From the category archives:

Condos

Baird & Warner offers 5% down condo mortgages!

Thumbnail image for Baird & Warner offers 5% down condo mortgages! February 21, 2010

We’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding FHA financing and our 5% down conventional program. We are one of a very few lenders that can offer 5% down conventional financing. I thought it would be a good idea to provide you with a short list of pros and cons for both loans.
FHA [...]

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95% Condo Mortgages Back for People with Good Credit!

March 17, 2009

Starting late last year and until this week condo buyers had to put a minimum of 10% down unless they bought an FHA approved condo. Condo mortgages requiring only a 5% down payment with no FHA restrictions are now available for well qualified condo buyers!
According to Baird & Warner Financial Services Loan Consultant, Michael Polera, [...]

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Northbrook 2 Bedroom Condo Market Stats

March 9, 2009

This morning I met with a seller looking for a new listing agent for her 2 bedroom condo in Northbrook. She wasn’t thrilled with the market data I provided, but I believe in telling sellers what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear.
The median sale price for Northbrook 2 bedroom condos [...]

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Regional Economic Forecast 2009 Highlights 3 of 3

January 20, 2009

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 [...]

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New Home Inspection Test for Granite Countertops

January 2, 2009

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 [...]

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Why Condo Sales Reps Don’t Lookout for Buyers

December 11, 2008

Yesterday I attended the SPARKt Technology Conference. The conference featured a dozen or so speakers on technology and real estate.
One of the speakers was Blagica Bottigliero, the founder of CondoPerks.com, which gives Chicago condo owners a place to shop online, get discounts and earn money for their condo associations. Blagica shared her story of buying [...]

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Life in Chicago’s High Rises May be Getting Friendlier

June 16, 2008

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 [...]

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Views Can Change in the Land of High Rises

May 31, 2008

Recently I showed a 3 bedroom condo in The Chandler, a new high rise in the Loop’s Lakeshore East Development north of Millennium Park. The unit offers high end finishes including Snaidero Cabinets and marble in the master bathroom.
The condo also provides nice views from the main living area and all bedrooms. Unfortunately, the view [...]

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Balcony, Balcony, Where for Art Thou, Balcony?

May 24, 2008

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 [...]

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Chicago Tribune Reports “Record condo numbers to saturate downtown”

May 14, 2008

Today’s Chicago Tribune Business Section has a good article on the downtown condo market titled, “Record condo numbers to saturate downtown.”
According to the article, nearly 6,000 condos are expected to come on the market this year. That compares with less than 4,800 last year.
But don’t expect lower prices. Instead developers will probably offer better upgrades.
In [...]

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Oak Park Condo Dog Limits

April 25, 2008

Recently, I worked with buyers who have 2 dogs. They seriously considered a new condo development in Oak Park and mentioned the dogs to the staff at the sales office who didn’t mention an issue with the dogs. Later while at an open house for a townhouse in neighboring Forest Park, they mentioned the dogs [...]

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Chicago’s Park Millennium Condos

February 15, 2008

On Wednesday I showed condos in the Loop to a woman from Phoenix. The first condo we looked at was a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit in the Park Millennium a high rise at 222 N. Columbus in the Loop’s New Eastside Neighborhood, just north of Millennium Park.
In the southwest corner of the building, the [...]

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How to Avoid a Closing Delay for Your Condo

November 13, 2007

I was supposed to have a closing this morning for one of my listings, but it’s delayed a few days. Every time I’ve had a closing delayed, it’s been due to the interaction (or lack thereof) between the buyer’s mortgage company and the seller’s condo association management company. Sometimes it’s the fault of the mortgage [...]

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Condo Inspections

May 3, 2007

As I write this I’m on my way home from a condo inspection in the Loop. Even though condos don’t have as many components to check as houses, a home inspection by a licensed home inspector shouldn’t be skipped.
The condo was recently updated so you wouldn’t expect many problems, but the home inspector found at [...]

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It’s Tough Competing with your Developer

February 17, 2007

I had a call last week from a gentleman considering selling his condo in the South Loop. If you’re not familiar with the South Loop it’s a neighborhood bordered on the east and west by Lake Michigan and the Chicago River and on the north by Congress Parkway. The south border is considered Roosevelt Road [...]

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Downtown Chicago New Condo Market Still Strong

October 11, 2006

If you’re looking for more information on Chicago’s downtown new condo market, YoChicago.Com has an article by Don DeBat covering the market from top to bottom,”Chicago market defies housing bubble but ultra-luxury sales are slowing down“.
At the top is the ultra-luxury market defined at $700/sf on up. So a 1,000 sf. condo in this segment [...]

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