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HOME: Learn: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Learn
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Frequently Asked Questions
For most people, the home they select to live in can be one of the most important decisions in their life. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions that we hear from clients.
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Is now a good time to buy a home?
Mortgage rates remain at historically low levels. And prices remain at some of the lowest levels that we have seen in the past decade.
Now may be great time to buy a home if you fall into one of the following two categories:
1.) The property you are selling is worth significantly less than the new property you
anticipate buying. For example, if you are selling a home for $800,000 that was worth
$1,000,000 several years ago, you are effectively losing 20 percent of value. But if you
are now buying a home at a 20 percent discount -- let's say buying a home for
$1,600,000 that was worth $2,000,000 several years ago, you are coming out ahead.
Despite losing $200,000 of value on your current home, you are gaining $400,000 of value
on your new home. The net result: you are gaining $200,000 of value!
2.) The property you are buying does not require the sale of another property. In this scenario,
you get to take advantage of low sales prices without losing value in the property that
you don't have to liquidate.
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Why choose a REALTOR® when buying or selling a home?
There are a lot of good reasons to choose a realtor when you know that you are going to be involved with the buying or selling of real property.Click here to see 12 of them.
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What is the difference between a condominium (condo) and a cooperative (coop)?
The differences between the two pertain to what you will ultimately own. There are both positives and negatives of each, so it is important to consider the differences before you buy.
When you purchase a condominium, you are buying a specific piece of property (the condo in which you will live) and all of the rights and obligations that go with it (such as access to common area amenities).
When you purchasing a coop, you aren't actually buying the home in which you will live. Instead, you are buying shares in a building corporation which will, in turn, provide you with a lease for the specific property you wish to inhabit.
One advantage to cooperatives is the fact that taxes do tend to be less, on the whole, for comparable properties (they are also typically paid by way of your monthly assessment). One drawback, though, is that coops typically require that a buyer put at least twenty (20) percent down when making a purchase. Additionally, fewer lenders are typically willing to provide loans for coops.
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What does "rent to own" mean in 2013?
Whether it is called "rent to own" or "lease with option to purchase," these sorts of agreements have become decreasingly common in recent years -- predominantly because of how difficult it has become to predict fuure value of property. In most of these scenarios, a tenant pays a monthly premium each month (i.e., pays more rent than the market would usually bear) in exchange for the right to purchase the property provided tha an option is exercised during the term of the lease.
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Click here to see questions pertaining to landlord-tenant relationships.
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Office Location:
401 N. Michigan Ave.
Suite 1200
Chicago, Illinois 60611-4264
Telephone:
(312) 638-9600
E-mail:
Click here to e-mail us.
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