For some reason, a lot of people want to add their adult children onto the deeds of their homes. I must talk to a client about this at least once a week. People generally have different, specific reasons they want to do this. But if you take away all the fluff, it generally boils down to one thing—they want their kids to end up with the house when they die. But is adding your children onto the title of your home the best way to do this? Well, I can’t say it’s never a good idea. There are a few situations where it may be the best way to go. But more often than not, there is a better solution. So why is it not a good idea to add your adult children onto the deed to your home? Your child may want to get a mortgage to purchase real… read more →
A few years back, during the pandemic, I had a particularly memorable closing. Unfortunately, it was not memorable for any good reason. Every single thing was going wrong. My paralegal had an emergency and was not in the office. My clients, the buyers, had gone to do their walk-through that morning. They found rats in the house. Additionally, built-in shelving that was included in the purchase had been removed from two different rooms in the house, including an entire wall of mudroom built-ins. The seller was nowhere to be found. The seller‘s attorney was nowhere to be found. When I finally tracked down his assistant and told her about the rats, she said a few rats should not bother anyone and they certainly wouldn’t bother her. Gross. Honestly, I have had so many closings where sellers have pulled these types of stunts that despite all the problems, in a normal… read more →
While you are negotiating your contract for purchase of real estate, or during your attorney and inspection review periods, you (the Buyer) may reach a point where you need to make a decision about a closing cost credit or a purchase price reduction. For some reason or other, you and the seller have agreed on a financial concession in your favor. At this point, you need to decide how you should receive that concession. If you are purchasing in cash, the simplest thing to do is to reduce the purchase price. Since you are a cash purchaser, you will be paying your purchase price and all of your closing cost at closing anyway. There is no lender involved to make things messy, so you might as well take a straight reduction on the purchase price. At some point when the county goes back and looks at the sale of the… read more →
If you are thinking about setting up a land trust, you should educate yourself. Does a land trust even make sense for you? What are the benefits of putting your real estate in a land trust? What’s the downside? And of course, what types of land trust options do you have in the state of Illinois? In its essence, a land trust is simply a trust created to hold real estate. In most cases, one land trust holds one parcel of real estate. The elements of a land trust are fairly straightforward: (a) You need to create a trust agreement; (b) to the extent you are using a title company or a bank to manage the land trust, you need to make sure that the trust is open and paid for; and (c) you need to actually fund the trust by transferring in the real estate in question. One of… read more →
If you are buying or selling real estate, you may have heard the term “appraisal contingency“ thrown about by your real estate agent. But do you really understand what it means? Do you know how it affects you? Whether you are buying or selling real estate, if the transaction is being financed, the appraisal contingency is very important. Let’s back up a second. What is an appraisal? Well, when you engage a lender to finance your transaction, they will typically order an appraisal to determine the value of the property you are purchasing. The actual appraisal is handled by a third-party company. Neither your loan officer nor your bank is personally handling the appraisal. What does the appraisal entail? Well, once the appraisal is ordered, an appraiser will be sent out to look at your property. Usually the appraiser will not only go inside and look around, but also… read more →
If you are selling your home, you want everything to be smooth. You could be selling for any number of reasons — upsizing, downsizing, moving out of state, moving to senior living, or even because you are just ready for a change. After all, you went to all the trouble of putting your house on the market, procuring a buyer, dealing with the buyer’s inspection items, waiting for the buyer‘s mortgage to be finalized, and meeting with your attorney to sign a stack of papers. And now finally, finally, finally, you have a closing date on your calendar. Just a few more days, and you will be on to the next chapter of your life. Or so you thought. . .Everything was fine. . . And then your survey came in. In a typical residential real estate transaction, the survey is usually one of the last things the parties actually… read more →
Much has been made in the news recently about the proposed “Mansion Tax” referendum that will be on the primary ballot for Chicago voters in March of 2024. But for the average person to understand what this proposed tax actually is, it is important to understand how Chicago properties are currently taxed. First of all, the proposed “Mansion Tax” does not refer to real estate taxes or income taxes. The “Mansion Tax” is all about transfer taxes. Unlike income tax, which is due every year, or real estate taxes, which are due twice a year, we don’t hear a lot about transfer taxes in the news. Why is that? It’s because transfer taxes are only due when real estate is bought or sold. If you bought your house 10 years ago, you paid the tax then. You won’t be paying anything again until you sell. Unless the property is exempt… read more →
At least once a week, quite literally every week, I talk to a client who says to me, “I need to put my house in a living trust.” I had this conversation with someone just yesterday, and it was not even the first time this week. Over the years, I have learned that there is a one-word follow-up to this statement: “Why?” And really, whether or not the house needs to go into the living trust is dependent on the answer to that question. Many people have heard from their friends, their family members, and, of course, the internet, that they should have a living trust. A living trust is a wonderful estate planning tool. It can simplify the process of transferring assets to family and other heirs after a death. That is why I ask people why they want to put their house into a living trust. If they… read more →
Dual agency is when one real estate agent represents both the buyer and the seller in a real estate transaction. While it is not an uncommon practice, it can sometimes create conflicts and leave the parties feeling like their own interests are not being protected. The parties may feel as though one side is being favored over the other despite (1) any written disclosure or agreement between the parties and the dual agent, and (2) any rules of conduct prescribed for dual agents. Despite that, there are quite a few advantages of having a dual agent. For example, communication between the parties could be faster. The dual agent will have more knowledge of the property and the situation, which can help streamline the process. Having less people involved in the transaction makes it smoother when it comes to obtaining responses from the other party. The agent may already know the… read more →
The rise of e-commerce precipitated the decline of storefront small businesses, particularly retail businesses. Add the Covid-19 pandemic to the mix in 2020, and many other small businesses and restaurants closed as well. These closures affected the entire city, from the humblest streets all the way to the Magnificent Mile. As a result, the City of Chicago has a large number of vacant storefronts. Earlier this month, however, the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection announced a plan to combat this. As part of this Small Business Storefront Activation Program, the city is giving 15 community groups approximately $3 million in funds to support small businesses. Each community organization may identify vacant storefronts in their respective communities and then attempt to bring in small businesses. The idea is to fund retail areas and help bring in pop-up shops, indoor farmer’s markets, art galleries, and other new retail sites.… read more →