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Tips for Buying Condos in Chicago

Increasingly first time home owners may have more shared walls and fewer back yard barbecues. That's because more young couples like Rebecca and Billy White, who find themselves priced out of the real estate market for single family homes, are turning to a condo as their first step in home ownership.

But that's not the only reason condominium properties are being purchased.

"My wife Becca said she needed to be closer to the train to commute to her job as a graphic designer downtown in Chicago," Billy explained. "And we both wanted to live in a happening urban atmosphere with plenty of restaurants and things to do nearby. We found that many of the condos in Chicago fit the bill better."

Still condominiums are often THE only affordable housing option anymore.

Besides first timer buyers like the Whites are just part of the demographic trend which may bode well for the appreciation of Chicago condos. Down sizing baby boomers or so called "empty nesters" are buying. As are retirees and recent immigrants. Plus single professionals who find the easy living lifestyle appealing are also getting in on the action.

Sure historically condos have under performed when compared to appreciation of single family houses. But how well condo prices hold up also depends on such things as local employment, the number of people moving into the area, and how many are looking to set up house keeping. If those trends look good the outlook for condominium appreciation should also look good.

Then anymore, with an open and spacious floor plan plus adequate sound proofing, some units feel much like single family homes once inside.

But just like when buying a single family home, if there's something about a condo that bothers you just a bit, you can bet it will grow to bother you a lot later.

Also before buying any of the Chicago condos for sale always ask to see copies of the minutes of the condo board's last two annual meetings. That's where the bodies are buried. Look to see who's been fined, for what, and how close they live to you. Nothing like discovering, after you move in, that a budding rock guitarist lives next door and practices long into the night.