I am updating my blog theme. Main post content is available now and fine tuning will occur over the next few days…weeks.

Revised plans for the former Peerless Confection Company site are up for further neighborhood discussion and review. Looking at the Hostess site and Peerless site plans side-by-side as they face one another across Lakewood Avenue, they seem to complement one another nicely.

The Hostess site’s very symmetrical, uniform lines seem softened by the Peerless site’s softer, almost organic plan due to the varied building types, shapes, and sizes. Large setbacks along Lakewood used in both plans and even a park run by NeighborSpace at the southwest corner of the Hostess plan allow for ample green space.

Absorption rate is a fancy term for sales rate or how long it will take to sell unsold inventory. These days as condo lending pre-sale requirements to close a unit are extremely restrictive (51% sold for FHA, Near 70% sold for Conventional) sales rate is more important than ever in assessing whether a new construction purchase is feasable or a wise investment.

Working with a recent buyer, we uncovered the perfect new construction condo. My client loved the floor plans and finishes. At first look sales looked OK as the project had 100 units total and at our viewing there were 25 under contract. Construction crews were working feverishly while we were there.

Digging deeper however, the picture was not so rosy. A bit of research revealed that at this very time last year, the project had 23 units under contract. So 2 units had been sold in the last 12 months. Running the numbers, this yields a sales rate of .16 units/month, in other words, holding all factors constant it would take 37 years to sell the remaining inventory. Just reaching pre-sales guidelines, let alone, selling out the project would be difficult. Of course many factors could change to influence sales velocity such an improved economic outlook, loosened lending guidelines, price, and incentives, etc.

Finishes and floor plans are important but only if the units will be delivered in a reasonable time frame if ever.

I recently had a buyer client ask me whether he really needed a pre-purchase inspection of his new Lincoln Park condo. He said…

“It’s a condo, what could possibly be wrong with the place?”

A lot, and yes, condo inspections are worth every penny. That said, an individual condo unit inspection alone is not sufficient. Most major issues will arise with the building limited-common and common systems such as windows, tuckpointing, roof, elevator, parking garage, deck, etc. So how do you uncover these issues?

In my post Trust, But Verify When Making a Condo Purchase I touched on this issue. To uncover issues with building common elements, a thorough review of meeting minutes and budget can yield a wealth of information.

So while the unit home inspection may reveal that a GFCI near the kitchen sink needs replacement, a review of the association meeting minutes may reveal that the building roof needs to be replaced.

Inspections are important but don’t miss the forest through the trees.

When working with buyers who plan to purchase a condo in Chicago and obtain financing via an FHA loan, I often get the following request…

Can you send me the complete list of FHA approved condo buildings in Chicago.

Not a problem. The HUD website provides a great tool allowing buyers to search for FHA approved condo buildings. This is a great place to start but it is incomplete and can overly-restrict the home search. Many buildings are not officially “approved” but meet FHA criteria and qualify for something called a spot approval. A small sample of the requirements that must be satisfied include:

• The condominium project must be complete. There should be no ongoing or anticipated addition of any units, common elements, and/or facilities.
• Control of the common areas of the project must have been turned over to the unit owners association for at least one year.
• At least 90 percent of the total units in the project have been sold and at least 51 percent of the total units in the project are owner-occupied.

The checklist is detailed and requires verification by the condo association so always a good idea to get your lender involved in the process early.

I have worked with many investor clients in search of the perfect multi-unit investment property. Whether purchasing for pure rental purposes or to create the perfect owner occupied situation, the same question/issue arises of what makes a true 3 flat.

Beware the 2 flat posing as 3 flat, there are many out there. In other words, they are legal 2 flats with an illegal 3rd unit. The bottom line is that the zoning certification provided by the city of Chicago rules. Do not pay a 3 flat price if you are really purchasing a 2 flat.

I have been doing some work for a family very interested in purchasing a Chicago home in Lincoln Park in one of several Chicago public school districts.

The Chicago Public Schools website is a great resource. It has recently been updated to be much more user friendly. When finding a school the School Locator Website is still the best for defining school boundaries based on a specific address. However, the new Chicago school Zone Maps are a fantastic resource for viewing school boundaries across the entire city.

