Pet-friendly Condo Search Site

Chicago, IL, May 5, 2008 - DogPads.net is a unique real estate website geared towards dog owners who are looking to purchase a Chicago area home. Real estate broker associate Jim Gramata, Keller Williams Lincoln Park Realty, recently launched his dog-centric home buying website with the intent of properly finding the best "pad" for both the canine and owner. Current websites are geared towards pet owners looking to lease places, however, Gramata took this concept one step further by offering a similar search service for dog-owners looking to buy a home in a pet-friendly building and neighborhood.

"The dogpads.net site was created out of lots of slobber and perspiration for the dog lovers out there who would absolutely never consider living in a home without their pets." He went on to say the one mission of the site "is supplying a demand for pet-friendly home buyers who are interested in filtering out the thousands and thousands of properties that do not allow pets of their size and weight saving time and money."

Some of the current features of the site include a report request where a free list of properties meeting the buyer's needs and wants, neighborhoods of interest and price ranges are sent via email. The second more advanced search method includes daily online reports of active properties meeting buyer's search requirements. The buyer can mark them as "interested," "not interested" or "maybe" and can view interior pictures when available and request showing appointments. Another method coming soon will be giving buyers the ability to independently search for properties by selecting their own parameters and stretching a box over an area of a map and seeing what active properties fall within the search areas.

"Buyers will have more interactive control of where they look since search criteria and interests can change daily," Gramata said.

In addition to these direct property search features, Gramata envisions the site evolving to offer a complete list of property addresses that allow pets in each neighborhood and any association bylaws. While a seemingly monumental task, the information would be quite valuable. "We also want the site to contain useful current information from local businesses and organizations that share the same philosophy that dogs (and all animals) are an important part of the family and deserve a home in this great city of ours." When asked if this meant the site would eventually be dominated by corporate sponsors, Gramata replied "we do not want to create a site whose sole purpose is to create advertising space for companies. Our mission is genuinely to distribute valuable information to our site visitors as it relates to improving their (and their pets) experience of finding a home and living in the city."

The site is live now at http://www.dogpads.net/ and Gramata reports there are currently visitors who are using the services and are actively searching for properties in the area. "We are happy to report that so far the dogpads.net has been very well received. We are diligently creating daily search reports for each of our recent visitors and are trying to find their dog (and them) their next home." The site is a refreshing original concept that offers a service long overlooked and it seems if the site continues in the direction it has started it should continue to serve the needs of buyers looking for a place to call home for both them and their dog and it will enhance the pet-friendly experiences for dogs and their owners for years to come.

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When is a Buyers Market a Buyers Market?

The news stories these days are scary. If you start to separate out the fact from the fiction or fear, you can begin to make an educated decision about what makes economic sense buyers you when making their next home purchase.

Keep your eye on those interest rates NOT the property prices. They will have more long term impact on your home buying power.

"The thing that will make home prices stop falling is the very same thing that will push mortgage rates higher," says Jim Svinth, chief economist at mortgage firm Lending Tree. "So anything you gain by a further drop in prices might be offset by rising financing costs."

Rather than being concerned about the what-ifs, I'd suggest focusing more on the what-wills: The interest rates will continue to climb (which is an inevitable outcome from an economy such as ours) to head off inflationary pressures which is a reason Bernanke will not likely cut the Fed Rate again - in order to keep inflation in check.

Since January 24th, mortgage rates have climbed 0.6% which is the fastest increase in two decades and rates should continue to rise. That increase in mortgage rates is the same effect as a property losing 5% of its value! That means if you were able to afford a $600,000 home, now you would be limited to $570,000. Look at the numbers on the enclosed sheet and let's talk about why they call it a buyers market. Because rates are still historically low (but rising) and that is what will have the most impact on getting the best deal on a home.

Experts who specialize in macroeconomics know that rates will raise and so will the cost to own the longer you wait.

Award-winning Townhomes hit 50% SOLD!

The Award-winning Somerset Townhomes at The Residences of Downtown Lake Zurich are here, and we are over 50% sold!

It’s happening. Lake Zurich is rediscovering its heritage as a quaint, charming and welcoming town. A place where friendly people share a strong sense of togetherness. Lake Zurich will soon have a fresh new look and the Somerset townhomes play a large part in that new image. Carefully designed to have their own unique charm and character the Somerset townhomes are indeed, setting the standard for quality and convenience.

We currently have 9 units which are move-in ready and another 20 that are available for sale at pre-construction prices.

Our sales center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm or by appointment. Call 847-550-6705 or visit our website at www.AtoLakeZ.com for more information.

See our video here....

Do Your Property Transfer Taxes Stink?

Here in Chicago there is a big stink over raising the property transfer taxes to pay for the ailing transit system.

Currently here in Chicago, buyers pay $7.50/1000 and sellers pay $1.50/1000 (some of which is state, county and city).

A recent proposal was to raise the buyers fee by $3/1000 to $10.50/1000 which in my argument would create a disincentive (if that's a word) towards buyers ESPECIALLY in this market where we need all the stimulation we can get (economic and otherwise).

Anyways, it just passed yesterday that the transfer increase burden would indeed be placed on the sellers so our new structure is as follows with this example:

$7.50/1000 for buyers
$4.50/1000 for sellers
On a $300,000 property purchase that would mean
$2250 for buyers
$1350 for sellers

How does it play out in YOUR neck of the woods?

New FHA Loan Increases: The Sky is Not the Limit

Many of my clients have been excited to hear that the government has increase the Federally insured lending limits to over $700,000 without the loan being considered a jumbo (ie higher interest rate) loan.

Great news , right?

Hold it. That news is based on the average sales price of a home. Areas like California and New York City will reap the higher rewards, but here is what Cook County Residents can expect from the increase. Basically, if you are buying a multi-unit family building your conforming loan limits improved but standard single-unit condos or homes are at the same limits as before (for Cook County and the collar counties). See how your area is impacted here:

NEW FHA LOAN LIMITS
	Effective 03/06/2008
MSA Name	County Name	County	State	One-Family	Two-Family	Three-Family	Four-Family
		Code
CHICAGO-NAPERVILLE-JOLIET, IL METROPOLITAN DIVISION	COOK	31	IL	$410,000	$524,850	$634,450	$788,450
CHICAGO-NAPERVILLE-JOLIET, IL METROPOLITAN DIVISIO	DUPAGE	43	IL	$410,000	$524,850	$634,450	$788,450
CHICAGO-NAPERVILLE-JOLIET, IL METROPOLITAN DIVISIO	KANE	89	IL	$410,000	$524,850	$634,450	$788,450
CHICAGO-NAPERVILLE-JOLIET, IL METROPOLITAN DIVISION	KENDALL	93	IL	$410,000	$524,850	$634,450	$788,450
LAKE COUNTY-KENOSHA COUNTY, IL-WI METROPOLITAN DIV	LAKE	97	IL	$410,000	$524,850	$634,450	$788,450
CHICAGO-NAPERVILLE-JOLIET, IL METROPOLITAN DIVISION	WILL	197	IL	$410,000	$524,850	$634,450	$788,450
CHICAGO-NAPERVILLE-JOLIET, IL METROPOLITAN DIVISION	MCHENRY	111	IL	$410,000	$524,850	$634,450	$788,450
SPRINGFIELD, IL (MSA)	SANGAMON	167	IL	$271,050	$347,000	$419,400	$521,250