Localism: Chicago, IL

Maureen Moran’s Inaugural Blog

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:14:40 -0600

Welcome to my first blog! I've lived in Chicago since 1989, selling
real estate since 1993. I've worked with buyers and sellers north
from Andersonville and Lincoln Square, Lincoln Park and Bucktown and near north Gold Coast and Millenium Park.

I started my personal website http://www.chicagodreamhome.com/ in 1998, and I was ahead of the curve then. Now, I feel like I have
a lot to catch up on with my blogging, and I'm very excited to get started. I like the conversational and informal format of a blog as well as the ability to pack my blog with useful content.

My goal is to offer insights and market details on the neighborhoods I know best, provide expert advice on the transaction which is always accompanied by a transition and show
off our great city. I want to be your real estate resource for Chicago.
Please make comments, especially when there is a topic you want more information on or a point or you simply have another perspective to share. If you'd like, email me directly or call me at Rubloff Residential Properties 312-368-5956.

Useful Chicago Tech

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:09:03 -0600

Most people don't expect much innovation from their local governments, but Chicago's CTA and Public Library have been rolling two really neat services - the CTA Bus Tracker and the library's downloadable video service.

Chicago Transit Authority Exploring "Cashless" Fares!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:26:24 -0600

It's getting colder by the day here in Chicago - hope it's warmer where you are!

Many in-city residents here rely on CTA Buses and El Trains to get to and from work each day, and for personal travel within the City of Chicago and many suburbs. It's quite possible, perhaps as early as a year or so from now, traveling around town will be quicker and easier - well, paying fares will be, anyway.

The system is already in place in Hong Kong and in London. It's being tested on the New York City Subway System. The process involves a smart chip implanted in standard Visa and Master Card Credit Cards, which can be programmed to automatically deduct fares on buses and El stations.

The card would also be programmed by transit agencies around the world, to make fare paying as easy as touching your credit card to a sensor on the bus or at the El platform.

The same technology currently exists in the Chicago Plus Cards now being offered by the Chicago Transit Authority. With the current cards, each embedded with a smart chip, individual bus, train, and transfer fares are directly debited from a pool of funds (usually about $50) charge to personal credit cards using the CTA website. When the balance in your account goes below $10, another $50 amount is automatically added.

There are two negatives with this system, however.

First, the transit agency must first manufacture and distribute separate, dedicated, and costly Chicago Plus Fare Cards themselves. Second, they must act like a bank, holding large sums of fare money, in hundreds of accounts, until they are used by system riders.

Combining a chip with a consumer's existing credit card would eliminate the need for separate fare cards. Also, and more importantly for the CTA, it would be the credit card companies that would take responsibility for charging or debiting the rider's account, and handling all security and fraudulent use issues.

In all aspects aside from the implanted chip, the Smart Card would function exactly like a standard credit card, usable at any other business where the credit cards would be normally accepted.

Consumers on credit card points programs can also earn additional frequent-use points for trips they take on the CTA and on other participating transit agencies.

As with current Chicago Plus and Chicago debit fare cards, each fare transaction would be processed in a fraction of a second, eliminating long lines at El stations or other locations where pre-paid fare cards are now sold. Those without a credit card, mainly riders with low income or poor credit, would still have the option of paying fares via CTA Transit Card, or pay a higher per-ride cash fare.

CTA President Ron Huberman announced yesterday that Visa and Master Card, as well as other credit card companies, will be invited to bid on the new, virtually-cashless fare paying system. He anticipates the new Smart Card program can begin as early as the end of 2009, and would take several years to be completely phased in.

Said President Huberman, "We believe this is where the market is heading, and we don't want to be chasing it."

See our post today via BlogChicagoHomes,com, with a link to Jon Hilkevitch's story in yesterday's Chicago Tribune, for more info.

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

Chicago- Slight Growth With Much Stagnation- Not So Bad!!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:59:41 -0600

I have worked in many different areas of Chicago in many different capacities- rekeying foreclosures, typing up BPO's, all the way up to running my own brokerage- so I know the view I have is a unique one.

