URBALO

The highly anticipated opening of the Trump Tower hotel happened yesterday. The 92story Trump International Hotel &Tower was scheduled to open it’s doors to the public last month. The media really overplayed the delay, bashing Mr. Trump and the pompous project.

I think it’s great that the man kept us guessing, whether it was due to legitimate delays or not. It’s a great marketing tool, and sure enough, the buzz created by the media, even if negative, will draw the first crowds to the new hotel. The hotel which occupies floors 1 through 27, has a restaurant called “16″ on (guess) the 16th floor. Completion of the rest of the building is scheduled for mid 2009.

So, whether you live in Chicago or not, book a room and check the extravaganza out. Who knows, maybe The Donald himself will bring you breakfast.

Today, the city’s finance committee is meeting at City Hall to hold a press conference discussing a proposed increase on the city’s real estate transfer tax. A proposed 40% increase will take effect after February 6th, if the votes are favorable. In real numbers, the transfer tax will increase from $4.50 to $10.50 per $1000. This tax is paid by the buyer at closing, even though some argue that it should be split between buyer and seller. Regardless who is paying the tax, this tax hike could not come at a worse time.

While our economy is in recession, the government has to encourage spending, especially in the real estate market to create a balance within the economy. A 25% property tax increase at the end of last year has left homeowners struggling to keep their homes within the city limits, and now we continue to penalize homeowners to save badly managed areas of our local economy.

The mayor and it’s posse want to save an ill run CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) with the increase of real estate taxes. After we can’t afford our homes anymore and we can’t afford the 10% sales tax for goods and services and the gas prices within the Chicago limits, might as well sell our car too and join the homeless in living on the CTA. Oh, but wait, fares on the CTA are going up too.

Read Full Article ->

Inventory is rising, sellers are running out of incentives and buyers are walking away from closings because of financing trouble. We are currently experiencing the effects of a free falling real estate market and one of the solutions for both sellers and buyers could be the “Rent to Own” option. Hardly used in Chicago’s real estate market in the past, -rent to own- seems to be the only option for buyers with blemished credit and sellers with the urgency to sell.

Developers started the –rent to own- craze, after the free plasma TV and the credit for closing costs trend wasn’t helping buyers become homeowners. Those last 2 – 3 units in a development are offered as a –rent to own- option to serious buyers. The trend has been accepted by all sellers that have a hard time selling their property. Read Full Article ->

The construction work at The Chicago Spire tower has begun already. The new building that will change the Chicago skyline forever is located at 420 E North Water St. On the same note, we have learned that the sales center will be opening in the last week in September.

Read Full Article ->

Roosevelt University will start offering a master’s degree in Real Estate at their Walter E. Heller College of Business. This program applies to women only at this time and is designed to help advance the careers of women in commercial real estate.

The new program provides a stipend or scholarship, career counseling and placement assistance, forums and networking events for as many as 10 women a year who are working toward a master’s degree. The program is funded by a three-year, $300,000 commitment from the Jack and Goldie Wolfe Miller Foundation. According to Ms. Wolfe Miller,

I want more women in high levels of the professional arena in the real estate industry.”

A 2005 nationwide survey by the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, whose local chapter is providing many of the mentors, found some evidence of a glass ceiling in the industry. Only 23% of women with more than 20 years experience surveyed held the title of president, chief executive or chief financial officer, vs. 44% of men surveyed with more than 20 years experience.

For students, the master degrees are often expensive; at private universities, many students take out $50,000 in loans for every year of school. And scholarships and fellowships are rare, unlike doctoral programs, which are usually fully financed by universities. To many, the investment in a master degree is worth it and they are able to pay off their student loans within two years after graduation, due to a higher salary negotiated.

The University of Phoenix, is a school focusing mostly on online education, but it still has 60 branch campuses and around 200,000 students. The school awards over 30,000 master’s degrees in a year, and the number is increasing. The tuition for a master’s degree is also lower than traditional campus-based universities.

The Master Degrees in Real Estate are becoming more and more popular these days and many successful real estate agents are considering them.

