Cambridge Homes' Symphony Meadows is a large master-planned development in Volo, offering a variety of homes at four separate price points.

The development has been on the market long enough for resales to begin cropping up -- and a number of them are priced well below their original sale price and the developer's current pricing.

For example, a Wilmington model townhome at 618 Treble Ln is currently listed as a short sale at $132,900, down nearly 40 percent from its 2008 selling price of $209,790. The developer is offering a nearby unit for quick delivery in the high $160s.

No matter your preferred price range or style of home, chances are you can find something you like amongst Fresh Horizon Realty's stable of new and newly renovated properties.

Right now, the brokerage lists 34 different condos, townhomes, and single-family homes under its "View Our Listings" link at FreshHorizonRealty.com. These homes range from investor units and short sales located in Chicago, Hometown, Zion, and Round Lake Beach, all priced for no more than $130,000, all the way up to a new-construction single-family home in Lincoln Square, priced at almost $1.4 million.

What these homes have in common is Fresh Horizon Realty's financing, which give buyers low-interest mortgages with no private mortgage insurance charges. Examples of Fresh Horizon's financing packages are available through the "Special Financing" tab at the brokerage's website.

For more information on Fresh Horizon Realty's properties and programs, call 847-813-9490.

Rick Levin tries to conduct an auction of some sort every month. Sometimes the events focus on just one property, like the sale of the old Park 1000 lot on historic Michigan Avenue, scheduled for later this month, or the sale of a 36,000 square-foot industrial building in Frankfort, scheduled for August. But many times, he compiles a variety of homes, parcels, and other properties. While the details are still scarce, it appears that Levin is readying one of these events for September.

"We are in the planning stage for a significant real estate auction event," Levin says through his website. "In early September we will offer a number of properties at very, very low minimum bids PLUS many properties that will be sold absolute regardless of price to the highest bidder."

The auction will include "a number of homesites, commercial buildings, vacant land and acreage, and a number of other properties" in both Illinois and Wisconsin. Levin's site will feature more information in coming weeks, including videos about the auction. Buyers can also receive details through Levin's electronic mailing list.

Fresh Horizon Realty is down to just two condos left for sale at Ballard Point, a luxury condo building located at 8120 W Park Ave in the heart of suburban Niles.

Units #303 and #403 are two-bedroom / two-bath condos priced in the $280s, approximately $90,000 below builder cost. Both homes feature kitchens with Frigidaire appliances, granite countertops, 42-inch maple cabinets, and Grohe fixtures, baths with marble vanities and whirlpool tubs, in-unit laundry, heated garage parking, and additional storage space.

Like all Fresh Horizon properties, Ballard Point's condos qualify for special financing offered by local community banks, including several options for low down payment mortgages with no private mortgage insurance. For more information on specific options for this home, call 847-813-9490.

Ballard Point Condominiums is located minutes away from the Golf Mill shopping center and other major department stores. It's easily accessible from public transportation, the Tri-State tollway (I-294), and Edens Expressway (I-94). The village of Niles has several performing arts centers, other entertainment and recreational facilities like parks, an aquatic center, a country club, gymnasiums, and libraries.

Fewer distressed properties sold during the first quarter of this year than in the 1st or 4th quarters of last year, according to a report from RealtyTrac picked up in today's Tribune. One-third of all sales in the state consisted of distressed properties.

The good news for buyers: bank-owned foreclosures sold at almost 46% less and short sales at 39% less than other properties in Illinois.

What are absolute, reserve, and minimum-bid auctions, and what are the benefits of each to buyers and sellers? How does open and sealed bidding work? In this video, Chicago-based auctioneer Rick Levin covers some common terms and phrases that come up regularly in the real estate auction process, and explains which ones most often apply to the auctions he conducts.

Visit RickLevin.com to see a list of upcoming auctions of real and personal property.

The Calculated Risk blog is a great source of info on real estate market conditions and finance topics. Check it out if you haven't already done so.

A recent post covers the growing popularity of short sales and an alternative path out from under a mortgage: the deed in lieu of foreclosure. A "deed in lieu" is exactly what it sounds like. The mortgage lender voluntarily accepts a deed for the property from the owner without having to go through the foreclosure process.

Will a short sale or deed in lieu result in less of a hit to your credit score? Nope, says a source quoted in the post.

Just one condo remains for sale at Paulina Point, a newly rehabbed 12-unit building at 4509 N Paulina Ave in East Ravenswood, marketed by Fresh Horizon Realty.

The two-bedroom / two-bath unit #3S, listed for $259,900, features cherry hardwood floors, crown molding, high ceilings and large windows, a kitchen with stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops, tile backsplashes, and cherry cabinets, baths with two Jacuzzi tubs and tile floors and tub walls, central heat and air, and in-unit laundry. Fresh Horizon has posted a number of photos of these details and finishes on its Flickr photostream.

