Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This section answers questions we anticipate will be asked frequently. It is divided into two parts: 1) questions of general interest and 2) those of interest to specific groups. To access a topic under either part, click on the anchored link, and the selected topic will instantly appear at the top of your screen.

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Access

Who can access the Web site?
Anyone, on a subscription-only basis. Subscriptions are sold primarily in bulk to the Multiple Listing Service, and to real-estate brokerages and lending institutions, on an office-wide basis. Buyers may access the site, free, as guests of any participating agents or loan originators, or may purchase their own subscriptions, for a minimum of 30 days.

How can I subscribe?
Go to Subscribe

Coverage

Which buildings are profiled on the site? 
In addition to resale, they encompass properties being planned, built or converted. Included are affordable units, two- and six-flats, high rises, plus loft, vintage and hotel condos. If any sale has taken place in a building in the previous five years on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), that building is in our database. 

How often are buildings added?
Profiles are added weekly, as we receive data from property managers, developers and other sources. Coming are thousands more profiles in suburban Cook County, starting with more than 400 in Evanston. 

Who can add a Building Profile?
Anyone who has the information: property managers, developers, association officers, agents, owners. Just download and fill out the Building Data Form. There is no charge. Either e-mail floor plans and other documents in electronic form or mail hard copies. Before the profile is published on the site, we may verify with a responsible individual the accuracy of the data.

Which communities are covered?
We have profiles of all 77 census areas in Chicago and of each of the 202 neighborhoods into which those areas have been divided.

Data

Where do you get the data you publish?
Data are gathered from many sources, most importantly from property-management companies that manage the buildings. The 14 property-management companies that have agreed, so far, to provide data are among the largest and most-respected in Chicago. They include: Wolin-Levin, Sudler (under previous management), Kass Management, The Building Group, Draper & Kramer, Legum & Norman, Community Specialists, Regent Realty, The Habitat Company, Venterra, Baird & Warner, Falzone, American Invsco, First Properties.

How can I be certain data are accurate?
You cannot be absolutely certain, but we take several steps to make data as accurate as possible:
1.  We attempt to gather the data from the most authoritative sources possible, usually from the on-site property manager or the management company.
2.  We ask the responsible property manager to review the data we have collected from other sources and to correct any errors. We check some of the data ourselves with various reliable sources.
3.  We invite users to report errors, simply by clicking the Add/Change Data link at the top of any Building Profile.

How often are the data updated?
Changes are made to the site daily. Building Profiles will be reviewed and updated annually, but changes are made as soon as we are made aware of them.

What if I see inaccurate or incomplete information on the site?
Notify us immediately, by clicking on Add/Change Data link on that page, or just send us an e-mail. Before we publish the data you send us, we will use reasonable efforts to verify it with a responsible source. Then it will be immediately published on the site. If you have additional data or documents, send them to us, either by mail or e-mail.

Where can I find the specific sources and methods for your data?
See Sources & Methods below.

Documents

For which buildings have you posted documents on your site?
Available now are 13,000 floor plans, 500 building plates, 1,250 declarations and 500 amendments. To see if we have a floor plan or building plate for a particular building, go to the appropriate Building Profile and click the "Floor Plans and Building Plates" link; for a declaration or mendment, click the "Documents" link.

How can I be certain the documents are official, complete and current?
Declarations & amendments: We make available mostly those declarations recorded with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Each page is stamped. In a few cases, the documents were provided by the property manager.
Floor plans & building plates: Our 13,000-plus floor plans and 500-plus building plates, or tier-location guides, came from the volumes collected and published by Condex, from the files of a major brokerage, from developers, agents and property managers.

Glossary

Assessments (aka Maintenance Fees or Common Charges)  Association  Average Annual Turnover  Average Market Time (AMT)  Balcony (as compared to patio, terrace)  Broker  Building Plate (sometimes called Floor Plate or Tier Location Guide)  Buyer’s Agent  Common Element  Condo  Convertible/Junior One-Bedroom/Studio  Co-op (or Cooperative)  Designations for Realtors & Property Managers  Documents  Dual Agent/Agency  Engineer  Floor Plate (See Building Plate)  Heat Pump  High Rise  High Speed Elevator  HVAC  Listing Agent  Loft  Maintenance Fees (See Assessments)  Median Sales Price  Multiple Listing Service (MLS)  Owner Occupancy Rate  Patio (See Balcony)  Parking  Penthouses  Property Manager  Realtor®  Reserve Fund  Selling Agent  Special Assessment (see Assessment)  Studio  Terrace (See Balcony)  Tier Location Guide (See Building Plate)  Total Number of Units (TNUs)  Townhouse/Townhome  Year Built  Year Condo

Assessments (aka Maintenance Fees or Common Charges)
Assessments, also called maintenance charges or common fees, are the monthly fees collected from owners to maintain the common elements of a property. They include labor (employees), cleaning, sometimes heating/cooling, water, repair, insurance, etc. Generally, the older the building, the more maintenance is required, so when comparing the assessments in two buildings, keep that in mind.
Special assessments, on the other hand, are one-time fees collected from owners to pay for any project the association (board) needs or wants. Common projects include: new roofs, repair of balconies, refurbishing common areas such as health clubs, swimming pools and hallways.

Association
The legal entity, made up of owners, that governs the property and is responsible for managing it, although many associations delegate that task to property-management companies. Usually a private, not-for-profit organization, registered with the Secretary of State. It is run by a board of directors elected by the owners. The association, through the board, makes and enforces the rules, handles legal and safety issues, determines and collects the assessments that are used to operate and improve the property.

Average Annual Turnover
Turnover is a percentage calculated by dividing the number of residential units sold, during the period covered, by the total number of residential units in a building. This figure can be an indicator of how transient the owners are (the figure doesn’t include renters) and perhaps how satisfied, or dissatisfied, owners are with a property and how well it is managed. The turnover is also influenced by the demographics of the owners. Older owners tend to move less often than younger ones, for example.

Average Market Time (AMT)
This is an important indicator of the temperature of a market. A longer-than-average market time can portend problems with a particular neighborhood, building, unit type or specific unit (that it’s overpriced or in poor condition, for example). It’s sometimes a signal that you can get a bargain if you know what you’re doing.
AMT is calculated by counting the number of days that have transpired since the unit was first listed on the multiple listing service. If the unit is taken off the market and put back on, the previous days it was listed are counted.

Balcony (as compared to patio, terrace)
A platform, enclosed by a railing, projecting from the wall of a unit, and giving the resident access to the outdoors. On the ground floor, this extension is sometimes called a patio or terrace. These areas should not be included in the measurement of total square footage of a unit, but sometimes are.

Broker
Although commonly used interchangeably with Realtor®, or agent, broker more appropriately refers to a managing broker who supervises licensed sales agents in an office or company. Technically, a broker is a person, corporation or partnership licensed by the state to represent a buyer or seller in a real-estate transaction in exchange for a commission. The broker is the principal agent in any transaction, and owns all listings.

Building Plate (sometimes called Floor Plate or Tier Location Guide)
A building plate, or floor plate or tier location guide, is an architect’s drawing of an entire floor of a building, showing the location of each unit, and other spaces (elevators, etc.) on that floor. Often, there are several plates in a building, usually repeated on several floors. Important to review to see if a unit is next to a potential nuisance, such as an elevator, trash chute, boiler, etc.

Buyer’s Agent
An agent who represents a buyer in a particular transaction. There’s no downside, because being represented (helped) by a buyer’s agent costs the buyer nothing and most don’t require you to sign an agreement.

Common Element
Any area or part of a property owned, and used in common, by unit owners and managed by the association. This generally includes land, driveways, lobbies, hallways, recreational facilities, mechanical equipment, exterior walls, roofs, etc. Maintenance, repair and replacement of common elements are paid for from the monthly maintenance fee or, in some cases, special assessments. Each owner has an undivided percentage ownership interest in the common elements.

Condo
On this site, “condo” or “condominium” refers to a building, not to a unit.

Convertible/Junior One-Bedroom/Studio
Careful with this term. Theoretically, a studio can be converted to a three-bedroom unit, but who could live there?

Co-op (or Cooperative)
A co-op is a form of ownership in which the owners share liability for the underlying mortgage on the entire building, including the interior of individual units. For practical purposes, the main difference when comparing a co-op to a condo with the same sales price is that the monthly maintenance charges will be much higher for the co-op, because part of the assessment goes to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage. Co-ops also have greater control over who can become an owner in the building, which means they are more exclusive, and sometimes more difficult to buy and sell. National studies have shown that condos sell at a premium of __ percent over co-ops. At different times, any building can be organized as co-op or a condo (an apartment building, for example, can be converted to either a co-op or a condo). What differentiates them is not the physical structure, but the form of ownership.

Designations for Realtors & Property Managers
ABR: Accredited Buyers Representative (rebac.net)
CMCA: Certified Manager of Community Associations (nbccam.org)
CPM: Certified Property Manager (irem.org)
CREA: Certified Real Estate Agent (crea.net)
CRB: Certified Residential Broker (crb.com)
CRS: Certified Residential Specialist (crs.com)
GRI: Graduate, Realtor Institute (realtor.org)
PCAM: Professional Community Association Manager (caionline.org)

Documents
  Declaration: The detailed legal document prepared by the developer, filed with the County Recorder of Deeds, submitting the property to the provisions of the Illinois Condominium Property Act. Contains: Detailed legal description of the property, percentage ownership of each individual unit, general rules for governance, and a survey of all units in the building.
  Property Report: This is a document required by the City of Chicago for a developer to sell units in a new condominium development. Every buyer of a unit must be given a copy of the property report, which describes all aspects of the condominium.
  Association Documents: These are generally considered private/confidential documents available only to owners and, upon request, to anyone who has signed a contract to purchase a unit. They include: Financial statement, budget, reserve study, rules and regulations.

Dual Agent/Agency
Situation in which the same agent or agency represents both the buyer and the seller, which could pose a conflict of interest. Disclosure is required.

Engineer
This term is often misused for a person who is simply a maintenance person (janitor) with no training as an engineer. [Check union rules.]

Floor Plate
See Building Plate

Heat Pump
A more efficient, but also more expensive and more noisy, HVAC. Not recommended for condo units, because of their noise level.

High Rise
A building with seven or more stories (above ground). Mid rise: 4-6 stories. Low rise: 1-3 stories.

High Speed Elevator
Strictly speaking, a high-speed elevator is one that operates at __ feet or more per second.

HVAC
Acronym for Heating, Ventilation And Cooling. Refers to a self-contained mechanical unit that slides in and out of a sleeve in the wall and plugs into an electrical outlet. Usually consists of an electric motor and a fan, with coolant and a removable filter that needs to be cleaned at least once a year. Important to check the age, condition and sufficient BTUs, as a replacement HVAC costs several hundred dollars. Normal life span is 10 or more years. (See Heat Pump above.)

Listing Agent
The agent the seller selects to sell a unit.

Loft
A type of condominium that is most often created by converting a building previously used as a factory or manufacturing plant to residential use. Characterized by high ceilings, visible heating/cooling ducts, an open floor plan (few or no walls separating rooms), brick walls, hardwood floors, lots of windows, a location in an area that was, at one time, industrial.

Maintenance Fees
See Assessments

Median Sales Price
The median sales price, the most common measure used in the real-estate industry, is the sales price that is in the middle; that has as many prices above, as below, it. In general, the median price for residential condos is lower than the average (mean) price, since the median is not as affected by million-dollar-plus sales.

Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
A list of properties, including condo units, currently for sale or rent that have been listed in one of the two databases operated, in our area, by either the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois, Inc. (MLSNI), a non-profit organization owned and operated by the Chicago Association of Realtors® and nine other area boards, or by the MAP Multiple Listing Service (MAPMLS), a non-profit organization owned and operated by brokers.
On any particular day, roughly 11,000 condo units in Chicago are listed on the MLSNI, for example. This represents an estimated 85 percent of the units actually on the market. The remaining units are being offered by developers and individual sellers, called FSBOs (For Sale by Owner). Buyers and the general public cannot access either MLS database directly, but they can access the listings on either MLS by going to a brokerage site that offers access to the listings.

Additional Information from MLSAccess.org:
Consumer MLS access in the United States is widespread and easily available in most areas. Most MLSs are overseen by the local association of Realtors®, and they usually cover a large city, a county, or multiple counties, depending on how the area is divided by the local real estate board. Consumer MLS access for the United States is available on a national level at Realtor.com. You can usually obtain regional MLS access on the web site for your local association of Realtors. MLS access is often offered on the web sites of local real estate agents, Realtors, and brokerages as well. Under most circumstances, you do not have to pay for MLS access for US multiple listings. If you find a web site that is requesting payment for MLS access, find another web site. Sometimes you may have to register for MLS access. Normally, this does not hold you to use that particular Realtor, brokerage or real estate agent for your real estate transaction, although this is not the case with a Virtual Office Web site. In most cases, if you would rather not register, you can find a web site offering the same MLS access without registration by searching for a different web site.

Consumer MLS Restrictions
When discussing consumer MLS access in the United States, it's important to realize that consumers may not enter or edit the information in the MLS database. Entering properties into the MLS database is strictly limited to licensed real estate professionals who have a paid membership to that MLS. Consumers wishing to list their property in the MLS must form a relationship with a real estate professional in order to have their property listed in the database. This usually means listing your property with a real estate agent, brokerage or Realtor and agreeing to a sales commission on your property. If you would like to sell your property "For Sale By Owner," or FSBO, you may have the option of a "Flat Fee MLS" listing, which means you pay a pre-arranged fee to a real estate company in exchange for entering your property into the MLS. This does not involve a sales commission on your property, although the real estate company will not do any marketing beyond entering your data into the MLS.

The MLS system available to consumers may not contain all properties for sale in a given area. Many MLSs operate using IDX (Internet Data eXchange) rules. Realtors, real estate agents and brokers who do not want their listings shown online to consumers may opt out of the MLS and not have their listings displayed in MLS searches. MLS information may also be limited, and consumers must contact an agent, Realtor or broker for more information about listings for sale. While consumer MLS access may not be ideal, it allows consumers to browse multiple listings for sale anonymously without having to commit to purchasing with any one agent, broker or Realtor. A Virtual Office Web site, or VOW, works differently. A consumer wishing to view multiple listings for sale must register with the VOW. After registration, the consumer is allowed full and complete access to multiple listings information. The consumer is then considered a client of that broker, real estate agent, or Realtor. This is made clear to the consumer during the registration process.

MLS and VOW Differences
It's important to understand the differences between using a VOW and a MLS. While a VOW allows a consumer access to all multiple listings for sale, and complete information on each property, access to a VOW cannot be gained without a commitment to a specific real estate agent, broker or Realtor. Most web sites offering MLS access allow you to browse freely and anonymously, but the MLS may not contain all multiple listings for sale, and the information made available to consumers will be limited in nature.

VOW Points of Contention
MLS access is far more common than VOW access, and the reasons for this are many. VOW listings do not allow anyone to opt-out of the system, and many real estate professional believe this to be unfair. Many brokerages do not want to share their listing inventories with their competition. They are unable to do so in a Virtual Office Web site. Also, IDX has been required by the National Association of Realtors® for member MLSs, and MLS access is much more commonplace throughout the country.

Owner Occupancy Rate
The percentage of total residential units occupied by the owner(s), as opposed to renters.

Patio
Typically, a concrete outdoor living space on the ground floor of a property.
See Balcony

Parking
Parking: Assigned, Attached, Deeded, Indoor, Self, Valet
  Assigned Parking
This means that a specific parking space (in a specific location) is assigned to the owner of a specific unit.

  Attached Parking
Rather than referring to the physical attachment of the parking space to a unit, Attached Parking means that the parking space is legally assigned to the unit. Neither can be sold without the other. The owner of the unit must be the owner of the parking space. It also means that the price of the parking space is included in the price of the unit.

  Deeded Parking
A parking space owned by an individual, usually an owner in that building. The individual owner has a deed, and oftentimes a mortgage, on that space. Prices of deeded parking are sometimes included in the price of the unit, sometimes not.

  Indoor Parking
At least some parking spaces are located in an area that is covered, whether in an underground or indoor garage, or covered or enclosed.

  Self Parking
You drive your own car to and from the space.

  Valet Parking
A parking attendant drives your car to and from the parking space. Valet parking is generally less expensive than self parking because you have to wait for the valet to deliver your car to you.

Penthouses
Generally, the largest and most luxurious (expensive) units in a building, almost always located on either the top floor or the top few floors. If a unit is billed as a penthouse by the developer, it is called a penthouse on this web site.

Property Manager
Most condominiums, at least those with more than 50 units, are managed by a management company. Either the board or the management company assigns or hires someone to manage the building. A manager whose office is located in the building is called an on-site manager. Many smaller buildings are managed by someone who is not located on the premises, but who visits the property at scheduled times.

Realtor^®
A licensed sales agent, or sales associate, who is a member of a local association of Realtors and/or the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Reserve Fund
Money collected from owners and held in a fund separate from operating funds by the board to fund future projects such as replacing boilers or other common elements, generally based on a reserve study conducted by a professional consultant. In some sense, a savings account as opposed to a checking account.

Selling Agent
The agent who finds the buyer and receives a share of the sales commission. Rarely the same as the listing agent.

Special Assessment
See Assessment

Stories
The number of floors above ground, including floors used for commercial or mechanical purposes

Studio
A unit with no (0) bedrooms, meaning that the sleeping area is not contained by four walls. The term “convertible studio” means that it can be converted to a one-bedroom unit, usually with a moveable wall. The average size of all studios in our database (i.e. 11,000 buildings) is 605 square feet, ranging from 420 to 970.

Terrace
Often used interchangeably to mean an area for sitting that extends beyond the walls of the unit and is generally open to the exterior of the unit.
See Balcony

Tier Location Guide
See Building Plate

Total Number of Units (TNUs)
The number of units in the building designated for residential use.

Townhouse/Townhome
According to the International Residential Code 2000, a townhouse is a single-family dwelling built in a group of three or more attached units in which each home extends from foundation to roof, with open space on at least two sides.

Year Built
The year construction was completed, and the first unit was closed (occupied).

Year Became a Condo
The year the building became a condominium, as determined by the date the Declaration was recorded in the office of the County Recorder of Deeds.

Mission and Uniqueness

What is the mission of ChicagoCondosOnline.com?
“To make the pursuit of the perfect condominium the most pleasurable experience possible, for both agent and buyer. In short, to make it fun to buy a condo.”

What does your site offer that other Web sites do not?
Among other things, floor plans, documents, costs per square foot and such tools as a search engine with 100 preferences, a comparison chart that enables you to do side-by-side comparisons of any three census areas, buildings or unit types, and a to-do list that walks the buyer throuh each step of the process of buying a condo. We have the most comprehensive, most reliable and most user-friendly database on condominiums and communities in Chicago.

How does your site differ from Web sites operated by a multiple listing service?
Most importantly, individual units now on the market are not listed on our site. To get that information, visitors link to a Web site that offers active listings. What we do offer that the MLS does not is a list of every unit type in every building, even those not currently on the market.

Ownership

Who owns ChicagoCondosOnline.com?
ChicagoCondosOnline.com is owned and operated by Condominium Enterprises, Inc., an Illinois S corporation founded in July 2002. The company is owned by Ric Cox, an editor turned entrepreneur. Our office is located at 505 N. Lake Shore Drive, Suite 5305, Chicago, IL, 60611.  For details, click here.

Is the site affiliated with any brokerage or real-estate organization?
Condominium Enterprises, Inc., is an affiliate member of the Chicago Association of Realtors®, a subscriber to the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois (MLSNI) and a member of the Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association. We have no official connection to any brokerage, other than as a customer. We have a license agreement to provide free access to every agent and appraiser who subscribes to MAP Multiple Listing Service (MAP MLS). 

Sources & Methods

Data Sources & Calculation Methods

 Median Sales Price
 Building Profile: Distance to Public Transit, Who’s Who, General Information, Facilities/Amenities, Market Data, Annual Ownership Costs, Schools, Specialists
 Neighborhood Profile: Boundaries, Demographics, Condo Market, Schools, Crime, Cost of Living, Specialists
 Schools: Distance to condo, expenditures per student, enrollment, students per teacher, test scores

Median Sales Price

• Source: Multiple Listing Service, all condo closings in Chicago
• Period Covered: The 12 months from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006
• Methods
  Re-sales vs. New construction: For re-sales, we use closing prices on the MLS; for new construction in which units have not yet closed, we use the most recent list prices provided by the developer
  By Unit Type: First, we generate a list of each unit sold in a particular building. Second, (using unit numbers, prices, square footage, room dimensions, location and other indicators), we do our best to aggregate those units by unit type. Third, we use a proprietary software program to determine the median sales price of each unit type
  By Building: Using the sales price of each unit closed in the building, we calculate the average median sales price
  By Neighborhood: Using the sales price of each unit closed in the neighborhood, we calculate the average median sales price
  Citywide: Using the sales price of each unit closed in the city, we calculate the average median sales price
  

Building Profile

  Distance to Public-Transit Stop

• Source: Maps published by Chicago Transit Authority
• Methods: For bus stops, we calculate the distance (in tenth-of-a-mile increments) from each building to the bus route, then add one-tenth (because, in most areas of Chicago, bus stops are two-tenths (two blocks) apart, so the average distance from the route to any one stop would average one block. or one-tenth mile). The CTA says it has no map, or list, of bus stops.
  For El stops, we use a CTA map to calculate the distance (in tenth-of-a-mile increments) from each building to the nearest El stop.
  

  Who’s Who

    Association President

• Source: Management company or property manager. A list is also available from the Office of the Secretary of State of Illinois, which requires that the name of the president be reported to the state and made available to the public.
  

    Management Company

• Source: Management company or property manager
  

    Property Manager

• Source: Management company or property manager
  

  General Information

• Source: Property manager, management company, Web site or sales brochure
  

    Owner Occupancy Rate

• Source: Manager or management company. There is also a non-required field for this in the MLS database.
• Method: We divide the number of residential units occupied by the owner(s) by the total number of residential units in the building. In the case of two or more units that have been combined into one unit, some condos use the number of original units to calculate owner occupancy rate.
  

  Facilities/Amenities

• Source: Property manager, management company, sales brochure or Web site
  

  Market Data

    Median Sales Price

• Source: Multiple Listing Service
• Period Covered: 12 months from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006
• Method:
  Re-sales vs. New construction: For re-sales, we use closing prices on the MLS; for new construction in which units have not yet closed, we use list prices provided by the developer.
  Unit Type: First, we generate a list of each unit sold in a particular building. Second, (using unit numbers, prices, square footage, room dimensions, location and other indicators), we do our best to aggregate those units by unit type. Third, we use a software program to determine the median sales price of each unit type.
  Building: Using the sales price of each unit closed in the building, we calculate the median sales price.

