Real estate mogul Sam Zell says the U.
S. real estate market is healthy, but he's got some specific views on where to make the best bets.
Mr. Zell, speaking yesterday in Chicago at the Invest for Kids charity event, says he doesn't foresee a “rising-tide market” where all real estate investors will benefit.
Instead, it will be a...
With Halloween quickly approaching, Redfin was dying to know: Do homes near cemeteries sell for more or less than homes farther away from cemeteries? Would a drop-dead-gorgeous home take longer to sell if the view includes tombstones? Would a home shopper have grave concerns about a home near a cemetery, or would the quiet neighbors be a selling point? We dug into the data to find out.
A house this small and strange-looking would be interesting on its own, but local legend says the reason it exists is pure spite. Known as the Montlake Spite House, this pie-shaped Seattle house is only 830 square feet and was recently for sale for $397,500. Why would anybody build a house like this? The widely accepted story is that a neighbor offered to buy the small corner lot from the property owner. The lowball offer he made was so insulting that the owner built this house on the lot just to annoy his cheap neighbor. Is that what actually happened? There's some debate there, but why let that get in the way of a good story?
The ‘Material Girl’ has shed one of her biggest material possessions.
After selling a luxury duplex on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for $19 million in May, Madonna recently made another big score, parting ways with her Beverly Hills mansion. TMZ was first to report news of the transaction and Lauren Beale of the Los Angeles Timesconfirmed that Madonna has indeed sold the prized property.
When it comes to a certain type of tax, not everyone is paying a share, according to a new report.
The New York State Comptroller's Office took a look at tax-exempt properties in the state and found that more than 25 percent of the real estate is exempt from all local taxes. The total value of the exempt properties is $680 billion. In New York City, about 32 percent of the total real estate value cannot be taxed.
The famous Highland Park home featured in the 1986 Movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off just went back on the market a month ago at a reduced price of $1.5 MM and already the price has been reduced another $125,000. Apparently there is just not enough interest in this classic home.
Job growth faltered in October, with the private sector adding just 130,000 new positions, according to the latest report from ADP and Moody's Analytics.
Economists expected ADP to show private business created 150,000 new jobs in October. The actual count represented a downward drift from September's number, which was revised lower from 166,000 to 145,000.
U.S. single-family home prices rose in August and also posted their strongest annual gain in more than seven years, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, beating economists' expectation of a 0.6 percent gain. Prices rose 0.6 percent in July.
San Francisco Condo Development Starts a Rumble: A battle between the developer and some residents has morphed into a high-price, campaign-style fight—complete with political-sounding television ads—in a display of what can happen when a not-in-my-backyard development fight becomes well-funded on both sides.
Pop-Ups Raise a Question: As the holiday season approaches, temporary stores selling Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas merchandise are sprouting up in malls across the country. But whether pop-up stores are a positive or negative trend for retail landlords is an open question.
There is generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale. The drop suggests final sales will decline in the coming months.
Mortgage rates reached a two-year high in August and remained elevated in September. But they have fallen in the past month, which could help boost contract signings in October.
As a homeowner, there are countless tweaks and additions you can make to your abode. If you’re enthusiastic, Home Depot can eventually start to feel like an all-you-can-eat home improvement buffet of fun. But before you go into project-planning overdrive, slow down! It’s important to be selective with your add-ons because some changes can actually devalue your home. Here are six things to double-check.
Property prices in developed markets have rebounded from the crash which followed the credit crisis of 2008 – but there are now increasing fears of a new bubble inflating in several locations.
Israel, Canada, Norway, Belgium, Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong, London and Singapore are all causing concern among economists and property market analysts. House prices have risen by close to 40 percent in Israel since 2009, with Norway up by nearly 30 percent and Switzerland by over 20 percent over the same period.
Rising home prices and higher mortgage rates are a toxic cocktail for homebuyers, pushing affordability down dramatically.
Prices are up more than 12 percent from a year ago, according to several reports, and the average rate on the 30-year fixed is a full percentage point higher than it was last spring. It is now far harder for the average U.S. household to afford a home.
One of the classic lines about real estate is that it will always rise in value because they aren't making any more of it. But it's not an argument that holds up for long. Real estate booms and busts have been part of the American financial landscape since the early 1800s, when a 50-acre farm was considered "cozy." And they're not making asbestos insulation any more, either, and it's not getting one bit more valuable.
The market for residential real estate, however, has been fairly good. The S&P Case/Shiller home price indices have gained about 12% in the past 12 months, buoyed by relatively low prices and mortgage rates.
Motorists will see plenty of orange warning signs next year as crews rehabilitate the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, expand the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway and attack other projects as the Illinois Tollway spends a record amount of money on construction.
Drivers will also see more troopers on the toll roads when a new state law kicks in allowing the maximum speed limit to hit 70 mph in some places, officials said Thursday.
Condos Are Going Back Up for Sale: Many condominium developers who rode out the real-estate downturn by renting out their units are reverting to for-sale housing, in another sign of the market’s continued recovery over the past year.
Tenant Rights in Focus: New York City building owners are crying foul over new investigative tactics—including broad subpoenas seeking landlord records and emails—by an office set up last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to protect tenant rights.
A Las Vegas compound once home to Michael Jackson will go on the market for $19.5 million. The pop star rented the gated estate from 2007 until 2009, when he died in California, the listing broker said.
