Buyer Seduced by Staging

Cookies baking at Open Houses, perfectly organized closets and color coordinated shelves failed to woo a discriminating home buyer who claimed "that garbage doesn't work on me." He later remarked, on repeated occasions, "do they honestly think that I'm that stupid?" And then he chanced upon the owner's bed, which hosted his Dostoevsky novel and reading glasses, obvious remnants of a busy man before he raced into his travertine glass mosaic full body spray rain shower on his way to the office. Sold! 4 month old unspoiled fruit and water-free orchids included.
Lincoln Square

Penitentiary Chic Replaces Travertine Oasis

In an effort to woo sophisticated urban buyers sympathetic to the plight of marginalized prisoners, home sellers have begun to discard their glass mosaics and tumbled travertines for an aesthetic one Chicago realtor described as, "artist loft meets abandoned cellar with a sprinkle of post-millennial apocalypse".
Andersonville

Fervent Democrat Accepts New Bathroom

After years as a "green" girl, with green linens, and green dresses and a crush on Nader, and even a green car, the buyer of this Logan Square bungalow has decided that her unyielding support for the Democratic party should extend to the bathroom. She told this to all who would listen after receiving the $12,000 bill to completely remodel it.
Logan Square

Retro Tiles Vie to Remain in Bath Remodel

Two distinctly vintage tiles battled passionately for the love of a new Logan Square homeowner, who was meeting with her contractor to discuss plans for her bathroom remodel. The new buyer admitted she was torn over which funky vintage tile to choose, as they each manipulated the afternooon light to gain her favor. The contractor simply stated, "No good. Very old. I bring new tile. Many people love. You love it too. I am going. Thank you."
Logan Square

Clean Everything in One Sitting

The rehabber of this Logan Square two flat told us he was proud to finally be able to offer a place where people can multi-task in sanitary tranquility. "You see, what we have here is da future of da batroom. While use doin' your bizness, you can be brushin' dose teeth and bathin' dose feet all at da same time. Smart, right?"
Logan Square

4 Dimensional Room Leaves Buyers Stranded

As of presstime, the buyers are still there.
AVONDALE

Grout Lined Granite is All the Rage

Remodelers and Developers continue to set trends in housing by offering the one thing a buyer should care about: Quality Countertops. In their latest effort to offer the prospective homebuyer comfort and luxury, builders are altering the previous decade's demand for smooth granite with the more contrasting feel of grout lined granite, formerly known as TILE. And all this is available right now, for the same price as the less desirable grout free granite.
AVONDALE

Plumber Forgets to put Pipes Behind Wall

Worried he might be late to his weekly Weight Watchers meeting, a plumber in this Logan Square Victorian hurriedly assembled his copper plumbing pipes and rejoiced when he turned the water back on and discovered no leaks. Mysteriously, the plumber nor the contractor have returned to the home to retrieve the remainder of their tools. The owner has been highlighting the odd piping structure as a Green way to warm and dry your towels while enjoying the luxury of hot toilet paper.
LOGAN SQUARE

Charmin Introduces the "Multi-Ply"

Couples and families who have long disagreed over the thickness of their bathroom tissue paper can rest easy with Charmin's new Multi-Ply, advertised as "Use what you need, and they'll use what they need. Everyone's happy with Charmin's new Multi-ply."
RIVER NORTH

Remaining in the Closet Not So Easy

A tenant who has spent his entire life hiding in the closet is not taking lightly to his landlady's recent rehab work.
ALBANY PARK

Buyer Still Deciding Whether it's Safe to Go

As of press time, the anxious buyer was still alone in the Avondale basement, staring, deciding if something would come up and bite her if she used the facility. She also debated the functionality, hygiene, privacy, and legal implications of using the commode during the showing.
AVONDALE

Optical Illusion Turns Out to Not Be

Two windows for the price of one. Some contractors are now offering this special throughout the Southside for value oriented consumers. They plan on launching a similar program for doors in the Spring.
Bridgeport

Makers of Simon Create Keyless Door

After years of lackluster sales and declining market position due to the advent of, well, pretty much everything, the manufacturers of the formerly popular game Simon have introduced their highly praised keyless windowless penitentiary door to Chicago. Users will no longer have to worry about losing their keys, but inebriation, medication, or life may cause them difficulty in remembering the complex color codes needed to open Fannie Mae's steel gauntlet to their light-free homes.
Ukrainian Village

Couple Foreclosed On for Bad Taste

During a meeting with a Citibank loan officer regarding the possible restructuring of a Logan Square couple's mortgage, the bank official was overhead yelling, "Are you kidding me? You've got to be f#@k'n kidding me! The reason you haven't been able to sell your home in two and half years is because nobody wants to buy a rotting frame house with walls covered in fake gold paneling! But, can I interest you in a 0% transfer offer on our new CitiForeClosez credit card?"
Logan Square

Could the Incans Build a Temple here?

