How time flies! One of my first posts after starting this blog last summer was on Chicago’s annual “Movies in the Parks” program. Now, another summer is here, and that means another season to enjoy great films for free in the friendly setting of Chicago’s public parks.

The film reels start rolling as early as next week with titles like Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar 2, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man on outdoor screens across the city. Visit the Chicago Park District’s Movies in the Parks page to see which films are playing near you.

And if you live in the central Lakeview area, there’s an independent “Movie Night in the Park” event this Sunday at Hawthorne School. They will be showing cartoons followed by Disney’s animated motion picture Bolt.

So pack a picnic, grab a blanket and relax under the stars while enjoying some great movies free of charge.

Photo by BluEyedA73

Even if you pay your bills on time, how you use your credit cards can influence the cost of your next loan.

Credit scores (of which FICO scores are a subset) have always been important because banks and financial institutions use them to determine individuals’ credit worthiness. However, with lending institutions raising their standards in light of this past credit crisis, your score is more important than ever.

Overall, this tightening of the purse strings is a good development for the industry, but it also means some individuals may be unfairly punished for otherwise responsible behavior. While borrowers who are late or miss payments take a justifiable hit to their credit scores, those who always pay on time may still have their scores dinged.

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The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced recently that lenders will now be permitted to allow homebuyers to use their federal tax credit as a down payment on their purchase. Previously, the tax credit could only be received after buyers had filed their tax returns.

This development is good news for sellers as it adds yet another incentive for buyers to come off the sidelines. The tax credit is also, of course, beneficial to buyers (depending on how much upward pressure the additional buying puts on prices).

On another note, I apologize for the recent drought in posts on this blog. I’ve had the fortunate problem lately of being very busy with the recent increase in buyer activity. Specifically, my Team and I have seen the under $400k market pick up in the last month with more multiple bids and more sales.

Don’t worry, though! More great posts are still on the way, so stick around.

Affordable housing has long been the dream of American families and policymakers alike. Now both are seeing their wish fulfilled, though not in the way either envisioned: the housing correction. This drop in home prices will be remembered as a blessing for first-time homebuyers, but this comes as no comfort to those who are already locked in to a mortgage and struggling to make payments.

If you are having difficulty paying your mortgage, you may be eligible for relief through the new federal Making Home Affordable (MHA) program. This service can aid qualified homeowners by either helping them refinance to a new loan or by modifying their existing loan.

To qualify for MHA refinancing, you must:

- Have a loan that is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. You may look up your loan here to see if it qualifies.

- Be current on your mortgage payments. Any single payment more than 30 days late disqualifies you.

- Have a mortgage balance that does not exceed 105% of your home’s current value. Divide your mortgage balance by your home’s value, and then multiply by 100 to find your percentage ratio.

To qualify for MHA loan modification, you must:

- Use the home as your primary residence

- Owe no more than $729,750 on your first mortgage

- Have trouble paying your mortgage. Examples include having had a significant increase in your mortgage payment OR reduction in your income since you got your current loan OR having suffered a hardship that has increased your expenses (like medical bills).

- Have obtained your mortgage before January 1, 2009

- Have payments on your first mortgage (including principal, interest, taxes, insurance and homeowner’s association dues, if applicable) that are more than 31% of your current gross income. You can calculate the cutoff point here.

If you think you qualify for either program based on the above information and are interested in proceeding, visit the MHA website and then contact your loan officer.

The MHA program ends on June 10, 2010.

The economic downturn has seen many American families relocate after losing their homes amid financial difficulties. Here in Chicago, however, there are those who have left their previous homes under much harsher circumstances - warfare or persecution.

While other forms of immigration to the U.S. have dropped off recently, refugees from Burma, Bhutan, Iraq, and various African nations continue to arrive in American cities like Chicago. Aside from limited government assistance, these refugees rely largely on local charities to help get them started in their new lives.

Here in Chicago, the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries (IRIM) is one such not-for-profit that assists refugees in integrating with local communities and gaining self sufficiency. According to the IRIM, their organization picks up where the movie Hotel Rwanda leaves off, meeting immigrants at the airport and helping them with housing, employment, school, health care, and other needs.

The assistance IRIM provides is ambitious, but you can help out in smaller, more specific ways. Everything from providing tutoring, mentoring, or childcare to cosponsoring a family or providing employment is all in demand by IRIM’s volunteer services. You can volunteer on your own or as part of an office, club, or religious group.

Granted, times are tougher for Chicagoans today than they have been in past years. Still, for those who speak little English, have no savings, and lack a network of friends and family, life is an even greater a challenge. If you can assist in any small way, the gratitude you’ll earn for yourself and our city will no doubt be immense.

The IRIM will be holding their Fourth Annual Fundraiser on Friday May 8, 2009 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Save the date, and learn more at www.irim.org.

