The following closed real estate transactions for properties in Plainfield, in the Grande Park subdivsion are:

• 26537 Rustling Birch Way closed on 10/27/08 for $349,990
• 13303 Morning Mist closed on 10/03/08 for $362,000
• 26661 Lindengate Cir. closed on 1/30/09 for $362,500
• 12904 Peppertree Dr. closed on 10/30/08 for $367,000
• 12712 Grande Pines Blvd. closed on 2/01/09 for $389,900
• 27114 Rustic Woods Ave. closed on 2/13/09 for $415,000
• 13426 Lindengate Ct. closed on 9/25/08 for $425,000
• 26005 Whispering Woods Cir. closed on 2/05/09 for $445,000
• 26501 Rustling Birch Way closed on 12/12/08 for $455,800
• 26112 Oakcrest Ln. closed on 11/14/08 for $472,500
• 12842 Grande Pines Blvd. closed on 9/20/08 for $475,000
• 13033 Timber Wood Cir. closed on 10/31/2008 for $525,000
• 27015 Rustic Wood Ln. closed on 11/21/08 for $549,900
• 12911 Grande Pines Blvd. closed on 9/17/08 for 560,000
• 12924 Grande Pines Blvd. closed on 2/13/09 for $644,678

The Grande Park Subdivision in Plainfield IL is comprised of custom and luxury single family homes on premium home sites. The Grande Park subdivision is located near Rt. 30 and 127th  Street in Plainfield IL.  Construction in the community began in 2006 and homesites are currently available for new construction, though many of the custom home builders in that area have spec homes available for purchase.

Students attending public school in the Grand Park Subdivision in Plainfield IL attend the following schools if they are in the Kendall County and Oswego Township section of the subdivision:

• Grande Park Elementary
• Bednarcik Jr High
• Oswego East High School

Students attending public school in the Grande Park subdivision in Plainfield IL attend the following schools if they are in the Will County and Wheatland Township section of the subdivision:

• Walkers Grove Elementary
• Richard Ira Jones Middle School
• Plainfield North High School

If you want to know what your home in the Grande Park Subdivision is worth, or have a property in another subdivision in Plainfield IL, contact me at the tab on the top of this page or call me at 630-673-6233. It would be my pleasure to help you with any of your real estate questions.

Are you behind in your mortgage payments?  You may qualify for a loan modification or short sale.  Call me at 630-673-6233 to find out if you qualify for either of these programs.

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

The most recent real estate closings in the Caton Ridge Subdivision in Plainfield are:

• 6512 Cascade Ridge Dr. closed on 11/5/08 at $194,000
• 2217 Country Ridge Dr. closed on 12/3/08 at $215,000
• 2215 Cedar Ridge Dr. closed on 10/3/08 at $218,000
• 6501 Breckenridge Dr. closed on 2/27/09 at $252,450

If you want to know what your home in the Caton Ridge subdivision is worth, or have a property in another subdivision in Plainfield, contact me at the tab on the top of this page or call me at 630-673-6233. It would be my pleasure to help you with any of your real estate questions.

Are you behind in your mortgage payments?  You may qualify for a loan modification or short sale.  Call me at 630-673-6233 to find out if you qualify for either of these programs.

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

Naperville and Plainfield IL homeowners who are interested in resolving their foreclosure situation through a short sale now have a better option when they chose me to represent them in the sale of their home.  I work with a negotiator ready to assist you with the process of selling your home for less than what is owed by your lender at no out of pocket costs to you.

I have come across a lot of pre-foreclosure listings on the MLS recently that will require a short sale with their lender in order to avoid a foreclosure. I’ve talked to a lot of agents in the process of showing many of these listings, and there is a pretty wide range of how Plainfield IL real estate agents are handling these short sales.

While I have performed short sales for some of my own listings in the past, I have to say that it is a tedious and time consuming process that I never care to do again.  But that’s not the only reason I don’t like performing short sales.  I don’t do them anymore because I’m a Realtor, not a loss mitigator or a debt negotiator.

Naperville and Plainfield IL homeowners in foreclosure now have a better option and more hope of successfully having their short sale approved by their lender. 

Why Lenders Would Rather Negotiate With a Short Sale Specialist/Attorney Instead of a Realtor:

• Many short sale specialists/attorney’s have established relationships with many of the lenders and can quickly and effectively supply all required documentation and information required to proceed with negotiations. 
• Since the real estate market is so pre-foreclosure and bank owned driven in Naperville and Plainfield IL, many Realtors are performing short sales out of sheer necessity, but since many Realtors were never trained to perform short sales, the lives of the loss mitigators who are handling these files are overwhelmed with packages that are incomplete or missing information.  Loss mitigators work on files that they know they can close, if your short sale package is missing any information it will sit on the “dead” pile for weeks or months before it is even looked at, if ever.
• Due to the level of inexperience with short sales by so many Realtors, loss mitigators have come to dread files in which they know they will be negotiating with a Realtor, to the point of being difficult and uncooperative in some situations.  If an attorney is handling the documentation, the loss mitigator knows that all of the documentation will be thorough and complete.

I’m not saying that there aren’t agents out there who successfully perform short sales, but if they are trying to manage more than 2 or 3 short sales at once, they won’t be left with much time to actually market your home for sale, or be available to answer your questions or phone calls.   Each short sale involves anywhere from 40-55 hours of work to complete depending on the lender.

What will you get when you list your home in foreclosure with me?

• A professionally negotiated short sale with experienced short sale specialist at no cost to you.
• Legal advice from a real estate attorney.
• Convenient option of Power of Attorney to avoid having to attend the closing.
• An experienced negotiator that is familiar with special circumstances such as 2nd mortgages, liens, and IRS situations.
• A professionally marketed property complete with a full MLS description, photos, advertising, virtual tour, and Internet presence.

Below is a list of FAQ’s regarding short sales provided by the law firms

foreclosure specialists:

Q:     The benefits of a short sale?
A:     You can sell the house and walk away.  Credit typically indicates “settled debt”.  The foreclosure gets dismissed.  No deficiency judgment.  No bankruptcy.

Q:     Will I owe the bank any money?
A:     The bank releases and typically writes off the deficiency.

Q:     Will I owe any income taxes on the deficiency?
A:     No, on December 20, 2007 President Bush signed into law the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 ensuring that any deficiency   written off as part of a short sale will not be taxed.

Q:     What about my closing costs?  Will I need to bring any money to closing?
A:     No.  All of your closing costs, the real estate commission, any back taxes owed, attorney fees, title company charges, etc., will be allowed by the lender and subtracted from the sale price.

Q:     What if I sign a contract to sell my house and the bank doesn’t approve the sale?  Will the buyer be mad?
A:     The buyer has been informed and understands that that this is a short sale and that your obligations are contingent upon your bank’s approval.  It is the real estate agent’s job to price the property to sell and then meet the banks appraiser at the property.

Q:     I owe $600,000 to the bank the but the house will probably sell for $300,000.  Will the bank accept such a huge loss?
A:     It typically has nothing to do with the loan payoff.  It is based on the value of the real estate based upon a bank appraisal of the property.

Q:     I have a second mortgage on the this house for $50,000.  How is this going to be handled?
A:     The property is in foreclosure.  The second mortgage holder knows that the first mortgage is in foreclosure because they were served summons and complaint.  Therefore, the second mortgage holder will release their lien, but they will need to be paid something.  Therefore, when an offer comes in, the Buyers agent will be called and notified that the buyer will need to bring money to closing to release the second mortgage.  This will be addressed in the contract addendum.

Q:     I owe the IRS money and I think they put a lien on my real estate.  How is this handled?
A:     Our foreclosure specialists usually get these released without paying the IRS any money.  They will do a preliminary title search on the property to determine what is present and what needs to be dealt with prior to the Contract for Purchase and Sale, or what needs to be dealt with during the contract phase.

Q:     Does the attorney handling the short sale represent me or the bank?
A:     The attorney’s office represents the seller, and they welcome your questions.  They can be contacted at the office or by cell phone.

Q:     Where will the closing take place?
A:     There are closing locations throughout the state of Illinois.

Q:     I am not going to sell this house for under $300,000!
A:     The Realtor will obtain authority to reduce the price each week in order to tell the property quickly.  No matter what the property sells for, the seller will not be receiving any proceeds from the sale.

Q:     What do you need from me?
A:     Financials I.E. last years tax returns, bank statements, check/pay stubs, W-2’s and a hardship letter.
If you have any additional questions regarding a short sale, or listing your home in foreclosure for sale, please contact me directly at 630-673-6233 or e-mail me using the contact link at the top of this page.   I look forward to working with you.

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

There were 16 closings on Plainfield IL town homes from February 8th through March 8th, 2009.

They range in price from $90,000 all the way up to $305,000.  The Plainfield IL home that sold for $90,000 was a foreclosure in the Carillon subdivision near I-55 and Weber Rd.  The property that sold for $305,000 was in the Creekside Crossing subdivision near Drauden and Indian Boundary Rds.

In addition to the one foreclosure closing, 2 additional properties closed as short sales, which brings the total amount of distressed property sales for the last month to 18.7% in Plainfield IL.

