Today’s Chicago Tribune has a good article by Mary Ellen Podmolik on the deals available on downtown apartment rentals. According to the article, “A record 2,234 apartments will be added to downtown Chicago this year; increasing the supply of rental units at a time when inventory is already outstripping demand.”

According to Appraisal Research Counselor’s data, “Luxury apartment rentals are at their lowest level since 2005’s fourth quarter and rents at more modest buildings are at their lowest level since 2006’s first quarter.”

As shown in the Chicago Tribune’s chart of average rents, 2 bedroom rents in the West Loop are especially attractive.

For the full article read, “Apartment deals aplenty thanks to oversupply“.

Search downtown Chicago rentalsSimilar Posts:

• New Eastside Neighborhood in Chicago’s Loop
• Chicago Tribune Reports “Record condo numbers to saturate downtown”
• Regional Economic Forecast 2009 Highlights 3 of 3
• Great time to buy a condo in downtown Chicago, if you’re careful
• Luxury in Downtown Chicago

Chicago is the 4th most walkable city in America according to Walkscore.com

The list caught my attention since I like to walk, but also because some buyers I’m working with wrote me, “A sense of being in a city neighborhood – where we can walk to great food markets, restaurants, and regular, everyday service places – is very important to us.”

Here are the 10 most walkable Chicago neighborhoods as determined by Walkscore.com based on distances to various amenities.

Similar Posts:

• Chicago’s Park Millennium Condos
• Luxury in Downtown Chicago
• 2 Bedroom Condo Prices Up in the Loop, NNS, NWS & NSS, But Sales Down
• ChicagoTribune.com’s Community Intelligence
• Andersonville Fun Places

In part 2 of this blog post series I shared Lawrence Yun’s chart showing that the number of existing home sales have dropped back to 1998 levels.

Buyers considering a new condo in downtown Chicago need to take a good look at Gail Lissner’s chart which I recreated below. This year 4700 new condos in downtown Chicago will come on market. In 2010 only 400 new condos will come on market! Thus, this year buyers will have far more choices and far more negotiating power for a new condo in the Loop and surrounding areas than next year!

Just remember, call or email me before you start visiting new condo sales offices!

Similar Posts:

• Downtown Chicago New Condo Market Still Strong
• Great time to buy a condo in downtown Chicago, if you’re careful
• Chicago Tribune Reports “Record condo numbers to saturate downtown”
• Financing options for some new Chicago condos improving
• In search of FHA approved condos in Andersonville and Rogers Park

This year I will be recommending that my buyers perform a new test during their home inspection. While I recently visited the new condo of some of my buyers in the South Loop, they shared with me that they discovered after they moved in that their granite countertops weren’t properly sealed. Their kitchen countertops were absorbing food stains. Granite is a porous material and the pores need to be kept sealed to prevent it from absorbing stains.

My buyers did some research and discovered The Water Drop Test for checking if granite is sealed. It’s easy and only takes a few minutes. I will be recommending it from now on to all of my buyers. My South Loop buyers also found granite care products at MBStone.com that they like very much. Thank you, Kathy & Lynn, for this helpful information!Similar Posts:

• Buyer Agents have the Same Responsibilities for New and Resale Sales
• Consider Testing for Radon When Buying a Home
• Balcony, Balcony, Where for Art Thou, Balcony?
• It’s Tough Competing with your Developer
• 2 Bedroom Condo Prices Up in the Loop, NNS, NWS & NSS, But Sales Down

In Sunday’s Chicago Tribune, real estate columnist Mary Umberger’s headline was “Near South Side homes selling, on average, for more than list price“. Mary reported Zip Realty’s finding that homes in the 60605 zip code had sold for an average of 106.4% of list price during the latest quarter!

This is certainly the kind of news that should make any homeowner in 60605 excited or is it?

Having represented buyers who bought a home in 60605 just this past quarter, I had an idea that Zip Realty’s findings had more to do with who is doing the selling than a sudden surge in demand for homes in the area. Running a few reports in the Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) system confirmed my theory.

I looked just at condos since there are very few houses in 60605. In July, August and September of this year over half of the condos sold in 60605 were new construction. Compare this to 60657 (Lakeview) and 60622 (Bucktown/Wicker Park) where the percent of condos that were new homes were below 15%.

Even though buyers may be able to do some negotiating, new home final sale prices often end up above list price when parking spaces and customization are included. New home developers would rather kick in extras and upgrades than sell for less than list price. It helps them justify their prices to future customers.Similar Posts:

• 2 Bedroom Condo Prices Up in the Loop, NNS, NWS & NSS, But Sales Down
• Picking a Lot is Part of Buying a New House
• Chicago Tribune reports on oversupply of downtown apartment rentals
• The Ups and Downs of Buying New Construction
• Great time to buy a condo in downtown Chicago, if you’re careful

Today I started searching for a 2 bedroom condo in the Loop, Near North Side, Near West Side and Near South Side for a couple who will be relocating here from Colorado.

