RockRaines

I still cant believe he's leaning Duke, as a one and done it seems weird.

The townhouse I have an offer on has a basement, and a somewhat leaky one at that. I'm kind of hoping he gets water in it today and gives up. I was going to gut it anyway.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 05:43 PM) very interesting Wow. really compelling.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 04:35 PM) Its the same principal. If cellphone cameras become tools to catch criminals, the next stop is for the govt to start asking for laws that allow them to view your pictures to try and help criminals... What happened is terrible and tragic. But terrible and tragic things will happen in a society where we allow free choice. Turn on icloud, sync photos to icloud, done. Government can easily go in and look at the pics and even the gps tags on the pics.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 04:55 PM) Well its really just the first step to legalization, so whatever. Guess I should find a dr and start a relationship. Right? If there was any city/state that needed the inflated 40 percent taxes on a product its illinois and Chicago.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 03:21 PM) But you could still go to them. "Oh doc, my back. Can you get me some pain meds? Thanks." Second visit a week later: "Oh doc, my back. Can I try weed this time?" If anything it's giving doctors more of an incentive to hand out the prescriptions since they're guaranteed 2 office visits. Theres the loophole. But I think they are trying to have legit doctors vs the stuff in Cali and west coast. Those "drs" just set up in strip malls and take payment.

The boston news is speculating like crazy.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 02:35 PM) Pretty much all of the stops along BNSF have reinvigorated downtown areas right near the train station. Its so weird because my father took the train downtown for 30 years and it just started to get that way in the last 10-15. Not only businesses but condos and townhouses. One of my favorite areas to put on my future radar is Elmhurst, I love that downtown area and the housing surrounding it. Of course my Oak Park based wife still thinks thats the boonies.