For an updated list of property closings in Plainfield IL, or for a complimentary Comparative Market Analysis, please contact me either by phone or by e-mail.  If you or someone you know are having trouble making your mortgage payments, I may be able to help.  Loan modifications and short sales are available to qualified homeowners.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Real Estate
630-673-6233

As anyone who has been living in Plainfield IL for the last year knows, the downtown area has recently been renovated.  Unfortunately, that meant avoiding the area for quite some time.  About 2 months ago, my car needed some work so I took it up to Plainfield Automotive Inc. on Rt. 59. Since the time it was going to take to fix my car was going to overlap lunch time, I decided to walk into town to get a bite to eat.  I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I started down Rt. 59 in the rain and turned down Des Plaines St and ran right into The Front Street Cantina in Plainfield.

I felt like a loser sitting down in the restaurant all by myself since the kids were with my father in law at home, but that wasn’t about to stop this hungry pregnant girl from embarrassing myself!

I’d never been to the Front Street Cantina to eat before, but the food was absolutely delicious.  They had some really terrific lunch specials and authentic complementary chips and salsa.  I thought to myself, this is the perfect place to bring the family for some casual authentic Mexican food, or great place to grab a couple of drinks with friends on the weekend.

I’ve been back several times since my recent discovery of  The Front Street Cantina in Plainfield IL (but this time I wasn’t alone ), and everything I’ve tried on the menu is delicious.  My personal favorites are the Chicken Fajitas and the Cheese Enchiladas.  The food is served fast and hot, which is great if you get the chance to sneak in on your lunch break.

If you’ve never been to The Front Street Cantina in Plainfield, I highly recommend it.  You won’t be dissapointed!

The Front Street Cantina is located at:

15120 N. Des Plaines St.
Plainfield, IL 60544
1-815-254-3474
Or check them out at the their two other locations in Wheaton and Naperville!

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Real Estate
630-673-6233

The governments plan to help homeowners in foreclosure may leave you looking for answers as the specifics of the plan are hard to sift through.  Loan modifications through the private sector may be a better a better solution for homeowners in Plainfield IL and the surrounding communities.

I have been working with Dan Garcia over the last 4 years in the foreclosure arena.  Dan performs both loan modifications and short sales for homeowners in foreclosure.

The answer to turning this economy around is the ability to help the real estate market recovery from foreclosures.  In my opinion, there are two ways to do this:

1. Clearing short sale properties from the market to keep them from competing with the regular real estate market by selling them quickly.
2. Find a way for homeowners to renegotiate their debt with their lender to stay in their home.

My two step approach to solving your Plainfield IL foreclosure situation involves examining the possibility of modifying your original loan, and in the event that the lender is not willing to negotiate the debt, moving on with the process of selling the home through a short sale.

Through examining the possibility of modifying your loan, you know definitively whether there is any possibility of keeping your home or whether you need to sell. It allows you to proceed with confidence onto the short sale swiftly and prepare your Plainfield IL home for sale.

If you want to know more about loan modifications or short sales, call me at 630-673-6233. 

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Real Estate
630-673-6233

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion when it comes to how a “lease options” and “rent to own” homes really work.

Most landlords aren’t going to give you money toward the down payment from the rent that you pay each month because the rent is only covering their costs and expenses as they apply to the property.  In this market many of the investors that own these properties have be very competitive when pricing their homes to rent, in fact, often to the point of having to out of their own pockets every month to make the mortgage payment.

In addition, when it comes to “rent to own” homes, your best bet in a market like this is to accept the opportunity to purchase at a later date, and negotiate the terms at the end of the lease for the purchase price.  I say this only because the 2009 home values are expected to decline another 16%  nationally before next year, for a total depreciation from the peak of the 2006 prices of 34%!!!   Why would you contract to purchase a home today that you would likely be able to purchase a year from now for 16% less?  When you are talking about a $200,000, house that’s a lot of money!

The meaning of “rent credits” and “rent to own” homes has been re-defined in every market, but work best for the buyer/tenant in an appreciating market, when it is a good idea to secure today’s prices in tomorrow’s market… but that’s not the case anymore.   The truth is, “rent to own leases” or “lease options” rarely end up working in the tenants favor, or actually result in a sale.

In addition if a  buyer is purchasing a home with FHA financing, the seller is not allowed to assist with the buyers down payment, a situation that would violate the guidelines for an FHA purchase.

A tenant will not be able to walk into a rental opportunity paying $1650 for a 3-4 bedroom single family home in Plainfield IL, and get $200 a month in rent credits for an FHA purchase later down the road.   It just doesn’t work like that.   You need to keep an eye out for situations that play on your desire to own that home, that leave you without a house in the end.

Buying a home has gone back to the days of old:

• Save your money for a down payment.
• Maintain a great credit score.
• Minimize your debt to income ratios.

Not exactly what you wanted to hear, right?   I know, it seems like a heist after the truth is brought into the light.  “Rent to Own” in this market isn’t really anything more than what you could be doing on your own to purchase any home within the next 2-5 years.

I hope this clarifies the misconception that is associated with what renting to own really means.  It’s really a vague term that has many meanings and implications, that are best addressed within individual situations and with the assistance of an attorney.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Real Estate
630-673-6233

Job transfers and life changes bring many families to the decision to make a move, but what if you owe more than your house is worth?  These days, Plainfield IL homeowners aren’t left with many options in a real estate market like this.

One option is to sell the house at market value and pay the difference between market value and the balance of the mortgage… but who wants to do that?!  If the difference is under $5,000 that may not seem like a bad option, but when the difference stretches beyond most families financial reserves it often becomes an impossible option.

So, what can you do if you own a home in Plainfield IL and you owe more than your house is worth?

Many homeowners are resolving their home woes by offering their Plainfield IL single family homes for rent.  Since the homeowner wouldn’t have any money coming back to them at the closing due to the deficit between the sale price and mortgage balance, finding a tenant to pay the mortgage through rent payments is giving many homeowners a viable option to move when life necessitates that change.

The Plainfield IL single family rental market is in high demand.

Many families looking in Plainfield IL for a single family home to rent are coming from circumstances directly related to the financial crisis and the economy.  The downside to the high demand of rental properties in Plainfield IL come from the  amount of families in the community displaced by foreclosure and effect that it has had on their credit score.

Foreclosure, late payments, or short sale can knock 200-300 points off of an individual’s credit report, which makes it hard to determine someone’s willingness to make good on their debts, when all 3 situations can have such a detrimental effect on their credit all at once.

Someone with good credit before an unfortunate circumstance put them in a position to miss mortgage payments, does not have an easy go of “just putting the house on the market” and hoping it will sell.  Often times without the intervention of a short sale professional, (like myself )  foreclosures become inevitable in a market like this that is foreclosure driven.

Now, I hope I didn’t scare you too much because not all tenants looking in Plainfield IL for a rental home have bad credit!  Lending is so tight right now, many renters just can’t qualify in this economy. Down payment requirements have left many buyers unprepared for a market like this.  Living as a tenant in a single family home in Plainfield IL instead of an apartment is as close to the American Dream as many families can get until we see a dramatic improvement in both lending and with the economic outlook.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Real Estate
630-673-6233

Plainfield market times are creeping up as the inventory of homes exceeds the demand from buyers.

In the last 3 months the average market time for a detached single family home in Plainfield IL was 166 days, but the break down of market time by the number of bedrooms is  a little more specific:

• 2 bedroom Plainfield homes for sale have an average market time of 148 days.
• 3 bedroom Plainfield homes sold in an average of 126 days, considerably shorter than the group average.
• 4 bedroom Plainfield homes have an average market time of 184 days.
• 5 bedroom Plainfield homes sold in an average  of 209 days.

From my interpretation of these numbers is that it seems that 3 bedroom homes sell faster than larger or smaller homes by a little over a month, which could be attributed to buyers entering the market for the first time.  Traditionally 4 and 5 bedroom homes tend to be second or third time “step-up” purchases.

The average market time for Plainfield IL attached single family homes (townhomes, duplexes, condos, etc.) is 133 days.  The breakdown is as follows:

•  1-2 bedrooms have an average market time of  144 days.
• 3 bedrooms have an average market time of 122 days.

It seems that the demand for 3 bedroom attached single family homes in Plainfield IL is slightly higher than smaller units available on the MLS, as the market time indicates.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Real Estate
630-673-6233

My phone has been ringing off the hook with families looking for rental homes here in Plainfield IL.  The Spring market is certainly in full swing as real estate heats up in the area.

As of today there are 53 single family homes available for rent in Plainfield IL ranging in price from $1,275 up through $3,500 per month.  Most of the 3 bedroom homes range in rent from $1,450 to $1,600 with the price points for 4 bedroom homes jumping up from $1,650 to $2,500 on average.

Many of these homes are available as a lease options, or the owners are willing to consider a sale at a later date.

The process for signing a lease for a home in Plainfield IL can be done in just a few easy steps:

1. Fill out a Credit Check and Lease Application (which I can e-mail to you directly.)
2. Next we have to run a credit report on all applicants over the age of 18.
3. Tenant needs to provide pay-stubs from the last 2 paychecks.
4. Agents negotiate the terms of the lease.
5. Tenants wait for a response from the owner.
6. If approved, tenants put down a security deposit to hold the property in the form of a certified check or Cashiers Check and sign the lease.

See, there’s not much too it, and these Plainfield IL rental properties are going fast this Spring! Many of these homes have multiple offers and multiple interest by the time the owners make a decision.  It’s important to be prepared and have all of the necessary funds available before negotiating the terms of the lease, because without a security deposit chances are you aren’t going to be approved.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Real Estate
630-673-6233