Dean Moss - Dean's Team Chicago Real Estate Team

Will this rain in Chicago ever stop? Quite gloomy, and quite depressing!

Here's our Team Member Cathy Mallers latest update on Chicago Neighborhood News. This week, she covers the Chicago Neighborhoods of Lakeview, Lincoln Park, The South Loop, and Lincoln Square, as well as the Chicago Suburb of Naperville IL.

Got something going on in any Chicago Neighborhood you would like us to publicize for you or your group? Let us know - we'll help get the word out!

Dean's Team offers the Number One Rated Active Rain Blog in the City of Chicago!

LAKEVIEW

Plan ahead this time because it's sure to sell out. Dos Equis is hosting "The Most Interesting Show in the World," on November 6 at the Park West.

Earlier this year, they hosted a party at the Museum of Science and Industry. Now they are looking to outdo themselves again with another great lineup. Expected to attend are burlesque singer Melody Sweets, contortionist Mei Ling, a human Slinky, The World's Most Dangerous Comic Mark Faje, Butterscotch, also known as The Human Beat-Box, and the crossbow tango duo Mr. and Mrs. G.

Stay thirsty my friends!

LINCOLN PARK

Like Pottery Barn? Do you have Pottery Barn kids? Guess what?

PB Teen just opened a new location at 2111 N. Clybourn Ave. Before you could only get their products online or through catalog. Chicago has now joined the ranks of Atlanta and New York as the only other city (thought to be final city) to shop for PBteen.

SOUTH LOOP

Start rubbing elbows with Chicago sports team members.

This evening at The Shrine, you can meet Jerry Azumah, Tyrus Thomas and many more athletes scheduled to attend this reception, concert and raffle for Athletes Across Borders. The event is scheduled for 6 - 10 p.m. Tickets range from $25-$100, with the VIP level offering access to an exclusive meet and greet with the players.

LINCOLN SQUARE

With this crazy fall weather, now is the time to invest in a good pair of boots not to mention some great walking shoes.

Locals from Lincoln Square just love The Dressing Room and now, they can enjoy The Dressing Room Shoes located just down the street. Showcasing affordable and upscale, the selection is not to be missed. Be sure to check out the "looks for less" suggestions.

NAPERVILLE

So much is happening in Naperville over the next couple days, we had to share it all with you here. First, this evening North Central College ensembles present the annual Choral Invitational at 7:30 p.m. in Went Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center.

Thursday you can North Central College will host the screening of the film "Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars." Also on Thursday Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson, authors of "Peter & the Sword of Mercy," will speak at 7 p.m. at Anderson's Bookshop.

Saturday enjoy a 30-minute horse-drawn hayride through the prairies and woodlands of Dandy Forest Preserve, and learn about the features of this historic preserve from noon to 3:45 p.m. at Danada Equestrian Center.

Here's a link to Cathy's Chicago Neighborhood News Blog Archive, via BlogChicagoHomes.com.

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG!

Hey, you fine dogs! Just me, Gracie Ella Moss - Lil' Buddy's younger sister.

I'm filling in for Buddy tonight, as he won't be home until very late. He's coming back from a Team Building Workshop for Keller Williams Top Dogs in Lafayette IN - just got his text message from the road, asking me to handle his posting duties tonight.

So tonight, it's lady's choice - and my topic tonight: fashion!

Actually, a bit of a sad note for we Canine Fashionistas, who frequent those little Trendy Boutiques in well-to-do Chicago Neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, and Wrigleyville.

As the recession here in Chicago has deepened, and well-heeled high fashion buyers here in the city begin to pinch their pennies tighter, several of those trendy boutiques you may have seen - and shopped at - over on Southport Avenue, or Oak Street, or Armitage Avenue - have seen their business fall to critical levels. Many have closed!

As reported in today's Chicago Tribune by Reporter Sandra M. Jones, some shops, including the high-style Ciao Bella on Southport Avenue near Wrigley Field, used to be a place where baseball players wives shopped frequently each summer, while their wealthy husbands were challenged by that little white ball just a few blocks to the east.

Today, however, the shop's owner, Amy Lechelt-Basta, is closing for good this Sunday, after having to discount her merchandise to the bone to even draw customers.

In the tony Lincoln Park Neighborhood of Chicago, about two miles south of the Southport Shopping District, about two dozen small shops have gone out of business on trendy Armitage Avenue, between Halsted and Racine Streets, over the last couple of years including Moonlight Graham, Fresh or Faux, and Entendre Couture. Some are now far-less-trendy resale shops.

Several years ago these Chicago Neighborhoods were adding to our city's allure as a fashion destination. Now, with many of the shops gone or closing, due to a weak economy, the seeds of Fashion Chicago may have been put back in the seed package, at least for a while.

