Chitownproperty

This week a real estate industry research company released a report on the 100 most overpriced housing markets in the country. Topping the list is Santa Barbara, California, with a median price of $567,300, 80% overvalued. Naples, Florida is next at 74% over. The good news is that Chicago is still considered [...]

The 2005 second-installment Cook County property tax bills are coming out this week, but you don’t have to wait for the mail to pay them. As long as you know your property’s 14-digit tax PIN, you can pay your bill online at the Cook County Treasurer’s website. You can also pay your bill [...]

Staging a home is crucial to selling it for the best price. We have some quick tips for getting your home ready for showings here, and this article from CNNMoney goes into more detail. But who pays for that staging expertise? In the past, agents had been able to charge extra for [...]

This may seem like common sense, but home buyers should think hard about financing their purchase with no money down. If you plan to live in the home for a long time, you can outlast any short-term plateaus or drops in home values, limiting your exposure to mortgage default. But as this article [...]

Now that interest rates are getting back up to higher–albeit traditionally normal–levels, the easiest option for reducing your mortgage costs, refinancing, is no longer on the table because market rates are most likely higher than the loan’s. But you can still save thousands on your mortgage by retooling your home equity line of credit, [...]

CNNMoney has just published their Best Places to Live list for 2006. Chicago doesn’t come anywhere close to the top 10, outranked by suburbs Orland Park, Aurora, and Naperville, which comes in at #2 on the overall list. You can check out how Chicago stacks up against the rest of the country, including [...]

Some home buyers might forget that they can also turn to relatives to help them finance their purchase. At a time when interest rates from banks are rising, borrowing money from a family member can be a less expensive option since they will charge a much lower rate, if at all. Buyers typically [...]