Living In Plainfield

There is problem with short sales these days…

If you have a home for sale that requires 3rd party approval from your lender, you are going to have a hard time keeping a buyer on the hook until you get that approval.  My last transaction had 4 buyers before we got the bank’s approval.

The flip-side to this is, if you are the buyer in a short sale transaction you have no idea who is in charge at the other end.  I know for a fact that if the bank does not have every piece of required documentation you will be waiting until infinity to get an approval from the bank.

All of my short sale transactions are handled by Dan Garcia of Excel Mortgage.  Because he is a mortgage broker he knows what the banks need to justify accepting less than what is owed by the lender.

While I haven’t had any problems with Dan getting these short sales negotiated, I have had more than a few problems with collecting the required paperwork from the sellers.  I’m in the middle of some serious issues that are related to the implications of working with sellers who do not take the process seriously.

If you are serious about avoiding a foreclosure I have the means and the drive to help you get it done, but if you are just looking for someone to save you without putting forth the effort… then I’ll have to pass on the listing.  We need 110% cooperation to get a short sale to closing.  When I ask for specific documents, paperwork, or signatures, I need to have them without delay or excuses.  Once you commit to a short sale, you are no longer the only person involved in the situation.   The buyer, the Realtors, the attorney’s… and the bank, are all now part of the process.

Still, there are serious financial implications that homeowners fail to realize when they let their homes be foreclosed on:

• The bank can issue a deficiency judgment against the owner for the difference of what is owed and what the house sells for at the auction or REO sale.
• You will have a hard time finding a landlord that will rent to you with a foreclosure on your credit report.
• It will be between 5-7 years before your score will even start to improve.

If you have a home in foreclosure and you need to sell it before the bank does, call me at 630-673-6233.  Short sales don’t have to be painful.  With the right information and the right negotiator, you can successfully buy and sell short sale listings with less headaches and more closings.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

The 1st quarter numbers for the single-family Naperville IL market are in:

In the first quarter of this year, 145 single-family homes were sold.

The average list price for a single-family home in Naperville is $436,662. The average sale price is $405,476.  Based on these numbers if you are selling a home in Naperville IL you can expect to get about 93% of your asking price in this market.

Homes with 4 bedrooms made up 66.2% of the homes sold in the first 3 months of 2009, while homes with 3 bedrooms made up about 24.1% of the market share.

4 bedroom homes are selling at about 93% of the average list price of $455,102, which means they are selling for an average closed price of $424,604.

3 bedroom homes are selling at about 94% of the average list price of $290,046 for a single-family home in Naperville, which means they are closing at an average closed sale price of $272,886.

5 bedroom single-family homes in Naperville only make up about 7.5% of the total sales.  The 5 bedroom homes are only getting about 89% of their average list price of $770,495 for an average sale price of $689,500.

If you, or someone you know are thinking about listing your home for sale in Naperville IL this Spring call me at 630-673-6233.

If you are behind in payments you may qualify for a short sale or loan modification.  Call me to confidentially discuss your options regarding foreclosure.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Naperville IL Homes
630-673-6233

When comparing the first half of 2009 to 2008, single family home prices have declined by 15.1%  in Plainfield IL:

Jan-May 2008 Plainfield IL Single Family Home Sales:

Jan-May 2009 Plainfield IL Single Family Home Sales:

Different segments of the single family market have been affected more than others: 

• 2 bedroom homes have depreciated by 24.9%
• 3 bedroom homes have depreciated by 16.7%
• 4 bedroom homes have depreciated by 16.9%
• 5 bedroom homes have depreciated by 9.1%

The average sale price of a home in Plainfield IL in 2008 was $277,370.  In 2009 the price of a single family home in Plainfield IL decreased to $235,503.  This is great news for buyers in looking for an affordable home in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.

The volume of home sales is also down 12.5% from 2008.  The majority of home sales that have taken place in both 2008 and 2009 have been 3 and 4 bedroom homes with 2 and 5 bedroom homes making up only 6.6% of the sales in 2009.

If you are looking for a 3 bedroom home in Plainfield IL you can expect to pay an average of $179,000.  For a 4 bedroom home in Plainfield IL you can expect to pay about $258,960 on average.

If you want the best price on a Plainfield IL home you should probably consider a short sale or foreclosed home.  You’ll have to be prepared for the time it takes to have a sale approved by the lender, but it’s the best opportunity to protect yourself against further market depreciation in the months to come.  Even with the current state of the economy, it is still a great time to buy for qualified buyers.

