When these families have to temporarily rent a place to stay — maybe their new home isn’t ready or the sellers have not yet moved out — they often face a serious challenge: What do they do with their family pets?

The Daily Herald recently addressed this issue, quoting from the American Humane Association and the Humane Society of the United States to do so.

The biggest recommendation from these two animal-welfare groups is for families to give themselves at least six weeks before they have to move to contact REALTORS® and check ads for pet-friendly temporary housing.

These families can also check several Web sites that will provide them with a list of pet-friendly apartment communities in their region. These include fidofriendly.com (RYAN: www.fidofriendly.com), homeproperties.com (RYAN: www.homeproperties.com) and doghouseproperties.com (RYAN: www.doghouseproperties.com).

The key when looking at real estate ads is to search for those that explicitly say pets are OK. Some ads won’t mention pets at all. For these, families or their REALTORS® will have to call to inquire whether pets are, indeed, OK.

The Daily Herald story also advises families against lying about whether they own pets or how many pets they own. And those families who are trying to convince landlords or condominium boards that they are responsible pet owners — the type who won’t let their dogs bark all night long, for instance — should provide documentation proving this. The best proof is usually a letter from past landlords or condominium associations stating that families are conscientious pet owners.

Moving is never a stress-free experience. The process can prove even more challenging when pets are involved. But families who take the time to do their research before they move can eliminate at least some of that stress.

However, a survey from the Illinois Association of REALTORS® shows the opposite: The vast majority of Illinois residents still want to own their own homes.

According to the survey residents, an amazing 82 percent of respondents said that owning a home remained an important part of the American dream. A total of 75 percent of respondents said that owning a home was a safer investment than was putting money in the stock market.

In a result that may seem surprising, considering how dramatically home values have fallen in Chicago and across the state, 61 percent of survey respondents said that it was better to own a home than rent.

Of course, the economy and its problems have had an impact on the housing market in Chicago and the rest of the state. That may explain why only 48 percent of survey respondents said that owning a house is a major benefit for long-term investment in their futures.

Still, the results of the homeownership survey are amazingly positive, even during the worst housing market that Chicago and the rest of the nation have seen in decades. It just shows how important the idea of owning a home is to most people.

This is probably because housing has value beyond the financial. Ideally, we want our homes to increase in value and become good financial investments. But our homes are also an escape from the rest of the world. They are the places in which we watch our children grow up. They are places filled with happy memories.

In short, homes are special. They are more than just investments.

This explains why even in the most challenging of economic times, the dream of owning a home remains a dear one for the vast majority of local residents.

According to Podmolik’s story, the percentage of African-Americans buying homes in Chicago for the year ended in June of 2011 rose to 14 percent. Two years prior to this, that number stood only at 10 percent. At the same time, the percentage of Chicago buyers who were Asian fell to 8 percent from 12 percent in 2009. Hispanic buyers, Podmolik writes, continued to account for 3 percent of the Chicago market.
Podmolik took this data from the National Association of REALTORS®’ most recent profile of home buyers and sellers. The survey size of Chicagoans was a small one, less than 200 buyers. Still, the association numbers tell an interesting story of how Chicago home buyers are changing.

According to the survey, the median income of a Chicago home buyer stood at $103,100 in 2010. That same figure stood at a lower $94,100 in 2008. The median purchase price of a Chicago home fell to $269,000 last year. That’s a fall of just about 5 percent from 2009. And while buyers paid less last year, they received more home for their dollars. The median size of a home purchased in Chicago last year was 1,600 square feet. That’s up 20 percent from the average size in 2009.

First-time buyers remained an important part of the Chicago housing market, according to Podmolik’s story. These buyers accounted for 61 percent of Chicago home purchases in 2011. In 2009, that figure stood at an even higher 64 percent.

The REALTORS® survey also found that the demand for single-family homes was on the rise in Chicago last year. According to the survey, 37 percent of all Chicago buyers and 25 percent of first-time buyers purchased detached single-family homes in 2011. Two years earlier, 27 percent of all Chicago buyers and 23 percent of first-time buyers chose single-family, detached residents.

The survey reflects a Chicago housing market that is changing in accordance with challenging economic times. The results aren’t exactly surprising, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not intriguing.

It once was rare for mortgage interest rates to fall to historic lows. Now it seems to happen every week. Last week was no exception. According to a feature story in the Washington Post, the average mortgage interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.88 percent last week.

Citing Freddie Mac numbers, the Post story reported that the average interest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage stood at 3.17 percent. That’s a pretty low number. Surprisingly, though, it’s not an all-time low. Just the week before, the average interest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage loan came in just a tick lower, 3.16 percent.

