But you took the plunge anyway! You fell in love with a home, you decided to buy it, and you moved in as soon as you could. You were happy with your new home, and you wanted to make it your own immediately!

Unfortunately, you may have found the prospect of decorating your new home just as daunting as buying it. But don’t worry—that’s where we come in! In our regular feature, Decorating De-mystified, we’ll help you turn that house of yours into a real home!

This week we’ll be focusing on clearing your space of clutter…

Getting rid of junk isn’t easy. But you’ll need to learn how to toss out your old baseball cards and ticket stubs if you want to live in a clean, streamlined home.

Home design expert Peter Walsh offers these tips to home owners interested in living clutter-free:

• Tackle messes one room at a time.
• When you buy something new, practice the “in-out rule:” For every one new item, get rid of an old one.
• Create intimacy in the master bedroom. Remember that improvements in one room can spread to the rest of the house.
• Make cleaning up fun for your kids.
• Create a vision for the room you’re cleaning.
• Teach your kids how to sort.
• Use a hanger system to determine which clothes you wear most.
• Ask yourself if you really need something. If you hesitate, you don’t.
• Establish a “magic triangle” in your kitchen between the stove, refrigerator and the sink. Keep the items you use most in that area.
• Identify useful utensils with the cardboard box test.

To learn more about decorating your new home, check the CondoDomain blog next week for another edition of Decorating De-mystified. And, in the meantime, check out articles like this one!

But you took the plunge anyway! You fell in love with a home, you decided to buy it, and you moved in as soon as you could. You were happy with your new home, and you wanted to make it your own immediately!

Unfortunately, you may have found the prospect of decorating your new home just as daunting as buying it. But don’t worry—that’s where we come in! In our regular feature, Decorating De-mystified, we’ll help you turn that house of yours into a real home!

This week we’ll be focusing on decorating with color…

Designer Mark McCauley encourages home owners to follow these two simple tips when working with color:

Tip 1. Choose a color scheme from the largest pattern in the space.
If you’ve got patterned upholstery, an Oriental rug or large piece of artwork, pluck colors you like from the pattern. For a neutral wall paint color, look to the pattern’s whites and beiges.

Tip 1. Start with the formal areas of the house.
Specifically, the living room, dining room and entry way. Choose a color scheme for those areas first, then pull one color from the scheme. For example, take the red sofa and tone it down (say, to burgundy) for an accent in more private spaces such as the den, office or bedroom.

To learn more about decorating your new home, check the CondoDomain blog next week for another edition of Decorating De-mystified. And, in the meantime, check out articles like this one!

Among them are the thousands of people who turned out to participate in Open House Chicago, an architecture tour designed to appeal to nosy neighbors and potential home buyers throughout Chicago and abroad.

According to WBEZ, Open House Chicago “gave the public access to about 130 nooks and crannies that are normally off limits, such as the store windows at Macy’s. The Chicago Architecture Foundation estimates participants made about 100,000 site visits.”

These tour sites included chapel, Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes, historical society buildings, museums, office buildings, and—of course—single family homes and condos currently on the market.

“Paul Bluestone, who heads the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, says this mix was on purpose: ‘It’s a United Nations of Chicago. It’s one of the most diverse communities in the country. Having a tour which focused only on the architectural relevance of some of the buildings would kind of miss the point a little bit.’”

Bluestone went on to say that “I think it’s great for people to be looking in places they haven’t looked before and asking questions about buildings and history. It’s great to have curious people wandering around.”

And we certainly agree with Bluestone. Chicagoans interested in purchasing a home before the holidays ought to take advantage of this warm Chicago weather while they can and visit as many houses and condos as possibly.

In a single weekend, for instance, an interested home buyer could check out dozens of available homes in neighborhoods like Bucktown, Wicker Park, and Lincoln Park.

To find out more about Chicago’s wonderful neighborhoods, enter your information in the box on the right and a Rock Star Chicago Real Estate Agent will get in touch with you today!

Chicago , perhap more than most cities, a city of neighborhoods. From the broad boulevards of Lincoln Park, to the arty avenues of Pilsen, each and every neighborhood in this city possesses its own distinct energy and unique charm.  Each neighborhood is worth learning a little more about. So, every other week, we’ll be featuring another neighborhood on this section of the blog, and we’ll interview someone living in that neighborhood—Someone capable of giving us the inside scoop on their ‘hood!

This week I sat down with Joyce Dupler and talked to her about her experience living in Brozeville.

Q: How long have you been living in Bronzeville?

A: I’ve been living here for more than ten years—I moved here in February of 2001. It’s strange to think that I’ve been in the same place for over a decade!