The CTA Brown Line has been under extensive renovation. The brown line stop at Kimball and Lawrence has been back in business for some time now.

Located at 4720 N. Kimball, across the street from the station, another project by the same name is on track for Spring 2009 deliveries. The project features new model units and a fully staffed sales center. Check out Kimball Station condos where a purchase would almost guarantee you a seat on the train for the morning commute.

Ever wonder how to get from point A to point B via public transportation? Or to put it in a real estate purchase context, ever wonder what the best route is from that perfect condo to your workplace, or perhaps the airport via public transportation?

Enter Hop Stop. Enter a start address and end address or destination (ex. O’hare Airport) and get directions via public transportation. The neat part about the site is, it fills in gaps between public transportation methods by incorporating walking or cab segments. For example, if you need to walk to the EL from your start location, it provides walking directions for this section of the trip. I tested on a couple of my active listings. For example, I tested it from our new Kimball Station development at 4720 N. Kimball to O’hare by El only. Not the most direct route but it worked.Give it a try.

When working with buyers in search of a loft, I often find myself using the terms “soft loft” and “hard loft” frequently. Defining the type of loft you want is the first step in the search process. Some general definitions follow…

Hard Loft – The word “raw” come to mind when describing this type of loft. I think of these lofts as the ones often seen in movies featuring breathtaking city skyline views seen through massive floor to ceiling windows. These lofts feature large open freeform spaces, soaring ceilings (at least 10′), floor to ceiling windows, and exposed original elements such as brick, beams, hardwood flooring, concrete, duct work, electrical, and piping. Purists often only consider a true loft to have some history, usually a conversion of a vintage factory or warehouse.

Soft Loft – These lofts typically have a softer edge and more traditional finishes than a hard loft. They have some of the characteristics of a hard loft such as high ceilings, big windows and open floorplans but have a softer edge. Ducts and plumbing are often concealed, living spaces are more defined, some rooms are carpeted, bathrooms and kitchens are often finished in a more upscale manner. In general, soft lofts have more in common with traditional condominiums than a true hard loft.

The picture above is from a fantastic new loft listing at Acme Lofts in the Bucktown neighborhood. While the unit features the latest updates, I consider it a true hard loft as the expansive corner unit features huge windows, soaring ceilings, great exposed beams, and interesting history as the building originally housed the Acme football manufacturing facility.

My first appointment this morning took me to a property I am currently managing for a Chicago client. I met a plumber at the property to address a leaky tub and radiator and I will be meeting a painter at the property this week to complete the work. My client is one of many Chicago home sellers who have decided to rent their property as opposed to selling it in this slower market. The Tribune addresses the topic of becoming an “Accidental Landlord” in a very informative article.

If you are faced with this decision, weigh your options carefully and make sure you are up to the task of becoming a landlord. Consider the following costs and areas of responsibility:

Monthly Carrying Cost – Understand your costs for carrying the property each month. In most cases market rent will not cover the cost of Principle, Interest, Taxes, Insurance, and Assessments (PITI+A) in the case of a condo.

Tenant Placement – Understand how to find and qualify tenants, and draft a lease agreement. This is not a onetime event, but occurs at the end of each lease term in the form of tenant turnover.

Ongoing Maintenance – It is inevitable that issues will arise with the property. The obligatory leaky sink or tub are par for the course. In addition, during turnover, cleaning and painting may be incurred due to normal wear. Ensure you have budgeted for these costs and have the time and desire to address these issues.

Capital Improvements – If the goal is to sell the property in the near future then improvements may need to be made in order to bring the property back to saleable condition due to wear and tear and changing market tastes. Floors may need to be refinished/replaced, appliances replaced, carpets cleaned/replaced, and walls re-painted to name a few key improvements.

Think through details and don’t let your decision to become a landlord be the next accident waiting to happen. If the task is overwhelming for your already packed calendar or you need practical advice then reach out for assistance.

As a relocation certified agent, having worked with many clients relocating to the Chicago area, I am happy to announce that @properties is now afiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a premier relocation network.

The chitownpropertygroup team has always provided top notch relocation services both into and out of Chicago, and this relationship will only strengthen our relocation service offering.

So if you are moving to or from Chicago, The City Of Broad Shoulders, we would be honored to assist in making your relocation as seamless as possible.