    Rent Per Month

• Source: Multiple Listing Service
• Period Covered: 12 months from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006
• Method: We calculate the average (not median) monthly rental price by unit type within a building. Because there are so few rentals of each unit type, we combine all units with an equal number of bedrooms (e.g., one-bedroom rents are an average of the rents of all one-bedrooms in that building). Where necessary, we calculate rent based on cost per square foot of all units in the building
  

    Cost Per Square Foot (PSF)

        Buy

• Source: For square footage, developer floor plans; for prices, MLS
• Period Covered: 12 months from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006
• Method: We divide the median sales price by the total number of square feet
  

        Rent

• Source: For square footage, developer floor plans; for prices, MLS
• Method: We divide average (not median) rental price by the total number of square feet
  

        Additional Notes on Square Footage

• Method: Various methods are used to calculate square footage. One declaration, for Harbor Point at 155 Harbor, lists Gross Square Footage, Net Square Footage and Net Living Area. Other developers use what they called Total Living Space; others, etc., etc. Until we can get more accurate and reliable figures, we use figures provided by the developer, either on floor plans on in sales materials. Whenever possible, we also refer to a definition drafted by a committee of the Chicago Association of Realtors. The CAR committee recommends that the square footage of balconies, storage rooms outside a unit, or areas below ground not be used when calculating total square footage.
  

        Total Square Footage

• Source: In most cases, the total square footage of a unit type is taken from the floor plans and/or sales material distributed by the developer
• Method: To calculate the approximate total square footage of an area, we round off the length and the width to the nearest feet, then multiply the length by the width and round off the result to the nearest square foot. For rooms with no dimensions, we estimate the square footage as best we can.
  

        Room Dimensions

• Source: In most cases, room dimensions are taken from the floor plans and/or sales material distributed by the developer. In other cases, we estimate them from the floor plans.
  

        Kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, storage, other

• Source: Developer floor plans
• Method: In most cases, the dimensions of these areas are estimated by measuring the areas with a ruler, figuring the scale and, assuming the plan was drawn to scale (which it not always is), calculating the dimensions.
  

    Annual Turnover Rate

• Source: For units closed, Multiple Listing Service; for total number of residential units, property manager or developer
• Period Covered: Calendar 2006
• Method: We divide the number of residential units sold in a particular building during the previous calendar year by the total number of residential units in that building; for example, a building with 100 units in which 5 closed/sold during the year has an annual turnover rate of five percent
  

    Average Market Time (AMT)

• Source: Multiple Listing Service
• Period Covered: 12 months from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006
• Method: To calculate market time (MT) for a particular unit, the MLS adds the number of days a unit was on the market, starting the day the data was entered on the MLS by the agent and ending the day the unit was taken off the market, which is generally the day the contract is signed. A listing that is contingent continues to accumulate market time; when it goes to pending or closed, re-calculates from list date to contract date. If the unit was taken off the market and put back on, the previous days on the market are now counted in the total.
  To calculate the average market time, we simply calculate the average market times of all the units included (by unit type, building, neighborhood or citywide).
  

  Annual Ownership Costs

    Assessment (aka maintenance fee or common charge)

• Source: Property manager
• Method: Associations multiply the percentage of ownership assigned, in the declaration, to a particular unit by the amount of the current annual budget. High is the fee for the unit with the highest fee for the previous year; Low is the fee for the unit with the lowest fee. We cannot tell if the high is a combined unit or not. If the building has expensive penthouses, but none of them sold during the period covered, the penthouse assessment will not show up as the high.
  

    Property Tax (City & County)

• Source: Multiple Listing Service and Cook County Treasurer's Office (cookcountytreasurer.com)
• Tax Year: 2006
• Method: Average taxes are displayed by unit type within a building.  The average is calculated from all unit sales on the Multiple Listing Service in 2006.  If a unit type had no sales in 2006, taxes are estimated based on an median sales price using a formula provided by Cook County.

    Utilities

• Source: Commonwealth Edison (Com Ed) & Peoples Gas
• Date Reported: 2006
• Method: Based on the square footage of 1,287, Com Ed estimates that the average utility bill for heating, cooling and lighting a unit with electricity is $____/year, or $__ PSF.
  Based on a unit with four-year-old appliances (HVAC units), Peoples Gas estimates that the average bill for heating a 2BR/2BA unit with natural gas is $1200/year or roughly $1 per square foot. Add to this an annual cost of lighting and cooling a gas-heated unit, and the annual utility cost increases to $_____/year or $__ PSF
  Note: Until we can get more precise figures from the utility companies, we are using a rough estimate of $1.15/square foot/year, based on the actual electricity costs of heating, cooling and lighting a one-bedroom unit at Lake Point Tower in 2004.
  To find out the precise electrical cost for a specific unit, call Com Ed at [Number to come].
  Peoples Energy says that only the owner(s) of a unit can get utility costs from its Billing & Payments telephone representatives.
  

    Homeowner’s Insurance

• Source: State Farm, Chicago
• Date of Estimate: February 2007
• Method: Using the average square footage for condos in Chicago (1,287), as calculated from our database, and the various types of coverage bought by the typical owner of a condo unit, based on the experience of State Farm (see below), we estimate that the typical owner (of a 2BR unit) pays $381 (30 cents per square foot) a year in premiums.
  The annual cost for homeowner’s insurance of 30 cents per square foot is a rough estimate calculated for the following types of typical coverage on an average size unit (1,287 square feet) in downtown Chicago (Zone 43):
  

  Coverages	Limit
  Contents	$45,070
  Building property ($50 psf)	64,350
  Loss assessment	1,000
  Medical payments (each)	1,000
  Damage to others' property	500
  Deductible	500
  5% off for Home Alert included
  5% off for claim free included

  
  

  Policy Options	Limit
  Ltd replacement cost (included)
  Jewelry	$1,500
  Furs	2,500
  Silver/goldware property	2,500
  Credit/Bank card/forgery	1,000
  Firearms assessment	2,500
  Personal liability (each)	300,000
  Home computer	5000
  Business property	1000
  Total annual premium	$381

  
  Insurance purchased by the owners’ association covers the common elements and, generally, the drywall of individual units and everything outside that wall. Check with your insurance carrier and your association for details. 
  

    Parking

• Source: Property manager, garage manager or real-estate agent
  

    Principal & Interest (in Quick Comparison Chart only)

• Source: BankRate.com
• Date of Estimate: Updated monthly
• Method: We assume down payment of 20 percent , an interest rate of 6 percent, a 30-year conventional mortgage, which is the most popular loan taken out by condo buyers in Chicago
  

Unit Types, Number of Bedrooms & Baths

• Source: Developer floor plans & sales materials
  

Condominium Building Specialist

• Agents who qualify are eligible to buy a designation for one year. No more than six agents may be designated as a specialist in any one building at any one time. For qualifications, e-mail us.

Area Profile
The names and boundaries of the 77 areas come from the official Census tracts and are the same ones used by the Chicago Association of Realtors and others to compile statistics.

  Boundaries

• Source: U.S. Census tracts & maps
  

  Demographics

• Source: 2000 U.S. Census
  

  Condo Market

    Median Sales Price

• Source: Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR)
• Period Covered: 12 months from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006
• Method: CAR calculates the median sales price based on all Type II (single family attached) sales in 2006.

    Appreciation

• Source: Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR)
• Method: Calculated by CAR from the database operated by the Multiple Listing Service, which records the sales of an estimated 85 percent of all condo units sold in Chicago
  

  Crime

• Source: Chicago Police Department 
  

Schools

  Expenditure per student

• Source: Chicago Public Schools, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Year Ended June 30, 2002, which can be found online at: www.cps.k12.il.us/AboutCPS/Financial_Information/CAFR/cafr.html
  

  Enrollment

• Source: National Center for Education Statistics. The report can be found online at: www.nces.ed.gov/globallocator
  

  Students per teacher

• Source: National Center for Education Statistics. The report can be found online at: www.nces.ed.gov/globallocator
  

  Test scores

• Source: We are still searching for a source for this data. Your suggestions are welcome.
  

Tools

Among the interactive tools available are a search engine, quick comparison charts and a to-do list.

How does the search engine work?
Simply by clicking inside a box next to any combination of 100 preferences on Super Search, you can find buildings and unit types that match your preferences.

How does Quick Comparison Chart work?
You can create side-by-side comparisons of any three census areas or of any three buildings with any combination of unit types in those buildings.

How does the To-Do List work?
This changeable chart walks buyers through the entire process of buying a condo. It can be modified by both the buyer and the host.

Advertisers

How can I advertise on your site?
Click here to e-mail ChicagoCondosOnline.com for advertising information.

Agents

How do I get access?
If your broker is a member of MAP Multiple Listing Service, or your broker subscribes for all agents in your office, you already have free access. (Participating brokerages include Rubloff and several others.) If your broker is not a MAP member, ask your managing broker to subscribe for all agents in the office. If he declines, ask any participating lender (Fifth Third Bank, Harris N.A., or National City Mortgage) to provide you with a gift subscription that allows you to access the site and register your buyers for free access. Or, send your buyers to any participating loan originator, who can register your buyers. Any buyer you refer to an LO will see both your photo and contact information and those of the LO every time your buyer visits the site. For a list of participating LOs, click here

Warning: Any agent who registers as a buyer is subject to a fine of $10,000.

Does this site compete with agents?
No. We do not seek, nor do we accept, referral fees or shared commissions and we don’t charge extra for generating leads, which is one of many benefits of subscribing. What we do is help you sell more condos in less time with less effort. 

Why should I register my buyers for free access?
Because if you don’t, one of the 14,000 participating agents who compete with you will. Buyers want control of the research phase of the buying process. If you give them this control, you will create good will that may translate into their doing business with you. Click here to download a flier that explains why we recommend that, rather than try to control your buyers, you will benefit by setting them free in our information paradise.

What happens when I register a buyer for free access?
An e-mail, over your signature, is immediately sent to the buyer, announcing that you have given this “valued” customer free access for one year, saving him $300. The e-mail contains the customer’s unique user name and password.

Below is the welcome e-mail that goes to buyers:
Dear [Name of Condo Buyer],

You are one of my most valued customers. To show my appreciation, I have arranged for ChicagoCondosOnline.com to waive its fee of $300 a year and provide you with FREE access to The Ultimate Condominium Resource. This is the most amazing site I've come across on our city’s condos. Among other things, it features in-depth profiles of more than 11,000 condo buildings.

Stop the confusion on what a unit costs in a building and/or what the building’s amenities are. Here you can view the floor plan of each unit type, get price per square foot based on median sales prices for the previous year, and search to see which buildings allow pets, have a pool and are within a mile of the Red line, for example, simply by checking off nearly 100 preferences.

ChicagoCondosOnline.com is phenomenal! My favorite feature is the interactive Quick Comparison Chart, which enables you to compare any three areas or buildings. It makes life so much easier in narrowing down which neighborhood or building will work best for you.

There are so many features: neighborhood profiles with average incomes, appreciation rates and school info; photos and maps. Please check it out. If you have questions, contact me and I'll be glad to help.

To enjoy the benefits: Go to www.ChicagoCondosOnline.com. There, fill in your user name: X and password Y
To remember your access information: Print this page or write the information down
To change your password:Once you log in, go to Your Account.

Sincerely,
[Your name and contact info]

How do I monitor the activity of the buyers I register?
Sign in and go to your personal home page. In the upper center, click on Personal Information Manager. On the Manage Your Guests page that appears, you will see the name of every buyer you have registered or who has registered with you. Under the column called Last Login, you will see the date each buyer most recently visited the site. You will also receive an e-mail when the buyer is ready to receive active listings and each time the buyer changes his preferences.

Will buyers I register see ads from other agents?
No. Your guests will see only your ads and contact information and, if your company buys them, ads from your brokerage. Click here to see what an agent ad on the buyer’s home page looks like.

Will the names and e-mail addresses of buyers I register be shared with others?
No. Those names and e-mail addresses are shared with no one. We will e-mail a report on the condo market to all registered buyers the first week of each month.

How do I expire access for a buyer or change his e-mail address?
Simply e-mail us by clicking the Contact Us link on any page. Be aware that if you expire a buyer, he will be free to register as a guest of any other participating agent.

How can I learn to use ChicagoCondosOnline.com?
Click here to download a “cheat sheet” that offers tips on how to use the site. For training by phone, e-mail Jane@ChicagoCondosOnline.com.

How can I send my customers to a personalized sign-in page?
Click here to download an order form you can use to buy, for only $99 a year, a personalized sign-in page that features your photo and gives visitors who come to that page only one choice of host when they want to register: you.

Can I link visitors from my Web site to ChicagoCondosOnline.com?
Yes. Unless you have a personal sign-in page on ChicagoCondosOnline.com, we suggest that the link on your site open an e-mail addressed to you, requesting free access to ChicagoCondosOnline.com. When you receive such a request, register the buyer. He will automatically receive an e-mail over your signature with the user name and password he will need to access our site. If you have a personal sign-in page on ChicagoCondosOnline.com, the link on your site can send visitors directly to that sign-in page, where the visitor can register as your guest and enter the site immediately.

In which ways am I restricted in distributing data and documents on this site?
Be sure to read the Terms of Use, because, if you violate those terms, you can lose access to this site and be fined as much as $10,000. Most importantly, you are restricted in the number of copies of data and documents you can distribute. For example, you can distribute copies only to registered buyers. And you can distribute only a limited number of copies of any document to a registered buyer. For example: you may distribute only one printout of a particular Web page, floor plan or photograph to each registered buyer. You may distribute only two copies of a declaration (one to the buyer, one to the buyer’s attorney) and only one copy of an association document (to a buyer who has signed a purchase contract).

Buyers
How can buyers get access?
You can pay with a credit card, $30 a month, or $300 a year, for private, anonymous access to all content. Or, for free access for one year, simply register as a guest of a host (any one of 14,000 agents or loan originators). Registering as a guest does not obligate you to do business with your host.

How do buyers get active listings of units currently for sale?<
Simply ask your host to register you on the MLS to receive automatic e-mails with active listings that match your preferences. To select your preferences, click Your Preferences in the left-hand navigation.

Why aren’t active listings displayed on your site?
Eventually, they may be. For now, we focus on the research phase of the buying process. This phase typically begins 17 months before a contract is signed, so buyers are more interested in the entire inventory of unit types than on specific units that are on the market on a particular day.

How is your site organized?
ChicagoCondosOnline.com is organized around the idea that searching for a condominium is a logical process that normally follows these steps:

Decision to buy, or rent, a condo (rather than a single-family home, etc.)

Selection of one or more suitable neighborhoods (based on proximity to office or school, affordability, etc.)

Selection of one or more buildings within a neighborhood, possessing one or more features (pool, 24-hour doorman, balcony, allows pets, etc.)

Selection of one or more unit types (1BR, 2BR, etc.) within a building

Selection of a particular unit that is for sale, or rent.

Developers/Builders

How can we get a Building Profile of a property on your Web site?
Simply contact us, send us the information and we will create and publish a Building Profile for your data and documents. Click here to download our Building Data Form. Until January 1, 2008, there will be no charge to have a Building Profile on our site. After that, there will be a monthly charge, the amount of which has not yet been determined.

How do we update a Building Profile?
Simply e-mail any additions or changes to us by clicking on the Add/Change Data link at the top of the Building Profile.

Licensees

How can I license your content for use on another Web site?
We do not yet have the ability to export our content to another site. But we plan to build this, so if you are interested, contact us and we will work with you.

Loan Originators

How can a loan originator access your site?
Ask your manager to subscribe for you. To participate, lending institutions must subscribe for a minimum of 25 percent of its LOs in the city. Click here to download a flier that features benefits to LOs.

What happens when I register a buyer for free access?
An e-mail, over your signature, is immediately sent to the buyer, announcing that you have given this “valued” customer free access for one year, saving him $300. The e-mail contains the customer’s unique user name and password.

Below is the welcome e-mail that goes to buyers:
Dear [Name of Condo Buyer],

You are one of my most valued customers. To show my appreciation, I have arranged for ChicagoCondosOnline.com to waive its fee of $300 a year and provide you with FREE access to The Ultimate Condominium Resource. This is the most amazing site I've come across on our city’s condos. Among other things, it features in-depth profiles of more than 10,000 condo buildings.

Stop the confusion on what a unit costs in a building and/or what the building’s amenities are. Here you can view the floor plan of each unit type, get price per square foot based on median sales prices for the previous year, and search to see which buildings allow pets, have a pool and are within a mile of the Red line, for example, simply by checking off nearly 100 preferences.

ChicagoCondosOnline.com is phenomenal! My favorite feature is the interactive Quick Comparison Chart, which enables you to compare any three areas or buildings. It makes life so much easier in narrowing down which neighborhood or building will work best for you.

There are so many features: neighborhood profiles with average incomes, appreciation rates and school info; photos and maps. Please check it out. If you have questions, contact me and I'll be glad to help.

To enjoy the benefits: Go to www.ChicagoCondosOnline.com. There, fill in your user name: X and password Y
To remember your access information: Print this page or write the information down
To change your password:Once you log in, go to Your Account.

Sincerely,
[Your name and contact info]

How can I persuade an agent who does not subscribe to your site to send his buyers to me so that I can register them for free access?
Tell the agent that any buyer he refers to you will see both his and your photo and contact information every time the referred buyer visits the site.

Click here to download a flier you can personalize and e-mail to your agent referral partners that explains why, rather than trying to control their buyers, they should set them free in our information paradise.

How do I register a referred buyer so that he sees both my photo and contact information and those of the referral agent?
Here's how to co-brand a referred buyer's home page:

1. When an agent sends you a buyer's name and e-mail address, ask the agent to include his photo and contact information (name, title, brokerage, e-mail address and phone number). If the agent doesn't have a photo, an empty box will appear in the ad until we receive one.

2. Forward that e-mail to Jane@ChicagoCondosOnline.com. She will use the photo and contact info to create the ad. She will then e-mail you a user name and password that represents "Loan Originator A and Agent A" as a team (something like "originatora_agenta"). You can sign in with that user name and password (rather than your own) to register any buyer referred to you by Agent A. (When the buyer receives the welcome e-mail with his user name and password, it will be signed, "Loan Originator A and Agent A.")

3. To create a co-branded account for Agent B, repeat Step 2.

4. To keep all the user names and passwords straight, we suggest you keep a list of all your referral agents along with the user name that corresponds to each agent. Each account will be assigned a password by our software, but you can go to "Your Account" for each user name and make all the passwords the same, if you want to.

Will buyers I register see ads from other loan originators?
No. Your guests will see only your ads and contact information and, if your company buys them, ads from your lending institution. Click here to see what an LO's ad on the buyer’s home page looks like.

Will the names and e-mail addresses of buyers I register be shared with others?
No. Those names and e-mail addresses are shared with no one. We will e-mail a report on the condo market to all registered buyers the first week of each month.

How can I learn to use ChicagoCondosOnline.com?
Click here to download a “cheat sheet” that offers tips on how to use the site. For training by phone, e-mail Jane@ChicagoCondosOnline.com.

How can I get the most benefit from this resource?

Register all your customers and prospects

Check your Personal Information Manager weekly to see which customers have visited the site

Follow up with e-mail and/or phone call, and offer to walk customers through the site; ask for feedback

Send "follow-up" e-mail to those who haven’t visited

Send "intro offer" e-mail with hyperlink, with or without digital brochure

E-mail personally branded "Paradise" flier to agents and invite them to send their customers to you for free access

E-mail Building Data Form to agents and developers and offer to put profiles of their condos online

Media Employees

What media coverage has ChicagoCondosOnline.com received?
For media coverage, go to About the Company.

Can media employees access your site?
Yes. Ask your employer to subscribe for you. The cost is $600 a year for each person who has access.

Property Managers

How can we get Building Profiles of the properties we manage on your Web site?
Simply contact us to register and receive your password, then go online and enter the data and send us the necessary association documents and sign an agreement agreeing to keep the data and documents current. Download our Building Data Form. A profile of each of your buildings will be on the site within one week, at no cost to you or to the association. In return, you will receive several benefits, including free access to our site.

How do we update a Building Profile?
Simply e-mail any additions or changes to us by clicking on the Add/Change Data link at the top of the Building Profile.

Weekly Mailings

March 12, 2007, Important: Access to new MAP MLS resource
March 21, 2007, Free online access to 8,000 floor plans
March 28, 2007, New, direct access to MAP MLS condo resource
April 4, 2007, Access to 77 census area profiles
April 11, 2007, Online access to 10,000 Building Profiles
April 17, 2007, Access profiles, maps of all 202 city neighborhoods
April 25, 2007, How and why to register and incubate buyers
May 2, 2007, Have you tried Chicago's best condo search engine?
May 9, 2007, Best 3-minute investment
May 16, 2007, How to win more listings
May 23, 2007, Deliver a declaration in seconds, by e-mail
May 30, 2007, How to use section maps
June 6, 2007, How to compare any three census areas
June 13, 2007, New online video tutorial shows how to search
June 20, 2007, How to compare any three of 10,000 buildings
June 27, 2007, Got an idea?
July 3, 2007, Access to 500+ Building Plates
July 11, 2007, Do a friend a favor
July 18, 2007, Donate unwanted floor plans
July 25, 2007, How to change your password

March 12, 2007, Important: Access to new MAP MLS resource

Agent,

Starting now, you and all 14,000 other agents whose brokers subscribe to MAP Multiple Listing Service have free access to a subscription-based Web site called ChicagoCondosOnline.com, courtesy of MAP MLS. As the most comprehensive and reliable source of content on the city's communities and condos, this site will help you sell more condos in less time with less effort.

With profiles of all 77 census areas, 202 neighborhoods and 10,000 buildings--including floor plans, photos, maps and declarations--ChicagoCondosOnline.com makes even suburban agents instant experts on the city's booming condo market. This gives every agent a greater opportunity to participate in the 40,000 annual condo transactions, worth $7 billion, and representing nearly 60 percent of the city's housing market.

To access this resource: When logged into MAP Tempo, and viewing the listing of any condo in Chicago, in the Association Information section, click the new "Building Profile and Floor Plans" link. The first time you access ChicagoCondosOnline.com, a pop-up window will appear, asking you to create a password. (You can enter your MAPMLS password, if you want.) Once you submit your password, the profile of that building will appear in the pop-up window. From that profile, you can access any features on ChicagoCondosOnline.com. These include a search engine with 100 preferences and charts that compare any three census areas or buildings.

For a Sneak Preview of the data, documents and tools on ChicagoCondosOnline.com: In the upper left-hand corner of any page on ChicagoCondosOnline.com, under the logo, click Home. When your personal home page appears, in the center column, click "Sample Our Site" and let Beth show you what makes us special.

To register your customers for free access: On your personal home page, in the center column, click the "Register Customers" link and follow the simple instructions.

For tips on how to get the most from "The Ultimate Condominium Resource": Click the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) link at the bottom of any page and check your e-mail inbox every Wednesday.

Ric

Ric Cox, President & CEO
ChicagoCondosOnline.com
RicCox@ChicagoCondosOnline.com.