Cary, IL

Attention Homeowners:

If your home is not currently listed and you hope to get your home sold this Spring, NOW is the time to put your home on the market. Traditionally in our area homesellers have waited until AFTER the Superbowl to list for the Spring market. But this year is different.

Why?

1. Homebuyers have a great incentive to LOOK EARLY this year.

Perhaps you've heard of the $8,000 tax credit for 1st time homebuyers. This credit expires at midnight on April 30, 2010. For any 1st time homebuyer who has NOT Contracted to buy a home by this date, THEIR TIME IS UP!

2. Homesellers have a great incentive to LIST EARLY this year.

Perhaps you've heard of the $6,500 tax credit incentive for long-time Homeowners. This credit also expires at midnight on April 30, 2010. This means that for any home seller who chooses to take advantage of this tax credit, they must also contract to buy a home by the April 30 deadline. I have found that many sellers do not want to take a home sale contingency in this market. That means that you better get a head start on the competition in order to have a chance at this once in a lifetime opportunity!

3. Banks have been holding onto properties.

Banks appear to be holding onto foreclosed properties rather than rush to list them. This means that at any moment a FLOOD OF PROPERTIES could ENTER your marketplace and become YOUR COMPETITION. That's right, BANKS may become one of your biggest competitors. We all know the prices that foreclosed homes get on the open market. Do you really want to compete against these homes?

4. More home sellers are trying to save their home from foreclosure by negotiating a Short Sale.

It is anticipated that the market will be flooded with more Short Sale homes as many homeowners can't continue to pay their mortgage obligation. This will probably place another Flood of Properties on the market very soon for three reasons:

a. Unemployment Continues to Rise

1. Causes a loss of income

2. Inablility to pay the mortgage

b. Adjustable Mortgage Resets

1. Rates Rise on homeowners loans

2. Payment Shock causes an inability to make the new mortgage payment

3. Homeowner has to sell

c. Loan Modifications Fail

1. Many homeowners have tried to take advantage of the Making Homes Affordable initiatives out of Washington DC

2. Many of the same owners are attempting to modify their mortgage

3. Statistically most of the modifications are failing to work. Many homeowners have already extended beyond the three month trial period and yet the banks are still not modifying the loans.

5. Interest Rates are Still LOW

For these reasons IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT SELLING YOUR HOME THIS SPRING . . . NOW is the time to GET A JUMP START on the COMPETITION!

Contact me at the number below if you would like an idea of how quickly we can get your home sold in this market. We have great marketing strategies that continue to work.

A recent home of ours in a competitive neighborhood had two good competing offers within 2 1/2 weeks of listing the home. Our seller sold the home for more than appraised value with a buyer who put 45% down and closed EARLY. There were two competing homes on the same street that backed to the same pond that were listed at the same time. Ours sold. Theirs didn't.

Experience a Welcomed Difference in Real Estate, Mortgage and Insurance Services

Quite a few years ago I came across a beautiful subdivision in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago called "Trout Valley". Just the name of the subdivision put a smile on my face.

This subdivision is known for it's privacy, variety of housing styles and community involvement. Meandering through the subdivision is a man-made Trout Stream exclusively for the enjoyment of the members of the Trout Valley Association and their guests.

Now, if you like recreation, this is one subdivision that has it all. If you buy a house here you are entitled to a number of neighborhood amenities that are exclusive to you. Some are FREE but others may cost you a little to enjoy.

Trout Valley offers:

• Trout and Bass Fishing in their Stream and Ponds
• Horseback Riding and a Stable your Horse
• Community Swimming Pool
• Community Tennis Courts (2)
• Community Boat Launch (Fox River)
• Community Baseball/Softball Fields
• Community Gardening Plots (with Water)
• Community Walking Trails
• Community Common Areas with Park Benches and Grassy Areas
• Community Boat Docks
• Community Gathering Pavilion (can be rented out for Private Gatherings)
• Community Playground

Walking distance from Trout Valley is the Cary Library, shopping, dining and day care. There is plenty to do in this area and as such I consider Trout Valley one of the nicest places to live in McHenry County.

If you are interested in the limited number of homes that are available for sale in this community, feel free to contact me at 224-805-2616. I will send you out the most current list of available homes in Trout Valley.