Today, some of the remaining stores have stayed alive by offering a few discount lines, and really enhancing their customer service. Some stores now deliver merchandise to their customers, or take shopping direction over the phone. Others are emphasizing their online businesses, laying in wait for the time when the economy improves, nearby condos and art galleries begin to fill once again, and high fashion shoppers will likely return.

But, for now, looks like I'll have to borrow at least some of my clothes from my Human Mommy Sue Moss. She does have some real cute looking outfits, you know - although her shoe size is a little bigger than my lil' paws!

Enjoy the weekend, you dogs! Buddy's back next week!

YOUR ACE REPORTER ON FOUR PAWS,

GRACIE ELLA MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

(Filling in for Buddy Holly Moss this week!)

Back in the old days - the Ronald Reagan Days of deteriorating northern Rust Belt Cities, and unyielding urban sprawl - all it took was a bit of Hard Times to get Chicago Residents to consider packing their bags and leaving town. They would move to cities with warmer climates - and new jobs.

Or, if not that far, to distant Chicago Suburbs, just off our Expressways and Tollways, where industry was growing.

Not so much any more, apparently.

In 2009, deep in the grip of what many consider the worst Economic Downturn since the Great Depression began with the Stock Market Crash on October 29, 1929 - exactly 80 years ago today - outside jobs in places like California, Arizona, or Nevada are hard to come by.

And those Bargain Priced Houses in far-flung exurbs - like Lockport, or Shorewood, or Round Lake Beach - have lost, in some cases, as much as 40% of their value. or more!

Here in Cook County IL, Chicago and the nearby Chicago Suburbs have seen steady growth since 2006. The number of those leaving the county has fallen by 17% within the last three years.

And the stay-put trend is not unique to Chicago! According to University of New Hampshire Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson, as quoted in a story by Chicago Tribune Reporter Greg Burns last Sunday, the total number of people leaving most larger cities in the Midwest and the Northeast have slowed considerably since the onset of our latest economic downturn.

As recently as 2005, home ownership in the U.S. approached 69%. Today, however, those purchasing recently can't sell their equity-depleted properties, and are hesitant to move anywhere.

Another factor to the downturn in local migration - our aging population. Many older adults have taken a disproportionate hit recently in their retirement accounts, and many no longer have the money to move to that retirement are out west, or down in Florida. Since 2006, those leaving the Chicago Area to move to Phoenix AZ have fallen by 17%. Folks packing up for Nevada - down 15% during the same period.

And those Chicago Renters looking for cheap housing in Will County, one of the more distant counties in the Chicago Metropolitan Area? Those exiting Cook County IL for Will County towns like Joliet - down 33% in the last three years.

Will the trend to leave increase again, as the economy begins to turn around?

Yes, says Demographer Johnson - but, likely, at a far lower level than before.

Please read our post today via BlogChicagoHomes.com.

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

For the last few weeks, First Time Homebuyers and Real Estate Practitioners have been holding their breath. Crossing their fingers.

Will the $8,000 Federal Income Tax Credit, enacted earlier this year by the Barack Obama Administration, and set to expire at the end of November, be extended? Perhaps extended to existing homeowners as well?

This year, our Chicago Real Estate Team has closed 13 transactions in which at least one party has taken advantage of the credit. Would these folks have purchased if their were no credit? Can't know for sure - but, at minimum, this sizable stipend factored into their home buying decision.

Over the last couple of weeks, as the window for finding a home, finalizing a contract on it, and completing the closing has been less likely, a few of the first-time buyers we are working with have seemed almost resigned to missing the credit, and have delayed their new home or condo searches. There's been a bit in a lag in our business as a result.

Under a proposal in the U.S. Senate, however, as reported in today's Wall Street Journal by reporters Corey Boles and John D. McKinnon, the First Time Buyer Credit would not only be extended. It would be expanded as well - to current homeowners who have lived in their homes at least five out of the last eight years.

Still in negotiation by lawmakers, the proposal would extend the first-time buyer credit, beginning immediately after the current November 30th program expiration, to April 30, 2010. To receive an $8,000 tax credit, first-time buyers must have an accepted contract before that date. The closing must take place before July 1, 2010.

In addition, current homeowners who have lived in their current residence for at least 5 of the last 8 years would be eligible for a reduced $6.500 tax credit, under the same time limitations.

Income limits to qualify for the credit would be increased to $125,000 for a single taxpayer, $250,000 for a couple filing jointly - up from the current $75,000 and $150,000 income caps. For those earning more, the credit would quickly phase out.

