Sharon Stangenes

How important are two bathrooms? If you are a first-time buyer--single, part of a couple or young family--on a budget, can you live with 1 1/2? It's a question that...

There is nothing like buying a home to help sort out priorities; so Troy Carter and Danielle Dubi of Volo decided to eliminate yard work but live close to family....

Ride the CTA Red Line--not a car--to the Lawrence Avenue stop and walk the scant couple of blocks to the busy intersection of Lawrence Avenue, Broadway and Racine in Chicago's...

South suburban Orland Park some years ago dubbed itself "Golf Capital of the World" in light of the many golf courses in and near the community. Residents still don't have...

Timing is everything when buying a home. It can affect the size of your mortgage, how much selection you have in lot or unit location and the amenities the builder...

While the new residential construction boom has occurred in almost every corner of Chicago, the biggest and most visible concentration has been in and around the heart of the city...

Liberty Lakes in north suburban Wauconda is "master planned" for 800 residences and 144 acres of open space. In fast-growing western Lake County, the development, which opened sales in May...

Here's a New Year's resolution, one that I hope all new homeowners will make. Soon after the excitement of moving into your new home, take time to devise and implement...

Rita Canning had an idea for a house, a big one. As president of Women in Need Growing Stronger (WINGS), a Palatine-based non-profit group which supplies resources and emergency housing...

Carillon at Heatherstone in north suburban Beach Park is among the smaller "active adult" developments popping up in the Chicago area. Unlike the recent past, when behemoth developments such as...