Like all Fresh Horizon properties, Paulina Point's condos qualify for special financing offered by local community banks, including several options for low down payment mortgages with no private mortgage insurance. For more information on specific options for this home, call 847-813-9490.

For almost 20 years, Rick Levin & Associates has conducted real estate auctions of residential and commercial properties, vacant land, and personal property, in the Chicago metro area and beyond. Levin regularly posts testimonials and information about upcoming auctions on his YouTube channel. Here, he describes the timeline of the real estate auction process, from an owner's decision to sell his or her property through to auction day.

Ever wonder where soap opera writers conjure up all those scandalous schemes and torrid love affairs? For more than 30 years, multiple Daytime Emmy winner Kay Alden has composed thousands of such stories from an office in her full-floor penthouse at 247 E Chestnut St.

Alden, former head writer for The Young and the Restless and current head writer for The Bold and the Beautiful, spent much of the past year trying to sell the 4,700 square-foot home for $1.95 million; in fact, it's still listed by Sudler Sotheby's for $1.55 million. With a move to New York on the horizon, she's opted to have Fine and Company auction the unit on July 27 at a suggested opening bid of $600,000.

The penthouse features 360 degrees of city and lake views, a gourmet kitchen with pear wood cabinetry, cork flooring, professional-grade appliances, wet bar, and wine cooler, a billiard and game room, a music room, the aforementioned office, a master suite with spa, sauna, and steam room, and a rooftop deck. It can be ready for move in as-is, or customized with the addition or removal of non-load-bearing walls.

The unit will be available for viewing from 3 to 5 p.m. on June 26, and July 10, 18, and 24, and from 5 to 7 p.m. July 6 and 21. The auction will take place at 7 p.m. July 27 at the Sheraton Gateway Suites Chicago O'Hare in Rosemont.

The 28-story 247 East Chestnut, located at the corner of Chestnut Street and Dewitt Place in Streeterville, features 22 one-bedroom condos, 44 two-bedrooms, and 22 units with three or more bedrooms. It dates back to the early 1960s, and has been a condominium building since 1973. Amenities include storage space, a sundeck, and a laundry room.

For some perspective on home values in the building, I turned to our Co-ops & Condos guide, published in 1992. At that time, one-bedroom units at 247 East Chestnut were selling in the mid-$60s, and two-bedrooms in the high $130s. Over the past three years, one-bedrooms have sold from the $220s to $250s, two-bedrooms in the $220s, and three-bedrooms from the $300s to $580s.

Two three-bedroom condos are currently listed for sale in the tower. Both are priced in the $390s.

Real estate auctioneers will tell you that most of the people participating in an auction have never been to one before. That puts a premium on knowing what to expect at an auction, which is typically fast-paced and sometimes confusing.

In the video, Sheldon Good's Julie First gives an overview of what you can expect on the day of an auction.

In the years prior to the housing downturn, developers looked a the 251' x 134' parcel at 1000 S Michigan Ave in the South Loop and envisioned a soaring condominium tower with wide, unobstructed views onto Grant Park and Lake Michigan.

On July 27, someone may take the first steps toward realizing the lot's potential by buying the parcel during a court-ordered auction managed by Rick Levin & Associates.

"This parcel is for an investor or developer who has the insight and resources to capitalize on a "jewel" of an opportunity," Levin says in his auction promotions. "A tremendous place to park cash and be uniquely positioned for the next up cycle!"

According to Levin, the property was appraised at $24 million in 2008, and will start at a suggested opening bid of $9 million.

Renaissant Development Group hoped to break ground on the 40-story, 346-unit Park 1000 tower by October 2008, but the project went into foreclosure in spring 2008.

Learn more about the auction in this video at Levin's website.

To date, most of Fresh Horizon Realty's featured properties have been units inside new or converted buildings, so naturally this listing stands out from the crowd.

Last week, Michael Zapart of Fresh Horizon listed a new-construction single-family home at 4907 N Hamilton Ave for $1.39 million. The 4,500 square-foot home has four bedrooms, four baths, an open dining room, a chef's kitchen, a media room, two laundry rooms, and two decks. Finishes include dark oak hardwood floors, custom millwork, ebony cabinets, and a master bath with Jacuzzi tub and steam / spray shower.

The home is located on a tree-lined street in Lincoln Square, just steps from Winnemac Park, four blocks from the Western Brown Line stop, and six blocks from the Ravenswood Metra station.

Like all Fresh Horizon properties, 4907 North Hamilton qualifies for special financing offered by local community banks. For more information on specific options for this home, call 847-813-9490.