I have also visited, and know well, many part of the country most effected by the current market and Chicago just seems to have a certain insulation that every other major city is just not experiencing.

It seems to me that if anything the desirable expanded downtown area is at worst stagnating. One bedrooms and studios are still selling in the Gold Coast in 30-45 days, and the recently fringe areas of Bucktown and Wicker Park have now exploded into some of the most desirable areas of the city if not the entire country.

While a lot of these areas have micro-markets that are suffering- for instance those in the near west side who payed $1.4mm for a single-family they're not struggling to command $1mm for, or the 2 bedrooms/2 bath shoe boxes they used to sell like crack in River North for well 0ver $400K- we're just seeing a lot of people content to wait it out, rent, or in general, just continue to go about their daily lives without letting the doom and gloom prominent on the news 24 hours a day get to them.

The only obvious effect of the RE crisis effecting much of the nation is in the studios and 1 bedrooms downtown. While those in good shape in desirable buildings- the vast majority to the tune of 90%- still are selling well with modest appreciations, there is an abundance of short sales and foreclosures happening on those who blindly overpaid for outdated buildings full of units with horrible floor plans and no where near the average finish level for the price range. It seems, as is usually the case, the young and inexperienced buyers who make up the majority ownership for these types of properties outside of investors, were prayed upon by unscrupulous agents who shoved them into homes they couldn't afford for prices they shouldn't have paid.

Fear not though, because this is the exception and not the rule in Chicago's current market. The South Side received a much needed shot in the arm with the spotlight thrust on the city by Obama's recent presidential win, and will continue to ride high upon the hopes that the Olympics will come bringing rejuvenation to many areas overrun with distressed homes badly in need of new life. Obama's win really gave a boost to the whole city's RE market, with agents feeling renenergized with a new sense of enthusiasm by the exposure and recommitting ourselves to getting us through this latest inevitable downturn in the market.

In general, Chicago is doing just fine. It just seems like the city has picked itself up by it's bootstraps and dug in it's heels for a fight we know we can win. While CA, AZ, and FL are getting wiped off the map financially, Chicago is, at worst, doing a little worse than usual, which in this market just isn't that bad!

For more information visit my website at NEWMAN REALTY or email me at newmanrealtychicago@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Scott Newman

Housing Bubble Began to Form Over Three Years Ago, But Few Did Anything About It - WSJ Reporters!

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:09:48 -0600

Hey, hey, gang!

You've heard the too-oft-used term, "The Housing Bubble," or "The Bubble Burst."

The main issue on the so-called bubble in the housing market is not whether there was one, when it truly began, and that it may have burst. It's that policymakers may have seen the bubble growing, and potentially bursting, but did little to stop it several years ago.

Although home prices in the Chicago Area did not peak until 2006, according to S & P Case Shiller Index Data, housing activity as defined by sales of new homes nationally hit a peak in July, 2005. At the same time, shares of the biggest regional and national home builders were at their highest levels.

An Internet search via Factiva.com revealed 268 stories in U.S. Newspapers in 2003 referring to a housing bubble. The number of stories increased to 369 by 2004, and ballooned to 1,608 in 2005. A month-by-month analysis of that year indicates a steady growth in stories describing the "Real Estate Bubble" through June, when the number of bubble stories hit a peak.

No one is saying that journalists "made up" the bubble. As we all know, the job of reporters is to REPORT on what people they speak with say, not to make things up on their own. Likely, in mid-2005, many interviewed had concerns about the housing bubble. Indeed, many of our Team clients began to be concerned about the bubble effect about that time, as we recall.

In the June, 2005 Wall Street Journal Survey, 81% of reporters questioned thought their was a housing bubble in the U.S., and most thought that bubble was growing.

But nothing was really done at that time. Was this simple optimism, ignorance - or a bit of arrogance?

See our post today @ BlogChicagoHomes.com for more info, as well as a link to Justin Lanhart's post on the Wall Street Journal Developments Blog, from November 18th. Justin also provides a bar graph tracking instances of housing bubble stories in the media, tracked monthly, between November, 2004 and April, 2006.

DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO