Biography
Mary Ellen Podmolik is a reporter in the Chicago Tribune's business section, covering the local housing market and writing a weekly column. ...
Deal bolsters prospects for stalled marina project
May 17, 2013
A stalled residential marina development in Blue Island has been purchased by a south suburban company that built its name rehabbing foreclosed homes.
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Redfin's valuation tool puts homeowners in driver's seat
May 10, 2013
For the past six years, the question "what's my home worth" caused homeowners to wince.
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Homebuilders gain from shortage of existing inventory
May 3, 2013
It's been a long time since Wall Street analysts were on conference calls with publicly traded homebuilders, congratulating executives on a great quarter.
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Entering homeownership with eyes wide open
April 26, 2013
Sitting down in front of a pile of mortgage loan documents to sign at the closing, with a lending officer and maybe a real estate agent at your side, what do you look at first?
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Making homes safe from natural disasters
April 19, 2013
One could say that Judy Gibbons started prepping for her latest endeavor as a real estate agent 46 years ago today.
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Study reveals shift in attitude on renting vs. owning
April 12, 2013
Current and would-be homeowners are warming to the idea of renting.
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Buying foreclosures requires patience, and a little more money
April 5, 2013
It's still possible to buy a foreclosure and make it the home of your dreams. It's just harder these days.
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Report challenges tie between housing vouchers, crime
March 29, 2013
Renters' use of housing choice vouchers, more commonly known as Section 8 vouchers, long has worried communities that the arrival of voucher-holding tenants in a neighborhood will lead to crime and, eventually, lower property values.
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Realtor group testing agent ratings program
March 15, 2013
Consumers love to rate the products they've bought, the movies they've watched, the restaurants they've eaten in, even the doctors they've visited.
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For homebuyers and sellers, it's all about compromising
March 8, 2013
Is this the year to sell your home? Is it time to buy?
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Group's efforts to revitalize neighborhoods pay off
March 1, 2013
The 15 employees of the Southwest Organizing Project, a nonprofit community group on Chicago's Southwest Side, are housed in a small, shared office space when they aren't out in the community.
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A new tool for enforcing fair-housing rules
February 22, 2013
The nation's fair-housing rules became clearer this month when the Department of Housing and Urban Development finalized a rule that it hopes makes it easier to determine whether a housing practice is discriminatory.
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Fifth Third connecting borrowers with jobs
February 15, 2013
Fifth Third Bank is expanding a program that offers free virtual job search assistance to some of its unemployed mortgage customers who are at risk of defaulting on their mortgages and losing their homes to foreclosure.
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The eyesore next door needn't hurt sale plans
February 8, 2013
The end of last Sunday's Super Bowl unofficially kicked off the start of the spring selling season, a time of year when you, as a potential home seller, begin to ponder whether it's time to move and what your property might be worth.
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Apartments get energy makeovers
February 1, 2013
In the past four years, about 10,200 Chicago-area apartments have been made more comfortable and energy-efficient as part of a unique partnership designed to trim utility bills and preserve affordable rental options in the area.
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Realtors' dose of optimism tinged with reality
January 25, 2013
It's been two years since the Chicago Association of Realtors conducted an economic briefing for its members because, frankly, any forecast revolved around rising foreclosures and falling home values.
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Programs help homebuyers clear mortgage hurdle
January 18, 2013
Hundreds of would-be homeowners stepped forward in the final two months of last year to claim $15,000 down payment assistance grants from Wells Fargo & Co.'s CityLift program.
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Flickering of hope in local asking prices
January 11, 2013
An asking price on a home, particularly in the current market, can be far different from the price it ultimately sells for, but trends in asking prices offer insight into a home seller's confidence and the market's direction.
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Housing issues that bear watching in 2013
January 6, 2013
The Chicago area's housing market saw the ever-so-small beginnings of a turnaround last year, as excess inventory started to be absorbed and price declines moderated and even showed improvement in some areas.
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Stricter energy code heats up debate on cost
December 21, 2012
Energy-efficient homebuilding is about to take a big step forward in Illinois, but consumers will pay now to save on future utility bills.
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Small rental buildings up 10% in value from a year ago
December 14, 2012
Many segments of the local housing market continue to bounce along the bottom or suffer small declines, but purchase demand for small rental buildings is on the increase and with it, the prices.
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Mortgage shopping due for a consumer-friendly reboot
December 7, 2012
The easy way to shop for a mortgage is to compare interest rates or search for the lowest monthly payments.
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Land bank would revitalize distressed properties
November 30, 2012
A land bank that would acquire, manage and repurpose vacant and abandoned properties in Cook County is one step closer to reality.
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Prepurchase classes highlight need for homebuyer literacy
November 9, 2012
Rents are up. Home price declines are shrinking. Mortgage rates are so low they're hard to believe.
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Mortgage bankers cast wary eye on housing market
November 1, 2012
When more than 3,500 people gathered in Chicago recently for the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention, the most since 2007, there were a lot of acronyms thrown around and a lot of concern expressed about the direction of residential lending.
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Distressed properties boost remodeling industry
October 25, 2012
The fixing up of distressed properties for resale, rent or residing in is doing more than helping neighborhoods recover and look prettier than they did in the depths of the housing crisis.
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Foreclosure rescue scams add insult to injury
October 19, 2012
In the three-month period that ended in September, mortgage foreclosure activity in Illinois rose 31 percent from its year-earlier level, jeopardizing homeowners, tenants and neighborhoods.
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It's not easy getting green homes appraised
October 11, 2012
Green home construction and remodeling is on the rise as a housing market recovery begins to take shape and consumers look to marry their quest for home comfort with energy efficiency and cost savings.
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Property flipping regains traction in Chicago area
October 4, 2012
Property flipping is gaining speed again in the Chicago area.
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Finding potential in vacant city lots
September 27, 2012
There's nothing like a weedy, littered-filled lot or a vacant building to bring down a neighborhood. That is, until a community comes together and finds a creative use for the space, holding its place until a more permanent solution comes along.
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Mortgage servicers dropped the ball, study says
September 20, 2012
A new study on the Home Affordable Modification Program estimates that 800,000 foreclosures could have been prevented if large mortgage servicers had been better equipped to deal with the crush of troubled homeowners who needed help.
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Housing troubles can't defeat homeowner optimism
September 13, 2012
With the presidential election edging closer, both parties have focused on the topic of whether voters are better off than they were four years ago.
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Local new-home prices creeping higher
September 7, 2012
Homebuilders are the most confident they've been in five years, and those good feelings are translating into price increases for new-home buyers.
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New rules streamline short sale process
August 30, 2012
The latest efforts by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to simplify the short sale process and broaden the pool of eligible homeowners are getting a thumbs-up from the housing industry.
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A new take on impact of foreclosures on home values
August 23, 2012
There's good news and bad news to be found in the latest research regarding the effect of foreclosed homes on neighborhood property values.
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Living large in less space
November 28, 2011
For the past 12 years, architect Sarah Susanka has espoused the need for houses that are smaller, yes, but also more practical and eminently more livable.
