About Madison County, IL

I know it's hard to believe, but the state of Illinois may be able to really, truly help you if you're falling behind in your mortgage because you've been hit with unemployment or substantial underemployment.

The Illinois Hardest Hit program provides temporary mortgage assistance to homeowners who have experienced an income reduction due to those conditions.

The program allows homeowners who are eligible to stay in their home while they work to get back on their feet with employment and become financial stable again.

Homeowners who are deemed eligible can receive either:

1. A one-time payment for all of their mortgage arrearage, fees, and penalties, or

2. Help paying 100% of their monthly mortgage payment for as long as 18 months, under certain conditions.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) runs the program using funds from the U.S. Department of Treasury. What are the guidelines?

The home must be located in Illinois

Households must have a documented income reduction of at least 25% due to unemployment or underemployment through no fault of their own and their household income must be at or below 120% of the area's median income.

The loan balance must not be more than $500,000 and household liquid assets cannot exceed $10,000 or $12,500 depending on the Illinois county in which they live.

The home must be the primary and only residence of all borrowers/owners.

The property can be a one to four unit building as long as the borrower lives in one of the units.

You must have a fixed or adjustable rate loan and not an interest-only or negative amortization loan.

The current mortgage holder must agree to accept payments.

The homeowner cannot have been convicted of a mortgage-related felony.

Go directly to the website for the program to start your application. Once you finish the online application, you'll be assigned someone to help guide you through the process and figure out if you're eligible.

Click on www.illinoishardesthit.org to apply for free.

If you'd like to appeal your Madison County, Illinois home's assessment -- that includes homes in Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Troy, Collinsville, Granite City, etc. -- you only have until September 12, 2011 to get the paperwork and supporting materials to the Madison County Board of Review.

The Madison County Board of Review requires that homeowners who want to file a complaint must fill out a form listing a wide variety of information about the property in question and also submit supporting documents such as comparable sales, or construction cost, or an appraisal or an operating statement for the last two years for income property.

If you've just recently purchased your home, you can include copies of your closing statement showing a value lower than your home's current assessment.

Here's a link to the Madison County, Illinois website from which you can download the Residential Complaint for Assessment Year 2011 form. The form also includes an instruction sheet that will answer many of the questions you might have about the process.

What are grounds for a residential assessment appeal?

According to Madison County, they include: over valuation, unequal treatment in the assessment process, contention of law, property that has been assessed twice in the year or condemnation. There also is a blank for "other" in case your situation is not listed.

If you so desire, you also can tell the county that your assessment is not high enough versus similar properties on the same form. I bet most people aren't rushing to do that.

Good luck with your appeal!

Edwardsville Illinois Real Estate Market Report YTD Through August 2011

Year-to-date through August 2011, 202 homes have been sold in Edwardsville, Illinois. That's down 13.3 percent from the 233 homes sold by the end of August in 2010.

Right now, 186 listings are currently under contract, down five percent from pending sales on the books year-to-date in 2010.

The average selling price in Edwardsville through August 2011 is $217,140, just 2.8 percent lower than 2010.

Average days on the market have risen to 170, up 16.5 percent from 2010 when the average house in Edwardsville stayed on the market 146 days.

What does this mean? Fewer homes have sold during the first half of the year in Edwardsville, but pending sales have risen to within five percent of the prior year, a good sign. The average selling price is holding its own with less than a three percent dip from last year. And homes are taking longer to sell with the average number of days on the market experiencing a fairly significant increase.

So, if you're selling your home, make sure it stands out against the competition in price and condition so you can help it sell efficiently. If you're a buyer, now is the time to make a decision and place an offer before prices, which are stabilizing, rise and you've missed your best opportunities.

Just Sold in Wood River, Illinois

It's a challenging market for sure, but there are buyers out there who are willing, able, and ready to buy. It's always exciting to find great clients and more exciting to find the perfect home for them.

We closed on this awesome property, and the new homeowners are very happy with the home and the process. Congratulations to the Wilsons--may you create many happy memories in your new, beautiful home!

Glen Carbon Illinois Scarecrow Contest 2011

The crows may be scared, but most residents of Glen Carbon, Illinois are just charmed by the whimsical scarecrows that have started popping up throughout the village this fall.

The second-annual Scarecrow Contest is underway and you still have time to enter your own straw creation.

Voting will be held at Village Hall on Saturday, October 1 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. (Glen Carbon residents are encouraged to drop by and vote for their favorites that day.)

If you'd like to enter a scarecrow in the individual/family/group or business categories, you can get the details here:

The G.L.E.N Committee runs the contest and encourages scarecrows that are "whimsical, humorous, lovable, and fun" for this family friendly contest. (They will disqualify entries that are too scary or are deemed inappropriate.) There is no entry fee for the contest.

The lovely lady scarecrow to the right is perched outside the Glen Carbon Centennial Library.

Scarecrows entered in the contest will be displayed in the lawn in front of Village Hall from 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday, September 30 where they will stay on view until Saturday, October 8, 2011.

This straw fellow is holding court in front of Village Hall:

And this one is located in front of Miner Square at Glen Carbon Road and Glen Crossing: