Another election day looms in less than one week, and I know you are racking your brain trying to answer one crucial question: What judges should I vote for on Tuesday? The Good news is that once again, I have some cheat sheets for all of you to print and bring to the polls: Illinois State Bar Association ratings for judicial candidates. You can see the ISBA’s ratings by county here. This site will help if you are outside of Cook County. Chicago Bar Association has a handy pocket guide for you Chicagoans headed to the polls on Tuesday. Chicago Council of Lawyers is a non-partisian public interest bar association, and…
-
-
The Tax Bills Are Here!
The 2015 Second installment real estate tax bills for Cook County have been released as of 10:00am this morning. For Chicago residents, this bill has been highly anticipated (dreaded) since the 2015 re-assessments were announced. As I wrote earlier this year, may of you expect to get dinged pretty hard. To see how bad the damage is, head over to the Cook County Treasurer’s website by clicking here. Once there, click “continue” and enter your PIN. If you do not know your PIN, head over to the Cook County Assessor’s website here. Click “Dont know your PIN?” and enter your address. LIFE PRO TIP!!! If you are an owner occupant, and…
-
Closing Costs Part 2 – Title Charges
In the second installment of my series on closing costs, I will tackle title charges. Generally speaking, when you buy or sell a home, the closing of the transaction takes place at a title company. The title company has two main roles: 1. escrowee and 2. issuing title insurance. As escrowee, the title company receives funds from the buyer and lender and disburses the money at the end of the closing based on the parties instructions. Title insurance insures the buyer’s clear title to the property. Title companies don’t work for free, so there are some costs associated with the services they provide. Escrow/Settlement Fee This fee is for the title…
-
Estimate Your Closing Costs – Part 1
If you have ever bought or sold a home, you know that there are all sorts of charges that you incur in addition to the purchase price, which are known to most as “closing costs.” We all know about them, but estimating the final number can be elusive if you are not familiar with the process. In the next four emails, I am going to shed some light on calculating the closing costs, so that you can better understand what the home is really going to cost you as a buyer or what you can expect to walk away with as a seller. Real Estate Taxes The real estate tax…
-
How To Hire A Real Estate Lawyer
My friends at avvo.com wrote a nice little guide for those of you who are in the market for a real estate lawyer. Check out the guide here. It’s definitely worth checking out if you want an anxiety free way to get some questions answered. Another anxiety free way to get your real estate law questions answered is to email me at patrick@loftus-law.com or call me at 773-632-8330. Telephone consultations are done free of charge! See what my clients have to say about me!
-
Tips On Voting For Judges
Although the upcoming presidential election is dominating the headlines (thanks, Donald), next Tuesday’s primary is about so much more than who will be the next resident of the White House. Statewide, we are voting on our representatives in Congress and in the legislature. Here in Cook County, among other things, we are voting in the hotly contested race for state’s attorney. Most of you are going to arrive at the section for judges having no idea who any of these people are. Is one of these judges the lady who went off her meds and walked from Markham to the Daley Center to assault a sheriff’s deputy? Is this the…
-
Emanuel gets the go-ahead to seize Old Main Post Office
Things are getting interesting over at the Old Post Office again. As I wrote back on February 29, the City is moving to take control of the property to sell it to someone who will develop it. Mayor Emanuel’s plan received approval from the Community Development Commission. The City will now seek bids from developers, which are due by June 8, 2016. Meanwhile, the current owner, Bill Davies, claims that he is on the verge of sealing a deal with “a New York investor with ‘impeccable status and stature‘” to redevelop the property, and that the Mayor’s actions will jeopardize that plan. Evidently, Emanuel is not interested in promises made…
-
Get Your Real Estate Tax Assessment Appeals Ready!
You probably just received the first installment of your 2015 real estate tax bills, and once the panic over the upcoming second installment subsides, you want to know how to lower that bill. As I talked about a couple of weeks ago right here, some of the assessments went absolutely bananas for 2015, and you can expect the second installment of your tax bill to deliver a real sucker punch if you are not prepared. One way to combat the ever-increasing property tax bill is to appeal the assessment. Believe it or not, appealing your assessment can be relatively simple. Many people choose to use an attorney to…
