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Old 10-01-2008, 12:08 PM
 
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
16 posts, read 48,739 times
Reputation: 13

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Thanks for all the posts. My husband and I are looking to buy ... renting is NOT for us. Since I have lived in STL all my life, I want to get familiar with Chicago, as much as I can anyway, before we pick an area to live. I appreciate people responding about the different areas we are looking at. Its a HUGE help to me!!!! We basically want to be in the mix of everything, we are downsizing to 1 car to save $$, and I (hopefully) plan on using the train to get to work everyday. We have a little puppy too, so maybe close to a park!?!? Eventually kids will come into play, but definitely not a determining factor as of right now where we want to buy.

Its hard doing "searches" -- I have been using "realtor.com" which makes you search by zip code. But reading everyone's post, every "neighborhood" has a distinct name, so sometimes its hard to follow where you are talking about. I will learn ... eventually!
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Old 10-01-2008, 01:57 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,623,677 times
Reputation: 3799
Dreamtown.com

Use it, it'll be your best friend because you can search by neighborhood instead of zip.
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Old 10-01-2008, 02:06 PM
 
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
16 posts, read 48,739 times
Reputation: 13
. . . and what's with the Chicago Transit Cards!?!?!
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Old 10-01-2008, 02:54 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,623,677 times
Reputation: 3799
You load them up with moolah and you swipe them at the turnstiles or to get on a bus so you don't always have to carry change around with you.
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Old 10-01-2008, 02:54 PM
 
Location: Humboldt Park, Chicago
2,686 posts, read 7,871,502 times
Reputation: 1196
Default Good Real Estate Search Tool

Bairdwarner.com

Lookout,

I am not sure if I will find a $400K condo for $250K, just said that I would look at buying one if one came up. I am assuming I buy in 18 months or so near the bottom of the market and that I am buying new construction from a distressed builder who is being forced to liquidate inventory.
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Old 10-01-2008, 03:23 PM
 
Location: Chicago
2,467 posts, read 12,247,610 times
Reputation: 897
Just a few things,
First, I second the dreamtown.com comment. I used them to purchase my new condo and they had the best website that I found by far. (I also LOVED my realtor who didn't mind spending a ton of time with us, even though we had a HORRIBLE closing- banks fault- and were spending under 250K).
What price range are you looking for? What type of neighborhood? How big?
Secondly, as others suggested, the housing market in Chicago is actually pretty stable compared to the rest of the country. That's good for sellers, but also it seems as if some people are hesitant to list their house now for fear of selling it for cheap, so there may not be as many pickings for buyers.
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Old 10-01-2008, 03:49 PM
 
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
16 posts, read 48,739 times
Reputation: 13
We have a good friend thats our realtor so we are golden on that one . . .
Price range - I am thinking we would like to not go higher than $350; 2 bedroom, 2 bath; updated condo.
I've been pretty much searching in these areas - Gold Coast, Old Town, River North, the Loop, Streeterville, Lincoln Park.
Doable?!?!
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Old 10-01-2008, 04:51 PM
 
11,975 posts, read 31,792,528 times
Reputation: 4644
Quote:
Originally Posted by JAS311 View Post
We have a good friend thats our realtor so we are golden on that one . . .
Price range - I am thinking we would like to not go higher than $350; 2 bedroom, 2 bath; updated condo.
I've been pretty much searching in these areas - Gold Coast, Old Town, River North, the Loop, Streeterville, Lincoln Park.
Doable?!?!
I don't think it's doable at that price. You'll have to look a bit further out for those prices. You can find 2BR 2-Bath condos for $350K in northern Lakeview, Buena Park, North Center, Ravenswood, Andersonville, etc. In the areas you listed, you'll probably want at least a half mil for a condo of that size, though it always depends on gross area, finishes, vintage, etc.
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Old 10-01-2008, 07:15 PM
 
Location: Chicago
15,586 posts, read 27,612,634 times
Reputation: 1761
Quote:
Originally Posted by JAS311 View Post
We have a good friend thats our realtor so we are golden on that one . . .
Price range - I am thinking we would like to not go higher than $350; 2 bedroom, 2 bath; updated condo.
I've been pretty much searching in these areas - Gold Coast, Old Town, River North, the Loop, Streeterville, Lincoln Park.
Doable?!?!
I came across a town house in Lake View near Ashland and Belmont for 355k. You might be able to get it much lower.


http://www.coldwellbankeronline.com/...RegularPS=True
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Old 10-02-2008, 07:57 AM
 
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
16 posts, read 48,739 times
Reputation: 13
Actually, I have found at least 8 or 9 condos in the areas that I listed that are in our price range . . . so I think there is more out there. Some are actually updated too which rocks. We are scheduled to see 2 next Saturday in the Loop and hopefully can get a hold of other realtors to see more.

(I'm really just looking forward to the sweet potato fries from Rockit for lunch!!!!)
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