If you have a home you'd like to market for sale in Trout Valley, call me at 224-805-2616 for suggestions on how to sell your home for Top Dollar and in record time.

Home Buyer TIPS On Purchasing A Distressed Property: Pre-Foreclosure, Short Sale, Foreclosure or REO

Did You Know That Foreclosures and Short Sales Can Actually Cost A Buyer More?

So many buyers think the best deals out there are foreclosures and short sales, but they can actually cost MORE!

One important thing for home buyers to keep in mind is that since we are in such a strong buyer’s market now, there are many motivated sellers out there that have great homes priced to compete with the short sales, pre-foreclosures, foreclosures and REO’s and a buyer can usually purchase one of these homes with a less stress, money and risk factors than when buying a distressed property.

Here are just some of the additional costs you may incur with a

bank foreclosure / distressed sale:

Survey: Approximately 150.-300. (Usually a seller cost, except when a bank sale)

No Tax pro-ration: (usually 105% of the last tax bill in this area, banks only will usually give the buyer 100% of the last known tax bill)

Usually no negotiation on repairs, so if you do your inspection and it is not satisfactory to you, you talk with your attorney regarding canceling the contract if it is within the contingency dates, but no one will give you back the 300. or so you may have spend on a home inspection, or any fees that were paid to your lender. You may also be putting out your hard earned dollars for radon, lead paint, or mold inspections if you feel they are important to you.

Not closing on time can also cost you a Per Diem, as banks usually have this in their contract addendums. This is more of a risk now with underwriting and appraisals taking longer and daily changes in the banking industry. The addendums usually have a charge that the buyer will have to pay for each day after the original closing date if they can not close on time for any reason. I have seen this Per Diem charge being anywhere from 25-100 dollars per day.

By the way....*****I love working with buyers***** :-)

Appliances: Banks usually say there is “no bill of sale on personal property”, so what you see when you write an offer may not be what you see before closing. Make sure you have some extra money put aside in case you have to purchase appliances.

Well/Septic Issues: If a property is on a private well or septic, you will also have to pay for your own inspections and this is usually a seller’s expense in this area. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have an FHA loan, a vacant property that has a private septic system will not work since FHA now requires a copy of the septic test and if vacant, the inspector will usually put something on the report like “property is vacant and a re-test is recommended 30 days after normal use”. If the well test does not come back with the water being safe, the buyer will usually have to correct the situation since it is an “as is” contract.

De-Winterization and re-winterizing the property for inspections and final walk-through. In most cases this is a buyer’s expense. Even if you are not doing a home inspection, the appraiser usually will want the water on when they come by to do the appraisal, especially if it is an FHA mortgage.

No disclosures: Since they have never lived in or in most cases, have never even seen the property, they are exempt from having to do the usual disclosures. Your due diligence is even more important in foreclosures and any distressed sales.

Deferred maintenance: When someone can no longer pay their mortgage, many times they also have not been able to properly keep up with maintaining and updating their home so more repairs are usually necessary than on a home where the seller has been able to afford to keep up with updates and maintenance/repair issues.

Timing: Many times there is a very long wait to get a response on an offer, and it is usually worse with short sales than REO’s, which are properties that have already been foreclosed upon. You could be risking closing on time to be able to take advantage of the first time home buyers credit, which expires at the end of June 2010. Remember, you will have to have an accepted contract by the end of April 2010. I would recommend not waiting until the end of April to have a home under contract if you are a first time buyer or otherwise principal residence buyer who qualifies for the up to 6500. expanded home buyer tax credit. If that contract falls through so will your home buyer’s tax credit of up to 8000 or 6500!

Furthermore, in a short sale situation, in Northern Illinois the trend is becoming that once a seller signs a contract, contingent upon bank approval, the buyer usually needs to move forward with their inspections and mortgage approval right away, even though the bank has not yet made a decision if they will approve the short sale or not. Usually once the bank gives an approval, they do not give the buyer too long to close and most of the time it is not enough time to do this after approval. The other reason for this is that if a seller only sends one offer into the bank (which is usually how it is done because any time a new offer is presented to them they go back to square one and the waiting time starts all over!), the seller really does not want to risk that the buyer cancels the contract after they have waited so long for an answer and the clock is ticking for them when they are facing foreclosure so usually do not want to be tied up with a buyer who will not wait. In the Short Sales and Foreclosures Resource class I just took last week, the consensus seemed to be that buyers and sellers were waiting an average of 3-4 months for the bank to decide if they approve the short sale or not.