It’s that time of year again! City street cleaning starts on Monday, March 30^th and runs through November. During street cleaning days, you cannot park your car on a specific side of the street in order to accommodate the street cleaner.

The way the city communicates the schedule varies by neighborhood. In parts of the Gold Coast for example, you are notified of street cleaning by permanent signs. In other areas, temporary bright orange cardboard signs are posted one day before the street will be cleaned. The problem with both methods is that depending on where you park, your view of the sign may be obstructed. So, if you notice an entire block of mostly open parking, look carefully before deciding that the parking gods must be shining upon you.

Just to be safe, you can view your street cleaning schedule ahead of time at the Streets and Sanitation webpage here. Schedules are organized by ward, and if you don’t know your ward, you can look it up at the Civic Footprint website. Alternatively, you can simply contact your alderman’s office for more information. Knowing these schedules before hand is especially important if you travel or sometimes leave your car parked on the street for more than a couple of days.

The alternative to respecting the cleaning times is a $50 ticket. Now that the city has equipped 100 street cleaners with cameras to photograph the license plates of offending cars, the Department of Revenue will be more efficient than ever in doling these out.

So, mark your calendars and make sure it’s your curb, not your wallet, that’s swept clean this season.

Photo from the 12^th Ward’s website.

Increasingly, Chicago is known for a different kind of theater.

Hollywood may be known as the movie capital of the world, but thanks to Chicago’s unique character (and some Illinois tax credits), our city is playing an increasing role in major film productions.

Recently, The Windy City stood in for the fictional Gotham City in Christopher Nolan’s new Batman film series. While I was not able to catch the latest installment, The Dark Knight, in theaters, it was hard to miss the crew as they were filming around town in the summer of 2007.  According to the Chicago Tribune, The Dark Knight crew shot for a total of 65 days in 35 different Chicago area locations.

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Spring is on its way, a welcome change after a brisk Chicago winter. Bulbs are starting to sprout, buds are on the trees, and nature’s marvelous rebirth is right around the corner. Historically, spring is also that time of year when our real estate market comes alive, often with vigor. In years past, my residential real estate sales team and I averaged approximately 40% of our total year’s sales during Chicago’s “spring market.”

Believe it or not, our spring market is off to a healthy start this year. We have now written about the same amount of dollar volume as we did at this time last year, possibly a bit more. I attribute the fact that we are on course to our constant attention to pricing. All the beautiful brochures and online photos in the world won’t sell a home in this market if the asking price is too high. So, we have shifted how we communicate with our seller clients, and spot-on pricing is a frequent topic of discussion. While we are rarely getting the prices we would prefer, our clients who sell are relieved to be out from under their home and able to get on with their lives.

But our spring is not all joyful…

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When I think about Africa, my mind goes straight to the “Big Five.” These are the “trophy” animals that visitors often hope to see while on safari. They include the rhinoceros, elephant, leopard, buffalo and lion.

Here in Chicago’s urban “jungle” we may not have thousand pound mammals roaming our streets, but we do have what I call my own “Big Five.” Many of my favorite childhood memories tie back to the time I spent in each of these places. Whether you are a lifelong resident or a tourist in our fair city, be sure to explore these world-class institutions when you have the chance.

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Thanks to your generous showing of support, Live and Play in Chicago qualified among just 32 blogs in the United States to participate in the nationwide real estate blog brawl.

Our first competitor is www.carolinevablog.com, coincidentally, another blog written by a Coldwell Banker agent named Jennifer - a Jennifer Rathbun of Fredericksburg, Virginia.

To win this match up, we need only to solicit the most votes from as many Internet connections (IP addresses) as possible. Even the hotspot at your local Starbucks counts as an extra vote, but I’m not asking that much of you.

If you have a spare moment, please visit the contest voting page and cast your vote in all of the blog matchups listed (including, of course, the one for my blog). If you have time, you can skim each blog to get a feel for which ones deserves your vote. Otherwise, just cast a random vote in the pairings you don’t wish to evaluate.

The deadline is this Friday, March 20^th at 7:59 a.m. CST.

So it’s Chicago vs. Fredericksburg in Round 1. Vote early and vote often, Chicago. This time, you really can.

keep looking »

Jennifer Ames

Sales Associate and President of The Jennifer Ames Team

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

(312) 440-7525

jenny@jenniferames.com

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Recently Written

• Movies in Chicago Parks are Back!
• Lesser Known Ways to Damage Your Credit Score - and How to Avoid Them
• Buying A Chicago Home? Use Your Tax Credit as a Down Payment
• Do You Qualify for Home Refinancing or Loan Modification?
• Volunteer Opportunity: Help Refugees Become Chicagoans
• Notice to Chicago Parkers - Street Cleaning is Back
• Chicago on the Silver Screen
• Weathering the Storm Together
• Chicago’s Big Five
• Blog Brawl Round #1 - Vote Now!

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