Best Bang for Your Buck

The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, but 20 months later it's still a buyer's market in the real estate world. Realtor Madison Hildebrand found two similarly priced properties in the gayborhoods of Chicago and Los Angeles and identifies the advantages of each handsome home:

735 W. Brompton Ave., in the Boystown neighborhood of Chicago
Listed at $1,199,000

This Queen Anne-style home comes with four bedrooms, one bathroom, and a patio. The location is steps from Halsted Street, Chicago's gay main drag, while biking and walking trails are two blocks away. The city's rapid transit system is within walking distance, but the house comes with a detached multicar garage. For more information contact Barbara Head at Prudential Rubloff, (312) 368-5910.
Best bet: "I fancy this property because there is room for expansion, it has a dramatic circular driveway, and lots of frontage."

839 N. Gardner St., very close to the L.A. area's gay epicenter, West Hollywood Listed at $1,049,000

This 1,800-square-foot charmer comes with three bedrooms and two baths, a detached guesthouse, and a fireplace (L.A. can get cold!). The home is two blocks from the Melrose strip and a 20-minute walk to the nightlife on Santa Monica Boulevard. Two small parks are nearby as well. If the number of gay couples who've oohed and aahed about this house is any indication, this property is in the center of a Desperate Gay Wives neighborhood. For more information contact Merrie Kung at Keller Williams, (310) 736-5599.