Yes, there are foreclosures in Lincoln Park. Subscribe via RSS feed where you will receive the latest foreclosure listings, powered by our new Chicago home search. Continue reading to understand the method behind the magic …

The first option we added is something I’m especially proud of. You can now search for pre-foreclosures and bank owned listings in EVERY SINGLE MARKET WE SERVICE! We can do this by looking at two sets of data, both of which are provided by the MLS. First, we look at all of the features that are provided by the MLS for each property. If there’s a feature that denotes that the property is a short sale, is in pre-foreclosure, has had a notice of default filed against the owner, etc, then we mark it as a pre-foreclosure. If there’s a feature that says that the property has been foreclosed upon, is a lender / bank owned listing, is an REO, etc, then we mark it as bank owned.

If the MLS doesn’t provide features that say whether or not a property is distress, or if the agent just forgot to say that it’s in distress, we do something super special. We spent a very long time developing a proprietary algorithm to analyze the descriptions of each property, and for each of the literally millions of active listings in our database, we’ve run the descriptions through our algorithm to find out if it’s a pre-foreclosure or bank owned listing. We’ve run extensive tests, and our positive rate for matching these descriptions is near 99.5%! We toss out properties where the listing agent says things like “this house is not a preforeclosure” or “this house is better than a bank-owned listing.” The result is something we’re really proud of, and it’s something that we can confidently say that no one else has.

We know that there are still going to be small issues with this though, so we set up an email address that you can send property descriptions to so that our system will get better. That’s right – it’s ALIIIIVE! We will be continually training and refining our algorithm, so the more listings you send in that it either should have matched but didn’t or shouldn’t have matched but did, the better our system will get! We will manually review and classify each submission that comes through to ensure that our pre-foreclosure / foreclosure description analyzer is the very best there is!

Design your own custom Chicago foreclosure search.

Our Chicago home search has undergone a number of major improvements. Usability and performance have been greatly improved. A couple new features definitely highlight what is going on in the current marketplace.

Price Adjustments
Price drops are all too common in today’s marketplace. The first feature gives you the ability to search for properties by percentage of price drop within a defined number of days.

Foreclosures
The second is based on a recent MLS change that requires pre-foreclosures (short sales) or foreclosures to be identified in the MLS. As a result, you can now search for either situation.

The number of new features and improvements is too lengthy to cover completly but I encourage you to try out the new and improved search.

Lots of links regarding the tentative agreement.

The proposed 19 unit residential development on the Crouch Walker site located in Lincoln Park at 1307 W. Wrightwood is causing some controversy in the neighborhood.

Site Plan

Northern Elevation

Despite the green focus of the developer, the major issues seem to be that the building is too high and the planned number of units is too dense for the surrounding neighborhood. We will wait and see if the plan continues to change. One thing is for sure, regardless of whether the development is built, nothing will interfere with my dinner at Rose Angelis, located right across the street.

Sweeping housing legislation was recently passed. The legislation is designed to offer assistance to troubled homeowners at risk of foreclosure and provide government assistance to bolster Fannie and Freddie with a temporary rescue plan.

A few of the key provisions that will most directly impact the consumer include…

• A permanent increase of conforming loan limits to $625,500 from the current $417,000 in high-cost areas.
• A first time home buyer credit of 10% of purchase price but not to exceed $7,500. Important to recognize that this is really an interest free loan to be paid back over 15 years.
• A grant to states to purchase and restore foreclosed properties.

And one other provision that may interest you…

Buried deep within the legislation (page 690) is a change in the capital gains tax exemption rule. Prior to the new legislation, if a homeowner lived in the home as their primary residence for 2 of the past 5 years they could claim an exemption on capital gains of up to $250,000 if filing singly or $500,000 if filing jointly. Under the new legislation, the exemption is based on a ratio of occupancy as primary residance over the total ownership of the property. The Mortgage Reports discusses the calculation and the impact on home sellers.

NAR Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, addresses some tough questions over at 4realz. A great interview if you can sit through the entire show.

Yesterday, I received the email below from a developer/development in the River North neighborhood of Chicago.

I love the cartoon. But more importantly, of all the incentives offered, think the best is that the developer will “negotiate to make the deal” happen.