and as important to the home’s overall styling as the usual living spaces.
• The FHA has loosened home maintenance and repair standards for the homes being purchased by buyers using FHA-backed loans. Formerly, the FHA made it difficult for borrowers to purchase homes “as is,” or homes in need of significant repairs, even if they were only cosmetic. This shut out many buyers who could not afford homes in better condition. Analysts hope the new rules will spur market activity as more first time buyers can afford homes, and sellers can move on to successively higher-priced properties.

Chicagoist also posted a nice roundup yesterday of the best eateries in the new-old Maxwell Street Market area between UIC, Pilsen, and Little Italy. The multiple construction projects along Halsted and areas west have taken over 10 years to finish, but the changes in just the past few have been dramatic as both the University Village and University Commons developments near completion.

Full amenities in the heart of the city

Price: $450,000
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Come see this beautiful 2 bedroom 2 full bathroom condo in the heart of Chicago. Newer building converted to condos just last year. Very large and open living/dining room featuring recently installed oak floors and a brand new, gorgeous kitchen with maple cabinets, granite countertops and GE appliances. This spacious condo includes two large bedrooms with amazing closet space, north city views from every room and in-unit washer/dryer. Awesome location for true city living. Fantastic for Chicagoans or as an in-town. Trump Tower just next door will not obstruct the views from this unit. This full amenity building includes a 24 hour door person, on-site management, a 24 hour business center, a sun deck, an exercise facility and is pet friendly. Deeded garage parking available.

Has this been a bad year for architecture in the Chicago area? Chicagoist thinks so, and a number of recent examples support that conclusion. Last week the famous Pilgrim Baptist Church burned to the ground, the Frank Lloyd Wright Wynant House in Gary was gutted by fired, the beautiful though neglected Artful Dodger building in Wicker Park is in danger of being torn down, and a number of historical buildings are threatened. For a city that prides itself on its beautiful buildings, that’s not an encouraging trend.

Upgraded Gold Coast junior one bedroom

Price: $189,900
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Move right into this highly upgraded and spacious junior one bedroom in the desirable James House. This condo has a newly remodeled kitchen with maple cabinets, breakfast bar and newer appliances including a dishwasher! Brand new beautiful Pergo flooring throughout! Custom wood blinds. Custom tile in the nicely up-graded bathroom. Huge walk-in closet – custom shelving. The spacious bedroom is separated by a new solid wall. Assessments include heat, air and cable. Full amenity building with pool, tennis, exercise room, sundeck and party room. No wait list for parking. This has it all for a great price!

Beautiful park and lake views

Price: $239,900
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Renovated one bedroom one bathroom unit with beautiful park and lake views! Large living/dining room with pergo floors. Updated kitchen with white raised panel cabinets and white appliances. Large bedroom with newer berber carpet. Nicely renovated bath. Unbelievable closet space. A huge walk-in closet can easily be turned into a 5X5 office with pergo floors! Enjoy the views from the large terrace. Desirable building with outdoor pool, doorman, exercise room, sundeck, and a location that can’t be beat. The zoo, park, lake, restaurants, shopping and transportation are all at your front door.

Sunday’s Sun-Times Homelife section ran a spotlight on the West Roscoe Village neighborhood, a “vintage blue-collar industrial neighborhood.” The area is bounded by Western Avenue and the Kennedy Expressway and Diversey and Addison, bisected by the north branch of the Chicago River.

The neighborhood has drawn interest because of its affordability in comparison to those closer to downtown, as many other residential areas north and west of the city do. It offers an enticing mix of two- and three- flat apartments, single-family homes, and empty lots for development. The article details a number of development projects in the area.

Mayor Daley’s plan for a riverwalk along Wacker Drive–envisioned as a $40-50 million dollar project featuring over 35,000 square feet of restaurants, retail, and dock space–is progressing a little more slowly. The city hasn’t been able to secure all that funding, nor has it found a single developer to do the job as it had hoped. Instead, the riverwalk project will proceed in small steps, starting first with a market on the lower level near the new Vietnam War Memorial, and continued sprucing up of the area’s lighting, fencing, and stairs.

Higher interest rates and much slower home price appreciation rates are affecting the economy more downstream, away from the actual real estate transactions. From the Tribune:

Using cash-out refinancings and home equity loans, many consumers have treated their houses like ATMs, taking out cash when they needed it for big purchases such as new cars, remodeling or college tuition.

All the while forgetting, or at least choosing to ignore, that such spending only adds to debt. The home equity loan is a tried and true way of leveraging your home’s value to remodel or finance another home purchase, but should never be viewed as free money. As always with any line of credit, be it a line of equity or credit card, consumers should never spend more than they can repay. Unfortunately it appears too many are learning this lesson the hard way.

New home builders have started accommodating today’s buyers demanding more living space by adding “bonus rooms,” extra footage in unexpected places like attics, finished basements, sunrooms off of kitchens, and bay window sit-outs. Existing home owners have also found creative ways to add space in the front of garages and by organizing laundry and utility rooms.

The Tribune offers a couple of articles about getting your house in tip-top shape, one if you want to hire someone else to do it, and one if you’re doing it yourself.

This week’s home maintenance Q&A from the Tribune focuses on finding energy bill inflating air leaks.

We’ve completely updated Chitownproperty.com to make it easier to use. Okay, we think it looks better too, but it has all the same features as before, with our current property listings, frequently asked questions, and blog archives. You can access these sections by the tabs at the top of the page. You can also now leave comments on any of the articles; just click the ‘Comments’ link at the top of each one. Let us know what you think.

Massive River North timber loft

Price: $279,000
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Massive one bedroom loft in the heart of River North. Brick walls and timber ceilings give this unit charm and character. Its huge room sizes, 14ft ceilings and awesome city views make it a property that’s hard to beat. The kitchen has a large breakfast bar with granite countertops that over-looks the living room with its fireplace and balcony. The huge, light filled master suite has a walk-in closet, and the marble bathroom has an entrance from the bedroom and hallway. The home comes complete with washer dryer in unit, additional storage, and garage parking. The building has a nice lobby, elevator and an awesome common rooftop deck. Walk to all the restaurants, galleries, shopping and transportation this River North location has to offer.