If you tune into HomesPlus this weekend, you'll hear Dennis Rodkin of Chicago Magazine telling me about some recent homes sold at auction - for much, much less than comparable homes sold for just a few years ago. If you're interested in finding some local auctions for yourself - take a look at these properties. They're being auctioned in the coming months...

Pending home sales rose 3.2% in March and 1.1% from the same time last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. This is based on signed contracts to buy re-sale homes. Does this mean we've seen the worst and we're on our way back up? Are you sick of hearing the projections of when we'll "hit the bottom??" How has the housing market affected you? Share your thoughts...

Who knew a stroll down the street could be so informative? If you're one of those "oooh, I wonder how much that one is?" people and you're an iPhone user (is there anyone left who's not?) then you'll be happy to know that Zillow now has an iPhone app that allows you to see the values of homes as you track yourself walking by them with your iPhone gps. It's so 21st century.

HomesPlus puts me in regular contact with real estate professionals in and around Chicago and I'm always curious how their listings are doing. I've had a few tell me they simply aren't taking listings unless the seller is fully aware of what they're getting into and absolutely MUST sell the home. One realtor explained to me that in some Chicago neighborhoods there is currently a year's worth of home inventory on the market right now - meaning that if starting today, no additional homes were put on the market, then it would take 12 months for all of the homes already on the market to sell.

But, there are plenty of people in a position where they simply don't have a choice - a life or career change is forcing them to sell. If you're one of these people, then take a look at the videos below - find out what you're getting into when you decide to sell and what you should do to prepare your home to get it sold fast and for as close as possible to your asking price. Because these days, it's not just about your realtor - you have your work cut out for you if you want your home to sell...

This summer, HomesPlus will be featuring amazing outdoor retreats. Backyard kitchens, rooftop living spaces...we're celebrating the outdoors! If you love your outdoor space, here's your chance to be featured on HomesPlus! Just send us a few pictures of your own outdoor living space and we might include it in the show. Please include your name, neighborhood, contact info and a brief description of your outdoor space and why you love it!

Here's to the long, long winter finally being OVER!!

Like many of you I'm sure, I spent a good portion of this lovely Mother's Day weekend at the local nursery, choosing the plants that will be the hardest for me to kill this summer. By yesterday afternoon, my window boxes were looking lush and I was feeling pretty productive, but was sad to see that once I had finished there was still something missing. Despite the colorful accent pillows I had added to the bench, the handsome new thermomoter on the wall and the bright vases I had strategically placed around the perimiter, it still looked like...a deck.

Whether you're spending your weekends working on your backyard, a small balcony or you're lucky enough to have a rooftop deck in the city, chances are you're looking to make it feel like another room in your home that you happen to only use during the summer. That's what I was going for. Outdoor room - not deck. So, I was looking around for something that would add that indoor quality and really get my deck on track to be the envy of the neighborhood this season and I found this...

The days of showing off your wealth by building a great big McMansion for your family of three are definitely gone. While being a seller in the market today is tough, it seems that more and more people are selling their too-big-to-handle homes and downsizing to a home that makes a little more sense for their family. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average home shrunk by 300 square feet last year. The focus for these people is to make smart use of space instead of just adding more. Downsizing, or "rightsizing" as many are calling it, creates major savings on heating and cooling bills and many families say that it allows for more family face-time as well (I suppose because those teens no longer have their own wing to skulk off to in lieu of the family dinner).

If you're thinking of losing the wasted space and downsizing, here are some things to consider that will help you make the most of your space...

I was recently at LuxeHome in the Merchandise Mart and took a walk through their Dream Home display. It's a full home's worth of rooms, each designed by a different LuxeHome boutique. Obviously there was a lot of great design in that little dream home, but the one that stood out to me as truly beautiful was a natural wood dining table that was placed in the center of an ultra-modern kitchen. The natural rough edges of the wood definitely did not mimic the clean lines of the rest of the space, but it totally worked. It got me thinking that there's always room for a little bit of nature, no matter how contemporary your space is. You just have to do it right.

If your home is on the market then you know what staging is. You also probably know that while it used to be something that only high-end homes and developers were worried about, now it's something that every seller needs to do just to keep up with the competition. This weekend, we're featuring an on-the-market home in Homewood in which staging made a huge difference.

There's a home around the corner from my house that used to be owned by Danny Devito's doppelganger. He was such a dead ringer for the rotund renaissance man that when I realized what house he lived in I thought he must be related. The house is a beautiful brick single family and when he and his family moved away in the fall of '07 I was eager to see who would take up residence in the home. Fast forward about a year and a half and I'm still waiting. Rumor has it the home was foreclosed on and for some reason still hasn't sold. It's a shame too, because now that the window treatments are gone, you can see that it's quite a beauty on the inside as well.

