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931 W. Leland #406- Top Floor Corner Unit in Lovely Recently Rehabbed Condo Conversion in Uptown!

TOP FLOOR CORNER UNIT IN LOVELY RECENTLY REHABBED CONDO CONVERSION IN UPTOWN. MANY UPGRADES FEATURING: HARDWOOD FLOORS THRU-OUT, KITCHEN WITH BEAUTIFUL GRANITE COUNTER TOPS & STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES, UPDATED BATH, 1ST FLOOR LAUNDRY ROOM (FREE - COINLESS), CENTRAL AIR, AMPLE CLOSETS & AN INVITING WORKOUT GYM!!!! GREAT LOCATION NEAR PARK & LAKE, QUIET CUL-DE-SAC STREET!!! NOTHING TO DO BUT MOVE IN AND ENJOY!

1050 W. Dakin #2E- Rehabbed Two Bedroom/Two Bath in Great Wrigleyville Location!

Rehabbed Two bedroom/Two Bath in Great Wrigleyville Location! Large living room with separate area for a dining room table. Huge kitchen, hardwood floors, gas fireplace, balcony, and brand new front-loading washer and dryer. Tons of closet space with closet organizers and a large storage unit. Easy Street Parking, close to the El, and across from the park.

444 W. Fullerton #1909- Former 3 Bedroom Converted to Large 2 Bedroom with more Living Space!

ULTIMATE LINCOLN PARK LIFESTYLE! AMAZING, UNOBSTRUCTED NORTHWEST VIEWS! FORMER 3 BEDROOM CONVERTED TO LARGE 2 BEDROOM WITH MORE LIVING SPACE! 2 FULL BATHS, OAK HARDWOOD FLOORS, WASHER & DRYER IN-UNIT MAKE THIS UNIT TRULY UNIQUE! OPEN KITCHEN, OUTDOOR POOL/24HR DOOR/BIKE ROOM/STORAGE! ASSESSMENTS INCLUDE HEAT/AIR/POOL/CABLE! CLOSE TO PARK/ZOO/BUS LINES! GARAGE PARKING ADDITIONAL $30K.

4259 N. Ashland #1- Real Three Bedroom Condo in a Total Gut Rehab with a Great Location!

Real Three Bedroom Condo in a Total Gut Rehab with a Great Location!! Gourmet Kitchen with SS Appliances, 1 1/4″ granite, 42″ cabinets, and a huge breakfast bar. Exposed brick in living room. Open kitchen with seperate dining room. Marble & Stone baths, hardwood floors, washer & dryer in unit, three outdoor spaces, plantation shutters on all windows, and gated parking for additional $20k.

1528 W. Monroe #PH1- Top Floor,Luxury Penthouse with 2 elevators directly into your new home!

Top Floor,Luxury Penthouse with 2 elevators directly into your new home!! 16 ft ceilings w/ crown molding, Gourmet kitchen with Wolf stove, Subzero, wine fridge, & stone deck off the kitchen & living room. Surround sound & walnut hardwood floors throughout. Copper tub & steam shower in master bath. Master bedroom has fireplace & a 12×10 closet. 2nd floor has a wet bar, fridge, storage, & own roof deck. Heated floors in kitchen and baths. Skinner Elementary

Retail Sales Dropped In December And Now So Are Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates are dropping this morning on weaker-than-expected Retail Sales data from December. Lower rates means more bang for your home-buying buck.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, December’s “ex-auto” sales receipts were down roughly $500 million from November. Analysts had expected receipts to grow.

The relevance of Retail Sales to home affordability isn’t obvious, but it’s definitely logical.

Retail Sales is directly related to consumer spending and consumer spending accounts for the majority of the U.S. economy. When consumer spending slows, the economy often does, too. It leads investors to seek out “safe” investments.

It’s the reason why stock markets often drop on weak economic data — stocks are among the riskiest investment classes available.

Conversely, the best place to find safety is in the market of government-backed bonds.  This world includes products like U.S. Treasuries and many of the mortgage-backed bonds that help set mortgage rates for people in Chicago.  Weak economic data puts mortgage bonds in demand.

For rate shopper, this is good news.  More demand for mortgage bonds causes mortgage rates to fall.  Mortgage rates are lower this morning because Wall Street is shedding some risk.

December’s Retail Sales report closes out a year of generally-weak data.  2009 marks just the second time that Retail Sales fell year-over-year since the government started tracking it 40 years ago.  The other year was 2008.

For home buyers in Wicker Park and around the country, though, today may represent an opportune time to lock a mortgage rate.  Housing data is still improving and other economic indicators are showing strength.  Soon, Wall Street will shift from a “safe” mentality and move toward risk.

When it does, mortgage rates will rise.

The Bad Jobs Report Wasn’t All Bad — Mortgage Rates Fell

Despite the headlines, it’s important to remember that December’s jobs report wasn’t all bad news. 

Sure, the economy shed 85,000 jobs last month and the Unemployment Rate failed to dip below 10%, but for home buyers and rate shoppers in Chicago , the news was just fine.

