Chicago Tribune Real Estate News

Use our guide to bring home a sofa that's your living room's Mr. Right

Buying a new sofa—one of the largest and most-used pieces of furniture in your home, scene of much reading, TV-watching, snoozing and everything else-ing—is not a task to take on lightly.

Former Chicago Blackhawk to take loss on 16th-floor unit in Lancaster building

Former Chicago Blackhawks left wing Martin Havlat, who left the team and signed a six-year, $30 million contract last summer with the Minnesota Wild, has reduced the asking price of his 16th-floor condo unit in the Lancaster building to $725,000, and clearly anticipates taking a loss on it.

New procedures have created problems for lenders, buyers

Q My husband and I just signed documents to refinance our home. The entire process was long and frustrating. The appraisal was done a month ago, but the lender never notified us that the appraisal value was lower than what we needed to refinance. We found this out almost one month afterward and only after we called to ask how things were going. The communication with the lender was extremely poor, but that wasn't the biggest problem.

Q. I am on a new board of a 28-unit condominium association in Chicago. The building has seen a variety of damage to units. We are trying to update our rules and regulations to spell out the board's responsibilities in these situations.

A look at when the landlord is responsible or tenant must pay for work

Q: We have lived in our apartment, a ground-level unit in a new complex, for several years. Now, my husband, who has multiple sclerosis, needs to use a wheelchair. Several of the doorways are too narrow to let the chair go through; I have to help him up, support him, then fold and reopen the chair on the other side.

A $35 million addition is being planned at Smith Crossing, a retirement community in south suburban Orland Park. The 200,000-square-foot addition will have 106 new apartments, plus a new common area with a theater, arts studio, multipurpose room and two formal gardens. The existing fitness center will also be expanded.

InFocus Design aims to turn a home from drab to fab

Growing up, Susan Powell wanted to be an archeologist. "Now, in a sense, I am," says the Crete-based home stager. "I see the strata of people's lives."

New construction offers buyers variety of ways to save

During the building boom new homebuyers were drawn to more remote communities in an effort to get the biggest house their money could buy, but today builders are seeing a shift in interest with buyers more focused on value.

Attorneys urge associations to take proactive approach in collecting assessments

Collecting assessments for your community association takes more than passing out coupon booklets and waiting for checks to roll in. That's the passive approach. Sometimes you've got to be downright aggressive about getting your money. If you aren't, you risk losing it forever.

Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer because if there is a CO leak while you're asleep, you may never wake up. There are no crackling flames to hear, no burning materials to smell, and no smoke that might rouse you in a fit of coughing.

Verseman Development has five homesites ready to be claimed at Harvest Glen, a custom home development in Cary.

With elderly parents, grown children moving into their homes, baby boomers wonder how to accommodate everyone

They're known as the "sandwich generation" — adults of a certain age who find that they must simultaneously care for their own growing children as well as their aged parents.

Q I live in a 20-unit condominium building on the South Side. The association has two units that we rent out to generate additional income. We are tired of being landlords. The costs associated with maintaining rental units is limiting any financial gain from the rents.

Women alone account for 29% of homes bought in Chicago

First-time homebuyers largely have been credited for the glimpses of optimism appearing in the nation's housing market. But there's another demographic group flexing its muscle: single buyers and, more specifically, single women.

Bondera TileMatSet is a new pressure-sensitive adhesive to which you apply tile directly, eliminating the need for mortar or mastic.

Used to be that "tiling" and "one day" only appeared together in a "I'll get around to that tiling project one day" kind of way.

Q Your recent column gave me the idea that you might be able to help me with my mortgage problem.

Multistate investment plan backfires in down market

Q My self-employed son and his new wife built a house several years ago at the top of the market. Last year, they decided to take advantage of slightly depressed real estate values in another state, and contracted to build a house there. The first house was put on the market at substantially less than they paid for it. They got no offers until someone asked to rent it with an option to buy.

Trade show floor at IBS 2010 a haven for renovation-minded

Homebuilding isn't dead, but the industry has been largely on "pause" during the Great Recession.