Many in real estate attribute the First Time Buyer Credit with boosting real estate sales in a sluggish market. The new proposal would allow more buyers to benefit, without creating a boondoggle for flippers or real estate investors.

Although support for the extension and expansion proposal has met with approval by many in the Senate - Democrats and Republicans alike - a few are concerned about the its cost. Approval is far from certain at this point - but the fact that both extension and expansion of the current is under serious discussion is quite encouraging.

See our post today via BlogChicagoHomes.com.

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

Do you live in the City of Chicago? Suburban Cook County IL?

Brace yourselves, homeowners - REAL ESTATE TAXES ARE GOING UP, for the Second Installment, 2008 of the Cook County Real Estate Tax Bill, with payment due December 1, 2009.

What? This does not surprise you, despite the fact that property values across Cook County - the county which includes the City of Chicago - have declined over 25%, in many neighborhoods and suburbs, within the past 18 months.

It appears a political stalemate on a Cook County Assessment Cap, enacted several years ago and since repealed, is the biggest culprit. Likely, this month's semi-annual real estate tax bill, due in mailboxes within the next week, will reflect a tax increase in excess of 10%, some considerably higher,in certain areas.

Cook County Tax Assessor James Houlihan, and Chicago Tribune Reporter Bob Secter in last Monday's Trib, chronicles the story.

Back in 2004, the flaming-hot real estate market was driving property values skyward, and taxes along with it. Lawmakers in the IL State Capital of Springfield imposed a 7% cap on real estate tax assessment increases for residential property owners that year - a move that was soundly criticized by the owners of commercial, investment, and industrial properties, who made of the difference caused by the residential tax reductions.

Under heavy pressure from commercial real estate owners, and residential investors, the IL Legislature began rolling back the cap in 2007 - the cap will be completely eliminated across Cook County for Real Estate Tax Year 2010, and taxes due in 2011.

Assessor Houlihan fought the rollback in 2007. At that time, however, no one foresaw the steep recession to come, and the price implosion for most residential and commercial property. No one predicted what was then considered to be the unlikely outcome that tax bills might rise, while the values of the underlying properties themselves would fall.

Few would have seen the resultant thousands of Chicago and Cook County IL Homeowners now falling behind on their monthly mortgage payments - or, worse, heading to foreclosure and loss of their homes.

The phase out of the the assessed value caps is also hitting different areas differently, as different parts of Cook County have been re-assessed at different times over the last three-year assessment period.

For the 2008 Second Installment Real Estate Tax Bill, some city neighborhoods closest to Lake Michigan will see nominal tax increases, while others will see increases in the double digits. One City of Chicago Neighborhood abutting O'Hare International Airport may actually see real estate tax bills fall this payment cycle, due to the difficult-to-comprehend Cook County Triennial Reassessment Cycle.

Citing some examples, Houlihan sees a median 46% tax bill increase in the West Side of Chicago Neighborhood of West Garfield Park - an area struggling of late with high numbers of foreclosures, and an increasing rate of property abandonment. The median increase in the Englewood Neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago - 25%. In President Obama's Kenwood Neighborhood, near the University of Chicago, also on the South Side of Chicago, the median expected rise in tax bills - 9%.

On the other hand, the tony Chicago Neighborhood of Lincoln Park, on the North Side, shows only a median 3% real estate tax increase. Lakeview, the Neighborhood which includes Wrigley Field, is predicted to have modest 2.1% median tax increase.

Cook County IL Suburbs are not immune from the wild likely tax bill variances!

The Real Estate Tax Bills in the Western Chicago Suburb of Franklin Park will jump by as much as 20%. Nearby Schiller Park - 18%.

The Chicago Suburbs of Skokie and Elmwood Park - in the Northern Assessment Zone of Cook County - will see median tax jumps of 13 and 12% respectively. Chicago Suburbs further south will see less of a tax jump. South Suburban Chicago Heights will see a median tax bill DROP of 3.1%. Alsip Tax Bills will have a median increase of 2.8%; La Grange Park bills - up around 2.5%.

The Chicago Suburb of Northlake straddles the Cook County Northern and Southern Assessment Zones. In this community, those living north of North Avenue will see a median tax increase of 20.9%. Those living below that major arterial street - only an 8.7% median jump in tax bills.

Confusing? Thought so?

See Secter's story for more detail, as well as links to heat maps showing average Real Estate Tax Bill Changes in the City of Chicago, and surrounding Cook County IL Suburbs.

Any money in your wallet? Come the December 1st due date for Cook County IL Real Estate Taxes - there will be less of it!

Ugggghhh!

Here's a link to our post today via BlogChicagoHomes.com.

DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO