Two phone calls today from non-local area codes. Bright and cheery voices rang through the ear piece each time from folks who I didn't think I knew. After giving them a moment to clarify that they indeed were strangers trying to sell me something not very necessary I thanked them for calling and hung up.
A few minutes ago I received an email from a colleague with the phone number to register your phone to the federal do not call list. If you can't see the numbers on my Treo, the number is 888.382.1222.
A few minutes after that another colleague emailed to say that a spate of internet rumors regarding the need to register your cell phone because telemarketers were commencing a cell phone dialing frenzy tomorrow were false.
No matter the case, if you don't want your cell (or land) phone being rung up by a stranger trying to sell you something, call the toll free number above.
You also can accomplish the same task on line by clicking here.
Selling your home just got a bit more expensive in Chicago.
Before you dismiss this hike as simply a $3 increase, please pay close attention to the fact that it is $3 per every $1,000 of a piece of property that you buy. So let's say you purchase a $500,000 condo, your responsibility as a buyer just went up $1,500 - from the previous owed amount of $4,500 to the new amount owed of $6,000. In real life terms you just tossed a laptop computer on the ample laps of your elected officials.
Why? They say it's to keep the CTA running. But is it? Last week it appeared that the money generated from this levy on homeowners will do nothing more than toss $60,000,000 to the CTA's pension fund. Not one additional train or bus will hit the rails or streets.
There's no doubt that the CTA plays a vital role in Chicago's well-being, but the question at hand is whether inflicting another wound upon the already hurting housing market makes any sense. Was there a more appropriate vehicle to gain the funds for the ailing CTA? Should the city council sported some gusto and forced the issue with the stooges in the state capital? Should everybody's favorite target, Governor Rod Blagojevich, suddenly become a political leader instead of a piece of furniture?
In the meantime what we have is a tax increase. Don't doubt its effectiveness in taking money out of your pocket. Maybe you aren't buying a home right now, but at some point it is likely you will. Take a look at the bottom line and realize how this 40% hike poked you in the eye while kneeing you in the groin.
By the way, this higher surcharge is brought to you from the same people who decided as of January 1st that Chicagoans would pay 5 cents for every container of bottled water they purchase. So visit the Costco at Clybourn and Diversey and buy a 24-pack of Ice Mountain and dig a little deeper in your pocket to enrich the city by $1.20.
You wonder when the madness will cease. But typically madness ceases only after we take stands. Feel free to click here to determine who your alderman is and to shoot an email to beseech sensibility.
Talk with you soon!
TV sets across the nation were tuned in to Sunday night's showdown between the Giants and the Patriots. Mine was one even though I had no allegiance to either team. But actually this lack of dedication made watching the game more sporting and festive. Plus it had the added benefit of being a relief.
It was a relief because exactly one year ago my hometown Chicago Bears were on the dance card. And right out of the box things looked good! The electric Devin Hester took the opening kickoff and scampered 92 yards for a touchdown.
Immediately my Blackberry started buzzing with chortling colleagues wondering how much of a hurt the Chicago ballclub would put on the Colts. Unfortunately Chicago's collective joy was short-lived as the Bears lamely laid down to the Colts 29-17.
As is the case after every Chicago season what was left in the aftermath were memories steeped in bitter disappointment but mercifully countered by a resilient hope for tomorrow's team. 
So without any concern either way, Super Sunday was a gas as the game turned into a classic low-scoring affair with the mighty Patriots made to look human and the underdog Giants walking Joseph Campbell's Hero's Path toward an underdog's victory. Gathering in our Edgewater home with another couple we feasted on a turkey that I deep-fried earlier in the afternoon to objectively observe this affair.
With enough food to feed a horde, we tried to pace ourselves to make a dent in the 15-pound bird and a table carrying the grace of guacamole, tomatillo, macaroni and potato salads, sweet tea and other sundry items designed to bloat, not float.
Discretion being the better part of valor, common sense prevailed and we packed away the excess consumables to revisit another day and sat back to enjoy the remainder of the game with a cup of coffee from Metropolis, my favorite local roaster.
While Sunday's game was close, at the end there was one winner. And it happened to be the underdog.
We as a society and as a culture tend to get on the underdog's bandwagon. 
We want the smaller guy to prevail. But while most of us want let's say the small independent bookseller to succeed, you'll see our cars parked outside the Barnes & Noble where we see a full selection and where we get our reader's discount. This isn't to imply that we are hypocrites. At least I don't think so.
Surely we like the "little" guy to prevail. But we also like convenience and a fuller pocketbook.
With this in mind, it makes sense that when you are buying or selling real estate that you NOT go with the underdog, but to choose the person with the track record. This is especially true in today's market.
Face it, there's too much at stake to do otherwise.
Speaking of too much at stake, yesterday's Super Tuesday didn't seem to spin any single candidate into his or her own singular rotation.
Be that as it may be, I joined the bulk of Chicagoans and fellow Illinoisans in supporting our local candidate Barack Obama. Speaking only for myself, I am ready for a thoughtful change that I believe Barack envisions and will be able to implement.
By the way, the snow is snowing and gathering thickly and heavily here on Chicago's northside. Today is a perfect day to stay inside. But in a few minutes I am off to show my listings at 726 Addison and 1934 Thomas.
The alarm made its appearance shortly after 6 this morning in my Edgewater home. After convincing my lower back that it wasn't nearly as stiff as it claimed to be I lurched to the kitchen to reclaim silence.
Six ounces of formula did the trick as the alarm, otherwise known as my 10-month-old son Lucas, quietly experienced the elixir of a liquid breakfast.
There's little I won't do for my family - whether it's waking up early, getting up in the middle of the night, or anything in between.
Take for instance my Saturday morning.
A little before 9am my wife and I crossed the threshold into the Francis Parker School at the corner of Clark and Belden in Lincoln Park to take a tour of one of Chicago's best-known independent schools. And for the next two hours we ambled through the hallways, walked in empty classrooms amid unused chairs, and were regaled with an inspiring narrative by our affable tour guide, the school's director of admissions.
One of the challenges of living in Chicago with school age (or soon to be) kids is where you send them to school.
Congratulations to those of you on Chicago's north side adjacent to the lakefront if you're blessed by the gods of the boundary line and live within the geographic swath of excellent public schools like Lakeview's Blaine or Roscoe Village's Bell.
But if not, and if you intend not to ditch the city for the suburbs, prepare to join a disparate group of beings united simply by the presence in their lives of two and three year old kids. And get ready to go from school to school for tours with the unstated but understood intention of getting your kids in the best program without consuming too much of a percentage of your income.
Ah, but therein lies the rub. How do you define the best program?
Oh the pressure of making the right choice! And like any momentous decision, this one is profoundly personal. We want our kids to be safe, to be happy, to be nurtured, to have every opportunity to succeed (without the headache and/or hassle of a bunch of little knuckleheads being raised by big knuckleheads).
At this point we have yet to reach a decision. Like most folks in our position we will draw up a short list and submit applications to several public schools and one or two private schools.
No matter what we do, though, it will be in Chicago. Because at the end of the day we are Chicagoans through and through. Sure, there are sacrifices we make by living here. We pay more for gas. We don't have yards. Sometimes traffic makes you feel like eating cardboard.
But at the end of the day, as well as the beginning, our lives are underpinned by the reality that we live in a world-class city with an amazing blend of peoples we want our kids to meet and know and experiences we will urge them to have.
But we have time for all of that as two-year-old Jackson is getting the hang of piecing together three word sentences and Lucas is just about to turn the corner on that walking thing.
The school question? Of course we want to nail it. Later this week we visit Bell. Maybe that's the one that will feel like home.
Whatever choice we make, though, it will be from the comfort of our home in Chicago.
Lightly, lightly fell the snow. And all through the night, like soft fleecy wisps, it gathered and gathered until it coated and covered the streets and sidewalks of Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood with a shimmering tableau of white.
I woke up this morning to the clarion of my 10-month-old son's hunger. It was between 6 and 6.30 am, and the snow outside was between 8 and 10 inches in my northside of Chicago neighborhood. After setting Lucas up with 6 ounces - just to cut the harsh edge off his empty gullet - I set out to tackle the snow.
First thing's first came the back steps. Armed with a broom I did a perfunctory cleaning and headed toward my primary objective of clearing the sidewalks that edge our corner home in the 60660 zip.
"But won't it bother the neighbors?" asked my wife.
"Not as much as slogging through a foot of snow."
(The beautiful thing about a winter storm is the participant's ability to augment and expand upon its severity. So with each retelling the mercury plummets by an additional 3 degrees or the snowfall deepens by 2 inches. So now the 10 inches became a foot!)
Having created a path down the back steps to the garage I fired up the snowblower (electric start is such a convenience) and started etching my path through 14 inches down the side of the building and to the front, judiciously stopping at the property line since my new neighbor has contracted with a service that clears his walks (and not mine).
After more than 20 minutes but less than 30 one man's tilting against still-falling-snow had led, if just for a moment, to cleared sidewalks at the corner of Rosemont and Wayne. And with this effort of diminishing the effect of some 16 inches of snow did I feel at least a fleeting sense of accomplishment for assisting my fellow Edgewater-ites to more easily make their way to morning appointments, school, or work.
Something we hear bandied about when it comes to having your own place is the amorphous idea of "the pride of ownership." A day like today, with great gobs of cotton candy falling from above, is a perfect example of this pride. I could let the 18 inches of snow that fell rest until sometime in March when next we expect the thermometer to ascend beyond freezing, thus letting nature take care of nature. But in the meantime the outside of my home would look awful and I would by default imperil both my neighbors and my family when it came to trying to traverse the sidewalk.
I suppose if you view home ownership as an investment, this would be the equivalent of bad business. Plus it would not be in keeping with a kernel of my personal philosophy that we teach people how to treat us. By clearing my walkway of two feet of snow I am establishing with my fellow Chicagoans that I expect them too to clear their walks and thus engender a very local version of the social compact.
By the way, this weekend's open houses will be:
726 W Addison, 3 - Sunday - 11-1
2214 W Cullom - 11a-1p - Sunday
Chicago real estate professional Thomas McCarey and his team at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago provide outstanding services to buyers and sellers of real estate in Chicago.
Going online is a smart way to start your search for real estate in Chicago. But as useful as the online search is, it is limited.
For instance, information tends to be out-dated. And sometimes descriptions of properties are simply inaccurate.
Because for most of us the sale or purchase of real estate is among our most significant financial activities it is important that this activity is not left to chance. As you get ready to sell and/or buy your next home, it is critical that you be able to turn to a realtor who you can trust.
Tom McCarey is that Realtor. I am one of the 160+ elite Chicago Realtors that Century 21 Sussex & Reilly employs in four Chicago locations. Since January of 2002, Century 21 Sussex & Reilly has grown into the number one Century 21 real estate brokerage company in the Midwest.
Here's why.
Ask my past clients and they will tell you that I am among the top realtors in Chicago because I work harder, know the market better, and I listen to them - allowing me to more aggressively and intelligently advocate for their interests.
When you are ready to buy or sell a property in Chicago, I would love to hear from you.
I specialize in the new construction and resale single families and condos and multi-unit buildings with an emphasis in Chicago's north and northwest sides. My clients often select the following Chicago neighborhoods:
When you are ready to make a move, contact me directly at 773.848.9241. And feel free to refer me to your family and friends when they are looking in Chicago.
We had searched for a home for over two years and had worked off and on with several brokers. None of them were able to come close to meeting our needs.
And then we met Tom. He was the only one willing to go the extra mile to find us the perfect place.
His patience, dedication and service went above and beyond the call of duty. Not only did we gain a beautiful house in a wonderful neighborhood, we also gained a lifelong friend.
When my husband and I decided to buy our first home, we contacted Tom for help. We were interested in several neighborhoods in the city, we liked several different styles of home, and we had a lot of flexibility in budget. While we were excited by the possibilities, it was very hard for us to narrow our focus and we became overwhelmed. Tom stuck with us and went above and beyond the call of duty to help us narrow our search.
Thanks to Tom, we were the first on the scene when new properties hit the market. Once there, Tom used his excellent eye for detail and knowledge of construction and design to provide counsel, many times providing more insight into properties than the selling agent!
Through all of our searching and indecisiveness, Tom was patient and steadfast until he found the perfect home for us. Because the property was new construction, the contract process was complex. Tom was able to guide us through this process and was a fantastic advocate for us. He is a skilful negotiator and his detail orientation is invaluable during the closing process.
I can’t imagine how we would have survived the experience without Tom - he is quite simply the best realtor in the city.
When my husband and I were checking out Chicago neighborhoods we were not even sure we were going to buy and we certainly were not going to use a realtor as this was neither of our first purchases. Then we met Tom McCarey at an open house. We ended up speaking to him for some time and he listened to us. We were impressed with his knowledge of the market and the area. We told him we had found a house that we would like to see but were having problems getting in touch with the developer.
Tom aggressively pursued the situation, which was important since another couple was also interested in the house.Tom negotiated the contract like a pro and thought of items to include in the rider that we did not. Tom batted for us the entire way through the process and ensured the developer did what he promised.
When it came time to sell our home, I turned to Tom McCarey. My discussions with him prior to signing a listing agreement assured me that he knew the market-place and knew what it would take to sell our property quickly. We had another property under contract and had to sell our home at top dollar fast.
He priced it right, made himself available for all showing requests and sold it in days.
And, while I was working 24/7, he took care of all the details to ensure a smooth transaction and provide us with a stress-free experience. Tom took a personal interest in making sure we got the best possible deal - going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that we had a rewarding experience. I highly recommend using him as your realtor.
I met Tom at an open house nearly a year before I purchased my home. He made an impression, so when I was ready to come back into the city from the north suburbs, I called him.
We talked about what I wanted in a house, what I wanted in a neighborhood, and what I wanted to spend. Tom was the best at providing me with timely information and in arranging showings. He also made sure to not only answer my questions but to show me properties that helped me make my decision.
Ultimately I decided on a new construction single family. Even after the contract was in place Tom's involvement continued, ensuring my satisfaction and a smooth closing. I couldn't be happier. I love my new home.
Approximately two years ago, my husband and I began our search to purchase a condo in Lakeview. We were already renting in the area and wanted to remain in the neighborhood that we had grown to love. Luckily, we met Tom who took the time to understand what we were looking for in a home and was undaunted by the challenge of finding us the perfect place within the very tight radius that we had defined as our ideal location.
Immediately, we were impressed by Tom's professionalism and knowledge of the properties and their amenities; he had had extensive experience with both vintage and new construction and was able to provide information about the properties and neighborhood that we had not considered.After looking at numerous properties - including negotiating contracts on two properties that we terminated due to inspection issues - Tom located the condo that we had been searching for and it was only two blocks from where we were living. He recommended an inspector and attorney who were both personable and professional to help us close the deal.
Tom was with us for every step of the process - we could not have done it without him. We are glad that we had the opportunity to meet him and would highly recommend his services and experience to anyone interested in looking for a home.
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