Chitownproperty

Here’s a lesson on how not to win clients: last week a Northwest Side Century 21 agent sent letters to homeowners near Midway Airport, warning them that their homes might soon be condemned. The letter, which said that Midway was planning an expansion and wanted to acquire nearby residential property, was an attempt to cause a panic and, of course, offered the agent’s help in listing their homes for sale. The homeowners complained to city officials, who along with the Department of Aviation, sent a cease and desist letter to the agent on Friday. The agent has since been reprimanded, and will be required to send out apology and retraction letters.

Top floor Andersonville rehab

Price: $289,900 + $20K parking
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Great space and charm galore in this top floor Andersonville home. A window lined sunroom opens to the large living room. Overlooking the ample dining room sits the spacious updated kitchen with both a south-facing breakfast nook and an island overhang perfect for stools. The master bedroom is complimented by an organized closet. A pretty bathroom with granite is accessible from the hallway and master bedroom. There are hardwood floors throughout and laundry in unit. Parking is being offered for $20,000. Located in a recently rehabbed building with a common yard, it is just steps from the el, metra and everything Andersonville has to offer.

This month the Treasury Department reintroduced the 30-year bond, fueling speculation that lenders would start offering longer term mortgages with up to 40 and 50 year terms. Lenders rely on government bond rates to set their mortgage rates, and for the past five years in absence of the 30-year note, they had to rely on the 10-year note for guidance. Now, with a long-term baseline rate to help them determine risk, they may be able to offer longer mortgages with lower monthly payments to first-time home buyers. The money doesn’t come for free though; longer terms mean higher rates, even stretched over 40 or 50 years.

Just as day-traders artificially drove up the prices of tech stocks during the internet boom, condo speculators have fueled the real estate boom of the past few years, and are now facing losses as they try to bail out:

Over the last few years, real estate speculators looking to make a quick gain also snapped up preconstruction condos in Chicago, Miami and San Diego. With prices rising by more than 20 percent a year, short-term buyers figured that by the time the condos were ready to occupy, they could sell them without ever moving in, clearing thousands of dollars in profits.

But as more speculators look to cash out in recently hot condo markets around the country, some economists say they could put even more downward pressure on prices in those buildings where for-sale listings are swelling.

(From The New York Times)

We could have included this with our post on Chicago maps, but Chicago Neighborhoods includes so much beautiful photography that we thought it was worth the individual attention. Click on any of the neighborhoods in blue (it’s a work in progress) to see dozens of street-level views of architecture.

Unique West Loop loft

Price: $349,999
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Beautiful corner unit loft with walls and walls of windows! This is not the same old layout. The split floor plan has two bedrooms with doors, windows and enclosed walls for privacy. The kitchen separates the dining and living room areas but is still open to both; perfect for entertaining. The kitchen is finished with maple cabinets, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. The kitchen island has an overhang for pulling up stools. The balcony looks out over sunset views. This unit is has great storage and laundry in unit. Extra storage and garage parking are included in the price.

Big box retailers, discount warehouses, and grocery chains are scrambling to build downtown as more and more people decide to live in the city. Home Depot is planning a new store at Roosevelt and Jefferson, Costco wants a 135,000 square-foot site in the South Loop, and grocery stores like Dominick’s, Jewel, and Whole Foods continue to expand in the city.

We found a slew of useful Chicago maps this weekend:

Chicago Census 2000 maps from the University of Chicago, local maps of data generated by the last census, including housing age, income levels, demographic makeup, population changes, and transit use.

CTA Google Maps overlaid with all the CTA stops let you pinpoint exact locations and transfer points with all the useful features of Google Maps.

HousingMaps, another Google Map hack that overlays craigslist housing rental, sublet, and for sale data. Lets you search by price point.

A zip code map from The Chicago Reader.

Chicagocrime.org, a database that lets you search for criminal activity by street address, zip code, ward, landmarks, and travel routes.

Chicago Menu Pages is more than just maps of restaurants, it’s a complete search engine for food in the city. You can search by a particular type of cuisine, even down to a particular dish, by neighborhood, and even by which spots are open late night. Searches turn up full menus of the restaurants, and if they don’t have your favorite, just tell them and they’ll add it to their database.

Search for the lowest gas prices at ChicagoGasPrices.com

The first sprouts of the new Trump Tower have emerged from the construction site, and the Tribune’s architecture critic Blair Kamin says that while the thought of a new skyscraper is exciting, it’s also a little scary:

The first structural columns for the 92-story hotel-condo tower have popped above Wabash Avenue and, all of a sudden, the project seems very real and, truth be told, a little terrifying.

You look at those round, gray concrete columns and you imagine them stacked endlessly in the sky. Patches of blue will disappear. So will cherished views, like the one from the Michigan Avenue Bridge of the elegant black slab of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s IBM Building.

Yet the heart beats faster at the prospect of Chicago reaching into the sky. Busting into the clouds is in the city’s blood. Nothing like this has happened since the boxy, black mass of the 1,450-foot Sears Tower, once the world’s tallest building and still the nation’s tallest, soared above the gritty Loop in 1974.

The construction is scheduled to take almost 4 1/2 years, finishing in 2008.

Getting homeowners insurance

Insurance isn’t protecting homeowners like it used to. Today more and more insurance companies are refusing to write new policies in vulnerable areas and canceling other homeowner policies in order to help their bottom line.

This article includes five tips for getting the homeowner’s insurance you need, but it can be summed up by three things: know what you need to replace your home, remember that you can always shop around, and if this isn’t obvious enough this year, get flood insurance.

(From CNNmoney.com)

Mortgage rates keep climbing

The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.24 percent for the week ending Feb. 9, up from 6.23 percent in the prior week, a Freddie Mac survey said.

(From CNNmoney.com)

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

• An overview of the International Builders Show by the Sun-Times focuses on building materials and home fixtures to be featured by home builders in the coming years.
• Several new high rises in the city take advantage of their proximity to Millennium Park, including the fabulous Heritage.
• There are a million large-scale residential remodeling projects undertaken each year, but buyers getting ready to take the plunge on a fixer-upper should know how much the repair job will cost, what home values the community will support, and most importantly, whether they can handle living in the middle of a mess.
• Owning investment property can afford significant tax benefits, in addition to the usual gains from appreciation and rental income.
• Buying a home near a major street may have its drawbacks, with the added congestion and noise, but you can usually get a lot more house for your money.
• Football may have nothing to do with buying a home, but Super Bowl weekend usually marks the kickoff of the annual buying season.
• The government encourages home ownership through tax incentives like the ability to deduct mortgage interest, but did you know they also provide loans for down payments?

One bedroom plus den in the heart of Wrigleyville

Price: $259,900
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This former developer’s model was completely rehabbed two years ago by a very reputable developer and has all the bells and whistles. This unit is a top floor one bedroom plus den with one bathroom. The den is a large enough to be used as a second bedroom. The kitchen is beautiful with cherry cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and a dining area that opens to the living room. The bathroom is luxurious with limestone, Kohler fixtures and a whirlpool tub. The unit has hardwood floors throughout and a large balcony off the living room that overlooks a landscaped courtyard. Laundry in unit, central air, huge walk-in closet and extra storage make this an awesome unit. You can’t beat the Wrigleyville location on a tree lined street steps to the stadium, the El, and the Southport Corridor. Ask us about the many parking options in the neighborhood. This is a great find.