"One Book, One Chicago" Goes Noir

The city of Chicago's One Book, One Chicago program has announced it's selection for the spring 2008: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler.

This is a worthy initiative by the city to try to not only spur reading among all citizens but also foster discussion of literature throughout our city. I'm looking forward to reading this classic mystery from one of the 20th century's most celebrated writers.

You can hear a great expose from WBEZ's new magazine Eight Forty Eight by clicking here.

What You Need to Know About Mortgage Modifications

In the wake of the current mortgage crisis, many homeowners are seeking relief from adjustable rate mortgages by working with their banks to modify their loan terms. If you find yourself in this predicament and are attempting to work out a modification with the bank there are a few things you need to know.

1. Get a phone with a speaker or a headset. You will be spending a lot of time on the phone with your bank.
   
2. Take careful notes of every conversation you have with various representatives. Get their names and, if they will give them, their direct phone numbers or extensions.
   
3. Get confirmation when sending faxes. If you are sending documents through the mail, send them registered mail.
   

If you need more information--or even inspiration--check out this article from Newsweek.com. It details the trials of one family who went through this process with a major lender--Countrywide.

Who is Chicago's Best Broadcast Team?

I'm going to veer slightly off the standard real estate course today and talk about another of my favorite subjects: baseball. Ok, so it's Chicago baseball so technically it falls under the general heading of "what's happening in Chicago and why you would want to buy a house here."

We are blessed to not only have 2 pro teams in this city but also 4 great broadcast duos: t.v. and radio teams for both the Cubs and Sox.

While much is made of the Northsider's beloved radio team of Ron Santo and Pat Hughes, I have to say I am really enjoying the Sox radio team of Ed Farmer and Steve Stone. This is remarkable because I am not a big Ed Farmer fan. In the past I've found him to be arrogant and downright annoying. When he partnered with the less-experienced Chris Singleton a few years ago, his domination of the microphone became too much for me. I really couldn't even listen to the broadcast.

Steve Stone on the other hand is one of the best in the game, period. He knows the game inside and out--not just the Sox but all of baseball past and present. He has a great sense of humor but he's not a ham. What's more he's just a class guy. I recently heard him on the radio talking glowingly about the man whom he replaced--Singleton. That kind of humility is in short supply these days. He has actually made it possible for me to stomach Ed Farmer. It's as if Farmer knows that Stone is every bit his equal and has elevated his own game.

Next time you're near a radio tune in for a Sox game on 670 am WSCR. If you want to more of Steve Stone's baseball musings, check out his podcasts & interviews here.

Thanks for indulging me. Tomorrow it's back to real estate...although baseball is a lot more fun to blog about...

How to Appeal Your Property Tax Bill

In response to a comment on yesterday's post, here are a couple of links for those of you interested in appealing the assessed value of your home.

The Cook county assessor's website has an entire series of pages on appealing your residential property assessment. It contains a petition for appeal, the option to track an existing appeal and other useful information.

Mondays broadcast of Eight Forty Eight--Chicago Public Radio's excellent local news journal--featured a story on appealing your property assessment. Granted, the appeal deadline for the 2007 tax year was March 31st but it's not too early to start the process for next year.

Your Tax Exemption Booklet is in the Mail

Cook county has mailed out it's annual tax exemption application booklet. If you own a home you should see it in your mailbox in the next few days. The two most common property tax exemptions are:

1. The Homeowner Exemption, which entitles all Cook county homeowners who occupy their property to a portion off of their tax bill
2. The Senior Citizen Exemption which entitles Cook county senior homeowners (born prior to 1942,) who occupy their homes to a portion off of their tax bill.

This is especially important if you purchases a home in 2007 as you will need to re-apply for the exemption.

If you are entitled to either of these exemptions, simply fill out and return the form before April 23rd. If you have applied for the exemption in previous years and have not moved, you do not need to re-apply for either exemption.

For more information, you can visit the Cook county assessor's website.

Transfer taxes going up...now

You may remember that the city council voted last month to increase transfer taxes on the sale of property in the city of Chicago. Initially those increases were to be absorbed by the buyer but the council later voted to assign those increases to the seller. This increase will go into effect April 1st.

Here is a breakdown of transfer taxes as of April 1:
Sellers pay:
State and Cook County Transfer Taxes of $1.50 per $1,000 of PP
City of Chicago Transfer Tax of $3.00 per $1,000 of PP

Buyers pay:
City of Chicago Transfer Tax of $7.50 per $1,000 of PP
No State and County Transfer Tax

The Problem with McCain's Rhetoric

Republican senator and presidential contender John McCain weighed in yesterday on the economy in general and particularly the housing slump in particular. Most of this speech is standard stump speech material but I took issue with some of his comments, in particular how he characterized the millions of Americans that are facing foreclosure.

"I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers," McCain said.

It is easy to just right off those individuals and families in trouble as being "irresponsible," but the truth is not that simple. Many were sold a bill of good by their overzealous lenders promising loan programs that were literally too good to be true. I realize that some point, the consumer must exercise due diligence before signing but make no mistake about it: banks go through great trouble fine tuning their message to gloss over the ugly details behind some of their programs. When a crooked bank pressures the appraiser to inflate the value of a home so they can "get the deal done," most homeowners are none the wiser.

Government response to the housing slump must include tighter scrutiny of the lending industry.