How many times does a bomb threat end in a bomb actually being there? If you want to bomb someone, you dont call it in first.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 02:12 PM) From what I heard La Grange had a similar experience. In the 80's the downtown area sucked and was run down, but in the 90's/00's it became much more developed and is now thriving. Sounds about right. Naperville and Hinsdale had decent downtown areas but the rest of us had nothing as the business went away from downtown areas to the big box intersections, now its all moving back towards the train. Its kinda strange actually. I just had lunch in downtown LaGrange and I was impressed.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 01:27 PM) Have Gary Harris or Adrienne Payne announced yet? They're decisions are going to most directly impact the Big Ten next year. If they stay it's MSU's conference to lose. If they go the field is wide open. Gary Harris almost has to go.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 12:56 PM) In Hinsdale enjoy your property taxes. That to me seems like a place to move when you're 40-45 with a few kids about ready to go to middle school or high school, not somewhere to start a family. Otherwise you're spending a lot of money on schools that you don't use. La Grange is a great town. We moved there mainly because our friends from college grew up there. My wife and I both grew up down "south" (central/western Illinois) in small towns so we didn't know much about any of the neighborhoods/suburbs in the Chicago area. But the schools are great (from what we read, our first kid is only 10 months old. But my wife really did research and found it to be one of the better school districts in the state, especially for the relative cost) and the home prices range from your multi-million dollar mansions to your 250-350k ranches/georgians. For each town you go west (Western Springs, Hinsdale) expect your property taxes and home prices to go up as well. The best part of La Grange is the downtown area. Tons of high quality restaurants and shops. And the commute is great. There are a couple of express trains in the morning that get you into Union Station under 25 minutes. Same on the commute home. If you can find a place within walking distance obviously that's great, but you can also get parking permits for like $25 and no wait list (other communities like Hinsdale or Downers Grove have wait lists that take several years to get). And it's definitely a family-oriented town. With one or two exceptions, everyone in my neighborhood is probably 30-45 with a couple of kids. So im from DG and growing up the downtown area was a ghost town of crap. My parents had a victorian house a few blocks from the train. We moved away to a subdivision and I grew up there. Fast forward to now and the house is worth about 10 times what they sold it for and downtown DG is bumping. Go figure.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 10:22 AM) I'd really like to know what the probable cause was in the petition for the search warrant. There had to have been something he did or said that made investigators think he was a "person of interest" for nearly 24 hours. Something a Judge had to sign off on. They said his statements were weird like "I thought there was going to be another explosion" that was probably enough.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 12:08 PM) I grew up in OP and got good friends still living there so I frequent quite a bit. Forest Park is definitely the way to go for the younger crowd, but the schools are a huge difference so if you have older kids then it's worth moving over to OP. We looked at one of those "classic" old River Forest homes the other weekend, bright green carpet, tiny kitchen, wood everywhere. It literally smelled like a cats asshole.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 12:00 PM) Yeah, feel free to run with the real estate discussion...i don't think mcm is going to drive much conversation in this forum It's tough, because you feel as though you might pay more down the road if you don't find something decent now...but too many people took that strategy 6-7 years ago and got killed for it. Best thing to do probably is stay where you are unless you really find something you like, at a fair price. Otherwise, you open yourself up to a lot of volatility right now. People out here are starting to go nuts, listing their properties at 2006 prices, trying to get everything they lost back during one little bubble... Exactly whats happening here, investors are starting to get out, but at 2005 prices. We are seeing offers 10-20% above list at times for some reason, its a f***ing land grab.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 11:57 AM) Seems this has turned into a real estate thread. We've been following the market for houses pretty intensely past year. Ultimately, our end point will be Oak Park, but for now, we cannot afford a house there plus the property taxes, and we still would prefer living closer to the city. Recently we've been scouring for neighborhoods where we could find a SFH at our price. This past weekend, after checking out portage park and other neighborhoods, we think we are gonna continue renting and saving what we can. While nice, they are not close enough to the city for me, and I don't think we'll end up staying for more than 4-5 years, and I do not want to deal with price volatility on a timeline that short. This approach makes me a little nervous because in specific neighborhoods, prices have gained healthily. But I don't think either of us want to reach on price prematurely. Have you looked into Forest Park as an alternative? its a bit cheaper but still close to the target area. My wife is from Oak Park so she is constantly trying to get me to go back to there or RF.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 11:04 AM) Damn Shack, that sucks. So odd that they turned down the offer that they came back to you with. Seems kinda messed up. Sellers are so strange, they become really attached to their property.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 10:44 AM) Good luck, Rock! I hope you have better luck than we did...seller just flat-out rejected our offer. No counter even. And this was the exact offer their listing agent practically begged us to come back and make...which is what I sold my house for...in the end, their agent just told us something that was inaccurate and we relied upon it. I am not happy. Despite that, I wrote a letter to the listing agent yesterday and asked her to pass my thoughts on to the seller. She forwarded the letter I wrote, along with her own note, to the seller, saying we are super people and someone she would be lucky to call her neighbors (the property is her guesthouse located adjacent to her mansion). She asked me to give her another day or so, but I have no expectations that anything will change. She did say that the seller was not against accepting our offer; it was the business manager that is influencing her not to sell it to us. I wouldn't be shocked if this slimeball is waiting for her to die and hoping she leaves the property to him in her will. So now the pressure is on. Have to find a home. Soon. Wow dude, not the news I was expecting. Hopefully your words do some good. Sometimes I just want to have a face to face meeting with these people so they know who you are and know what you want to do with their property. I would rather negotiate face to face but instead I am forced to do it through these agents. I have a take it or leave it offer on the table right now which was more than splitting our difference as I added a little extra to put it over the hump. Still kind of on the fence about renting out or selling my place right now, boxing stuff up regardless but the market is so weird.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 05:00 PM) Hope you dont mind me interjecting my unasked for opinions Never. I'm letting them sweat it out tonight and then proposing my walk away price. Hopefully tomorrow ill either have a place under contract or ill be looking at open houses.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 11, 2013 -> 08:47 AM) Maybe Billy Beane? I can hear the Cub fans now... "look what he did with nothing in Oakland!" They've got to give him enough time to develop his picks. However, I think they are ridiculously stupid for signing some of the players they did that may actually make them NOT the worst team in the league. If you get the keys to do an entire rebuild, tank, and tank hard.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 02:11 PM) Yeah this is what I would have done. Offer to slightly increase, but that is the "final" offer, and that if it isnt a go, you are going to have to go in a different direction. Problem with sellers is that if they dont need to sell their property, they can be really slow on the trigger. Thats essentially where we are, posturing for that "final and best" offer. All of my instincts are saying they are full of it so hopefully I am right and I can finally get a place and move out of this one. And I just started really packing my current condo since another in the building went under contract at a much higher price than I would have thought. I packed up exactly 2 shelves and I am out of boxes. LOL.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 02:18 PM) You are kidding, right? That'd be pretty rebellious. On another note, can I bring my computer for the waiting room? Is that allowed? Is it too risky whereas it would probably get stolen? No, I acted like and idiot and was severely anti-gun in my statements. I NEEDED to get out of that jury duty.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 02:10 PM) It's also going to be nearly impossible to secure a 26 mile route. How many trash cans are passed in a major city over 26 miles? A s***load. The chicago marathon goes by my street twice and there are people milling about left and right with virtually nothing holding them back from jumping in the race or anything of the sort. Now you cant get anywhere near the finish these days but the course itself is not secure whatsoever.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 11:19 AM) Meh, the same was said after 9/11 and people still go to games. Security will be tighter for the next few months, and then it'll go back to normal. I'm not sure why people freak out so much about this stuff when your odds of being a victim of a terrorist attack are much lower than being hit by a car, being in an airplane crash, etc. Its alot harder to bring in a backpack bomb at a sporting event.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 12:10 PM) It dealt with Barry Bonds's biceps I take it It was organized crime and whatnot. I could tell it was going to drag out and I had no interest in making little to no money for months while sitting there. I think I called him a "darkie" in the chambers meeting.