“Wasn't that the place with the short basement ceilings?” my client asked as if he was Granpa trying to remember his childhood home.

“I think so. Let me check the photos.”

A buyer will see so many homes that eventually he will think the kitchen of one place belongs to the living room of another that has the yard of a completely different place.

Besides the photos, going back for a second visit usually keeps a place in the running, or finds it unceremoniously dumped like an internet date with a falsified photo.

An investor bought the property in foreclosure for $30,000. They renovated the home, two stories and a rehabbed basement converted into a famous Chicago 'in-law,' which should probably be known as an 'out-law' considering the city considers them illegal if not zoned properly. But people need a place to live, and many building owners rent out basements to those looking to save a few dollars and enjoy the fresh smells of Mother Earth. Rarely are the apartments ever shut down.

The new owner wanted $150,000. And people will think, “that's a crazy mark-up, I'll just buy my own cheap place and renovate it.” Except few people today can get a bank to loan them money on a trashed property and then find the additional $75,000 to do the work. Or they don't have the time.

And one major benefit of buying a home from a Rehabber is that often times you can negotiate in your contract to get them to either fix things to your inspector's recommendations, or better yet, they will tear down a wall, build a garage, add fixtures, even put on a dormer. As long as the property can appraise, it's like getting a rehab loan without the work. Your place is ready for move-in at closing.

The date was going well. The top two floors looked exactly how we remembered. Wood trim preserved, hardwood re-finished, windows replaced, and bathrooms completely remodeled. But the basement was the core. The date conversation was changing from 'what's the last movie you saw' to 'how do you feel about an open relationship?'

A home with a finished basement that has separate entrances along with a bath and a kitchen hookup lets an owner have additional 'roommates' or family stay with them. It's tangible security. Many will take their chances with the city and rent it since the new income will be the difference between just making the mortgage and having Alinea money every month. Or Petrillo's.

The descent down the re-built stairs allowed the new paint fumes to excite us with possibility. And a cheap afternoon high. That was a joke. You can't get high on latex paint fumes. I've watched people in the alley try, unsuccessfully, until they gave up and found the nearest 40 ounce bottle of a fine malted beverage gently sheathed by the slight crumpled reveal of brown paper.

The cermaic tile glistened. Basements are the only part of a home, outside bathrooms, that are allowed to have tile. That's a law. An unwritten law that keeps your hard earned money from going to waste on wood floors that will warp or carpet that is bound to asphyxiate your tenants with a moldy stank. My client strolled the large living area with a smile inching up his face until he saw scraping my ear scraping against the freshly drywalled ceiling. I guess I could travel the apartment by office roller chair like Alex P. Keaton.

I turned to the investor/owner/sales guy, my aching head slanted ninety degrees. “You did such a nice job of renovating this place. It shows great. But what happened down here? Did you think Chicago had an under served dwarf population tired of getting on step stools to open their bathroom doors?”

“No, actually, it's funny you bring that up, cause, you know, we debated taking the floor down some, but we figured this apartment would be for a hispanic family. And they're short, you know. They can definitely fit in here. This neighborhood has lots of them hispanics. But you know something, about 90% of the people who come to look at the building are Anglos, like you guys.”

“I'm not actually an Anglo. I'm just White.”

I yelled over to my client, his smile retreating back to neutral, “Hey, are you an Anglo?”

“No, not really. Part German, but mostly I'm just White.”

First dates are always deceiving. The second date predicts the future. And this relationship will be another one of the many, where one kitchen merges with somebody else's perfect master bathroom. The Hunt continues.

A Kitchen of Convenience

Space is overrated
Little Village

Do the Gangs Teach Reading These Days?

To see the chalklines you need to look real close
Little Village

Excorcisms in the Garden Unit

The Seller's Realtor wouldn't let us enter
Little Village

Rarely Seen

Is everything upside down?
Little Village