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Posts in category "national housing statistics"

Housing prices rise. Chick-fil-a opens. What do you care most about?

I spoke at a career fair at a suburban high school today, talking to freshmen about what freelance writing is all about. One of the students asked me which of my stories generate the most interest. I hate to say it, but the first thing I thought of was Chick-fil-a. Every time I write about... Read more »
By DanRafter,
April 25, 2012 at 1:56 pm
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Your home isn't worth as much as you think it is -- just ask your real estate agent

Here’s what real estate agents dislike about home sellers: They all hold too high an opinion of their own residences. Sure, they understand that home prices across Chicago and its suburbs have fallen. They just think it’s the homes of everyone else whose values have fallen. As one veteran agent told me just last week... Read more »
By DanRafter,
April 18, 2012 at 9:11 pm
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Even in today's dismal residential market, owning a home might be the smart financial move

It’s easy to forget that there actually are some nice things about owning a house. Ron Phipps This came up while I was interviewing Ron Phipps, the current president of the National Association of REALTORS. We spoke a lot about falling home values — the median sales price of a home, $156,100, fell to its... Read more »
By DanRafter,
April 11, 2011 at 11:03 am
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Chicagoans and their credit scores: We're middling

Credit scores are king today. Mortgage lenders and banks rely on them to determine to whom they pass out loans and at what interest rates. How are Chicagoans doing when it comes to credit scores? Not great, but OK, as it turns out. National credit bureau Experian — the scummy folks behind all those advertisements... Read more »
By DanRafter,
October 5, 2010 at 1:50 pm
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Chicagoans can't keep still, apparently

There are a lot of us in Chicago who don’t like where we live. Not the city, of course. We like that. We just want to live somewhere else in it. At least that’s what the latest numbers from Movers.com, an online provider of moving information, seem to suggest. Movers.com released its latest round of... Read more »
By DanRafter,
October 1, 2010 at 11:58 am
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Looking for a quick real estate turnaround? How about waiting until 2015?

Albert Berriz Are things getting better yet in the real estate world? No one knows the answer to that. But those people working in the business say that anyone who expects a quick real estate turnaround, on both the residential and commercial sides of the business, is bound to be disappointed. Yesterday, for example, I... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 22, 2010 at 3:25 pm
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Even the ritzy Chicago suburbs have sluggish housing markets

When I was a kid, we considered a trip to the Plush Horse ice cream parlor in Palos Park to be a real treat. And why not? The ice cream was great. It still is. The housing market in Palos Park, though, isn’t so terrific these days. In fact, it’s a lot like it is... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 15, 2010 at 9:24 pm
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Why so stressed out Chicago?

Trying to get to work each morning in the Chicago area is no easy task. Housing values here are falling. The unemployment rate in Chicago stood at 10.5 percent in July, higher than the national average. And a new report from the Federal Reserve said that the economy in Chicago is actually slowing. It’s all... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 13, 2010 at 2:31 pm
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When does renting out that hard-to-sell Chicago condo make sense?

When does it make sense to move from trying to sell your Chicago condo to trying to rent it? For Adam Hrejsa, that point came after he reduced the asking price of his condo in Chicago’s River West neighborhood twice. When his real estate agent suggested he reduce the price a third time, Hrejsa took... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 9, 2010 at 8:32 pm
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Selling a Chicago home isn't complicated, even today

David Dornbos Selling a home, whether in Chicago, its suburbs or any other market, has never been a complicated matter. It’s all about making one big decision: Are you going to sell your Chicago condo or single-family home in an “as is” condition with a lower price tag, or are you going to update your... Read more »
By DanRafter,
September 5, 2010 at 8:30 pm
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