Avoid Risky Business when Saving for Big Purchases

Your credit report will be instrumental
in securing your home loan

When you are saving up for a big purchase like a car or a home, it is important to keep the goal in mind when making everyday purchases. If you can’t keep your self control when it comes to buying, your credit report will show. Then, you will end up paying for it with a higher interest rate. The Equifax Finance Blog explains how your credit report tells on you in the article, “Are You Receiving the Best Interest Rates on Your Loans?”

Your credit report keeps track of your financial habits, and it forms the score which determines your interest rates. If you borrow too much, have too many accounts or check your score too often, the report shows and lowers your score. Thankfully, the financial institutions that check your credit score for issuing you a loan now have to inform you when you don’t qualify for the best rate.

Chicago Joins Northern Areas of Greater Foreclosures

Unfortunately, Chicago has received the dubious honor of having the largest inventory of bank-owned foreclosure properties on the market in April, according to RealtyTrac. This is just part of a wider movement of the foreclosure plague, on which real estate expert Steve Cook offers insight in the recent Equifax Finance Blog Post, “Foreclosures Move North to Changing Markets.”

Midwest and Northeastern areas are where foreclosures are clustering. Kansas City posted the highest foreclosure discount in April and New Jersey posted the highest rise in foreclosures for the same time period. Eleven of the nation’s 20 largest metro areas that posted increased foreclosures were in the East or Midwest.

See amazing uses of quality kitchen materials at KBIS!

A sample of one of the Cambria quartz color profiles
Atlanta Kitchen fabricated for the Wellborn Cabinet
booth at KBIS 2012.

If you are in the market for a new kitchen for a home purchase or remodel, you can’t miss the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) at Chicago’s McCormick Place today through Thursday, April 26. The show is where the best in the business come to share ideas, compare trends and strut their newest stuff. It’s an amazing chance to see the best and seize inspiration from the cutting edge of the industry. When you go, you will definitely want to check out the Wellborn Cabinet booth, which will sport both innovative cabinets and countertops from Cambria Quartz.

Fabricated by the Cambria experts at Atlanta Kitchen, there are nine Cambria color profiles in the Wellborn Cabinet booth which have been custom crafted to provide the maximum amount of elegance and presence for their space. The Cambria color profiles are set to Wellborn’s all new and simplified Elegant Bath Collection, an extensive collection of vanity styles which are available in their most popular door styles and finishes.

Chicago Neighborhood Gets a Big Boost

A new 20-building community of Chicago real estate has received an award by Multifamily Executive Magazine.

Savoy Square at Legends South is a $44.9 million project that replaced a dilapidated Chicago Housing Authority public housing community in the up-and-coming Bronzeville neighborhood. It was named "Mixed-Income Project of the Year" by the MFE.

When completed, this mixed-income neighborhood will offer close to 2,400 homes for sale and rent.

Want to know more about the project and the award it has already earned? Check out our story:

Award-Winning Development Replaces Chicago Public Housing

The 2011 MFE Awards program was held in Las Vegas earlier this month. A new Chicago apartment tower was named "High-Rise of the Year." Check back to Chicago New Homes for that story.

Chicago High-Rise Named Nation's Best

A new project of Chicago real estate has already captured a prestigious award.

EnV, a 29-story apartment tower completed last year, has been named "High-Rise of the Year" by Multifamily Executive Magazine.

The 249-unit rental building, which was one of the first LEED-certified apartment properties in the Windy City, was recognized for its energy-efficient features.

Located across from Chicago's historic Merchandise Mart, this modern apartment building offers a touch of resort living in the city. Want to know more about it? Check out our story:

Chicago Real Estate to be EnVied

The 2011 MFE Awards were held in Las Vegas earlier this month. A neighborhood of new Chicago real estate pulled in the award for "Mixed Income Project of the Year." Check back to Chicago New Homes for that story.

Sell More Chicago New Homes, Attend Xplode

Interested in selling more Chicago new homes? Technology is a great way to do so. However, technology is always changing, so it is hard to keep up.

To help share tips on social marketing and the advantages of technology in the Chicago real estate market, the Chicago Association of REALTORS will host the Xplode Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago on Friday, August 19.

With topics such as mobile marketing, social media, the revolution of video, digital transactions, blogging and search, syndication and digital listings, Xplode’s 25 speakers will give attendees valuable advice and lessons.

Some speakers include marketing experts, social media pros and technology developers.

For more details, check out the Xplode Conference video. Also, be sure to register online at http://chicago.xplodethis.com/.

Chicago to Get a Brand New Neighborhood

More than 100,000 people recently attended the Dave Matthews Band Caravan — a three-day summer concert tour of 39 bands — in an empty, 470-acre site of prairie land along Lake Michigan on Chicago's South Side.

That site, which used to be occupied by the U.S. Steel's South Works manufacturing plant, could someday be an entirely new Chicago real estate community.

Though, not immediately.

U.S. Steel, which still owns the land, has teamed up with a Chicago real estate developer to turn the lakefront property into a LEED-certified community with single-family and high-rise housing, retail and commercial space, a new school and more.