Big Decisions for Your Chicago Home Search
Buying your first Chicago home involves a great deal of decision making! While you may feel daunted by this, you can take a lot of fear and uncertainty out of the home buying process with some advance planning. Once you have attended a first-time home buyer seminar...
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What to Do in a Multiple Offer Situation in Chicago Real Estate
StartingPoint Realty is back with the latest update from the Chicago area real estate market! Sales may be down, but interest rates are rising and demand is still high! We're providing buyers and...
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Making the Right Offer when Buying a Chicago Home
The list price of any Chicago home is seldom absolute. The actual sales price that seals the deal could be well above, or below, the original list price. So, once you've found the right home, how much should you offer for it? There's no simple answer to this...
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What First-Time Home Buyers Shouldn’t Reveal to a Seller’s Agent
As a first-time Chicago home buyer, you'll be excited, and maybe a little nervous, as you tour homes for sale. Whether you're at a scheduled showing, or visiting open houses and model homes, you'll probably meet the seller's agent. This person will be listening to...
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Does Home Ownership Make You More Appealing?
Just when you thought you've seen it all in real estate surveys, out comes a report by Unison and Atomik Research that changes everything. Turns out, home ownership is sexy! The survey focused on feelings about home ownership. It included what prospective buyers were...
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Should Home Buyers Pay Points on a Mortgage?
As mortgage interest rates creep up, the question of paying points on a mortgage is popping up again. You might already notice mortgage rate advertisements saying something like, "30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage, 4.35% with 1 point!" Ok, great, but what the heck is a...
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Chicago Home Buyers Should Consider Resale Value
According to Crain's Chicago Business, those who bought homes in the northwest neighborhoods right after the recession are the most “equity rich” in Chicago. "Equity rich" is loosely defined as having at least 50% equity in your home. But only about 15% of Chicago...
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Debt Load Increasing for Home Buyers
Chicago is among the most affordable cities for home buyers in the U.S., but that doesn’t exclude us from the trend of rising home prices and higher interest rates. Home buyers need to think long-term before stretching their budgets!
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Chicago Homes Among Most Affordable in U.S.
Skyrocketing home prices have made things tough on first-time home buyers around the country. According to a recent report by ATTOM Data Solutions, median home prices exceed the reach of average wages in about 68% of U.S. counties. The study compared median home sales...
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Credit Score Clean-Up Tips for First-Time Home Buyers
As a first-time home buyer, you'll want to have the strongest possible credit score when you apply for a mortgage. The higher your score, the better your mortgage offers, and the less interest you'll pay! But what, exactly, is a "good" credit score? FICO is the...
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3 Challenges Facing First-Time Buyers (and how to handle them!)
Buying your first home in Chicago or the Northwest suburbs has always required fortitude! Already, 2018 is shaping up to be another competitive year. Here are the 3 main challenges facing home buyers, and what you can do about them! Low home inventory. As reported in...
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Top Features to Seek in Your Chicago Home
There’s a big difference between a home that needs some updating, and a home that has significant repair bills ahead. Here are some features to look for when buying a Chicago home!
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How much time should your Chicago home search take?
First-time home buyers in Chicago and the Northwest suburbs might feel a little anxious about the home search process. After all, Chicago area home inventories are still lower than normal, and homes can sell quickly. But this doesn't mean you should jump at the first...
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Chicago Neighborhoods Among Best for Home Buyers
Chicago home buyers have some of the best neighborhoods in the county to choose from, according to a recent article in Inman News, an industry trade publication. Inman pointed to a study by Redfin that outlined the "25 Neighborhoods that Have it All." Out of the 25...
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Tax Reform Shouldn’t Discourage Chicago Home Buyers
If you're planning to buy your first home in Chicago or the Northwest suburbs this year, you might be concerned about Tax Reform and its effects on home ownership. The rules for claiming certain deductions have changed starting in tax year 2018. However, you might...
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Owning a Chicago Home Beats Cost of Renting
You've probably heard over and over again how it's cheaper to own a Chicago home than to rent one...well, it's still true! A new study by the Urban Institute examined the median cost of renting a 3-bedroom home in Chicago, versus the median cost of making a mortgage...
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Chicago Homes are a Top Choice for Real Estate Investors
First-time home buyers in Chicago always have some competition when it comes to finding affordable homes. This has been a fact of the market since the Great Recession, when cash buyers swooped in to pick up bargain-priced homes and turn them into rentals. But several...
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Holiday Credit Card Traps Chicago Home Buyers Should Avoid!
The holidays are here in Chicago, and it's natural to get swept up in the splendor and spirit of the season. Watching the budget almost seems Scrooge-ish! And so we spend more on gifts than we might have intended, and let ourselves have all those little extras. But if...
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Chicago Homeowners Stay Put Despite Seller’s Market
Home sales in the Chicago area remained strong into the autumn months, with October purchase contracts rising sharply over last year's levels. Crain's reports that single-family homes saw a 22% increase in purchase activity compared to October 2016. Condo and...
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Fall Brings Opportunity for First-Time Chicago Home Buyers
The weather is getting cold in Chicago, and daylight is dwindling. If you're a first-time Chicago home buyer who didn't have any luck with your home search this summer, you might be thinking of hanging it up until spring. But right now could be the best time to find a...
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Automated Appraisals Allowed for Well-Qualified Home Buyers
In a move that could delight some home buyers, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are accepting automated appraisals on purchase-money mortgages. Here are the details, and what it could mean for Chicago home buyers!
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Why Now Is Best Time to Buy a First Home in Chicago
As a first-time homebuyer in the Chicago real estate market, you have probably been keeping up with of the negative reasons to buy – rising home prices, low inventory. StartingPoint Realty is here to remind you of the positive reasons to buy a home this fall – low...
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September Events in the Chicago Area!
Summer may be over, but the fun never ends in the Chicago area! There are plenty of fall festivals and activities to enjoy during the second half of the month of September, so we’re here to fill you in on when, what and where for each one. Get out and enjoy this...
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Chicago Home Sales Shrink as Inventory Drops
For first-time home buyers in Chicago and the Northwest suburbs, the combination of low inventory and rising home prices is a one-two punch, but it isn’t a knockout blow. To succeed in this market, home buyers should be willing to do these things:
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Home Buyers Putting Less Money Down
Home buyers are opting to put less money down on their home purchase, according to a new study by Black Knight Financial Services, published by CNBC. About 40% of purchase money mortgages now have down payments of 10% or less. Here are more highlights from the study,...
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