These low rates are important because it makes borrowing money to finance the purchase of a single-family home or condominium far more affordable. Consider this equation: If you took out a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan to buy a condo or single-family home in Chicago, you’d pay just more than $1,097 a month if the interest rate on that loan was 7 percent. But if the interest rate on that same loan fell to last week’s average — 3.88 percent — you’d pay just more than $776 a month.

You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to realize that this represents a significant amount of savings. The savings are especially dramatic in markets in which housing prices tend to be higher, like in Chicago neighborhoods such as Lincoln Park and Lincoln Square. When you spend more on a house, the lower your mortgage interest rate falls, the more savings you’ll realize each month.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: This remains a tremendous time to buy a single-family home or condominium in Chicago. Housing prices here remain affordable, and with interest rates lower than ever, borrowing money for a mortgage loan is even more of a bargain.

According to the latest home sales numbers from the Illinois Association of REALTORS®, December, 2011, existing-home sales in Chicago hit 1,536, up 6.4 percent from the 1,444 homes sold in the same month one year earlier.

The news wasn’t as good when it came to the median sales prices of these homes. According to the association’s numbers, the median home sale price for Chicago stood at $156,000 in December of last year. That’s down 6.2 percent when compared to the same month in 2010. Back then, the median sales price of Chicago homes came in at $166,250.

Bob Floss, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®, was quoted in the press release accompanying the December numbers as saying that the December rally was a good sign for the future of Chicago housing sales. The numbers give hope that Chicago’s winter and spring home-selling seasons will be strong ones, he said.

Floss, though, expressed concerns about the median sales price of Chicago condominiums and single-family homes. This number shows no sign of rising, and, in fact, continues to fall. Floss pointed to the large number of distressed residential properties on the market: Foreclosures tend to drag down the median sales prices of homes near them.

Until the number of foreclosures falls, don’t expect the median sales price of Chicago residential properties to rise.

The association press release also quotes Loretta Alonzo, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. She says that buyers in December simply found too many good housing deals to pass up.

That’s good news, of course, for sellers trying to move their properties. It’s not great news, though, for sellers trying to get top dollar for their homes. Buyers today simply expect to find bargains on the condos and single-family homes that they purchase.

That’s the news from a recent Chicago Tribune story (RYAN: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0121-home-sales-20120121,0,2382184.story) on the final 2011 residential sales numbers, which were recently released by the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.

According to the numbers, existing-home sales in the Chicago area rose by 1.3 percent in 2011 when compared to 2010. The news wasn’t as good, though, for the city itself; home sales within the city of Chicago — which hit 17,715 in 2011 — fell 7.2 percent when compared to 2010.

The news was fairly gloomy when it came to housing prices, too. Median housing prices for the city of Chicago fell 13.8 percent in 2011, hitting $175,000. In 2010, the year-end median sales price of existing homes in Chicago stood at $203,000.

This news isn’t surprising to anyone who’s followed the Chicago housing market in 2011. Simply put, this market remains a challenging one for anyone trying to sell a condominium or single-family home. This means, of course, that it’s a good market for those trying to buy homes in the city. After all, mortgage interest rates have hit several all-time lows in the last year, including a new low for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages last week. With prices continuing to fall, it’s easy for buyers to find bargains on homes in even Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods.

Sellers, though, need to set the right price for their condos or single-family homes if they hope to move their properties. Those who set asking prices that are too high will receive few serious offers.

That’s why I recommend that home sellers in Chicago and its suburbs work closely with a REALTOR® to help sell their residences. Those who don’t, run the risk of setting the wrong asking price for their homes. And that will almost certainly bring with it a long stay on the Multiple Listing Service.

But what about when it’s time to hire a home inspector? This real estate professional is critically important, too. Hiring the right inspector can save you thousands of dollars, and might even prevent you from buying the wrong house. But far too many home buyers simply look for the home inspector that’ll charge them the least amount of money.

It’s a mistake that Chicago Tribune columnists Ilyce Glink and Samuel Tamkin cover in a recent column.

The columnists stress that hiring the right home inspector is an important decision. A home inspector will tour your house after you decide to buy it but before you reach the closing table. Inspectors look for serious problems such as sagging foundations, leaking roofs or aging furnaces. An inspector who does find serious problems can help you negotiate a lower price with home sellers, or can help you cancel a deal if the improvements needed to a home are far too costly.

To find the right inspector, you should interview several candidates. And you should ask the right questions. You should ask inspectors how long they’ve been in the business and whether they’ve had experience inspecting the kind of home you are hoping to buy. As the Tribune column says, you want to make sure that any inspector you hire will be able to spot potential warning signs regarding electricity, drywall and plumbing. You also want to work with an inspector who can find any potential health hazards in the home that you are considering.