These are just some things to keep in mind when considering your options. Foreclosures and distressed sales can be excellent opportunities for the right buyer who is not trying to closely watch their costs, who has a lot of time and patience, who has some money to “gamble” with if contracts are not approved, who does not have to close by a certain date (like to get the first time buyer tax credit!) and the ability not to get too attached to or emotional about the property. Do not get me wrong, there are many great fantastic deals out there to be had right now, but do not make the mistake of thinking that the only good deals are distressed sales. Sometimes, a truly motivated seller with equity in their home can also offer a wonderful buy with less cost, less waiting and less hassles and a property in better condition as well!

It is a GREAT TIME TO BUY REAL ESTATE in McHenry County, Cook County , Kane and Lake Counties in Northern Illinois. There are fabulous homes for sale at great prices!

***especially for first time buyers, investors and move up buyers. *** Rates are fantastic, too!

We are having a "HUGE sale" on our large inventory of VERY well priced HOMES!

To Search Homes For Sale, Please Contact Me Directly Or Feel Free To Search On My Website!

My Direct Number at the Office is 847.516.6760

If I can help you or someone you know purchase or sell a home, I’d love to help.

If I can be of assistance to you, or, if you just have a question please do not hesitate to call or email me. It will be my pleasure! By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them. My business keeps growing from your referrals.

There are fabulous buys on the market....now is a GREAT time to buy real estate in IL, especially for MOVE UP Buyers, Waterfront Buyers, Vacation and Second Home Buyers, Investors and First Time Buyers!

There is a reason we call this a BUYER'S MARKET-Real Estate is ON SALE!

There is a reason we call this a BUYER'S MARKET...

Actually, there are MANY reasons! I have always LOVED representing buyers, but I have never had so much fun and success with my buyer clients as I am now in this BUYER'S MARKET.

There IS An UPSIDE To This Market: True, it may not be the best time to sell, unless you need to or if you are moving UP in price. (That could be a whole other blog post!) If you pay attention to the media, you may get the idea there is nothing GOOD about this market and the best thing to do is to just stay away from real estate. But, as in anything, everything has silver lining, and in this case, it just may be the silver cup! There is a reason we call this a Buyer's market, and that is because current real estate conditions are VERY favorable to buyers. Yes, it is a GREAT time to buy, for many reasons. I will just highlight a few here.....

Time Of Year: We are now going into the "holiday season", which is traditionally the slowest time of the year. Most well informed sellers and their Realtors know that as the upcoming weeks tick by, they have more of a chance of being stuck without a buyer through winter. Let this work in your favor now.

Choices Galore: In my 16 years career as a Realtor, I have never seen such an abundance of well priced homes on the market. In a seller's market, I have seen my buyers stressed out by the lack of choices. On the flip side, these days there are almost SO many choices that my buyer clients actually sometimes feel overwhelmed because there is so much to choose from. This is definitely a better problem!

Real Estate is ON SALE!

We Can Negotiate: I love to go to bat for and negotiate for my buyer clients. This is one of the many professional services I do for my clients that really I love doing the most! And I am having more fun than ever doing this because now, in this market, we really CAN negotiate great prices and terms for buyers.

VERY Well Priced Inventory of Homes On The Market: Not only can you negotiate once you find the home you love, but the market is also abundant with a housing inventory that is ALREADY very well priced.

Great Deals: In my opinion, the best deals are not just the foreclosures, REO's, pre-foreclosures and short sales. Most of the best deals are the sellers that actually have some equity in their homes and have the ability and desire to sell. And you not only have less risk than with bank/corporate owned homes, but you can negotiate more and they are definitely easier to work with.