Q: Do you own or rent?

A: I own. I haven’t relocated since I moved to my house in 2000—I love it too much!

Q: Why did you decide to settle down in Bronzeville?

A: I was looking for a reasonably priced place in a quiet neighborhood relatively close to downtown. My Bronzeville home fit the bill perfectly!

Q: What do you like most about the neighborhood?

A: I love the way it continues to grow on me. When I first bought my home here, I worried that I wouldn’t have much to do in the neighborhood and that I’d have to go elsewhere for shopping and nightlife. Over the years, though, I’ve discovered so many cute cafes and restaurants and boutiques—it’s been great.

Q: Would you encourage others to purchase a house or condo of their own in the neighborhood?

A: Definitely. I really enjoy my neighborhood, and I love my home.

For more information about Chicago and its vibrant neighborhoods as well as it’s many available condos enter your information in the box to your right and a rock star real estate agent will get in touch with you to answer all your questions

There is so much great architecture in Chicago that it can sometimes be hard to appreciate all of the architectural beauty of the buildings in Chicago.

For that reason, we’ve decided to feature a few of our favorite architectural triumphs on our blog. This week, we’ll be taking a closer look at the architectural triumph that is The Aqua Tower.

The Aqua Tower is one of Chicago’s most striking skyscrapers. It features 86 stories of mixed-used residential space. It’s located in the Lakeshore East development of downtown Chicago, and it’s close to other landmark buildings, like Trump Tower and the Hancock Tower.

The tower was designed by world-renowned architect Jeanne Gang, and is the tallest building in the world designed by a woman. It contains  an 82,550 square foot terrace complete with gardens, gazebos, several pools, multiple hot tubs, and a track perfect for indoor walking and running. It’s one of Chicago’s sleekest, best designed skyscrapers, and it was named the 2009 skyscraper of the year by the Emporis Skyscraper Award. It was also shortlisted for the International Highrise Award in 2010.

Locals and tourists alike appreciate the Aqua Tower’s clean lines and curvilinear forms, and no trip to Chicago would be complete without at least a glimpse of it.

To find out more about Chicago’s wonderful architecture, enter your information in the box on the right and a Rock Star Chicago Real Estate Agent will get in touch with you today!

“In June,” Maidenberg writes, “Alderman Danny Solis, who represents the area in Chicago’s City Council, introduced an ordinance that calls for allowing “work-live units” in the buildings, where artists and small-scale producers would be able to collapse their home and professional lives into the same space.”

“It’s an idea he says is tied to the changing nature of Pilsen itself, a historically immigrant neighborhood that once helped form the core of Chicago’s industrial economy. Now, there are fashion stores and art galleries amidst the cement makers and light industry.”

Pilsen has become increasingly commercialized in recent years, but have the neighborhood’s residents welcomed this change? Or have they resented it? And how do they feel about this new development? We spoke with Jessie Winthrop, a long-time Pilsen resident, to get her take on the project:

How do you feel about these “work-live units”?

I have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, I like to see young, artistic types moving into the neighborhood. On the other hand, I worry about how the units might affect Pilsen’s older population.

Do you think the units will displace some of Pilsen’s poorer residents?

Yes and no. The units seem to be designed to appeal to young, artistic types interested in inexpensive housing, and I don’t really think that a bunch of young bohemians are going to immediately displace Pilsen’s working class population. But they could certainly galvanize gentrification in the area, and that could ultimately drive up housing prices. So, as I said, yes and no.

Do you think that the artists who move into these units might be able to jumpstart Pilsen’s economy?

Quite possibly. I know from experience that the economy of East Pilsen has improved tremendously since Podmajersky put up a bunch of galleries in the area. So it’s definitely possible, and maybe even likely, that the same thing might happen in the area immediately surrounding these “work-live units.”

To learn more about Pilsen and its changing demographics, simply enter your information into the box on your right and an amazing Chicago real estate agent will get in touch with you ASAP!

Image Credits: Mark Susina

According to Pruitt “Commercial real estate could be losing its appeal as a safe-haven investment given the market turmoil and constrained bank financing.” Pruitt believes that “The stock market performance of real estate investment trusts, while still healthy, is down from a two-year hot streak.”

And Pruitt isn’t the only one who’s worried. Bob O’Brien, the vice president of a real estate company, also believes that there’s currently cause for concern.

“The uncertainty impacting the overall economy and other industries has had less of an effect on the real estate industry,” he says. “At the same time, the wall of debt maturity that will come due between now and 2015 still may present short and longer term challenges for the remainder of this year and into 2012.”