The soft employment data led mortgage rates lower, making homes in Wicker Park, for example, more affordable for buyers.

There is two sides to every economic coin.

Since early-2008, the U.S workforce has been closely tied to home financing. As the economy slowed and jobs were lost, Wall Streeters pulled money from the risky stock markets and moved it to of the relative safety of bond markets, instead.

Safe haven buying led mortgage bond prices higher which, in turn, caused rates to fall. Mortgage rates fell to 6 all-time lows in 2009. In a related statistic, 4.2 million jobs were lost last year.

And this is why Friday’s non-farm payrolls report was so good for buyers.

See, in November, the economy added new jobs for the first time since 2007, housing looked strong, consumer confidence was growing.  The safe haven buying reversed and mortgage rates took off.  Analysts believed the nation’s economic turnaround was complete.

But now, after December’s jobs report returned to the red, Wall Street is forced to rethink its position. Safe haven buying is back and mortgage rates are lower because of it.

Over the next few months, expect a lot of this back-and-forth action in rates. In general, positive news for the economy will be met with higher mortgage rates and negative economic news will be met with lower mortgage rates.  There will be exceptions, but the general rule should hold.

Throw Out Your “Chip Clips”. Get The Banana Seal.

If you’ve ever used a plastic Chip Clip and been miffed that your chips went stale anyway, you have to see the Banana Seal.  Its beauty is its simplicity.

Similar to the tongue-in-groove seal created by zip-top bags, the Banana Seal creates an airtight seal on bags of all sizes.  Chips stay crunchy, vegetables stay fresh, and freezer-burned food becomes a problem of the past.

The people of Banana Seal made a promotional video that shows the product in action. It’s a little bit over-the-top in “sales mode”, but gives some good ideas on how the Banana Seal works.  Aside from the obvious refrigerator, freezer and pantry uses, the video shows how Banana Seal can be used outside of the kitchen, too.

Buy an 18-pack of Banana Seal for less than $20 from Amazon.com.

There’s A Very Good Reason Why The New Home Sales Data Plunged In November

One day after November’s Existing Home Sales report blew away estimates, the Census Bureau’s related New Homes Sales report failed to impress.

A “new home” is a home that is newly-constructed; not bought as a resale.

In a lackluster showing, New Home Sales dropped 11 percent in November, falling to the lowest levels since April. Furthermore, the all-important “months of supply” climbed by a half-month to 7.9.

The press pounced on the figures and if you only read the headlines, you’d think that housing had cratered. Some of the angles were quite bold, even:

• Weak U.S. Home Sales Show Recovery’s Shakiness (Reuters)
• New Home Sales Plunge In November (CNNMoney.com)
• Housing Forecast : Off Life Support, Still In Critical Care (CBS News)

These headlines, although technically accurate, only tell half the story, however. The other half relates to November 30’s role as the original First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit ending date.

See, different from home resales, when a contract is written on a newly-built home, the home is rarely finished. According to the Census Bureau, just 1 in 4 new homes are sold “move-in ready”. The other 3 of 4 are in various stages of construction when a buyer signs on the dotted line.

Some have yet to break ground, even.

Regardless, it’s at this date of signing that the Census Bureau counts the home as “sold” — not at the actual closing. This is the main driver of the November New Home Sales data dip.

First-time home buyers would have risked up to $8,000 in federal tax credits if they bought a newly-built home and it wasn’t ready for move-in by November 30, 2009. And it wasn’t until November 5 that the credit was officially extended.

Suddenly, first-timers representing more than half of last month’s Existing Home Sales isn’t so shocking. Buying new carried a lot risk.

There’s always more to the story than the headline. Sometimes, you have to dig deeper. Looking back over 10 months, the housing market is on a steady course of improvement. November’s New Home Sales data — although weak — is not terrible.

Despite what the papers might say.

Home Inventories Plummet, Foreshadowing Higher Prices By Spring 2010

Home resales are soaring.

For the 4th consecutive month, the Existing Home Sales report revealed what today’s buyers and sellers already know — there’s a lot of buyer activity right now.

Existing Home Sales surged 7-plus percent in November, posting its largest number of recorded sales in 33 months. Sales volume is up 44% higher versus last year.

It’s another example of the housing market in recovery.

There were other interesting statistics buried in the November data, too. According to the National Association of Realtors:

1. 51 percent of home buyers were first-timers
2. Distressed properties accounted for one-third of all sales
3. The median home sale price rose slightly

But of all the stats from the November Existing Home Sales report, perhaps the most important one is the one showing home supplies falling to 6.5 months. It’s nearly half of the home supply available last November.

The rapid run-off of inventory throughout 2009 is more than a trend at this point and suggests higher home valuations in 2010. Especially because mortgage rates are low, tax credits are available, and the press is giving housing positive coverage.

You shouldn’t feel rushed to buy, but you probably don’t wait too long, either. The best deals of 2010 may be gone before that Spring Buying Season even starts.

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