Karen Breen Elia ChicagoCityHomes

The operating principle for our company is Making a Positive Difference in People's Lives. These words have always been more than a slogan on a business card for us. Throughout the years, we have helped new buyers locate their first homes and been there when they were ready to upgrade. We have fielded financing questions and tried to step outside the box to help our clients through sometimes difficult real estate transactions. We recently decided to take this a step further and are now pleased to announce that we have acquired our Certified Distressed Property Exert (CDPE) certification.

The housing market has changed in Chicago and the rest of the nation over the last two years. Many homes are in foreclosure, even after record numbers of people have already lost their homes. Housing prices have fallen from the boom years. Sellers must realistically expect less while many homeowners are not even in a good position to sell as their mortgage loans exceed the value of their homes.

This situation has created a demand for Realtors® who are well-versed in all aspects of the current market dynamics. Many of our potential clients are in trouble. The prospect of foreclosure is both financially and personally devastating. Hovering on the brink of foreclosure, they need both help and hope from a Realtor® specially trained in helping them try to avoid foreclosure. Even the process of buying a home in various stages of foreclosure, making a short sale offer, or bidding on a bank-owned home require knowledge and skills that most Realtors® do not have.

A CDPE has been trained in the intricacies of distressed property - a term that actually applies to any property that has lost value through physical damage, zoning changes, lack of curb appeal, or market conditions. As a result of the change in value, the owner has difficulty making the payments or selling the property. A CDPE can assist the owner in a short sale, improving the chance that the lender will agree to accept less than the amount owed. This negotiation is often a hard sell that requires paperwork, time, and patience. Though this type of sale may take months to complete, it can successfully prevent foreclosure for the owner. CDPEs also guide clients toward loan refinancing and modification solutions.

A CDPE cannot promise to save the home of everyone who walks in the door, but for troubled homeowners who seek help early enough, there may be another solution. According to Alex Chafren of the Distressed Property Institute, 85% of homeowners who work with a CDPE can avoid foreclosure.

We have always been willing to help our clients. Now as CDPEs, we are even better equipped to do so. If you find yourself wondering if foreclosure is your only way out, Karen Breen Elia and Louis Elia at ChicagoCityHomes may be able to help you. As a part of the 1% of realtors with the CDPE designation, we can also help you if you would like to buy a foreclosed home.

Are you one of the nine million homeowners that President Obama's Making Home Affordable program will help? Now it is very easy to see if you qualify.

On March 19, 2009, the U.S Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched a new website to help qualify consumers for the new loan modification and refinancing program. The new website MakingHomeAffordable.gov offers features such as interactive self-assessment tools and calculators so consumers can see both their eligibility and potential savings.

This effort to educate the public on the program follows the release of guidelines to lenders on March 4. Representatives from the Treasury, HUD, and an interagency task force met with mortgage loan servicers, investors, nonprofit housing counselors, and representatives of borrower advocacy groups to help them implement the program. Many lenders have already incorporated information about the program into their websites and are reaching out to borrowers who might qualify.

The Making Home Affordable program aims to help two groups of homeowners who are making a good faith effort to stay in their homes:

• Borrowers who want to refinance but are unable to because the value of their home has fallen.

Aimed at assisting five million homeowners with loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the refinancing arm of the program will help those whose payments are up-to-date but who might not qualify for bank financing.

• Borrowers who cannot make their mortgage payments because their interest rate has increased or their income has fallen.

The loan modification part of the program seeks to help four million homeowners who are delinquent on their payments but have income sufficient to pay a reduced payment equivalent to 31% of their monthly income.

When homeowners come to the user-friendly site, they choose which program they are applying for, answer a few simple questions, and immediately receive an answer as to whether they may qualify. Those who qualify are directed to their lender or mortgage servicer and provided with a list of documents they will need to put the program into motion. Those who do not meet program qualifications are urged to contact their mortgage servicer or a HUD-approved counselor. There is no cost for qualified homeowners to participate in the program.

In the near future, the site will include a list of lenders who are participating in the program.

If you are a homeowner in financial distress, please contact Karen Breen Elia or Louis Elia at ChicagoCityHomes for help. They are Certified Distressed Property Experts (CDPE).

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, all easily accessible to each other via a great mass transit system. For someone who loves the urban flow and wants to be near work, restaurants, shopping, and things to do, there is no better neighborhood than downtown Chicago.

Comprised of River North, Old Town, Gold Coast, Streeterville, Lakeshore East, Loop, Printers Row, West Loop, Greektown, and South Loop, the downtown area currently has about 4,300 units for sale that offer an interesting mix of architectural styles, prices, and amenities. Not surprisingly, the majority of the homes for sale are condominiums or townhomes - new ones, converted apartment buildings, restored warehouses - but there are some single family homes as well. There's not much grass for individual units, but there are 24 miles of lakefront park, courtesy of the Chicago Park District for anyone needing a "green fix." These parks, notably Grant Park, Lincoln Park and Olive Park have some of the best public beaches, fishing, boat slips and docks, golf courses and driving ranges, walking, biking and skating trails around.

