Tag: Buying
Is your selling agent getting a referral fee from your buyer’s agent?
Realtors like to boast that they "specialize in residential properties in the city and suburbs," but that's a hollow claim, often a silly one. It' [...]
Are international investors buying up Chicago?
A post at HGTV's FrontDoor site has this headline: "Trending: International Investors Buying Up Chicago."
International house hunters, accordi [...]
Check out the cribs and ignore the chatter
Sabrina at CribChatter performs a useful service for real estate buyers by diligently searching out and spotlighting interesting new listings, and rev [...]
Relocation therapy can help you reclaim your life
According to census experts, the average American moves an estimated 14 times during his or her lifetime. People move for a variety of reasons suc [...]
YoChicago “honored” as top Chicago real estate website
We place the "honored" in quotes based on the nature of the site that selected YoChicago as one of the top 6 real estate sites in Chicago, and the onl [...]
Will you be living in a lakefront NORC?
The New York Times recently focused on the changes that changing demographics have wrought in some Upper West Side buildings:
When the co-op co [...]
How to win a North Shore home in a multiple-offer scenario
Anne West's North Shore Views paints this picture of a changed market:
It seems like just yesterday that it was a buyer’s market here on Chicag [...]
Occupy Our Homes vs Fifth Third Bank
Almost a year ago we wondered whether Occupy Chicago was using the homeless as cannon fodder by encouraging them to occupy foreclosed homes.
A [...]
Housing affordability worsens for young renters, improves for young owners
Fannie Mae recently published its latest Housing Insights report (pdf). Among the report's findings is a divergence in housing affordability betwe [...]
Real estate listing errors – a human or systems problem?
A recent syndicated column by Lew Sichelman in the Tribune warned of the problems occasioned by erroneous data entered into the Multiple Listing S [...]
A brief look at Redfin’s business model
At most real estate brokerage firms, agents are independent contractors who work solely on commission. Redfin agents are salaried employees who al [...]
Quote of the day – a prestige name trumps a good school
Development names matter, according to syndicated columnist Lew Sichelman:
Home buyers pay an average of 4.2% more when the development has the [...]
YoChicago gets around Chicagoland
Keeping faith with one of our tag lines – Chicagoland's #1 real estate video channel – we've shot video in 37 Chicago neighborhoods and 7 suburbs [...]
How to research homes for sale in Cook County
If there's one thing I've learned from reading 10s of 1,000s of comments on real estate websites, it's this: few people know where to find public [...]
Does your real estate agent need a yardstick?
Or just a larger measure of common sense?
Real estate agents these days seem to assume that every kitchen has 42-inch upper cabinets, and that [...]
Good luck with that new construction search
Searching for new construction through real broker sites can be frustrating. Real estate agents are wildly inconsistent in how they code data abou [...]
Outrageous claims about the ABR credential
We've previously called attention, on more than one occasion, to the frequency with which the ABR (Accredited Buyer's Representative) credential i [...]
Is your developer in financial trouble?
I recently took a cursory look into the history of a developer offering a to-be-built single-family home for sale, and wasn't encouraged by what I [...]
Locating the heart of a neighborhood
When a real estate listing says a property is in the “heart” of a neighborhood, there’s a 50/50 chance that it's a) on the far edge of the neighbo [...]
Do your homework and avoid real estate auction fever
Rick Levin & Associates has an auction of auction of bank-owned residential properties scheduled for Saturday, September 17, at the Hilton Rosemon [...]