Edward Balcsik's (chicagorealestateattorney) Blog

Home prices sank by the sharpest annual rate on record in January, and the pace continues to accelerate.  While for property owners this may be bad news, it is good news for the economy. The real estate market will not recover until prices bottom out.  There is little reason to invest in real est...

Starting 1 July 2008 every mortgage on property in Cook County will be required to to have a Certificate of Compliance or Certificate of Exemption attached to it in order to be recorded.  The reason? The Anti-Predatory Lending Database Program. In case of exemption the programs requirements will ...

Chicago Real Estate Transfer Tax increase  Chicago increases the city transfer tax on real estate transactions in the city as part of CTA bailout.Effective 1 April 2008 the Chicago Real Estate Transfer Tax will increase to $10.50/$1,000 of purchase price.On March 12, 2008 the City Council amended...