Beanie Babies can buy deluxe apartment in sky
How many Beanie Babies would it take to buy the penthouse suite at the yet-to-be-built Chicago Spire? Maybe $40 million worth. Right now the Spire is just a hole in...
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Time for worry, not panic
The stock market is bouncing like a rubber ball, political leaders are predicting a dire economic situation and that panicked little voice inside your head is screaming "sell, sell." Financial...
Depression unlikely but a recession could be painful
Hearing some of the dire predictions for an economy struggling to avert a financial collapse, it's easy to recall 1930s photos of people huddled in soup lines or traveling the...
Is this the right time to refinance?
Mortgage rates are down and you're not going to bother trying to sell your home anytime soon. Should you spend the money to refinance and lower your payments? Can you...
Tower trumps slowdown
From near the top of the 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower, one can look down on the city skyline and proof of a frozen real estate market that is...
Taming of the monster home
McMansions epitomized the excesses of the housing market, but don't think that just because the market is in the dumps, the desire for overbuilt homes has dried up. The people...
An old pro’s game plan for buyers
Ralph Smykal has never seen the nation's housing market as bad off as it is right now, and that's saying a lot for an octogenarian whose family-owned company has weathered...
Welcome to your dream home (some assembly required)
Unlike a lot of buyers of newly-constructed houses, Kaye and Peter Hathaway didn't want everything to be spotless and shiny when they took possession of their Island Lake home. In...
Next stop, twilight zone open houses
Most people who've bought a house have experienced the Sunday afternoon ritual of piling in the car and making the rounds of open houses. But would you be willing to...
Don’t blow this chance to prep home
There is a silver lining out there for homeowners who, despite being eager to sell their homes, have opted to sit on the sidelines and wait out the current market's...