About
Chicago77@compass.com
Team Chicago 77 The city of Chicago is built up of 77 neighborhoods, each unique and different. Our team prides ourselves on working in many of those neighborhoods and knowing the ins and outs of each. We are dedicated to be your trusted advisors through every step of the process and our approach to real estate is with constant communication and nurturing relationships. Working side by side with Compass’ innovative technology and powerhouse staff we promise a seamless transaction from start to finish.
Combined 20+ Years of Experience
180M Over 180 Million Closed Transactions
Chicago77@compass.com
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Buyers Timeline
Buyers Timeline
Begin Looking For Homes
Meet and Greet
This is an essential first step. We would be happy to refer a lender.
Make An Offer
We will work together to find the perfect place.
Initial meeting to discuss your wish list
Your Offer Is Accepted!
Home Inspection
Retain a real estate attorney, we would be happy to refer one.
Included with the offer is a preapproval letter or proof of funds
Attorney Review
Submit Your Mortgage Application
To coincide with your inspection period.
To be completed within 5 business days of acceptance.
Chicago77@compass.com
Get Your Mortgage Commitment And Final Numbers To Close
Conduct A Final Walkthrough
This will take 3-4 weeks after acceptance.
All your mortgage paperwork needs to be in your lenders hands.
Close On Your New Home
Congratulations you are a homeowner!
FINISH
START
Get Pre-Approved For A Mortgage
This takes place before the closing and is your chance to make sure everything is as you expected it to be.
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Steps to Purchase Your Home
Steps to Purchase Your Home:
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2 Meet and Greet
The first step in homeownership is finding out “How much home can you afford?” Talk to a mortgage lender and find out your buying power. A lender will ask you a series of questions about your finances to determine how much you can spend on a home. The lender will give you a pre-approval stating the amount you are approved to borrow.
We always like to start the process with buyers with either a face-to-face meeting or a phone call. During this time, we will discuss in detail the three basics; must-haves, location, and price range.
Get Pre-Approved
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Begin Looking For Homes We will work together to look for the perfect place. We recommend downloading the compass app to view homes and communicate in real time with your agent. Compass coming soon allows us to see properties that are not yet on the market, this gives you the opportunity to be one of the first to see a property before it hits the market.
At this point you will be given your first homework assignment; create a list of what you have to have, what you’d like to have, and what would make the perfect home. You will see that a lot of these will be a bit of a moving target and become fine tuned during the search.
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Offer Accepted
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Make an Offer You have found the home of your dreams! Now you would like to make an offer. Your real estate agent can help assist you in negotiating an offer.
To begin, when you place an offer on a property you will put down earnest money (usually $1,000 depending on purchasing price). Your earnest money will be in the form of a personal or certified check and will be increased after attorney review is complete. Your initial earnest money is to show good faith and that you are ready, willing and able to make this purchase. After acceptance of the offer you are in a legal binding contract.
6 Home Inspection Professional Home Inspector – Inspects the property and mechanicals (roof, electric, plumbing, heating and cooling systems). Cost is between $500 - $1000 depending on the size and type of home.
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Attorney Review Deposit Your attorney will negotiate any inspection items you would like to address. This would be considered a renegotiation to your original offer / contract. The sellers are not required to make any changes.
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Final Walkthrough Prior to closing you will do a walkthrough of the property. This is a chance to take a look at the property one more time before closing. You want to make sure the seller has made no changes to the property and your inspection items were addressed.
8 9 Submit Mortgage Application
The bank will organize your appraisal and finalize the paperwork so your loan is clear to close. This process can be 30-60 days from the contract acceptance.
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Closing Day! You and your lawyer will attend closing. Your lawyer is your eyes and ears. There will be a number of documents to sign and your lawyer will review and explain each of them to you. Your lender and realtor may attend closing as well. You will receive your keys to your new home!
Chicago77@compass.com
Mortgage Commitment and CTC by Attorneys Closing date and time will be scheduled by the sellers attorney once you have received their clear to close from your lender. Closing will take place at a title company. Your attorney and lender will give you the final numbers you will need to bring to closing. These funds will likely need to be wired the day before closing.
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Key Terms
Key Terms Appraisal
Undisclosed Dual Agency:
Offer Accepted
Assessment of the property’s market value, typically done for the purpose of obtaining a mortgage.
a broker may not intend to create a dualagency. However, a salesperson’s words and actions may create a dual agency unintentionally or inadvertently
The point in time when a seller accepts all the terms of a buyer’s offer for a property.
Assessments A monthly maintenance fee paid by condo owners. Property taxes are not included in monthly condominium fees.
Closing Costs The total amount of money you will need to bring to closing. This is your total down payment (minus the portion you have given for the earnest money), which includes attorneys fees, title charges and city, state and county transfer tax stamps.
Debt-To-Income Ratio The percentage of an individual’s monthly gross income relative to the amount of debt owed.
Dual Agency and Undisclosed Dual Agency Dual Agency: the agent represents two principals in the same transaction. Dual agency requires equal loyalty to two separate principals at the same time.
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Pre-Approval Earnest Money A percentage of the agreed-upon purchase price paid by the buyer at the time of signing the purchase and sale agreement.
Escrow Deposit Deposit of funds into a federally insured account, to be transferred upon completion of the deal.
Potential buyers provide a complete financial picture to mortgage brokers, who provide preliminary approval of the buyer’s loan.
Title-Search / Charges / Insurance A background check on the property to ensure there are no outstanding debts or claims upon the property.
Homeowners Insurance Your lender will require you to have a paid policy for private homeowners insurance for your property. The policy is one year paid in full before closing. In a condo this is similar to a renters insurance policy, as a condo has a master insurance policy for the structure of the building.