Less Competition: In a strong seller's market, ALL the buyers come out....which of course, is WHY it is sellers market then. In a seller's market, all of the buyers are competing for the best homes.....homes that are priced well and in great condition. When the buyers should REALLY come out is now, that is why we call it a BUYER'S MARKET. Real Estate market conditions are very favorable to BUYERS now. Don't miss your chance by waiting until the market heats up again.

More Motivated Sellers: Once again, we can negotiate! Sellers are much more willing to negotiate on price, terms, and inspection/repair issues now because they KNOW how valuable an offer from a ready, willing and able buyer is these days. They are much less likely to turn down your offer and just wait for the next one because it may be a long wait.

Time Is On Your Side: No longer do you have to put in an offer immediately when see a home you like to beat out the other buyers. You can take a little more time looking, deciding and finding one that is just right for you. Do not get me wrong; even in this market we do still see multiple offers on well priced homes. But you do not always have the pressure of feeling you have to make an immediate decision or you will lose out. You can get comfortable with your decision first before moving forward.

Rates ARE Great: We have been spoiled in recent years because we have had low interest rates for so many years; we almost forget how lucky we are they are still so low NOW. Does anyone remember the days when mortgage loan interest rates were at 18%? Coupled with the lower home prices in today's BUYER'S MARKET, you can really score a great deal now.

Financing: Yes, there are plenty of loans available and loan options for buyers today. From listening to the press, you just may think all of the mortgage money dried up and no one can get a loan. It is NOT true! There are many options and lenders able and eager to earn your business and help you get into a home now.

Buy What You Love, Not What You Like: In a strong seller's market, buyers had to make choices between the few homes that were acceptable to them. The market did not allow the luxury of shopping to find a home you LOVE. Now you can!

The thing is, no one has a crystal ball and no one knows when the market will "hit bottom". Many speculate on when this will be. But we are definitely already in the low part of the cycle. Real estate values are cyclical and historically it shows that after we have a period of increasing values, it is always followed by a "correction" period. We had the longest run in recent years of increasing values so this "correction" period is lasting longer as well, of course. But remember, it IS a cycle and values WILL go back up.

The only time we will really know we hit bottom is when the market is on its way back up. At that point, it just may be too late. If you speculate too much, you may miss the really great deals that are out there NOW for you.

No matter what type of market we are in, the most important thing to consider is if it is a good time for YOU to buy. You have to be comfortable with your own situation. But if you are comfortable making a move, don't let FEAR get in the way of the fabulous deals that are there to be had right now. This will not last.

OK...so that is a few really good reasons to jump off the FENCE and in the game today. I could go on and on about this as more points keep coming to mind today, but I do need to get back out of my office to meet the next smart and savvy buyer clients I am working with today! Have a wonderful fall Saturday:-)

There are fabulous buys on the market....now is a GREAT time to buy real estate in Northern Illinois, especially for MOVE UP Buyers, Waterfront Buyers, Vacation and Second Home Buyers, Investors and First Time Buyers!

To Search Homes For Sale, Please Contact Me Directly Or Feel Free To Search On My Website

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me. It will be my pleasure! By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them. My business keeps growing from your referrals.

My Direct Number at the Office is 847.516.6760

I look forward to the opportunity to earn your business.

How can a CDPE ( Certified Distressed Property Expert ) help you when you are facing foreclosure? 

 

In addition to helping people with selling resale properties, I also work with homeowners who are in distress or owe more on thier homes than what they are worth.  As a CDPE, I am a member of an organization of over 8000. professionals that work with homeowners in distress, as Realtors. 

This little video explains how CDPE's are trained to help.  If you are facing foreclosure or know someone who may be, please give me a call (I am a CDPE), I'd like to try to help more people to avoid foreclosure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Direct Number at the Office is 847.516.6760

 

 

If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call or email me.  It will be my pleasure!  By the way, if you know of someone that could benefit from my high level of service, please call or email me with their name and daytime phone number and I will make sure to follow up and take great care of them.  My business keeps growing from your referrals.

 

There are fabulous buys on the market....now is a GREAT time to buy real estate in IL, especially for MOVE UP Buyers, Waterfront Buyers, Vacation and Second Home Buyers, Investors and First Time Buyers!

To Search Homes For Sale, Please Contact Me Directly Or Feel Free To Search On My Website!