Brokers, I thought I'd share a story that explains why John and go to buyers' closings in person, when so many other attorneys don't.
A young woman sits in a bland, minimally furnished room inside the nondescript title company office. I walk down the hallway and hear her sniffling. Instinctively, I stop and peek in the open doorway.
For many of our real estate buyers and sellers, maintaining privacy online is important. Which is why last year Mike posted these tips to...
The real estate industry is always shifting and evolving. Recently, lawsuits against the National Association of Realtors and national brokerages have resulted in new commission structures for many real estate brokers....and many questions from clients.
Please join me in congratulating my new (and first) partner in the firm, John Aylesworth. John's contributions to our team's growth and evolution have been...
When should you make your last mortgage payment? When you're selling your home, it's a detail you might overlook or even overthink. So read on for helpful information about the payoff process and the timing of your last payment before you close your sale.
TL/DR; The timing of the last payment depends on the date of the closing and the seller's mortgage terms. In general, we recommend sellers make the final payment 7 days before closing. But don't sweat it, if you overpay, lenders are required to pay any overages back within 30 days.
Keep reading to see how our firm helps sellers manage this important detail for clients.
When it comes to buying and selling property, Illinois is considered an "attorney state." Lawyers participate in the real estate sale process as a matter of custom and practice. But there are no laws or ordinances that require a buyer or seller to use one. That said, there are certain things that only a lawyer can do for you. There are also elements of the transaction that only a lawyer should do for you.
Sure, this may not be the most pleasant subject. But it's important...and we can help.
If your home—a house, condo, or townhouse—is in Illinois, you might consider using our new TODI Inheritance Service to leave it to a beneficiary. A TODI is a Transfer on Death Instrument, essentially a "will-equivalent" for real estate that's less complex than creating a will or trust.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both made significant changes to their guidelines for approving loans in condominiums and co-ops. This is a real game changer for buyers and sellers alike. Lenders must follow these guidelines in order for loans to be guaranteed in secondary (investor) markets. Loan-originating companies only want to grant mortgages if they can be resold on those secondary markets. Many approvals will be harder to come by.
Noise is an everyday part of city living, but when is "too loud", "too much"? Do Chicago area homeowners have a remedy for excessive noise?
Pickleball may be America's fastest growing sport. Its popularity is surging unabated. So, I suppose it's unsurprising that the critics would voice complaints about the sport's noise signature. There is at least some pickleball backlash in the real estate world. At least according to this article
What impact does pickleball have on your quality of life? Or on your property values?
Chicago alderpersons will soon vote on a proposed ordinance restricting property owners from installing free little libraries in front of their homes.
How can anyone object to free libraries in Chicago? Seems silly at first blush. We should always support neighbors sharing with neighbors, literacy campaigns, and lifetime learning. So what's the fuss?
Selling a home in the Chicago area (or really anywhere), should be easy enough: buyer gives seller money, seller gives buyer keys and a deed. Oh, if only it were that simple.
We're on the move! On August 28, 2023, our law firm moves to the corner of State and Madison, the center of all Chicago addresses.
A quitclaim deed is a quick way to transfer the property title. And in Illinois, a lawyer is not required to complete one, you can do it yourself. That said, hiring an experienced lawyer to execute a quitclaim can prevent expensive mistakes, like this.
Selling a home as-is should be fairly straightforward. The seller doesn't want to make any repairs or changes and the buyer understands this when they make their offer. However, the reality can be very different.
Buying or selling real estate in Illinois? If you close after July 1, 2023, your county's recording fees will include a new $9 increase. But there's a bright side to it.
Buyers who use lenders are often surprised when the lender stops the sale from moving forward. Thankfully, our real estate law firm excels at deciphering and working through lender issues. Here's a story about a buyer, an insistent lender, and how we can help close deals like this.
So you're buying a house with someone who is not your spouse. From co-housing, communes, and intergenerational housing to friends just buying a place to share, we are seeing more and more deals involving co-ownership: multiple buyers that are not married or in a comparable relationship.
While it can be a great idea, it's important to start with a clear understanding of individual goals and a formal legal agreement.
Thanks to a continued low inventory of homes for sale in the Chicago area, our firm expects that 2023 and 2024 will bring multiple offers, when sellers gets competing offers from multiple buyers. This can inspire buyers to get creative with their offers—including offering post-closing possession. What is post-closing posse...
We all expect a measure of privacy in our homes. But, in the information age, privacy is no longer a given. In fact, there is a lot of easily acquired information online, particularly after a real estate purchase.
One of the things my team and I love about Chicago is Puppet Bike, which I hear no longer exists (sigh). As a kid in the 'burbs, I couldn't get enough of Garfield Goose, Dirty Dragon, Romberg Rabbit, and Mr. Moose.
We'll leave it to the economists and other pundits to report and contextualize this year's numbers and next year's forecasts.
