News / Features

Real Estrange: A gorgeous grotto; hot property

A gorgeous grotto This property in Coconut Grove, Florida, is a water-themed paradise. The windows of the wine cellar, designed by artist Meredith Miller, look directly into the below-ground pool and bottle holders were built directly into stone walls.

This week in Chicagoland real estate: ‘fundamental repricing,’ Tribune site sale and more

Baird & Warner CEO urges honesty in soft North Shore market Baird & Warner president and CEO Steve Baird recently warned agents of the need to be honest with sellers in the North Shore suburbs about the softness of

Real Estate in Brief: Aging in place, ARM growth and more

  Millennials face fewer housing choices as seniors age in place More senior citizens around the U.S. are choosing to age in place rather than sell their homes and move to a retirement community, and those decisions could be

Amazon drops plans for HQ2 in NYC

Only a week after speculation arose that Amazon was reconsidering its plans to build part of its second U.S. headquarters campus in New York City, the company released a statement Feb. 14 confirming it was pulling out of the

Proposed bill calls for a statewide rent control plan

A new bill proposed by Illinois Rep. Mary Flowers, a South Side and southwest suburban Democrat, offers a sweeping blueprint for implementing rent control on a statewide level.  The bill, HB2192, calls for the immediate termination of the Rent Control

How real estate couples make it work — together

It’s not uncommon for couples to work together in real estate. But how do they find time to celebrate their relationships outside of their day-to-day work? High school sweethearts Josh and Magdalena Lybolt have been in business together for

NAR releases proposal for Fannie, Freddie reform

Amid new leadership and a pending class-action lawsuit, big changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appear to be close at hand. The question now for U.S. lawmakers and stakeholders in the mortgage industry is how to carry out

luxury-home-sales-north-shore
This week in Chicagoland real estate: luxury home sales, Lincoln Yards and more

  Despite a relatively good year for the Chicago-area luxury home market, a decline in the fourth quarter might portend a slowdown in the market in the upcoming months. There was a 1.4 percent increase over the 2017 total

single-women-homeownership
Real Estate in Brief: Women borrow more, price growth continues and more

While homebuyers in the U.S. are generally married couples, data from the National Association of Realtors found that 18 percent of homebuyers in 2018 were single women. To drill down more into that demographic, SmartAsset took a look at

Low mortgage rates fuel housing market outlook

Only a few months ago, most economists, mortgage lenders and others who closely track the mortgage market assumed interest rates would continue rising through 2019, driving up the cost of home purchases. But several weeks into the new year,

chicago-transit-authority-public-transportation-housing-american-public-transportation-association-study
Study: Up-zoning in Chicago sometimes does the opposite of what it intends

For years, cities all over the U.S. have sought to promote development as a means to keep housing affordable. In an attempt to do this, cities often engage in “up-zoning”—reducing some zoning restrictions, often around popular transit stops in

homebuyers-lender-negotiation-contract-loan
Homebuyers are frustrated. Can agents help?

It’s widely assumed the process of shopping for a home is easier today than ever, thanks to the proliferation of online search tools and easier access to real estate professionals. But when it comes to succeeding in that search,

Homes sold above list price drop in 2018

After years of houses going for prices above the list value, 2018 saw the biggest drop in years, according to a recent report from Zillow. As of December 2018, 19.4 percent of homes sold above their list prices, the

Local managing broker rents hotel rooms for homeless during record cold snap

Last week, as Chicago experienced its coldest temperatures in decades, Candice Payne, a managing broker at 5th Group Realty & Management in Beverly, may have saved lives. More than 100 of Chicago’s homeless were directly exposed to temperatures as

Profit for home sellers hits 12-year high

In a year defined by rising home prices, sellers fared well in 2018, according to a new report from Attom Data Solutions. Based on its analysis of public sales records across metro areas with at least 200,000 residents, the

Real Estrange: Waste not; want not, a binding contract

Waste not; want not On the market for $3.475 million, this Alamo, California, home gives a new name to the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra. The fireplace mantle had a previous life in a bar on Oakland’s waterfront, and the

New Subscribe

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.