March 2007

My prior post about earnest money was in response to the many "hits" I've received on my website in response to search queries being made.  Another popular search question lately has been about real estate transfer taxes.

UPDATE:  This has been updated as of August 2016.  These aren't updated every year, so please check the link posted in this paragraph.  The state of Illinois has a transfer tax usually paid by sellers of $.50 per every $500.00 of the sales price.  The Cook County transfer tax is $.25 per every $500.00 and is paid by the seller.  Will County is the same as Cook County and although either party can pay it is usually charged to the seller.  These are taken out of the seller's proceeds at closing.

Some cities also have their own

There are some great tools for webmasters to check what web surfers are really searching for.  With the busy spring season for real estate ahead of us, it seems like buyers and sellers are wondering what constitutes a low earnest money amount or if there is an average for Chicago Illinois.

Because Chicago, the suburbs and Cook County are so large there are really no earnest money rules.  The southwest Chicago suburbs still get contracts with earnest money as low as $1,000.  This is usually for purchases in the $100,000's.  Once a buyer purchases a more expensive property, the expected earnest money is higher.

In Chicago's downtown and surrounding area I was surprised to find out that the average Chicago earnest money percent was around ten percent

Two Popular States for Baby Boomer's Second Homes

Florida, the Sunshine State

Moving to Florida, the "Sunshine State" is a dream come true for many retirees, families and singles. With tropical weather in most parts of this giant peninsula, and miles of sandy beaches, it's easy to daydream a new life in Paradise. As the fourth most populous state, the dream is a reality for more than 16 million residents. If you're wondering how to pick out your dream property in Florida, here's a few tips to keep in mind.

Arizona, the Grand Canyon State

My husband and fellow real estate agent, Jimmy Herter, and I fell in love with Arizona.  We purchased a 2nd home in Scottsdale AZ, a cute townhome located in north Scottsdale.  My parents retired there and

The vote to increase real estate transfer taxes in Illinois will be held on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007.  It is bill SB 445 and proposes almost a $99,000,000 increase with some of the extra money going towards affordable housing, open space and natural areas.

At first sight, many homeowners might not feel the impact of this proposed bill.  The reason is that because the increase changes depending on the sales price of the property as shown below:

• Properties sold $500,000 or under would actually decrease from $1.00 per thousand to $.80 per thousand.  For those many property owners falling into this group, they would probably welcome the break.  Not much of a break at a savings of $100 for a $500,000 property.
• A property sold at a price over

Today is the due date for Cook County real estate taxes so don't forget to pay them if you handle this outside of your mortgage payment. If you think your taxes are too high, don't give the county more money in late fees.

Check those Cook County real estate tax escrows

Here's an interesting story that happened to me. I purchased a Hometown duplex in 1987. I remember seeing the words "sold in 1987" on the tax bill, I think towards the top of the bill. Since I purchased the home that year, I didn't think anything of it. I ended up selling that home in about 3 years and my lawyer said I was lucky I didn't hold onto it longer.

It had been sold for back taxes the year I purchased it! My mortgage company was paying to the wrong pin number. They did