Anyone picking up a Chicago guidebook will soon zero in on the hundreds of top-rated restaurants, the designer shopping, and the award winning architecture you pass on your daily walk or transit ride to work. Area residents soon find their favorite, more affordable "everyday" places to eat, drink, and shop. For something different, cuisines of the world are a short cab ride away in nearby neighborhoods. The buildings may fade into the background but whether it's Trump Tower in River North, Hancock Center in Streeterville, Sears Tower in the Loop, or the office building with the diamond shaped roof visible from Lake Shore Dr., there's always one sky scraper that stands out every time.

If your game plan is to continue your education after work, it's easy to do that as Chicago is home to 86 colleges and universities, most with evening or weekend programs to supplement their growing full time enrollment. Nineteen are located right in the Loop, including Columbia College, Roosevelt University, DePaul, John Marshall Law School, and the famous Harrington School of Design.

If you want to live downtown to be "in the midst of it all," there's plenty to see and do. Theaters, museums, and major sports teams offer year round events of interest, but the city is noted for its downtown festivals in the summer and its family events at Navy Pier.

Interested in seeing whether downtown living is for you? ChicagoCityHomes will find you the Chicago condo, townhome, or loft of your dreams.

If you're selling your home in this current market, your first inclination might be to fixate on how much you paid for your home and cringe when your REALTOR® suggests how you should price your home based on market figures. You might mutter something about how you're giving the house away, especially since you remodeled the bathroom and put on a new roof in your years there. A good REALTOR® will offer you a mind-alerting revelation. You have to see the big picture!

Assuming that you are buying another home, you will benefit from the "buyer's market" environment. Another seller who has put work into his home, who has made desirable improvements in it, is also selling it at a price below what it might have been worth a couple years ago. If the owner has finished the basement, added a deck, and replaced the windows, you now have the opportunity to buy a home that includes all the upgrades and updates at a much lower price.

In the Chicago market, I have seen this time and time again. One recent example that comes to mind is my clients, sellers in Albany Park who just "lost" $29,000 on the sale of their condo that they purchased new in April 2004. In return, however, they just purchased a single family house in a short sale, and paid $140,000 less than the last owner, who additionally finished the basement and paved the patio.

My clients were able to make the move they wanted in their time frame, without putting their life on hold waiting for the market to achieve a gain on their sale. Another owner in the same building said she was "morally opposed" to selling her condo for less than the price for which it was purchased. My clients were "morally opposed" to not cashing in on the opportunities our current market presents! When you are both a seller and a buyer, your "losses" as a seller are more than compensated by your "gains" as buyer. See the big picture.

Karen Breen Elia and Louis Elia will draw the big picture for you and show you great values in North Side properties. Visit Chicagocityhomes today.

It's been nearly a month since President Barrack Obama announced his Stimulus Plan, which includes an $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers. Some critics claimed it wasn't enough, especially since original drafts of the plan included a $15,000 credit. Other were disappointed that only first time homebuyers could benefit. Builders of new homes were disappointed on both scores. The plan as noted in the chart below has some income restrictions. The credit cannot be used as a down payment. It doesn't have to be paid back. It will be applied against the homeowners' tax liability; if they owe less the $8,000 tax, they receive the rest back in a check from the government.

With its imperfections, will the plan help stimulate the housing market? The National Association of Realtors (NAR) thinks so; in fact the prestigious real estate group upped its estimate of how many would be helped from 200,000 to 900,000 over the past few weeks.

To any first time buyer with good credit and a stable income who questions the value of this credit, I say two words: "Get real." When is the last time someone offered you $8,000 that you didn't have to pay back?

When people move into a new home, some new dynamics come into play. Especially if you embrace homeownership after apartment living, you may find your monthly outlay for utilities much higher than expected - especially if utilities were included in the rent. As a homeowner, you are the one responsible for the hot water heater that suddenly dies or the refrigerator that conks out. The new tax credit doesn't function like an ATM where you can withdraw money when you need it. However, if you reduce your withholding, the anticipated tax credit can help you ease into higher home operating costs and provide for unplanned emergencies.

In addition, $8,000 can fund some of the needs and desires you may have as a new homeowner. The amount won't allow you to remodel a shack into a palace, but it will cover new appliances or new carpeting or some new furniture. If you don't have the cash, you might be able to buy some of these things on a deferred payment plan offered by many stores. Without adding to your Mastercard or Visa bills, you can pay off the balance with your tax credit funds.

The credit is good through December 1, 2009, so now is the time to visit Chicagocityhomes. Karen Breen Elia and Louis Elia will help you locate an affordable first home in Lakeview or one of the many other intriguing Chicago neighborhoods.