Monday, October 06, 2008

HOW TO FIND YOUR PLACE IN CHICAGO USING SPECIAL CITY INCENTIVES

If you are growing tired reading gloomy headlines about the decline of homeownership—the great American Dream—there is hope for house hunters willing to shop in Chicago’s emerging new neighborhoods.

The City of Chicago and its developer partners are showcasing a variety of affordably priced homes in some of the Windy City’s most vibrant communities and offering special incentives that make now a great time to buy.

Nearly 200 available residences are priced from $150,000 to $450,000. They include new or rehabbed single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and 2-flats in 27 city neighborhoods.

Buyers can also take advantage of special incentives offered by the City of Chicago, developers, lenders and philanthropic partners to help make a new home purchase easier and more affordable.

Incentives range from money for down payment and closing costs to free upgrades to financial assistance from area employers. There’s even a special mortgage offered that gives you a federal tax credit.

Buyers could see savings of as much as $60,000 under an incentives package put together for “Find Your Place in Chicago,” a campaign to accelerate sales of residential units which the City has an investment.

The incentives range from cash grants to offset the purchase price purchase price to federal tax savings. Here are details on the most attractive deals:

• Grants of $10,000 to those who purchase homes in seven city mixed-income communities, regardless of the buyer’s income.

• Purchase-price assistance of as much as $40,000 on homes built through the City’s New Homes for Chicago or CPAN programs for income-eligible buyers.

• TaxSmart Mortgages that provide buyers with a federal income tax credit worth as much as $2,000 a year for the life of the loan, or use of the new $7,500 Federal Tax Credit which acts like an interest-free loan for first-time buyers.

• Special mortgages are being offered by Harris Bank for all properties purchased through the city programs with low 3-percent down payments plus a $1,500 grant to cover closing costs.

• Developer incentives valued at up to $25,000 also are available depending on the property.

Under The Partnership for New Communities grant program, buyers at Oakwood Shores, Jazz On The Boulevard and five other city mixed-income communities may receive a $10,000 down-payment assistance to be used toward the purchase price.

This new $1-million incentive program recently was announced by Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Oakwood Shores, a 94-acre new Mid-South Side mixed-income community developed by Granite Development Corp., MB Real Estate and UJIMA Venture, is being built along Oakwood Boulevard (39th Street) between Langley and Ellis avenues.

Row homes, townhomes and condominiums in the first two phases of Oakwood Shores currently are priced from $299,900 to the $534,900, and nine completed homes are ready for immediate occupancy, according to co-developer Joseph A. Williams of Granite Development. For more information call 773-538-0001 or visit www.oakwoodshoreschicago.com.

Twenty-three residences are available for immediate occupancy at Jazz On The Boulevard is a 137-unit community of townhomes, duplex and simplex condominiums at 4100-4124 S. Drexel Blvd. and 4103-4119 S. Maryland in North Kenwood/Oakland, according to The Thrush Companies, the developer.

The 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom condo units have 1 or 2 baths and 918 to 1,723 square feet of living area. Prices range from $180,000 to $289,000. Two-bedroom and 3-bedroom townhomes feature 2 or 2.5 baths and 2,008 to 2,167 square feet of space. Prices range from $359,000 to $429,000. Call 773-624-0100, or visit www.Thrushhomes.com. “Find Your Place in Chicago is a great example of how partners working together can help revitalize our neighborhoods so that the lives of all Chicagoans are improved,” said Mayor Daley. The homes included in Find Your Place in Chicago all have some type of investment by the City of Chicago.

“We want Chicagoans to know that we have affordably priced housing in vibrant neighborhoods across the city and that this is a good time to buy,” said Ellen Sahli, Commissioner of the Department of Housing.

For more information on all programs, visit the city’s website: www.findyourplaceinchicago.org.