A short sale is a property that's being sold for less than the balance of the mortgages that encumber it.

Many home buyers are enamored of the notion that a short sale, because it's offered for sale for less than the current owner paid for it, is necessarily a bargain. It may or may not be a bargain and, I'd argue, it's no more necessarily a bargain than any other property on the market.

If you're looking to buy a home the way you should think about short sales is: don't think them until you find the home that's the best fit for your needs.

If you find that home and it's a short sale, ask yourself whether it's unique: i.e., is it the only home on the market that you'd consider buying at your price point? If there are homes that you like just as well at comparable prices, skip the short sale without giving it any further thought and make your best offer on one of the other properties.

Why is that? Because the short sale process is often long and is almost always unpredictable, sometimes wildly so. By entering into it you surrender control of a transaction that it's in your best interest to control or, at the very least, predict its outcome.

If you're determined to proceed with a short sale, my next post will give you some tips on minimizing the riskiness of your undertaking.

The current market is leading to some creative offers from home sellers. Take this ad on Craigslist, for example:

I own a home on Sheridan Road in Highland Park on almost an acre of land. Just steps to Lake Michigan. Great area. We bought the house, completely remodeled it and were going to move in and then we decided to stay in the city. So, now we want to sell or exchange the home. Trade it for a property or a business that you may own. here's the idea, because everything is difficult to sell right now, people aren't getting mortgages, so trading seems like the next best choice. and we can defer some of the taxes. My home is worth $1.5m, it was recently remodeled, 2 car garage and it is rented, so you could keep it as is and collect the rent or you could make it your next home. It is 4 blocks from some of the best schools and a mile from downtown Highland Park.

As with any ad on Craigslist, be skeptical.

According to data compiled by the Woodstock Institute, 572 foreclosures were filed in Aurora in the first quarter of 2010, making that suburb the poster child for distressed properties among Chicago's suburbs overall and in the west suburban region.

Topping the other regional lists were Evanston (85 filings) on the North Shore, Waukegan (265) in the northern suburbs, Elgin (303) in the northwest suburbs, and Joliet (414) in the south and southwest suburbs.

Earlier this year, Joe Zekas asked Greg Rose of Fresh Horizon Realty to explain how his company differs from other brokerages in Chicago. Fresh Horizon works with community banks and developers, to offer new and rehabbed condos and single-family homes below builder costs. This, along with a slate of special financing options like low-interest mortgages with no PMI, gives buyers "$40,000 to $50,000 more in purchasing power," Rose says.

Read more about Fresh Horizon's featured properties on the city's North and Northwest sides and in suburban Niles.

Is everyone starting to figure out this short sale business? Several Realtors have bragged to me this year about their easy short sales, and none have shared any horror stories about unbearable delays or mounds of red tape. Their advice is still the same as it was last year -- "Short sales are fine, if you're patient" -- but these days they say it in a normal speaking voice, rather than with hushed or gloomy tones.

I thought about that this week while sifting through some of the new homes on the market in Uptown. In his listing for a short sale at 905 W Belle Plaine Ave, Joe Green of Keller Williams - Lincoln Park promises a response from the bank within 21 days. I don't know if three weeks is an exception to the rule or the new norm, but it sounds reasonable enough.

The 2,500 square-foot, three-bedroom duplex in Buena Park sold in December 2006 for $348,000 and is now on the market for $279,900. It features hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, a wood-burning fireplace and a deck; the kitchen needs some work following an aborted renovation, but it's "livable," according to Green's listing.

The century-old six-flat is located just off of Broadway, about two blocks west of the Waveland golf course in Lincoln Park.

Take a tip from a grizzled veteran who has a finely calibrated sleaze-o-meter - me.

When you spend more than 40 years as a social worker, attorney, home builder and real estate publisher, as I have, you have multiple encounters with every shade of hustler and con on the planet. You recogtnie them almost instantly.

You can hear a cacophony of cons in far less than 40 years. Just spend a day or two listening to radio commercials for short sale artists, foreclosure come-ons, loan modification schemes and real estate investment gurus and you'll absorb a concentrated dose of sleaze.

And now to my tip: when you hear one of these commercials, just tune out. The odds are high that they're luring you into a bad bet. Find a local non-profit, legal aid clinic or governmental agency that offers similar services. You'll save yourself a lot of money and a lot of grief.

If you're thinking about buying a home or condo at a real estate auction it's critical that you arrive at the auction completely prepared, with a full understanding of auction terminology and process.

Last fall, prior to the auction of Motor Row Lofts in the South Loop, we sat down with Julie First of Sheldon Good & Company for a video overview of the auction process. Sheldon Good has long been recognized as one of the top-tier real estate auctioneers in the United States.

You can see more video from our interview on a YoChicago playlist at YouTube.