Finally, ask your home inspector for references from past customers. And then call those customers. Ask the customers if the inspector found any serious problems in the homes they purchased. Ask, too, if the inspector charged these clients what he said he’d charge upfront. And don’t forget to ask if the inspector missed any important issues that eventually cost homeowners significant dollars.

I know the home-buying process can be a long one. But don’t make the mistake of skimping on the research when you’re searching for a home inspector. Finding the right inspector can spare you big costs and even bigger headaches in the future.

Housing foreclosures dropped to a four-year low last year. But that doesn’t mean that the number of homeowners in danger of losing their condominiums and single-family homes is tapering off.

Rather, financial institutions and banks last year were holding off on many of the foreclosures on their books thanks to confusion over legal issues, according to a recent feature story by the Associated Press.

According to the story, about 1.9 million homes entered the foreclosure process in 2011. That’s the lowest number of foreclosure proceedings in a year since 2007, according to numbers from online foreclosure company RealtyTrac.com.

RealtyTrac was quick to point out, though, that the lower foreclosure numbers don’t necessarily mean that the housing market is improving. RealtyTrac instead credited much of the foreclosure slowdown to banks working through documentation and legal issues that slowed their pace of clearing the foreclosures on their books.

RealtyTrac officials told the Associated Press that because of this, they expect the number of housing foreclosures to rise again in 2012.

In a bit of good news, though, RealtyTrac officials did tell the Associated Press that they think the number of foreclosures in 2012, while higher than in 2011, will be lower then the peak the country experienced in 2010.

Everyone in the real estate business, and everyone trying to sell homes, is waiting for the foreclosure rate in the country to truly fall. That’s because foreclosures tend to lower the value of all real estate for sale. You can see this in Chicago. Just check out the housing prices in an area dotted with too many housing foreclosures. You’ll see that housing prices in the entire area will have taken a fall.

There’s a reason for this: Smart buyers won’t pay top dollar for a Chicago condo or single-family home if they can spend 10-20% less to buy a similar, but foreclosed, home just a block or two away.

If you are facing a foreclosure crisis of your own, be sure to call your mortgage lender as soon as possible. This isn’t an easy call to make, but a lender might be able to work out a payment plan that allows you to keep your home and preserve your credit score.

That’s because mortgage interest rates have again fallen to a record low.

According to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan fell to 3.89 percent last week. That’s an all-time low.

Of course, setting new records is nothing unusual. The previous record low for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan stood at 3.91 percent, a low that the country hit just three weeks earlier.

The news is even better for 15-year fixed-rate mortgage loans. According to the story, the average rate on this kind of loan fell to 3.16 percent last week. That, too, represents a new record. And again, the record it broke isn’t that old. The previous record low was 3.21 percent, as recently as three weeks ago.

These new lows are important for home buyers because they make the process of buying a home more affordable. If you took out a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan with an interest rate of 3.89 percent, your monthly payment would stand at just $1,177.74, according to Bankrate.com.

If you took out that same loan with an interest rate of 6 percent — a rate that would have been considered stellar just a few short years ago — you’d pay $1,498.88 a month, according to Bankrate. That’s a huge savings per month thanks to the lower mortgage interest rates.

Then there’s the fact that sellers today are willing to negotiate on just about everything in an effort to get their homes off the market faster. It all combines to make this a great time to buy a house in the city of Chicago and across the country.

Freddie Mac will soon give mortgage servicers the authority to offer as much as one year of mortgage forbearance to unemployed homeowners with Freddie Mac-backed mortgage loans.

The arrangement works like this: Mortgage servicers can allow unemployed homeowners to live in their homes for six months without making mortgage payments. They can then offer unemployed borrowers six more mortgage-payment-free months if Freddie Mac gives its approval.

This change will take place Feb. 1, according to the MoneyWatch story. Under the current system, mortgage loan servicers can offer unemployed homeowners up to three months of no mortgage payments without approval from Freddie Mac or six months of reduced mortgage payments if they first receive permission from Freddie.

The change will undoubtedly be a financial relief to struggling, unemployed homeowners. And fortunately, the news on the unemployment front has actually been good lately.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that the country added 325,000 jobs in December. At the same time, the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December. That’s a three-year low. It’s also a sign that companies may boost their hiring in 2012.

If that’s the case, then perhaps the rate of housing foreclosures in Chicago and the rest of the country will fall. And maybe Freddie Mac’s decision to allow homeowners a year’s break from making mortgage payments will buy these homeowners enough time to restore their financial health.

Even with the positive jobs numbers, the country still has a long way to go to fully recover from the Great Recession. But at least today the news isn’t quite so glum. That can only mean good things for the housing market, both locally and nationally.