The report, according to Pruitt, also noted “That subdued consumer spending, reduced federal spending, slow job growth and a weak housing market threaten to delay the recovery. After hitting a bottom in March 2009, commercial real estate has been on a steady ascent because investors were confident a brutal downturn was behind the market, and that landlords would be able to start raising rents and occupancy rates amid an economic recovery.”

It remains to be seen how, exactly, this economic downturn will affect the real estate market in Chicago. In all likelihood, though, Chicago will remain a buyer’s market for the time being, home owners may find that their homes will appreciate in value more slowly than in years past, and renters may be forced to negotiate higher rates.

If you’re interested in learning more about the current climate of the real estate market in Chicago, check out articles like this one or enter your information to the box on the right and a Rock Star Chicago Real Estate Agent will get in touch with you to answer all your questions.

Cynthia Block, of Knoxville, Illinois, has created a career for herself buying up old homes, remodeling them, and selling them at a profit.

According to a reporter for the CarmiTimes, “Despite having a master’s degree in business administration from Regis University in Denver, Cynthia Block returned to the area two years ago from Cincinnati and found a tight job market which, for her, included no job opportunities. She decided to turn what she did as a hobby for friends in the Cincinnati/northern Kentucky area into a career.”

“Block, the daughter of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture John ‘Jack’ Block, began flipping houses—buying houses at a low price, having them remodeled and selling them for a profit. Block decided to add a twist, developing designer houses using her own concepts. It was the design work that she did previously as a hobby.”

Block isn’t the only one to make a living this way, though. House flipping has become increasingly common, particularly in large cities like Chicago, where many older homes can be bought at a reduced price.

The house flippers who buy up houses in up-and-coming Chicago neighborhoods, like Pilsen and Logan Square, are often able to make quite a lot of money on each piece of property they purchase. And although the people who buy the homes they have flipped pay for these improvements, they often pay less than they would for a new construction. In this sense, the situation is win-win for both parties!

If you’d like to learn more about Chicago and its many wonderful neighborhoods, check out articles like this one or enter your information in the box to your right to be contacted by a rock star real estate agent.

This week I sat down with Jennifer Costa and talked to her about her experience living in Greek Town.

Q: How long have you been living in Greek Town?

A: I’ve been living here for three years.

Q: Do you own or rent?

A: I own. I lived here for a year while renting. Then I made the jump, and decided to purchase a condo of my own. It’s small, but I really love it, and I love knowing that it’s totally mine.

Q: Why did you decide to settle down in Greek Town?

A: Well, I work nearby, so the location was pretty much ideal for me. I also love Greek food, so that definitely helped me decide as well!

Q: What do you like most about Greek Town?

A: Well, like I said, I love Greek food, so I spend a lot of time hanging out at the various restaurants and cafes around the neighborhood. I also like feeling like I’m right in the heart of Chicago—I’m close to just about everything, and it doesn’t take me too long to get anywhere.

Q: Do you intend to continue living in Greek Town for a while?

A: Definitely. I’m really happy with my condo here, and I hope to continue living in it for at least another five years or so.

Q: Would you encourage others to purchase a house or condo of their own?

A: Yes, I really would. I think that buying that condo was one of the best decisions I ever made!

For more information about Chicago and its vibrant neighborhoods enter your information in the box to your right and a rock star real estate agent will get in touch with you to answer all your questions.

Or, did you sleep soundly in a condo of your very own?

If you’re like most of us, you probably slept on campus, in a dorm, during your first year of college. But nowadays, as the real estate market in Chicago continues to remain depressed, more and more parents are opting to buy their kids condos, rather than put them up in college subsidized housing.

According to Jeffrey Steele, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, that’s exactly what Tamara Harney did for her 18-year-old son, Patrick, when he enrolled at Columbia College a few months ago.

Harney, Steele notes, “could pony up for dorm room and board fees or buy a condo.” In fact, “Patrick’s decision to stay in the South Loop year-round made the decision easy.”

Harney believes, and not entirely unreasonably, that she’ll actually save money in the long run by purchasing a condo, rather than pouring money into campus housing. “It’s cheaper to purchase a condo,” she says. “We figured that with three boys living there, it will pay for the housing expenses, plus we’ll build equity for when we sell it. We’re not dumping money into (on-campus) housing.”

Harney and many others like her are taking advantage of the buyer’s market predominant in Chicago at the moment by purchasing, rather than renting, housing for their children. Parents like Harney believe that the pros associated with their investments—pros which include tax deductions, asset appreciation, and equity—outweigh any cons.

To find out more about real estate developments in Chicago, check out posts like this one on the CondoDomain blog!