Columns

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’m a stubborn person. Most people who don’t know me well believe I’m stubborn, too! Every so often, I write a column to ask you to do something that I’m not that good at, partly to push myself into getting better as a genealogist. I have been spending a lot of hours going through records I already have, in an attempt to better document my research. Why should we do this? I know where all my copies are. The papers are in piles and in boxes, and the digital images are all named …

Social media has transformed traditional real estate marketing, numbering the days of door-to-door sales and cold calling. As with all other areas of business, social media has moved the market. With so many new ways to advertise and connect, the possibilities are endless. Social media is relate-able, accessible and affordable to everyone. For clients and professionals alike, this means business. And the options are endless, including photo forums, discussion forms, social networks, videos, testimonials, reviews, blogs, check-ins, tags, and everything in between. There are certainly generational issues when it comes to social media marketing, and though the technology may be …

A feeling of dread always comes over me when I read a passage like this one from the news release for “Bottom of the Ninth,” which trumpets its Italian-American street cred. “The film is about a man who returns to the Bronx after serving 17 years in prison for a violent mistake he made as a kid, ultimately robbing him of a professional baseball career and the love of his life.” “Here we go again,” I thought. “Another film that leans too heavily on tired Mafia tropes instead of standing on its own two feet.” The foreboding persisted throughout my …

There are times when I have to wonder what I’m going to write about, and then there are serendipitous times like this! We’ve had reunion picnics, a garden tour, progress on the artists residence, the loss of the Gately’s building, a St. Anthony’s festival, the loss of Roselandites who we’ve known from years gone by, and the initiation of the Kickstarter campaign for my book.” “Petals from Roseland: Fond Memories of Chicago’s Roseland, Pullman, Kensington Neighborhoods.” Summer always provides us with plenty reunions but the best seem to hold off until August and that’s why it gets top billing. There …

Even though I have mountains of genealogy work to do, I am often sidetracked by other projects. These projects start out with a simple question, and then my Problem Solver takes over. If you haven’t met Problem Solver, he’s 9 feet tall, lifts weights and gets his way no matter the cost! So I am looking at marriage licenses for Cook County. The top two-thirds of the page lists the groom, the bride, the date of the license and the signature of the Cook County Clerk. (For a few years, the County Clerk was the future Mayor Richard J. Daley!) …

You have placed your property on the market and an offer or even multiple offers have been received, but how do you know if the offer is good for you? Your broker is obviously there to assist you and offer you guidance, but the ultimate decision belongs to the property owner. You always want to achieve the highest price for your property, but believe it or not, the choice may not always come down to price. Take a look at the amount of earnest money a buyer is offering to deposit. Earnest money is the amount the potential buyer is …

In Italian we need to learn how to use three important verbs and we are all set to talk about what we are wearing—vestirsi, mettersi, and indossare.  If we learn how to use these verbs properly, we will be able to tell others how we dress and make “small talk” about how well others are dressed — part of “fare la bella figura” (making a good impression) in Italian — just as we do in our native language! Vestirsi Let’s start with the Italian verb “vestirsi,” which carries the general meaning of “to get dressed.” To use this verb, just conjugate it as …

At first glance, it seems easy to say “get” in Italian.  The verb prendere translates as “to get.”  But, the verb prendere actually has the specific meaning of “to procure something.”  In English conversation, which is typically less formal than written English,  the verb to get is used in many more ways and conveys many more meanings than the verb prendere does in Italian.  We English speakers rely on our basic understanding of what is going on in any given conversation to come up with the meaning of the verb to get. Instead, in both written and conversational Italian, the use of …

I started my career back in 1991, nearly 30 years ago, when rates were roughly around 10 percent. We have seen rates below 6 percent since 2001, and the current run of low rates is unprecedented in modern history. It’s been a good year for mortgages rates so far. Rates have been down as low as 3.99 percent recently for a 30-year fixed after being as high as 5 percent in November 2018. Then the housing market dwindled to a slow crawl, knocking rates back down again. The mortgage interest market is in a very strange and unique position right …

The home buying process can be exciting, and many first-time buyers are eager to get the ball rolling. That’s definitely a good thing, but don’t let your heightened emotions get the better of you. Most folks these days begin their home buying search online. When you come across that special property on the computer, you may be tempted to jump the gun and call the listing agent immediately. But stop yourself. Why? There should always be a proper chain of communication and your agent should be the one to make the phone call on your behalf. Remember, your agent has …