Median sale prices for 2 bedroom condos in 3 of the 4 areas are up for the past 3 months compared to a year ago.^* The Near South Side had the largest increase up 12%. The Near North Side was up 4.4% followed by the Loop up 1%. The median sale price for a 2 bedroom condo in the Near West Side dropped 4.5%.

The number of 2 bedroom units sold dropped significantly in 3 of the 4 areas, an average of 45%! Unit sales actually rose 10% in the Near South Side.

The Loop has the highest median sale price for 2 bedroom condos of the 4 areas at $510K, followed by the Near North Side at $475K. The Near South Side and Near West Side are more affordable at $429K and $343K median sale prices.

^{*Based on Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) Data.}Similar Posts:

• Median 1 Bedroom Sales Prices From Lincoln Park up to Rogers Park
• 2 Bedroom Condo Prices Drop Nearly 7% in Lincoln Park
• The West Loop
• Do Buyer Agents Know Your Corner Unit is a Corner Unit?
• Lakeview 2 bed 2 bath condo sales off more in lower price ranges than higher price ranges

Today a couple of my buyers were supposed to have the closing for their new condo in the South Loop, but they fell prey to the domino effect.

The woman buying their Lincoln Park condo was supposed to close on the sale of her condo last week. An issue arose with her buyer’s financing and her buyer wasn’t able to get a mortgage commitment in time for last week’s closing date.

Thus, the dominos started to fall. Even though my buyers’ buyer had a mortgage commitment, a question arose whether she would be able to close on my buyers’ Lincoln Park condo since her sale hadn’t closed yet. Without the Lincoln Park closing, my buyers couldn’t close on their new condo.

One of my buyers had taken the day off on Friday to pack, but for several hours didn’t know whether she should continue packing or not. After numerous phone calls and faxes between all involved it got worked out around 6 pm on Friday. My buyers will close on their new condo tomorrow instead. The impact could have been much worse. The closing could have been delayed for weeks or completely fallen through if my buyers’ seller didn’t agree to an extension.Similar Posts:

• Lincoln Park 3 bedroom condos for sale vs. sold median prices
• 2 Bedroom Condo Prices Drop Nearly 7% in Lincoln Park
• A Very Cold Saturday in Lincoln Park
• Financing options for some new Chicago condos improving
• More Lincoln Park 3 bedroom 2 bath condos for sale than last year

Yesterday I attended a new home orientation at the Library Towers condo development in the South Loop. My buyers got their first opportunity to inspect their new condo and have a home inspector check it out as well.

Unfortunately, several lights in the condo didn’t work so it was harder to spot imperfections. I normally carry a flashlight when out with buyers, but I removed it from my bag when I went on vacation last week and forgot to pack it again. We ended up borrowing the home inspector’s flashlight when he wasn’t using it.

Next week we’ll do the final walkthrough just before the closing. Hopefully, all of the lights will be working by then. My flashlight is already back in my bag where it belongs!Similar Posts:

• The Domino Effect in Real Estate
• Another Opinion on Attic Mold
• It’s Tough Competing with your Developer
• Condo Inspections
• New Home Inspection Test for Granite Countertops

This morning’s SunTimes.com has a good article on LifeAt.com a new social networking site for high-rise dwellers. The site provides social networking within a building. Four Chicago high rises, 340 on the Park, 565 Quincy, Prairie District Lofts and 600 Lake Shore Drive are on LifeAt.com. Superior 110 will be added soon. Each building’s site doesn’t provide much information for prospective buyers since access is restricted to residents. However, if I were looking to buy a home in a high rise, a social networking site just for the building would definitely be a nice feature!

Similar Posts:

• New Eastside Neighborhood in Chicago’s Loop
• Rogers Park, Chicago Websites
• Chicago’s Park Millennium Condos
• Views Can Change in the Land of High Rises
• Balcony, Balcony, Where for Art Thou, Balcony?

Today I showed 3 bedroom condos in the River North, West Loop, South Loop and Loop. One of my buyers’ “must haves” is an outdoor space such as a balcony. What I’ve noticed in showing numerous condos with balconies is that the location of the balcony is often more important to buyers than the size of the balcony.

The balcony shown left is accessed from the living room of a penthouse we viewed in the South Loop this morning. The access is also close to the kitchen area minimizing the distance food needs to be carried to and from a grill on the balcony.

Unfortunately, many condos only have balcony access from bedrooms. Most of us would rather not have our friends (no matter how close) walking through our bedroom to get to the balcony. It also increases the distance food has to be carried to and from the kitchen when grilling or just eating outside which increases the chances that something will get spilled.

A lot of developers haven’t quite figured this out yet. We looked at a very nice new development in the West Loop on Monday where the developer put a tiny balcony off the dining room, but a 25 ft. balcony off the master bedroom.

When balcony location is important to my buyers, I’ve started contacting the listing agent to find out where the balcony is located before forwarding condo listings to my buyers. Similar Posts:

• 2 Bedroom Condo Prices Up in the Loop, NNS, NWS & NSS, But Sales Down
• The West Loop
• Ukrainian Village – Walking Distance to Metra & Wicker Park
• New Home Inspection Test for Granite Countertops
• South Loop’s Prairie District Neighborhood – Metra Station & Good Bistro!