From the category archives:

Relocation

Relocating tougher now for dual income couples

June 19, 2009

Relocating recently got tougher for dual income couples. Chicago’s Daily Herald reported today that Fannie Mae “no longer will permit mortgage applicants to count the income of so-called “trailing spouses” toward the household income needed to qualify for a loan. A trailing spouse is the one who joins his or her spouse or partner in [...]

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Named One of The Best Chicago Real Estate Blogs by Relocation.com!

March 29, 2009

This morning I discovered that this blog was picked as one of “The Best Chicago Real Estate Blogs” by Relocation.com. I am very flattered for a couple of reasons!
First, I work with a lot of relocation buyers, so the honor means a lot to me coming from a site dedicated to helping people relocate. Buying [...]

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Chicago & Suburbs Online Rental Search Sites

January 28, 2009

Yesterday I was texting on Twitter (ID franbailey) with a woman who will be moving here with her husband from Miami in a few months. They’ll initially be renting and then plan to buy a home. I’ve been hearing from a lot more people relocating to the Chicago area that plan to rent for [...]

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Chicago Parking Space Prices

March 14, 2008

I have a buyer comparing Lakeview condos and Arlington Heights condos. One of the differences I mentioned to him is the fact that parking for Lakeview condos is often not included in the price of the condos. Many Lakeview condo sellers are asking $25K to $45K for their condos’ parking spaces. Rarely is parking for [...]

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MapMuse.Com – Great for Finding Your Favorite Businesses

February 25, 2008

In my February 6th post, “Chicago Magazine Names BairdWarner.Com Best for Real Estate Search!“, I mentioned that the “nifty Google Maps mash-up” that Chicago Magazine raved about is provided by MapMuse.com. If you’re thinking of relocating to the Chicago metro area or moving to another area of Chicago that you aren’t too familiar with and [...]

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How to Find Public Schools for Chicago Homes

February 18, 2008

On Saturday I showed townhouses in the Lakeview and Lincoln Park areas of Chicago to a woman relocating here from Memphis with her two children. The son is in high school and the daughter is in elementary, so schools are an important consideration in her home selection.
School names currently aren’t required for listings in [...]

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Chicago Area Whole Foods Map

December 26, 2007

My partner’s brother’s family is visiting this week and they’re big fans of Whole Foods. For those of you not familiar with Whole Foods, it’s a grocery store chain which sells high quality natural and organic products. For you Whole Foods Fans out there relocating to the Chicago area, I thought I’d create a map [...]

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Evanston House Prices Up 20%!

November 9, 2007

A woman called me the other day from England asking about the real estate market in Evanston. She graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston and is considering taking a job in Chicago.
Unlike the many of suburbs where I’ve worked this year, the median Evanston house price* for the past 3 months (August – October) is [...]

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Oak Park House Prices Direction Varies by Zip Code

October 6, 2007

I showed 20 houses in Oak Park during the past 2 days to some out-of-state buyers. They asked about what’s happening in the Oak Park housing market and the answer is, “It depends on whether the houses are north or south of Madison Street which divides the 60302 and 60304 zip codes.”
Median house prices [...]

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Relocating to the U.S.

August 21, 2007

A gentleman in the United Kingdom emailed me this week asking about areas of Chicago to investigate when he and his wife visit in September. They would like to relocate from the U.K. and also asked for sources of information about relocating to the U.S. Here are a couple of official U.S. government links I [...]

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