Scott Roy

I met a fantastic bankruptcy attorney a little under two years ago. He was moving back to the Fox Valley area, and he needed a small office space for his law practice. I was able to find him a comfortable space to hang his shingle, and we developed a friendship.

Last year, I got a call from him to do a comparative market analysis for one of his bankruptcy clients. They were preparing their case for bankruptcy, and they need a fair market analysis of their assets.

The attorney had been using an online service to determine home values, and when he had presented their analysis to his client the trouble began. The online analysis cost the client $100 and it was a one page "form." It insinuated that they had searched local tax records and analyzed the market, but the results were far from accurate. It came up with a value almost $80,000 over what they neighborhood would support, and it said the St. Charles market was a vibrant and growing market. While values have not depreciated much in the area, the St. Charles and surrounding communities are far from "vibrant and growing."

I drove by the house, reviewed local comparables, and assembled a multi-page report for the attorney for the same $100.

The attorney says that when the judge asks about the client's home value, he shows them the rofessional looking report and rarely questions the findings.

Since that initial inquirey, I have performed close to 20 comparative market analysis' for him, and he has referrred me to another attorney. I am trying to assemble more attorneys to work with, and I hope they take me up on it. If they continue to use online services for home values, they are doing a big dis-service to their clients.

PLEASE NOTE: The CMAs must be "arms length." You cannot have a relationship with the client yourself. You cannot attempt to get the listing if it is necessary to sell the house. You get paid for the service, knowing that there is no further anticipation of compensation.

Finally, the current economic conditions have forced many people to explore bankruptcy, and it is so important to select someone who will look out for their interests. Before formalizing my arrangement with this attorney, I worked with a couple of people filing bankruptcy through some legal "shops." Both have had difficulty getting their cases closed. A process that should typically take weeks to conclude have been going on for months. One contact has been trying to get their bankruptcy closed for 10 months and counting. If you would like to get in touch with my attorney, I would be happy to pass his contact information to you.

As I titled this entry, Bankruptcy Attorneys are in the black. My client met his 2008 production goal in September, and I have performed 6 market analysis' for him in the first two weeks in 2009. He is a great resource for your clients in trouble and to help you understand this aspect of our real estate environment.

Real estate activity in the Kane County (IL) market can be summarized by marginal real estate value depreciation with dramatic increases in listing inventory and days on the market. The impact for owners and Realtors in 2009 is a need to sell alot of homes at appropriate prices to rid ourselves of the logjam.

I have compiled statistics over the last two years for single family homes in Kane Couny, Geneva, St. Charles, And Batavia to illustrate the current fabric of our local real estate market. You will see that the price of homes sold in the larger communities have remained flat or have decreased slightly. Overall Kane County has seen a drop in values by close to 10%.

The major hurdle in these communities is the amount of homes currently for sale and the average market time to sell these homes. In most cases, there is a years worth of inventory currently on the market. This means that if no new houses came up for sale, it would take a year to bring the housing inventory to zero. This is a major challenge we will face in 2009.

The major statistics to review in the following charts are the Appreciation/Depreciation percentages, the changes in market time, and the active listings statistics.

Kane County, IL 2008
Current Total Active Listings:	3769
Average Market Time:	246
Average List Price:	$ 354,194
	Last 6 Months	Last 12 Months	Prior 12 Months
Number Sold	1617	3182	4263
Average Market Time	167	168	132
Average List Price	$ 285,777	$ 290,740	$ 311,289
Average Sales Price	$ 270,024	$ 275,624	$ 299,700
List vs. Sales Price Ratio	94%	95%	96%
Overall Appreciation/Depreciation	-2%	-8%

• There are 3,769 active listings in Kane County which is more than the number of properties sold in 2008.
• The average market time of all active listings is 246 days which is 79 days higher than the market time of properties sold in the last 6 months. This tells me that the houses priced well sold and the overpriced houses remain on the market.
• If you look at the average price of the active listings, you see that they are close to $70,000 over the average list price of houses sold in the last 6 months.

Consider the St. Charles real estate market statistics.

St. Charles, IL 2008
Current Total Active Listings:	522
Average Market Time:	287
Average List Price:	$ 629,155
	Last 6 Months	Last 12 Months	Prior 12 Months
Number Sold	217	441	578
Average Market Time	189	189	167
Average List Price	$ 505,460	$ 497,323	$ 490,730
Average Sales Price	$ 471,235	$ 467,824	$ 469,031
List vs. Sales Price Ratio	93%	94%	96%
Overall Appreciation/Depreciation	1%	0%

• Home values have remained flat over the last year.
• There is more than a one year inventory of houses currently on the market.
• The market time of active listings is 100 days (on average) than those properties which have sold. he overpriced listings remain on the market, and the will remain on the market until their prices fall in line with true market values.
• The average list price of active listings is dramatically higher than those that have sold which means the higher priced houses remain on th emarket.

Now let us look at Geneva, IL.

Geneva, IL 2008
Current Total Active Listings:	232
Average Market Time:	235
Average List Price:	$ 494,462
	Last 6 Months	Last 12 Months	Prior 12 Months
Number Sold	141	261	333
Average Market Time	155	159	144
Average List Price	$ 410,669	$ 404,280	$ 404,260
Average Sales Price	$ 389,571	$ 382,771	$ 389,255
List vs. Sales Price Ratio	95%	95%	96%
Overall Appreciation/Depreciation	2%	-2%

• There is slightly less than one year of housing inventory currently on the market.
• Market values have remained flat over the last year.
• The higher priced homes and those that are over priced remain on the market.

Batavia, IL has sufered the most in market values.

Batavia, IL 2008
Current Total Active Listings:	173
Average Market Time:	264
Average List Price:	$ 406,236
	Last 6 Months	Last 12 Months	Prior 12 Months
Number Sold	78	185	255
Average Market Time	156	166	141
Average List Price	$ 330,557	$ 346,619	$ 370,416
Average Sales Price	$ 313,446	$ 329,854	$ 355,233
List vs. Sales Price Ratio	95%	95%	96%
Overall Appreciation/Depreciation	-5%	-7%

• Market values have decreased almost 12% in the last year.
• Market times for homes sold have dropped in the last 6 months, but the active listings have very high market times.
• Active listing prices remain high for this market.

Based upon these statistics, the Kane County/Greater Fox Valley Real Estate Market has fared better than some markets. Our challenges in 2009 will be getting rid of our existing inventory of homes and selling new homes entering the market.

The common mantra is: if you want to SELL your house, you need to price it right.