Dec

22

Five Ways to Protect Your Chicago Home from Holiday Burglars

Filed Under Home Renovation and Maintenance | Comments

With the holiday season upon us here in Chicago, we’re in the period of historically high occurrences of home burglaries. With so many families away on vacation, unoccupied homes become a target for the thieves who can spot them.

If you’re heading out of town for the holiday, here are five simple steps you can take to avoid putting a bulls eye on your home for enterprising criminals.

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Dec

18

Guest Post: Holiday Activities in Chicago

Filed Under Chicago Events, Family Events, Lincoln Park, Parks, Shopping | Comments

After a long interlude, I now have another guest post to share from one of my Team members. This post comes from John Costa, our team’s Director of Marketing. While John spends his days spearheading the print and online marketing of our client’s properties, today, he’s offering up some advice on how to make the most of Christmas in Chicago.

The Holidays in Chicago

Lights on palmetto trees. Playing a quick nine holes of golf. Wearing shorts in December. While this was Christmas as usual for me when I lived in Charleston, South Carolina, it didn’t feel truly like the holiday season to a New Jersey native such as me. So, when I moved to Chicago two years ago, I looked forward to enjoying ”Northern” Christmases once again.

With so many holiday offerings in the city, I thought it would be helpful to provide a short list of some of the best ways to take in the season in Chicago. Here’s my picks:

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Dec

11

Last Minute Holiday Gifts

Filed Under Family Events, Shopping | Comments

If you have some last minute holiday shopping to do, especially for out-of-towners, why not get them a gift with some Chicago flair?

For years, the hardworking folks at the Chicagoist blog have made regular posts on this topic. Here are some of my favorite Windy City gift ideas they’ve come up with.

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Nov

25

Do Not Want to Sell in the Current Chicago Market? Rent!

Filed Under Home Finance, News, Real Estate | Comments

2250 N. Ohio's Rooftop Pool
My listing at 2250 N. Ohio which is listed for sale as well as for rent at $4,750 a month.

I’d like to tip my hat to Jeff Kerr over at the ChiTown Living Blog for pointing out this informative article in the Chicago Tribune about what homeowners need to consider when renting out their homes.

As I’ve mentioned before, this is a conversation I have with my own clients from time to time. Of the 40 properties I have listed for sale at this time, five are also listed for rent.

There are a number of benefits to renting out your home, especially in the current market, but there are also some pitfalls to be considered.

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Nov

20

Helpful Chicago Tech

Filed Under News | Comments

Most people don’t expect much innovation from their local governments, but two city services - the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and the Chicago Public Library - have been rolling out some pretty neat tech features.

In the case of the CTA, their new bus tracker system is a feature that many of us have long wished for while waiting at the bus stop. Now, with a web-enabled phone, we can find just when the next bus will arrive on many of the most popular routes. The service is available both in a text format (telling you how many minutes until the next bus arrives) and in a map format (showing you where the buses on the route currently are).

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Nov

13

What $10 Million Will Buy

Filed Under Gold Coast, Luxury Homes, Real Estate | Comments

It’s not every day you can see what $10 million will buy, but if you tuned into NBC 5 last Sunday morning, you had an opportunity to do just that!

I had the pleasure of showing my listing at 1524  N. Astor Street for LXTV’s new television series “OpenHouse Chicago.” You can view the three minute video piece here.

The one challenge with a show like this is that it’s merely a teaser. This one-of-a-kind Gold Coast home has been completely renovated throughout and offers exquisite Art Deco-inspired interior architecture. However, the segment does not afford enough time to cover all the cool details. For example, the koi pond with a running waterfall in the backyard didn’t make the cut!

Still, this home is one of my all-time favorites, and it’s located in an area that is near and dear to me. I lived as a child in a home just a few blocks away, and my grandparents lived two doors down from us.  Our family was friends of the prior owners of this home, and we enjoyed many a holiday party there. Still, it never looked this nice!

You can view our team’s full listing and brochure for 1524 Astor here.

Nov

4

Indian Summer in Chicago

Filed Under Chicago Events, Commentary | Comments

These past few days, Chicago has enjoyed an “Indian Summer,” a period of unseasonably warm weather in autumn. In short order, we’ve gone from 50 degree weather last week to 60 and 70 degree temperatures these past few days. It’s heavenly!

This fair weather brings to mind the old “Injun Summer” cartoon from the famed Chicago Tribune cartoonist John T. McCutcheon. While McCutcheon’s verbiage is unfortunately politically incorrect in hindsight, his wonderfully drawn cartoon is a good reminder of just how long beautiful autumn weather like this has been appreciated.

One thing that isn’t politically incorrect, however, is voting, and today’s Election Day weather is ideal for that. Reports from the polls tell of long lines out the doors at some polling stations, but that’s almost a blessing on a day like this. Of course, many polling stations are moving much smoother. I voted myself today and made it in and out in ten minutes.

The rally in Grant Park tonight for Chicago’s native son, Barack Obama, had obtained permits to sell hot chocolate, but there may be little demand for that tonight. Back when it was chilly, Mayor Daley predicted a million attendees for the event. Who knows how big the crowds will be now?

Whatever your plans for these next couple days, be sure you get out and make the most of this Chicago Indian Summer.

Oct

29

Attorney Peter Marx Explains Short Sales

Filed Under Home Finance, Real Estate | Comments

Peter Marx

Earlier this fall, Chicago attorney Peter Marx came to our weekly sales meeting at Coldwell Banker’s Gold Coast Office. He had been invited to speak to us about “short sales.”

Until this year, I had never been involved in a short sale. Now, I have good friends who purchased a condo in a conversion in 2005 and have since seen the interest rate on their loan reset to an excessive rate (over 9%) and the husband lose his job. My team and I at Coldwell Banker have been trying to help them sell their condo for a price in excess of their mortgage amount but have received no offers. So, just last week, we canceled and relisted their home at a price that is more than 10% below the principal balance on their mortgage. When we get a buyer, we will work with Peter to contact their lender and negotiate a short sale.

Given that short sales are becoming more frequent in our Chicago area residential market, I asked Peter if he would consider writing a guest post for the blog that I could share with our readers. If you’re considering a short sale yourself or are just curious about this arrangement that has been grabbing headlines, you will find Peter’s post very helpful. - Jenny

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Oct

23

Chicago International Childrens Film Festival Kicks Off Today

Filed Under Chicago Events, Family Events, News | Comments

One of the really cool things about living in Chicago is the incredible diversity of unique cultural offerings including great theatre, improv, music, dance, opera, and of course, cinema.

The world renowned Chicago International Film Festival is now in full swing. North America’s oldest competitive international film event, the Festival’s goals are to discover and present new filmmakers and to acknowledge and award them for their artistry.

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Oct

23

Frank Lloyd Wright Housewalk Tickets on Sale

Filed Under Chicago Events, Family Events | Comments

If you have even a casual interest in historic architecture, you may be interested in this chance to tour the work of the greatest American architect of all time, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Just west of the Chicago city limits, Oak Park, Illinois is home to the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes in the world. With 25 homes and buildings constructed between 1889 and 1913, the town is a monument to his innovative Prairie-style design.

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