Foreclosures 
There are currently 6 blog entries related to this category.
Reviewing 2010
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 at 1:51pm. 629 Views, 0 Comments.
It's been an interesting year and I'm looking forward to year-end sales statistics this year more than any other. We keep losing agents that can no longer earn a living selling real estate. However, 2010 has been one of my best years. It hasn't been easy and I've had to make some changes, but I've done well in a challenging market.
I Moved to a New Home
I moved to the Orland Park/Homer Glen area and sold my Oak Lawn home. I'm glad 
I had my own home for sale as it helps me explain the market to my other sellers. I sold my Oak Lawn home for less than what we paid for it in 2003. Add the new windows, two new bathrooms, remodeled family room, new carpet, hardwood floors, interior & exterior paint, etc., and we lost a lot of money.
Have We Hit Bottom Yet?
Sunday, September 19th, 2010 at 1:56pm. 649 Views, 0 Comments.
Have we hit the bottom of low home price values? The optimists keep saying we should see an improvement at the 
end of 2011 and into 2012. They might be somewhat correct, let's face it, they're talking a year down the road.
Today's low interest rates are tempting
Others are saying that the current low interest rates are another government ploy to keep buyers in the market. And they might be correct, depending on how low prices drop in the future. At today's current rates, you'd be better off with 4.5% interest rates vs. a 10% reduction at 6% based on an average home price of around $300,000. You can try out my financing calculator to play around with rates on different price ranges.
How low will prices go?
No one can say for sure,
…Is Shadow Inventory Affecting the Chicago Real Estate Area?
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 at 3:38pm. 644 Views, 0 Comments.
What is Shadow Inventory?
Most of us will agree that "shadow inventory" comprises of properties that are bank owned that are not on the market for sale yet and can also include homes that will fall into foreclosure when loan modifications or short sales are not transacted.
Where Does the Chicago Market Stand?
I just read an article that referenced an analysis of “Shadow Inventory” published by Standard & Poor's Rating Services. The analysis did not include any mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. I was eager to see if Chicago would be listed in the article, and it was.
The areas that were hit the hardest, such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, Detroit, San Diego, San Francisco, etc., currently have the least amount of shadow inventory.
…Illinois in Top Ten Foreclosure States
Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 2:46pm. 585 Views, 0 Comments.
I still have the feeling that sellers in the Chicago suburbs feel that the Midwest and our little market in Northern IL isn't as badly affected as some of the other states such as Florida, Arizona, Nevada (especially Las Vegas), etc. But IL is 8th out of the top ten states regarding foreclosures and it affects supply and demand which then affects price.
For the first half of 2009, here are the state foreclosure stats:
1. Nevada (1 property in every 16 is in foreclosure)
2. Arizona (1 in 30)
3. Florida (1 in 33 which surprises me as I thought Florida was faring worse than Arizona, although they're very close)
4. California (1 in 34 - again a surprise as I thought California would be first)
5. Utah (1 in 69)
6.
…There Are Great Deals In This Market
Saturday, April 18th, 2009 at 9:08am. 391 Views, 0 Comments.
I am seeing such great deals lately that I'm actually considering selling my home. When we purchased our home we thought it was big enough. But after living in it we discovered we could have used a little more space.
We should not lose money on our home, although when figuring in the work we've done on it (remodeling bathrooms, putting in hardwood floors and some new windows), we'll be lucky to break even. But we don't care.
The math is in our favor. Even if we don't see good appreciation on our home (that we purchased in 2003 - just before prices started to skyrocket) we will more than make up for it with our next purchase. In fact, I've seen foreclosed properties that are larger than our home going for less money, just because it's a
…Don't Blame Investors for Declining Prices
Sunday, June 1st, 2008 at 8:46pm. 484 Views, 0 Comments.
I rarely cite other blog posts even though I read quite a few and many of them are good. But I usually have enough to write about so don't need to talk about other people's blog posts. However, once in a while I find a gem that moves me. I recently read a post about Real Estate Speculators Establishing Bottom-dollar Price for Lender-Owned Homes in Phoenix written by Greg Swann of Bloodhound Realty. That's not even the whole post title.
Of all the good blog posts I read, why would I share one talking about the Phoneix market? Aren't they worse off then we are? Maybe, but I'm seeing our prices in the southwest suburbs continue to decline. The inventory of available properties far outweighs the amount of available buyers. And sellers
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