Former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who recently became a free... |
Home ownership sees biggest drop since Great Depression
The percentage of Americans who owned their homes has seen its biggest decline since the Great Depression, according to the U.S. Census...
Get the full story >>Zambrano puts River Forest home on market
Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, whose future with the team is in doubt...
Get the full story >>Fear paralyzing a flat market
Housing's upper and lowest brackets may be making a bit of a comeback, but would-be buyers, in general, still feel paralyzed, unable to...
Get the full story >>Film director selling North Barrington home
Film director and playwright Neil LaBute, who most recently directed Chris Rock and Tracy Morgan in the 2010 movie "Death at a Funeral," has...
Get the full story >>Home prices held steady over the summer but may resume descent
U.S. home prices appear to have stabilized over the summer but are likely to renew their decline without an improving job market.
Get the full story >>Patience paying off in short sale
Banks have worked to streamline the process, and offers are getting responses in 60 to 90 days in some cases.
Get the full story >>The art and psychology of home staging
Andrea Angott has a Ph.D. in psychology and generally spends her days studying how consumers make decisions about their health care at...
Get the full story >>Housing expert sees a return to pricing realism
Jeanine McShea has seen plenty of ups and downs in residential real estate since she began her career 25 years ago. McShea, who was...
Get the full story >>The new ins and outs of corporate relocation
Back in the "Mad Men" era, I had two high-achieving uncles who regularly earned promotions in the mega-corporation that employed them both.
Get the full story >>How to sell your home fast
Our neighbors recently put their home on the market. They received an excellent offer within 24 hours of listing the property and got more...
Get the full story >>Open-house strategies that work
Sellers often think of open houses as opportunity time. They expose a listing to buyers who might not otherwise see it.
Get the full story >>Selling a home: The new realities
I've been hearing lately from homeowners who are preparing to list their homes for sale. They know the market isn't great, but they've...
Get the full story >>Summer tips to heat up your condo sale
Too many condominiums for sale. Prospective buyers are on vacation. Mortgage money is hard to get. Don't let those pesky realities prevent...
Get the full story >>Pricing a home to sell
During the housing boom, many real estate agents found it extraordinarily tough, if not impossible, to come up with even ballpark asking...
Get the full story >>How reliable are home-listing websites?
In the old days, if you were looking for a new place to live, you picked up the newspaper, looked at the real estate classifieds, put on...
Get the full story >>Delaying repairs can haunt owners when it's time to sell
Buyers don't expect roofs in need of replacement and major plumbing and electrical issues. They want those fixed, or there's no sale.
Get the full story >>Surviving a short sale: An insider's view
Chris Willette became a short-sale expert the hard way: He did his own.
Get the full story >>Numbers add up to bad quarter for housing
The absence of federal homebuyer tax credits meant an almost double-digit decline in Chicago-area existing-home sales during the first...
Get the full story >>Home values continue downward churn
March home prices in the Chicago area and nationally sank to lows not seen since the housing bubble burst, and the widely watched S&P;/...
Get the full story >>Ex-Bear takes a big hit on home sale
Former Chicago Bears offensive tackle John St. Clair has just taken a major...
Get the full story >>Sinking values prompting homeowners to consider strategic default as best option
As more people do the math, they may decide to walk away from their mortgage, even if it ruins their credit.
Get the full story >>Taking the fear out of foreclosure
People fear foreclosure almost as much as they fear death. But unlike death, foreclosure can be prevented.
Get the full story >>Chicago condo prices see price gains but more needed
Sales prices of condominiums within the city of Chicago recorded a third month of year-over-year improvement in May, a small positive sign...
Get the full story >>They did what to that house?!
You've heard of McMansions, but what about Frankenhouses?
Get the full story >>By ZIP code: Little growth in home prices
At best, Chicago-area home prices are bouncing along the bottom or getting less bad as the depreciation rate slows. At worst, they...
Get the full story >>Multiple listing service provider broadens its scope
Midwest Real Estate Data LLC has decided it wants to be more than a database of home listings for buyers, sellers and real estate agents.
Get the full story >>FICO tool helps ID borrowers most likely to strategically default
FICO Inc. this spring conceived a scoring tool that not only identifies the type of borrower most likely to strategically default, but,...
Get the full story >>Remember that you can appeal your tax assessment
Homeowners who believe their property values have been overassessed can benefit by appealing their tax bills. Gerald Schippers of Stockton,...
Get the full story >>Practice these safe showing habits
As crime victims go, real estate agents don't hold a candle to taxi drivers, who suffer the highest rate of homicide of any particular...
Get the full story >>New reverse mortgage opens options for seniors
Q. I have been a student of retirement living since 1962, when I was an executive with one of the major developers of active retirement...
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