Wednesday! 2nd monthly Home Buddies meet-up at Narrow Bridge w/ me n @brigidmania.bsky.social. A hard to define event I came up with because I wanted to. Real estate questions? Need home reno advice? Stuck picking paint colors? Come over, we have snacks & advice! www.eventbrite.com/e/monthly-ho...

Even if my industry (real estate) tries to avoid irrelevant (/s) issues like human rights, the violent abduction of the literal backbone of the home services industry is something they're gonna need to reckon with.

Bleak but excellent. I hope we'll continue to get more investigative reporting like this on the financial conditions that have crippled South Shore as a whole, & which lead to the 7500 S. Shore raid. (couple more thoughts in the thread) prospect.org/2025/10/21/l...

Amidst all the bad news: The letter I co-wrote w/ @blaservations.bsky.social about 1926 now has ~500 signatures, inc. 100s of comments about how one little building helped people become artists & find community. Link at the bottom to read them & perhaps feel affirmed: forms.gle/zEHarFNqgYCZ...

SAIC's decision to sell the Roger Brown Home & Studio building at 1926 N. Halsted St. is extremely at the intersection of my work in real estate, preservation, & Chicago art history. Some thoughts & info, for those interested.🧵 www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-...

Hear me out: you want to own a home, learning about how to do it is a vote of confidence in the future of your city & world. This event next week is free & will be in this beautiful space, a model of carbon-negative adaptive re-use & shared resources. RSVP & share! www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-buy...

It's back to school season! ✍️ If you or anyone you know is homeownership curious, join me or share! Ben & I are nice and these are always a good time. Plus you get to see inside Woodlawn's beautiful Narrow Bridge Arts Club. 🙂 www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-buy...

I'm a couple days late but @dennisrodkin.bsky.social has a well-researched story about the recent history of South Suburban real estate, inspired by the Pope's childhood home: www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-...

As much coverage has noted, the new Pope's house is for sale. The listing was canceled yesterday. I'll be interested to see what Pope Price Bump they come up with!

The bombshells in this article are 2-fold. Beyond the ***thrilling*** headline is the fact that someone somehow managed to take a photo inside Build that doesn't have me in it. It's my defacto office space and I'm 70% sweet potato torta sandwiches at this point.. blockclubchicago.org/2025/05/05/e...

This right here. I spend a lot of time talking to homeowners about property taxes and this is #1 thing that people don't & need to understand. It's a zero-sum system & assessed value is only one part of it. (click through to the whole thread for context & the original Sun-Times article)

Art is everywhere

This is why I: 1. Tell clients when they see a home being sold by a wholesaler or flipper that they should distrust & verify any disclosures 2. Insist that clients or a trusted proxy are present in person & with at least one working nose for the entirety of inspection. 3. Check permits on flips.

One of my best Powell's finds ever. Kerfoot Avenue was always one of my favorite street names. TIL it is only 1.5 blocks long and named after a "pointy-bearded realtor" who aggressively marketed land to East Coast speculators in the immediate aftermath of the Chicago Fire. 🔥🔥🔥

Spoiler: it's South Shore, for both SFH & condos. This will def be relevant data for housing affordability activists in the area. I'm quoted in the piece, gift link here, more thoughts below...1/5 www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-...

Are there any publications or orgs working on disseminating the auction/bidding instructions for the Wilson/Dass bankruptcy auction beyond the world of RE investors & tax buyers? cc @blockclubchi.bsky.social @stevevance.net @illinoisanswers.bsky.social 1/5 blockclubchicago.org/2025/01/22/h...

Saw a good old fashioned Bridgeport weirdo today 🏠👌 (explanations in the alt text)

I finally finished my new website, just in time for the traditional new year's inquiry surge. January is always the ideal time to prep for spring. If buying or selling property is on the 2025 agenda for you or anyone you know (esp. on the South Side), here ya go! --> www.susannahribsteinrealty.com

I saw the Capital Brutalism show at the National Building Museum today. Having spent too much time thinking about this subject I find most examinations of it to be boring & full of errors. But I genuinely enjoyed this one. It's up for another month. nbm.org/exhibitions/...

This is awful news. www.saic.edu/news/school-...

Hello BlueSky. I'm still figuring out what real estate content I'm gonna post here. Starting easy with what seems to be Hyde Park's most beloved boiler (the log book is footnoted).