According to listing agent Eddy Martinez of Miami-based World Properties, the 1.8-acre estate includes an 8,500-square-foot, three-story main house with three bedrooms and seven bathrooms as well as an elevator, spa treatment rooms, two kitchens and a large conference room
The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent from one week earlier....The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 4.17 percent, the highest rate since March 2012, from 4.15 percent, with points decreasing to 0.41 from 0.48 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. This is the sixth straight weekly increase for this rate.
A penthouse atop the Ritz-Carlton in lower Manhattan’s Battery Park City is listed for sale at $56.5 million, the highest-ever asking price for a downtown home.
The 7,500-square-foot (697-square-meter) duplex condominium at 10 West St. includes five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two outdoor roof decks, one with a view of the Statue of Liberty, according to the listing by Julie Kang, Matthew Gros-Werter and Steven Forkosh, brokers at Platinum Realty Group.
If sold at the asking price, the deal would be a Manhattan record for a property below 34th Street, according to Jonathan Miller, president of New York-based appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. The current downtown high was set in August, with the $42 million purchase of a penthouse at Zeckendorf Development Co.’s 18 Gramercy Park.
Rising home prices and higher mortgage rates are a toxic cocktail for homebuyers, pushing affordability down dramatically.
Prices are up more than 12 percent from a year ago, according to several reports, and the average rate on the 30-year fixed is a full percentage point higher than it was last spring. It is now far harder for the average U.S. household to afford a home.
A veteran Chicago developer is planning a residential and retail project with as many as 11 stories at the corner of North Avenue and Clark Street, next to the landmark Village Theatre.
Howard Weiner's proposal, which could cost as much as $50 million, would replace two smaller structures on the site, including Elly's Pancake House, 101 W. North Ave. As a part of the project, the façade of the building formerly known as Germania Theater, noteworthy because of its Germanic influences, would be renovated.
Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages dropped this week to their lowest levels in four months, a positive sign for the housing recovery.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year loan fell to 4.13 percent. That's down from 4.28 percent. The average on the 15-year fixed loan declined to 3.24 percent from 3.33 percent.
U.S. construction spending hit a near 4-1/2 year high in August, boosted by increases in both private and public outlays, a hopeful sign for third-quarter economic growth.
Construction spending increased 0.6 percent to an annual rate of $915.1 billion, the highest level since April 2009, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.
The idea of deciding how you'd like to die and who you'll leave your assets to can be overwhelming. That's why we like the idea of approaching estate planning like you would building a new home. Start with a solid foundation early enough in life, and then build it up one piece at a time. Once the roof is up and you've passed inspection, it's just a matter of trimming the hedges, changing a few light bulbs and renovating every once in a while.
In May, environmental nonprofit group Ceres released a report that drillers in the Bakken are flaring—or burning off—more than $100 million in natural gas a month. That's nearly one-third of all the gas drilled in the region, and it's a figure that has tripled in the past three years. The practice is so prolific that NASA says astronauts can see the region's flares from space.Don't forget to the check out Ted Margaris Construction here. Ted Margaris Construction in Chicago is also featured on Yelp, Super Pages, Yalwa, Local.com, Merchant Circle, Topix, Mojo pages, Ez Local, Kudzu 2 Find Local, Crestwood Private Investor, A Locations, Cyclex USA ,Show Me Local, B 2 Bye Yellowpages, Biz Wiki, QC Times, Facebook page, twitter feed, PJ Star, My Web Times, Link Town, Local Pantagraph,Domain Tools, NWI Times, and A Nett,
September saw the U.S. economy add just 148,000 jobs, significantly worse than expected, according to a report delayed more than two weeks by the government shutdown.
The unemployment unexpectedly fell to 7.2 percent as the labor-force participation rate held near 35-year lows.
September Existing Home Sales on Monday from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and New Home sales on Thursday (not confirmed release).
New York-based Concierge Auctions is pleased to announce the November 22nd live auction of Michael Jordan's nearly 20-year residence in the chic Chicago suburb of Highland Park. The 56,000-square-foot estate, known as Legend Point, occupies 7.39 acres and is complete with a regulation-size NBA-quality basketball court, pool pavilion, tennis court, putting green, 9 bedrooms and 15 full and four half bathrooms. Previously offered for $29 million, Legend Point will be sold in cooperation with Katherine Chez Malkin of Baird and Warner Real Estate.
Home improvement projects are among the key tenets of homeownership. You purchase a home, renovate certain aspects of it, and then, several years down the line, enjoy the decent boost those improvements ultimately give to your sale price.Here's some words of wisdom: Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
As the housing market continues to recover, though, what home improvement projects are proving the most popular with homeowners? And how do homeowners in Chicago, specifically, intend on bolstering their home’s value?
KBS Realty Advisors LLC is set to pony up $435 million for a West Loop office tower, the biggest price tag in Chicago since the same firm's 2010 acquisition of a River North skyscraper.
Newport Beach, Calif.-based KBS has agreed to pay almost $300 per square foot for the nearly 1.5 million-square-foot structure at 500 W. Madison St., also known as Citigroup Center, sources said.
If the sale is finalized as expected, it will be the highest price for a Chicago office tower since KBS paid $655 million for the 1.3 million-square-foot tower at 300 N. LaSalle St. in July 2010. That deal's $503 price per square foot remains a Chicago record.
