The Dining Room: Delicious

A couple of weeks ago my friend treated me to dinner in The Dining Room at Kendall College. This is perhaps one of the best-kept secrets for fine dining in the entire City of Chicago.

The Kendall website offers a succinct and perfect description for the overall dining experience: "The Dining Room at Kendall College is renowned for its exceptional food and attentive service. Open to the general public, the Dining Room is also an extraordinary 'classroom' offering culinary and hospitality students the opportunity to gain real-world experience in a professional, fine-dining restaurant."

I've enjoyed a few lovely meals at The Dining Room. This is the perfect lunch or dinner spot! Perfect for business lunches or wonderful dinners with friends and family. Perfectly located at the corner of Chicago and Halsted. The menu remains fresh and lively because they change it every month. Parking in the Kendall lot is free (FREE parking in downtown Chicago!)

Luncheon and dinner hours are available. Check the website for specific times, and to make reservations. Or just call them now! :o) 312.752.2328

Park It!

Part of my job as a Chicago Realtor consists of driving to & through our many downtown neighborhoods. I have a first-hand awareness of how challenging it is to park!

It will be even more challenging with the recent price increase to use Chicago parking meters. In my neighborhood, rates go up this week from $1 or $1.50 an hour to $2 an hour. Man, that's a lotta quarters! This latest wrinkle makes it even MORE challenging to park downtown.

What's a driver to do?

If you live downtown, or if you drive to this area everyday, you might consider buying a parking space. This is a relatively new phenomenon in Chicago real estate. But it has caught on like wildfire in the last decade. The closer you live/work to downtown, specifically the Loop, the more you will value the convenience of having a space that literally has your name on it.

How Much?

I just checked the Multiple Listing Service for what's available. Asking prices in downtown Chicago, north of the river, range from $24,000 for a parking space at 900 N. Kingsbury to $85,000 at 505 N. Lake Shore Drive. The asking price hinges on a variety of factors:

• Location, location, location: the location of the building, as well as the location of the space within the parking structure. You'll pay more for a space close to the entrance of your building.
• Covered or not: Prices are higher for covered spaces -- for example, a carport. Prices are also higher for spaces inside secured structures requiring a fob, combination code or similar device for entry.
• Heated: Spaces in heated garages are more costly.
• Valet or not: You pay for the convenience of having a valet drive your car to your building's front door when you leave, and return it to your space when you come home.

Another Advantage to Owning

There's one advantage that can't be measured in dollars. Is your car being nibbled to death by door dings and bumper gouges from parking on the street? Are you ever stumped to recall where you left your car? "Let's see, was it the 500 block of Deming or Arlington?" And if you can't find your car, do you worry that it's been towed or flat-out stolen?

These worries are moot when you purchase a secured parking space. Believe me: it makes a world of difference in how well you'll sleep at night!

Ready to Buy?

My experienced mortgage lenders will advise you on how to roll a parking space purchase into your current mortgage. Drop me a line. I'll put you in touch with them!

Linking Your Way to a Better Home

The internet provides an endless variety of resources for just about everything. I enjoy visiting a group of forums known as That Home Site and The Gardenweb. They are for the most part intelligently written and well-moderated while maintaining the original "color" of the contributors. Here are some links that will help you buy, sell, build, decorate, landscape and enjoy your home.

Buying and Selling Homes: Get some preliminary info from pros and private citizens alike, on how to select a Realtor, how to price your home, how or whether to stage your home and securing a mortgage. One caveat: Many contributors on this site seem to be anti-Realtor. I like to think it's because they're still looking for a GOOD Realtor. I could recommend someone. :o)

Apartment Living: A forum devoted exclusively to the issues of apartment living.

Home Decorating: Get advice on decorating and share your personal experiences.

Kitchens: Stories and advice related to renovating, decorating and maintaining kitchens. Which eventually leads to.....

Cooking: Contributors share stories about using their new kitchens. Plenty of recipes and food-related stories here, as well. After you've spruced up your home's interior, head outside to.....

Gardenweb Forums: Hundreds of forums devoted to gardening categorized by region, type of plant, size of gardening space, season and personal plant favorites. When you just want to sit back and vegetate for a while (ha!), put on your best sundress or searsucker suit and click on.....

The Garden Party: The oldest forums at That Home Site and The Gardenweb were created approximately 13 years ago. Back then, contributors were expected to stay on-topic within each category. Over time, on-line friendships formed and discussions about this-and-that "broke out." The Garden Party forum was created by the webmaster as a place where contributors could talk about whatever they wanted. You never know what someone will post. It is almost always enjoyable. It is even sometimes informative. My own favorites are posted by a Nebraska native whose user name is Gandle. Lovely, warm vignettes of home and family life in rural Nebraska.

Let the Games Begin!

In Chicago, Super Bowl Sunday traditionally signals the beginning of the spring real estate market. There must be something to it! I hosted an open house yesterday. My plan was to capture folks early in the day, before they settled in for the big game. Hot coffee, munchies and a big open house sign complete with balloons (red for Cardinals; blue for Steelers!) lured neighborhood folks into the property. Wow, what a response!

This ended up being one of the most successful open houses I've ever hosted: a steady stream of visitors who commented endlessly on the huge living space, the complementary decor and the amazing view...while they sipped Caribou Coffee and nibbled on Trader Joe's cookies.

What does this tell us? That people are starting to get serious again about looking for real estate. And if they're looking, they're eventually going to buy.

What better time to kick your own home search into high gear?! There's an abundance of inventory. The weather is getting warmer so you won't freeze to death if you go out looking. There are Realtors -- like me, for example -- who would love to match you with the home of your dreams!

So what's holding you back? C'mon! Get in the game! :o)