Biography
When Mary Umberger started covering residential real estate at the Chicago Tribune in the early 1990s, she thought it would be a short-term ...
McMansions: What's the big deal?
May 11, 2012
If the guy down the block refers to your house as a McMansion, he's probably not paying a compliment.
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'Generation Now' on hold
May 4, 2012
Maxine Lauer calls the group of consumers who are age 15 to 34 "Generation Now" because they want what they want, and they want it now.
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The rise of solo living
April 20, 2012
These days, Americans are increasingly likely to live alone, but please don't presume they're lonely.
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Mortgages taking back seat to car loans
April 12, 2012
If we've learned one thing from the housing downturn, it's that making the monthly mortgage payment is no longer a sacred concept in many American households. In recent years, when facing financial pressure, homeowners have been more likely to let the mortgage slide before they would fall behind on their credit card bills, researchers have found.
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Design fans feel at home with Houzz
April 8, 2012
If you're familiar with the term "house porn," you probably know about Houzz.com.
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Designing with her outlook
March 30, 2012
What do women want?
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A growth spurt for tiny house trend
March 23, 2012
If you occasionally harbor the suspicion that your house owns you — instead of the other way around — you might find yourself secretly relishing the lifestyles in "Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter," a new book that lives up to its title, and then some.
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Home design turns a corner
March 18, 2012
Home design appears to be coming to its senses. Among other things, newer kitchens aren't gigantic. Busy McMansion rooflines have gone the way of the housing boom. And the outdoors is really in.
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Catering to renters by choice
March 9, 2012
For a while, the only person lonelier than the Maytag Repair Man was the leasing agent at your local apartment complex. America was giddily riding the homebuying merry-go-round, and droves of renters were trading leases for purchase contracts.
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Laundry rooms clean up in survey
March 2, 2012
If you presume that the average American homeowner's No. 1 daydream for a next home is of a glitzier kitchen, a sumptuous media room or maybe a luxurious master bedroom suite, you'd be wrong.
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The bitter truth about homeownership
February 12, 2012
When it comes to homeownership, we're conflicted. And we're mad.
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How to estimate remodeling payback
November 4, 2011
Want to increase the value of your house? Add a third bathroom.
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Appraisers see green in energy upgrades
October 31, 2011
If you're a conservation-minded homeowner and you go to the trouble, and expense, of installing a high-efficiency furnace or a truckload of insulation or other energy-saving features, you'd probably like to get credit for adding value to the place.
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Credit reporting digs deeper
October 14, 2011
Sometimes it's hard to escape the notion that our lives are being slowly, inevitably reduced to a single database.
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The down-payment hurdle
July 29, 2011
Tight credit is leaving the housing market gasping for air. That's the drum beat from many corners of the real estate industry, which has been complaining loudly that restrictive mortgage-lending standards are a leading reason housing can't seem to climb out of its very deep hole.
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FICO's radar picking up potential walkaways
May 6, 2011
Your mortgage payments are up to date, and you pay your bills on time. Your credit score is above average.
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Agents and brokers are holding the foreclosure door wide open for buyers looking for a bargain
June 22, 2008
Two years ago, Jason Pietrucha read the foreclosure writing on the wall.
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Cool designs and hot trends in refrigerators
June 13, 2008
We ask a lot of our refrigerators.
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Nothing open and shut about deal closings
January 27, 2008
Headed for your real estate closing? No matter which side of the table you'll be on, have a Plan B.
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Judging a home by its siding
December 16, 2007
In today's real estate market, anxious home sellers -- or those merely thinking about selling -- might well heed a finding of the latest annual remodeling study: It's what's outside that counts.
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Purchase price just the start
November 18, 2007
Separate from the monthly mortgage bill, would-be home buyers have to factor in numerous costs to determine their affordability comfort level, financial counselors say. Some of the considerations:
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Here's a new one: Being too broke to sell
September 30, 2007
Most anybody in the mortgage business will tell you that August was a month that will live in infamy: The market was in turmoil, as doubts about the stability of subprime loans spread to other sectors of the mortgage world.
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Rising tide washing over rentals
May 13, 2007
The rent is going up.
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Think you know what it's worth? Think again
October 15, 2006
Here's one of those glass-half-empty/glass-half-full bits of news: Recently online company househunt.com surveyed real estate agents and concluded that 51 percent of U.S. home sellers are getting 95 to 100 percent of their asking prices.