But it turns out, while foreclosures are in many cases a total steal for the buyer - they also pose a lot of threats because of how long they might be sitting empty. Which might explain why the Danny-look-alike's home is still empty.

Looking for a smaller space to live in? Looking to lower your carbon footprint?

How about a smaller home? A new book - "Tiny Houses" - by Mimi Zeiger takes a look at homes that are 1,000 square feet or smaller.

I imagined that would be the headline for my untimely death as I hung three stories above the ground while shooting a HomesPlus promo last month (and by "headline," I mean page 45 of the local weekly circular). I, of course, did not fall to my death. Mostly due to a couple of skilled window cleaners who were managing the ropes and talking me through my descent, but I like to think it's also because I kept my cool and handled that swinging seat with skill...unfortunately there's footage to prove that was definitely not the case. Take a look at this outtake video that our lovely promotions producer edited together to share my humiliation with the world...she got way too much enjoyment out of this project!

See the actual promo...

Just in case you were wondering.

Painted with 24 karat gold to "evoke a summer day," this toilet is part of TOTO's Miyabi Collection and with a price tag that more closely resembles a car than a toilet, I'm thinking it had better evoke a lot more than that. But alas, it appears toilets are following in the footsteps of the refrigerator...if you're not going to hide it - then it had better look good. Fashion toilets are finding their way into many new collections - check out this photo gallery of today's most glamorous.

Technology changes pretty much every five minutes and we all want to hop on the latest, coolest tech-trend, which means a lot of household electronics end up in landfills with the rest of our discarded trash. But when you're spring cleaning this weekend, there's a better way to get rid of your out-of-date computers, monitors and PDAs. Recycle them!

With the unofficial start of summer behind us, it's time to start gearing up for all of those summer street-fests throughout Chicago. My favorite thing about them? The local art! My first summer in Chicago, I found a gorgeous piece of art at the Retro on Roscoe festival which takes place every August in Roscoe Village. An artist had her booth set up with dozens of hand-painted city scenes, all done on windows discarded from old torn-down homes and buildings. I brought home the largest piece in her booth that day and it remains my absolute favorite thing in my home (except my husband of course).

But every time I venture out to a Chicago neighborhood festival I'm always struck by the creativity that exists in our city. Whether it's a city-scape, a photograph of the El or some other abstract Chicago-related work, local art definitely adds a little flair to your home - not to mention a fantastic conversation piece when you have guests. Plus, by buying your home's artistic accents in our city, you're doing your part to keep our local economy in decent shape. And buying local is always in style.

Find a street fest near you this summer by clicking here.

We're no stranger to the spotlight here in Chicago. There always seems to be a movie being filmed, but few become classics. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of them. So when Cameron's (played by Alan Ruck in the '86 hit) pristine glass-enclosed house went on the market this week - it got our attention.

The 4 bedroom, 4 bath Highland Park home looks more like a gorgeous tree house from the outside. But on the inside - it's all wide open space and modern features. Listed at $2.3 million, it overlooks that famous ravine where Cameron's dad's car reversed to its death. ("What did I do?" "You killed the car." ...you gotta love that part.)

The home is just blocks from the lake and is listed with Sotheby's realtor Meladee Hughes.

Priceless 1961 Ferrari not included.

**Check out a tour of the home on HomesPlus 6/13 & 14!**

The market is primed for buyers right now, but people are still a little wary of jumping into the world of homeownership. And understandably so - they're watching a lot of current owners struggle right now. But according to homeowners that I've spoken with over the last few months, the state of the market is at the bottom of the list when it comes to reasons to buy. Yes, it's a great time price-wise but it's a lot more important to consider your own personal situation. Do you see yourself staying in one place for several years? Is it the right time for your family? It's the personal stuff that really makes owning a home a good idea in the long run - not necessarily how the market's doing when you buy.

Take a look at this video to check out the right reasons to buy...

In the tour that will air on this weekend's show, you'll see how the past seamlessly meshes with luxury living of the 21st century in Winnetka. The 7,000 square foot home has a Great Gatsby-esque backyard that leads right down to its own private beach. It was built in the late 1800's and just standing in the backyard, looking up at the house you can imagine how a band would have been perfectly placed on the grand 2nd floor terrace, entertaining a party of socialites. It was definitely one of the more interesting tours I've had the pleasure of doing! The home itself actually had a scent of history. If you've ever toured a historic landmark then you'll know what I mean. And this place has been pretty well cared for over the years, so it did actually have a museum-like quality, but without being too stuffy - the perfect place for a history buff with the need for a lot of space!

Special thanks to Heidi Ziomek and Dennis Rodkin for letting us tag along with cameras for this tour!

See the video after the jump...