If you or someone you know is looking for a home in Plainfield IL, or a neighboring community, I can help.  I know the Plainfield IL market inside and out, and would love to help you with your move to the community.   Have questions?   Call me at 630-673-6233.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes for Sale
630-673-6233

The real estate market is a mess, and Plainfield IL has been hit hard by this crisis.  Property values are declining by the double digits and many area homeowners are only 1 payment or financial set back away from facing foreclosure.  If you already know that your situation disqualifies you from a loan modification with your lender, there are distinct benefits to proceeding with a short sale rather than just walking away from your home:

When a homeowner is in default the ramifications really don’t show up until after the climax of the situation.  Meaning, when you’re in default 90 days past due, your credit score shows the same credit score impact as a foreclosure credit score… the damage has been done.  The difference is recovery time.

1. A foreclosure will impact the credit longer than a short sale by about 3 years.  Foreclosures are 5 years or longer.
2. The recovery from a short sale on your credit score will begin to improve in about a year, while a foreclosure will take at least 3 years before an improvement is seen.
3. A deficiency judgment can be put on the borrower in either case, but the seller has a better chance of controlling if a judgment is placed on them or not… by not walking away.
4. A Short sale gives a better opportunity to salvage the loss and protect the property until it is no longer their home.
5. Insurance companies determine cost based on credit and potential employers determine the character of a potential employee based on their responsibility and credit payment history.  Overall, the cost of credit increases and affects the cost or opportunity for credit in the future, and can even affect job opportunities.
6. An early deed in lieu is better than a foreclosure.

If you want to know more about a loan modification or a short sale, please call me at 630-673-6233.  There is no guarantee when it comes to short sales, but if you think the benefits of negotiating the sale of your home with the bank are worth the effort to you, I can help.  In a short sale you are not responsible for the real estate commission.  The sale of your home will be handled by a short sale negotiator, and overseen by an attorney working on your behalf at no cost to you. 

Call me today to find out how you can avoid a foreclosure by performing a short sale at 630-673-6233.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

Due to the overwhelming amount of time involved in helping customers find a rental home in Plainfield IL, I’m no longer working with rental tenants in this market.  The challenges of placing tenants with credit issues into single family homes in Plainfield has become increasingly difficult to do.

Landlords are finding themselves in their own precarious situations as the risk involved with renting to tenants with low credit scores has come back to haunt them.  Many investors took chances on clients with bad or poor credit in hopes of occupying a vacant property, only to have to evict them later and repair damages to the property.

If you have a home you want to list for rent, it would be my pleasure to help you find a tenant for your property.  I suggest requiring a minimum credit score of 620 with a minimum of 3 credit references and  3 professional references.  I would also require 2 months worth of pay-stubs, and verification of prior address and employment.  Also, as a rule of thumb the security deposit should be at least one month’s rent that cannot be used as last months rent for any reason.

If you are going to trust a stranger to put your own credit on the line, you really need to know who you are working with!  Don’t take chances with risky credit unless you are willing to risk your own credit in the process.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes for Sale
630-673-6233

The home sales data for the last 30 days for the single family home market in Bolingbrook IL paints the same picture are the neighboring communities of Plainfield IL, Joliet, and Romeoville.  62% of the 42 single family homes that sold were either bank owned or short sales.

The number of foreclosures seem to be more prevalent in the market than the number of short sale listings.  There were 20 single family bank owned homes that sold, and only 6 were sold by the actual homeowners as short sales.

It’s great to see the market moving again, but the number of bank owned home sales and short sale closings are disturbing.  These types of closings are driving down the market prices throughout communities like Bolingbrook, Joliet, Romeoville, Shorewood, Naperville, and Plainfield IL.

If your home is in foreclosure and you need to sell your home to avoid a foreclosure, please call me at 630-673-6233.  I work with a short sale negotiator who can negotiate with your lender so you can sell your home for less than what you owe, at no cost to you.

Don’t wait until it’s too late.  The earlier you begin the process, the better your chances are for being successful in avoiding a foreclosure.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Bolingbrook IL Homes for Sale
630-673-6233

Romeoville IL has been hit hard by the foreclosure crisis. Over the last 30 days, 21 homes in Romeoville IL have sold.  Of the homes that have sold, 86% of those sales were foreclosure related.

62% of the homes that sold were actual foreclosures being sold by the lender after they did not sell at the auction.  24% of the homes sold were short sales, sold by the homeowner to avoid a foreclosure.

The range of prices of Romeoville IL homes in the last 30 days started at $52,000 through $229,000.  

If you are looking for a Romeoville IL home, call me at 630-673-6233 to get the best deal on a home purchase in Romeoville IL.  I’m experienced with these market conditions and the process of buying bank owned properties and foreclosures.

