Chicago buyers feeling the pain of Chicago's new Transfer Tax

Check out the great article in the Tribune over the weekend on the impact of the new Transfer tax on Chicago homebuyers.

My favorite quote from a potential homebuyer whose transfer tax will INCREASE by $7,000.

Hopefully, by November, when I close, they will have figured out that sellers should also contribute -- but I am a seller, too, so I am going to get hurt either way.

The thing that still gets me: what does bailing out the pension system of the CTA have to do with Real Estate? Of course, the real answer is that this tax affects so few people in any given year, it was simple for the legislature to shift this tax onto them as they're not an organized voting block. I hope Chicago Aldedrmen remember that although Chicago home sellers are not an organized voting lobby, the Chicago, the Illinois and the National Associations of Realtors are.