Here are nine local real estate trends we are watching as we look back on 2022 and ahead to 2023.
Few Chicago homeowners WANT to head out to clear the sidewalks when it snows—especially if it just keeps falling. But do you have to?
As of New Year's Day, all smoke detectors in residential dwelling units must be...
What could be more attractive to buyers right now than buying with a (well) below-market interest rate on their mortgage? Interest rates may be rising, but there are still ways to win in this market. Sellers holding assumable mortgages may have a leg up on the competition. Especially if they only made small down payments and took their lo...
Cook County homeowners, our property tax bills are one step closer to hitting our mailboxes. Why? Because the final Cook County 2021* State Equalization factor was announced on October 18, 2022.
So, what the heck is equalization?
One of the easiest ways to protect your interests as you buy a home is to hire an experienced, well-qualified lawyer. Your first instinct may be to search for the lowest price. But before you do that...
Whenever a client hires our firm in connection with a Cook County real estate purchase or sale, one of the first things we do is check out the Assessor's web site. The property search function provides homebuyers, owners, and the professionals that represent them with data points that can be critical to their deals. We are on this site every day.
It's October! Where are the Cook County property tax bills? If you pay the bill directly, you may have been wondering if they forgot you. They didn't. It's not just you. The bills for the second installment of Cook County property taxes (generally due August 1) have not been finalized yet. Earlier this year, we expected tax bills to be sent by the ...
My phone rings. It’s Amanda, a client in the last steps of buying a house with her husband James. She’s calling as they take the final walk-through before the closing the next day. I hear the upset in her voice as she tells me,
As many of my clients are new to the Chicago area, I’m often asked about recycling, typically as we sit around the closing table. And, since there are updated rules and schedules, I thought I’d jot down a quick overview and links for Chicago’s nifty recycling guide.
Tragedy in Sunrise, Florida and now Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Authorities ordered the emergency evacuation of another condominium building late last week. Deemed to be at risk of imminent collapse. Structural and life safety problems noted after a wind storm sheared some exterior elements off a couple of years ago. Led to a balcony reconstruction project, which in turn revealed far worse structural deterioration. Of a building (only) 50 years old. 80 or so people forced to leave their homes with no advance warning.
Fannie Mae’s October lender letter tightened lending guidelines in buildings with too much deferred maintenance. Inadequate reserves. Associations lacking the political will to take on the challenges of funding and orchestrating necessary structural and safety repairs.
Whether they are brought to light by municipal inspections or the associations own investigations or capital reserve studies. Fannie will not loan money into buildings with structural defects or deficiencies until they are made habitable. Not until the work is complete. And paid for.
Fannie Mae is calling on its lenders and their appraisers to ferret these buildings out. To shut off the money supply for loans into those associations. Once problems are identified, no acquisition loans. Not even loans already in the pipeline. No re-fi’s. Owners will be “stuck” with the inevitable special assessments and will have fewer avenues to raise funds by selling or pulling out home equity.
Flippers. Wholesalers. I-buying fin-tech disrupters. Publicly traded REITS. Private equity firms. Boot-strap investors. All out on the prowl for opportunities.
It's never been easier for Chicago area owners to sell homes directly. But should you? What can possibly go wrong? Read on to learn the unpleasant truth, and the things you can do to make the most of these no-broker deals.
It may start with a series of unsolicited offers. Out of the blue. First a letter. Then another. (Look – this one's on yellow stationary!) A note left in the mailbox. A knock at the door. Maybe the allure of those ads on tv and the net. That billboard you keep driving past. Same deal.
"We'd like to buy your house. Just us. No middlemen. No realtors. You won't have to pay anyone's commission. We can pay all cash. Close in two weeks if you want. What do say"?
The money sure would be nice. More house than you need. Getting harder to keep it up. Money is tight. Need a fresh start. Almost seems too good to be true. Or maybe luck is smiling down, finally.
It turns out that ink color really does matter. At least it does for Kane County recordings. This alert from one of our favorite title companies today:
**It has just come to our attention that Kane County will charge an additional $22 if deeds are signedThe sun sets majestically over your new vacation home. Your attention focuses on the gentle wind blowing thru the trees. The blissful payoff for a long long week at work. The calm evaporates when you open the letter – a cease and desist order from a neighbor’s lawyer. You are directed to stay off their property, which puzzles you. You’ve never once set foot on their land, barely even know which place is theirs.
Discrimination is an ugly, pervasive problem. Even in real estate. Americans have come a long way over the course of history, but we still have work to do, especially in Chicago. I can think of at least three areas that need work: the undervaluing of many minority-owned properties, the over-taxing of Cook County's poorer neighborhoods, and the bias against minority homebuyers in automated mortgage underwriting.
As with any problem, these topics need needs to be examined, talked about and understood until we find effective solutions…and can
