SPRINGFIELD, IL - March 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) today announced the approval of five supportive living facilities (SLFs) selected to participate in an innovative pilot project designed to provide specialized housing and care for persons with dementia. The five sites are in Decatur, Effingham, Rantoul, North Aurora and Chicago.

Washington, DC - March 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Realtors® month-long Home Ownership Matters Bus Tour kicks off this weekend in Chicago outside of the Chicago Flower & Garden Show on Saturday, March 5. Chicagoans can speak with NAR leaders and invited local officials about the housing issues that matter to them, as well as learn about how public policy developments in Washington could affect their ability to buy, sell and own a home

CHICAGO, IL - March 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With spring around the corner, it’s an ideal time for first-time homebuyers and Veterans to take advantage of a statewide affordable loan program available through the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA). SmartMove loan programs enable residents across the state to benefit from historically low interest rates and home prices. SmartMove features down payment assistance and interest rates as low as 4.5 percent

SPRINGFIELD, IL - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Buyer market conditions remain in most Illinois housing markets as low mortgage interest rates helped spur some early buying in January despite typical slower sales for the winter month. More than half of Illinois counties reported year-over-year increases or no change in home sales for January

Torrance, CA - February 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lee & Associates, one of the largest national commercial real estate providers with regional expertise, has completed a 10-year lease for a 48,300-square-foot build-to-suit industrial building located within the Fox River Business Center on Airport Road in Elgin. The value of the transaction is undisclosed.

Chicago, IL - February 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home sales in the seven-county metropolitan Chicago real estate market showed encouraging resilience in January even though total home sales slipped 3.7 percent below the level recorded in the same month of 2010, according to an analysis by RE/MAX

CHICAGO, IL - February 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Illinois Department of Insurance is reminding homeowners and renters to prepare for the possibility of a spring flood by checking existing homeowner and renter policy coverage and determining whether to add flood insurance.

Springfield, IL - February 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S military personnel and certain other federal employees serving overseas must act quickly if they plan to take advantage of the federal tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for long-time homeowners that expires on April 30, 2011. Members of the U.S. military, foreign serviceand intelligence communities were given an extra year to claim the tax credit, which expired in 2010 for all other homebuyers.“The tax credit has been a great incentive for new and repeat homebuyers and U.S. service members have but a short window to claim it before it is gone. At a time when affordable home prices have never been better, U.S. service members can get even more homebuying power with a sizable tax credit that they don’t have to pay back,” said REALTOR® Sheryl Grider Whitehurst, ABR,CRB,GRI, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and the Development and Operations Coordinator for Traders Realty in Peoria.

EUGENE, OR - February 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Chicago, Illinois real estate market just became simpler and more accessible, through the partnership between IDX, Inc. and Broker Dorothy Jarog. As a member of the Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Jarog has long had access to thousands of property listings. Now, her clients and other area home seekers can receive and view the same detailed listings with the click of a mouse, on her convenient and easy-to-use real estate search. Jarog has drastically simplified the online real estate market by adopting IDX Broker software for her real estate website. Never again will potential Chicago buyers be unable to find the perfect property online, thanks to her IDX solution.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after the Obama Administration announced a plan to dramatically reform the nation’s housing markets and to end Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government controlled financing agencies:

SPRINGFIELD, IL - February 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Chicagoland region ended 2010 nearly even with home sales in 2009 while statewide the Illinois housing market continued to ride out the turbulent economic times boosted by sales from the homebuyer tax credits. For the year, statewide total home sales (single family homes and condominiums) were down 3.8 percent in 2010 with 103,710 homes sold compared to 107,782 sales in 2009; in the nine-county Chicagoland PMSA, home sales reached 69,010, off just -0.5 percent from 69,367 home sales in 2009

Chicago, IL - February 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network once again led the seven-county metro Chicago real estate market in home sales during the year just ended. RE/MAX agents sold 12,678 listed residences, easily outdistancing any other brokerage organization. RE/MAX has held the number one position, based on listings sold in the metro Chicago real estate market, since area-wide data was first collected in 1994.

Chicago, IL - February 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Richard M. Daley today joined Ald. Danny Solis (25th) and members of the Pilsen community to celebrate the grand opening of the Casa Maravilla affordable senior housing facility and satellite center located at 2021 S. Morgan St

EUGENE, OR - February 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) listings are now easier than ever to search for, thanks to the innovative IDX Broker software IDX, Inc. has incorporated onto the website of Constance Antoniou. As a Chicago, Illinois real estate broker, Antoniou has continuously made the right decisions for the growth of her business and the satisfaction of her clients, and her adoption of a customized IDX solution is no different. As an MRED affiliate, Antoniou has long had access to thousands of Chicago area properties, and with her addition of IDX Broker software to her website. the same convenience and accessibility that was once restricted to only agents and brokers is now readily available to all her clients. Finding a home in Illinois and Wisconsin has never been easier, with the IDX-enabled website of Antoniou.

SPRINGFIELD, IL - January 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lynn Madison of Lake Zurich was named the 2011 Illinois REALTOR® of the Year. Madison is a real estate broker and is owner of Lynn Madison Seminars, Inc. A REALTOR® of the Year banquet will be held honoring Madison on April 6th at the Hilton Hotel in Springfield.