Yuval Degani's (dreamtown) Blog

It’s never too early to prepare your home for Chicago’s harsh winter season. Making the right updates now can help increase your home’s energy efficiency and reduce the cost of utility bills in the months to come.   1.)    Your furnace is gearing up for its big season, so make sure it is in good ...

Stats for nationwide home sales showed an improvement in August, according to the newest report from the National Association of Realtors. Sales of existing homes went up 7.6% from July to August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million. This is still about one million below last year...

Seven out of 10 Americans said they believe now is a good time to purchase a house, according the latest National Housing Survey from Fannie Mae. The organization conducted nearly 3,400 telephone interviews between June and July to gauge people’s feelings about the housing market. The results wer...

Several different indicators are pointing toward the beginning of a real estate rebound for the end of 2010 and into 2011. One such gauge is the pending sales index from the National Association of Realtors. This number shows how many homebuyers have entered into a contract of purchase during a g...

If you’re on the house hunt in Chicago, you’ve probably already been touring homes that you’ve seen online and that piqued your interest. Perhaps Dream Town has a few more places you’ll want to visit in person. Here’s a sampling of this weekend’s featured open houses from Dream Town… Lakeview Sin...

According to recent reports, there are around 2,800 unsold condo units in Chicago’s downtown area. During the first half of 2010, the number of sales tipped 400. This puts the market on track to surpass last year’s sales, which totaled less than 600 units. This improvement in buyer activity is he...

Proximity to work is a major factor when it comes to choosing a neighborhood in which to purchase a home. Is the neighborhood near your job or public transportation? Remember, a long commute can rack up gas expenses, which could offset a slightly cheaper mortgage when compared with a pricier home...

Chicago Real Estate company Dream Town Realty is holding a special awards reception tonight for the winners of its “Chicago in Focus” photo competition. The event is also a fundraiser for local charity La Casa Norte, which assists Chicago’s homeless population. Photos showcased at the awards bene...

Chicago has become a very bikeable city in recent years. A number of the major streets are lined with bike lanes, there’s a state-of-the-art commuter cyclist center in Millennium Park, and the 20-mile lakeside trail makes for an idyllic, virtually vehicle-free ride that spans almost the entire le...

The numbers for June's Chicago home sales are out and they are looking good. Once again, there were year-over-year gains in the city and surrounding area. According to data from the Illinois Association of Realtors, condo and single-family home sales in Chicagoland climbed 27.2% in June from the ...