Chicago home sales fell 19.8% from the same time period last year according to a report released this week. In Illinois the median home price in June was $215,000, up 1.1% from June 2006. The data is generated from a survey of the MLS and includes existing as well as new properties. Nationwide the existing home sales are at their slowest pace in 4.5 years.

There is plenty of extra inventory so now is a great time to take a look at what’s available on the MLS for your ideal home criteria. This is definitely a buyers market at this point and everyone that it’s looking for a home or for an investment, should take advantage of this. The mortgage rates are lower so this will help you go higher on the purchase price. If you need more info, feel free to leave a comment here.

The Chicago Real Estate market is always looking for great and powerful investors and who could really fit this description better than Carlos Slim, recently named the Richest Man in The World. Reading his biography and learned how he was able to build his empire, I think Mr. Slim would be the perfect real estate investor for Chicago. I think Chicago could really use his vision and money in building new things and make this city the greatest city in America.

Especially now, when Chicago is running for the Olympics in 2016, the real estate market could really use some help and the city should already be building their main infrastructure for the Olympics. The decline in the Chicago Real Estate Market could be stopped by the right investor with the right attitude. If Donald Trump was able to get his tower in the Windy City, why wouldn’t Mr. Slim get his “Slim Tower” or the “Carlos Plazza” ?

He has been known to be moving from the telecommunication market into the real estate by developing a shopping mall, schools and parks, so this makes Chicago a great candidate. We, as chicagoans, always love the shopping part, think of Michigan Ave, we also love parks, think the new Millenium Park and not the last, we love our schools, we’re always looking for properties in districts with the best schools.

Mr. Carlos Slim, remember: you can’t go wrong in Chicago and you can’t definitely not pass on the Chicago Pizza.

Have you ever wondered, before you moved into a new area, if there are any gangs in the vicinity and what their territories are? I know I did, before I moved into my new Bucktown loft four years ago, I did my research and checked to see the gangs and their crews in my area.

I remember that I was on google trying to find lots of articles and I also checked the http://www.chicagocrime.org/ website to see the police cases in Bucktown. It was time consuming and I was already stressed out by the new move, into a new house and new neighborhood and I wished it was an easier way to find the information needed.

To my surprise, recently I ran across a website, http://chicagogangs.org and its maps, that shows all the Chicago gangs on a Google Map, so you can just scroll and zoom in to see them. There is a disclaimer on the website stating that

The information on this site comes from a variety of sources and therefore the accuracy or the authenticity of the information may vary depending on the source. The goal of this web site is to show in detail how rampant street gangs or crews are in Chicago.

I will be definitely be using this tool when my real estate clients will ask me if I know of any gang related crimes in the area. A lot of neighborhoods in the Chicagoland area are still upcoming and a little rough, so the buyers decision could be definitely influenced by this.

YOU’VE FOUND YOUR DREAM CONDO, and you’re ready to relax among the mango trees and swaying date palms. Hold everything. To keep from getting stuck with a lemon, you’ve got to do some homework. Here are the seven most important questions you need to ask before buying a condo.

1. “What’s the beef?”
Take a look at the minutes of the condo association board meetings to see what the owners have been griping about. If everyone was complaining about the faulty plumbing or the gardener’s absence, you know that the complex is having management difficulties. Even if there aren’t any complaints, reading the minutes will reveal the sorts of projects that are under way at the complex — projects the seller may have neglected to mention.

2. “Who’s been naughty and who’s been nice?”
Find out the delinquency rates of present owners. If people aren’t paying their association dues on time, that is either a sign of discontent or an indication that the association might be underfunded. Read Full Article ->

And yes, it will be in Chicago

The city’s planning board has endorsed a proposal for a twisting lakefront tower that would become the nation’s tallest building.

With Thursday’s approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, the design and site plan for the 2,000-foot Chicago Spire goes to the city zoning committee next week.

“This is a wonderful project, and everyone is very enthused,” said Constance Buscemi, spokeswoman for the city’s planning department.

The 150-story tower, which would feature 1,200 residences, would unseat Chicago’s 1,451-foot Sears Tower as the tallest U.S. building. It would also top New York’s 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, under construction at the former World Trade Center site.
Read Full Article ->