Transfer Tax Stamps Each City, State and County has their own policy on transfer tax stamps. The buyer is changed a tax at the time of purchase in order to buy a home in that municipality. This is a large portion of your closing costs.
Under Agreement Home Warranty A private warranty policy from an outside company that covers your appliances and mechanicals in the event they break after closing. Similar to an insurance policy you will pay a deductible each time you make a claim
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(In Contract) Refers to the time between the signing of the purchase and sale agreement by the buyer and seller, and the closing.
Referrals
Referrals Attorneys
Home Inspectors
Lenders
Molly Wretzky
Hy Naiditch
Mark W. Rutkowski
Everyday Law 4621 N. Lawndale Ave Chicago, IL 60625 P:312-715-7081 F:312-377-1970 jmolly@everydaylaw.co
AccuspectHome Inspection Services P: 847.673.9200 F: 847.673.9201 www.accuspect.com
Area Branch Manager Caliber Home Loans Chicago, IL P: 312.498.2440 F: 855.297.1480 Mark.Rutkowski@caliberhomeloans.com
Leon Mann Michael Malatesta Malatesta Law Offices 5310 N. Harlem #203 Chicago, IL 60656 P:312-445-0514 F:312-264-0650 mail@malatestalaw.com
Matt Gebhardt
HAI- Home Advantage Inspection 3570 Old Mills Rd. Highwood, IL 60035 P: 312.401.0299
Household Inspection Team 2352 N. Clybourn Chicago, IL 60614 P: 800.WE.INSPECT/ 773.388.9000
The Law Offices of Matthew R. Gebhardt 555 Skokie Blvd., Suite 500 Northbrook, IL 60062 P: 847.239.4703 C: 773.383.8745 (24 hr phone) F: 773.631.2450 mrglaw@sbcglobal.net
Siomara Barboza The Federal Savings Bank 300 N. Elizabeth Suite 3E Chicago, IL 60607 C: 773-818-5579 P: 312-940-7476 F: 312-940-6233 sbarboza@thefederalsavingbank.com
John West Loan Depot 213 W. Institute Place Suite 210 Chicago, IL 60610 P: 773-425-6248 F: 847-574-8015 jwest@loandepot.com
Chicago77@compass.com
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Bios
Robin Allotta Robin Allotta is a licensed Real Estate Broker with over 20 years of real estate experience. Born and raised on the Northwest Side of Chicago she bought her first piece of investment property at a very young age and has been successfully buying, selling and investing in real estate for her clients and her own portfolio ever since. Robin prides herself to work with clients and all scopes of real estate needs, from first time home buyers to clients who are downsizing, investors to developers. She has her finger on the pulse of the market and will act as your trusted advisor. Robin has been recognized by Chicago Association of Realtors year after year as being a top agent 2002-2018.
312.437.7777 robin.allotta@compass.com
In her time off Robin is dedicated mother of two children, volunteering her time at their North Center neighborhood school. She is a yogi and avid runner.
Katie Jean Colquhoun Katie Jean Colquhoun is an expert at addressing her clients specific needs and finding the real estate solution that perfectly fits them. Her interest in real estate began first with a love for architecture and design in the Chicagoland area, but truly developed into a passion with her own home buying and selling experiences. She was immediately able to see that the process could benefit from some very simple customer service and business techniques she’d picked up along the way, and knew that offering her clients truly personalized service would streamline their home buying and selling to make it an enjoyable experience for all involved.
773.314.3293 katiejean.colquhoun@compass.com
When not in the office, Katie Jean is a devoted mother of two young boys, enjoys renovating her current home in the Portage Park neighborhood, and is an avid runner. You can often find her sprinting her way through the neighborhood with her Olde English Bulldog in tow. Buying your home should be an exciting, invigorating experience that happens only a few times in your life. Finding an agent who can address all your needs will make it the stress free and enjoyable experience it should be. There is no one more dedicated and invested in doing this for you than Katie Jean Colquhoun.
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Testimonials
Testimonials Working with Robin has always been a great experience! I have purchased 3 properties with her - each one to support a new “life stage”. She has a great eye for detail; and she really made the effort to understand my changing needs, priorities, and preferences. She had great knowledge of the areas I was looking in and an ability to think “outside the box” to help me reach my end goals. She’s honest, aggressive (when appropriate), and resourceful. Mike / Norwood Park
We recently worked with Katie Jean to find our forever home. We loved how supportive and responsive she was on what was such a monumental decision for us. We never felt this was just “another transaction” for her because she really listened and cared about what we needed. Being a working mom herself, Katie Jean was really in tune with what’s important for a family with small children when searching for a home. She even helped us to think outside of the box and to consider things/locations that were not on our radar before...and as a result, we found the perfect place! We love our new house and are so happy working with Katie Jean.
I have recently worked with Katie Jean Colquhoun in buying a home for my family. I was dealing with an illness in the family and time was of the essence. Katie Jean was able to help me later that very week, listened to what I was looking for, made some neighborhood suggestions (which were perfect!), and took me to see some houses. She was so patient, helpful and knowledgeable. We found the perfect home- fast! The deal went through really easily due to her hard work and negotiating skills. I highly recommend working with Katie Jean! She is the best! Anne Elliott / Portage Park
Dallas and Elizabeth Thomas / Jefferson Park
Robin is simply the best. She helped me sell my condo last year and was incredible to work with. Robin took charge from day one and did a great job not only managing the process but my expectations along the way. I have already recommended Robin to all my friends - you are in good hands with her! Tiffany / Lakeview
Chicago77@compass.com
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