If you are 3 or more months behind in your mortgage payments, you may qualify for a short sale.  If you are behind in payments on your Romeoville IL home, call me to find out more about selling your home at no cost to you.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Romeoville IL Homes
630-673-6233

Unfortunately the condition of most bank owned homes is decreasing property values much faster than the short sale homes have in the past.  I  believe there are 2 key reasons for this:

1. Bank owned homes sit vacant longer than homes sold through short sales which leave a bigger window for damage, vandalism, and mold to develop thus making the discount that a buyer demands much larger.
2. Many homeowners are stripping their own homes down to the floor boards once they make the decision to walk away from their homes.

The neighbor who once lived next to me took the furnace, appliances, and before he left broke all of the wood railings on the stairway and in the loft.  Another neighbor took all of the copper pipes, cabinetry, and even the air conditioner. 

The part about this that is most upsetting is that the homeowners who leave their homes in this condition destroy the value of their neighbors homes with these actions.  There are many components to this housing disaster, but if everyone acted responsibly for their part in the situation, we’d be able to clean up this mess much faster than the government ever could.

Homeowners in foreclosure need to act proactively to list their homes for sale and negotiate with their lenders to sell their home before the auction date.   I specialize in short sale listings in Plainfield IL, Shorewood, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, and Naperville.  With the help of a professional short sale negotiator, sellers have nothing to lose by trying to sell their homes before they end up back in the banks hands.

The upside to negotiating a short sale is that homeowners who decrease the discrepancy between what they owe and what the bank receives through the sale of the home at auction will be less money that is filed against them in a deficiency judgment.  Many times a judgment against the homeowner can be avoided completely with the help of a negotiator.

If you own a home in foreclosure in Plainfield IL , Bolingbrook, Shorewood, Romeoville, or Naperville call at me 630-673-6233 about listing your home for sale.  I work with a negotiator that can help you avoid a foreclosure, while I manage the sale and marketing of your property, all at no cost to you.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes for Sale
630-673-6233

There were 60 home sales in Joliet IL over the last 30 days.  Of those 60 homes that sold 43% of them were short sale or REO properties.

The difference in the number between short sales and bank owned properties in Joliet IL is somewhat alarming.  40% of the homes were actual bank owned foreclosure sales, while only 3% of those sales were short sales.

The discrepancy in this number can either be attributed in the difficulty of getting a short sale accepted by the lender, or because more and more homeowners are simply walking away or giving up on trying to avoid a foreclosure.

The range in home prices that closed in Joliet IL over the last 30 days was $26,500 - $479,000

If you are looking for a home in the northwest side of Joliet IL, call me at 630-673-6233.  I can help you get the best deal on a new Joliet IL home with my experience of the current real estate market, including my experience with short sales.

If you own a home in Joliet IL and you are behind in payments, call me about doing a short sale on your home at no cost to you to avoid a foreclosure.  

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Joliet IL Homes
630-673-6233

The Plainfield IL home sales for the last 30 days from April 15th, 2009 through May 15th 2009 are now more than 50% short sales or foreclosure sales.

That’s great news for buyers… but it’s bad news for the economy and the real estate market in general.  It means things aren’t getting any better for homeowners in foreclosure, and homeowners who are current on their mortgages are losing the value of their homes at warp speed.

42 of the 82 homes sold were either foreclosed or bank owned homes, or short sales.

The price of homes sold in the last 30 days ranged in price from $119,000 to $430,255.  Surprisingly the home that sold for $119,000 wasn’t actually a distressed property.  It was a small 2 bedroom ranch, sold by a motivated seller.  The bulk of the short sale and bank owned properties that sold were definitely in the lower end of the price range, and the homes that sold in the higher price brackets were regular residential home sales, which makes sense.

Buyers have a great opportunity to purchase a lot of home for the money in Plainfield IL right now.  The downside to making an offer on a bank owned home or a short sale listing is that there are often multiple offers on these homes, (especially the ones in great condition) and the wait time on a response for a short sale can take anywhere from 4-10 weeks to get approved.

There is definitely an upside to buying a foreclosure or short sale is priceless in a market like this.  Buying below market value, while prices are still declining, offers a little more protection from depreciation than paying retail prices.  The biggest difference will be in the amount of work you may need to put into the house to make it compare to some of the retail priced homes.

If you want to buy a home in Plainfield IL and are interested in purchasing a short sale or bank owned home, call me at 630-673-6233.  It’s important to work with an agent that not only has performed short sales, but understands the process involved.

Call me at 630-673-6233 and I can put you in touch with my mortgage broker who can help you determine what kind of a loan you qualify for.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes for Sale
630-673-6233