Page 3 - Chicago homeowners question staying in city after unrest 8.11.20

“I’m talking to retail chains that say their sales in Chicago had not been recovering recently like
sales have increased in the suburbs,” Hopkins says. “Then comes this latest violence, which is
contributing to a perfect storm of reasons for people to decide they no longer need to live in or near

downtown.”

He adds: “The volume of calls and emails I’ve gotten in the past couple of days from residents who

no longer feel it’s safe to live downtown is shocking. They are telling me they are giving up and
moving away. I hope this is not the final reality. My hope is that we can still save downtown.”

Ames, the broker, still sees signs of optimism. She listed a two-bedroom house in Jefferson Park
recently at $289,000 and within 24 hours fielded a half-dozen offers. She expects the sale to close
soon at more than $300,000. She also has a home on a double lot in Lakeview whose sale is

pending after receiving multiple offers. The asking price was $2,995,000. “If you live in a high-rise in
the Loop and must take an elevator up and down, then your condo is going to be harder to sell,”
Ames says. “But if you’re farther north with some yard for kids to play in, that still looks good to
families enduring this pandemic.”

Editor's note: This story has been changed to reflect the correct property Jennifer Ames sold within
24 hours. It also now shows the correct name of Ames' firm, and corrects the notion that she
reduced the price of her own home due to protests and looting. In fact, she said, she had taken it off

the market because of the pandemic.

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