I was surprised to see such even numbers from the data I pulled…

I like even numbers, but I don’t like this data.

50% of all homes sales were distressed home sales, as in; either foreclosures or short sales.

 Exactly 25% were short sales, and 25% were foreclosures, but I don’t know which is worse?

They are big numbers either way.

 What I find disturbing is the high rate of homeowners in foreclosure opting to do absolutely nothing?  I don’t understand this. 

WHY?!

 Letting the bank take your home is not the best solution.  There is a better way, and unless you are talking to a lawyer, you have no idea about the implications of letting the bank call the shots on being in foreclosure.

 If you are facing a job loss, have missed a payment, or are in foreclosure and are facing eviction… call me at 630-673-6233.  I can help you when the bank won’t.  Real estate prices aren’t getting better anytime soon, so you need someone who can help you that understands what you need to do to get out from under the property that is no longer an asset.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Short Sales
630-673-6233

Have you missed a few payments on your mortgage?  Are you worrying about how you are going to pay the bills this month?  Have you recently found yourself out of a job?

You are not alone.

Look around… 

Long grass.  Weeds in the yard.  Stickers on the door.

One day you have neighbors, one day they’re gone.

Families all over Plainfield IL are facing a similar situation, and we haven’t hit the bottom yet.  3 years ago, you could list your house for sale and cash out on your equity if you found yourself in this unfortunate situation.  Now?  You probably owe more on your house than it’s currently worth based on the current rate of depreciation.

You don’t know where to turn, but I do. 

I have been helping families in foreclosure for my entire career in real estate.

Don’t let your house foreclose without trying to settle your debt with your lender. 

My team, both the attorney I provide to my clients and the negotiator I assign to your file, (at no cost to you…) are top notch.

You will not find a more efficient, or capable, coordination of your best interest in the world of real estate.

If you need someone to handle your short sale without the stress that can make a person crazy, call me at 630-673-6233.  I can help you get out from under the crushing pressure of a mortgage that is no longer in your best interest, and potentially save you from the credit implications later.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Short Sales
630-673-6233

Now that the home buyer credit has expired for qualified buyers, those that missed out on the opportunity to get the credit will now be looking to save some money on the purchase of their new home.  Short sales were overlooked during the frenzy to purchase a property before the credit expired because of the length of time it took to get them approved, but they are now back in the game.

But exactly how long do short sales to get approved?  

Knowing that I wasn’t going to get an easy answer, I decided the most objective way to get the info that I wanted was to analyze the data from the last 30 days.  I found a lot of similarities among the listings, and a few surprises too.  Among the variables in the world of short sales, the lender and the person behind the short sale makes all the difference.

In a nutshell, here’s what I found out:

• 2017 Stafford St. was listed for 24 days.  The property closed 5 1/2 months later.
• 4503 Wood Duck Ln. was listed for 174 days.  The property closed 5 weeks later.
• 2304 Timber Trail was listed for 181 days.  The property closed 1 1/2 months later.
• 1908 Crestview Dr. was listed for 435 days.  The property closed 1 1/2 months later.
• 2916 Stillwater Ct. was listed for 14 days.  The property closed 3 1/2 months later.
• 16316 S. Lexington Dr. was listed for 299 days.  The property closed 5 months later.
• 2605  San Mateo Dr. was listed for 32 days.  The property closed 5 months later.
• 24328 Bristol Ave. was listed for 38 days.  The property closed 2 1/2 months later.
• 13351 Ione St. was listed for 139 days.  The property closed 2 1/2 months later.
• 24225 Norwood Dr. was listed for 212 days.  The property closed 2 1/2 months later.
• 14735 Independence Dr. was listed for 29 days.  The property closed 1 month later.

Some lenders are great to work with… some aren’t.  Sometimes things get hung up with the bank negotiators… and sometimes the negotiators actually help us out.  Sometimes the investors are given bad advice and they hold out like a hopeful homeowner that things will get better… and sometimes they realize that a bird in the hand now is worth two in the bush.

If you are waiting on a short sale to be approved, patience is the now the new key to your front door. 

Good luck!

If you or someone you know needs someone with short sale experience to guide you though selling your home for more than what you owe, call me at 630-673-6233.  I can help you navigate your way to a successful resolution in regard to a foreclosure situation.  References available upon request.

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

If you are planning on selling you home through a short sale, you might want to hold off on filing for a bankruptcy if you haven’t already.  *As a disclaimer, I am not an attorney and I am not offering legal advice.*

A bankruptcy halts all foreclosure proceedings until the bankruptcy is discharged or dismissed; permission from the court must be given to sell the property as part of the bankruptcy.   Permission can be granted, but it will delay and prolong the short sale process without a doubt.

Another reason you may want to hold off on a bankruptcy is, in the event of having a deficiency judgment filed against you, you can include the deficiency in the bankruptcy after you close the short sale of your home.  Deficiency judgments are becoming more common in situations where income is not the cause for failing to make payments such as divorce or separation, though not always.

If you have questions about short sales or how a bankruptcy could affect your ability to sell, call me at 630-673-6233.  Using an agent that is knowledgeable in short sales will make the difference in getting the bank to agree to the short sale whether you are involved in a bankruptcy, or not.

Julie Ferenzi | REALTOR®
Plainfield IL Homes for Sale
Short Sale Specialist
630-673-6233

If your Plainfield IL home is in foreclosure… don’t leave!!!  You may have up to a year (or longer) from the time you miss your first payment before you need to leave your home.  Illinois is a judicial state in which the lender must actually use the court system to sue you to take back their collateral. The process takes between 5-18 months depending on the lender.

Here’s why you don’t want to abandon your property after you’ve only missed 1 or 2 payments:

• The lenders are overwhelmed with foreclosures right now.  They don’t know what to do with the inventory of homes they are taking back from the borrowers.  Lenders like Bank of America (which took over all of Countrywide’s loans in an aquisition) and Wells Fargo have so many loans in default that many are taking longer than usual to process which means you have more time in the house before the house is sold at auction.
• The lender can file a deficiency judgment against you. The difference between what you owe and what the house sold for either through a short sale or at the auction.  The longer the house is vacant, the higher the likelihood it can become damaged from things like vandalism and broken water pipes.  If the lender loses part of the value it could have claimed through a sale, they may decide to hold you liable through filing a deficiency judgment.
• You aren’t paying the mortgage.  While this sounds like a completely wrong reason for staying in your home, you should be taking this opportunity to save all the money you can for when you do need to move. Most likely you will need to have an increased (often double) security deposit on any rental you’re going to move into.
• You can always do a short sale!  Selling your home for less that what you owe, with the lenders permission, is the best win-win solution to the problem of the foreclosure.  You are and the lender are both informed of what is going on behind the scenes.  The lender is aware of the condition of the property, as well a your intent.  You are aware of the banks time-line and you can steer the final outcome of the conditions of the sale in your favor in many cases.  Credit recovery with a short sale happens much more quickly than with a foreclosure.
• Homes that are occupied and taken care of always sell for more than vacant homes.

I can help you maximize your options in taking control of your foreclosure situation.  If you, or someone you know, are in foreclosure… call me at 630-673-6233 to discuss ways to direct the process in your favor.  I have references available upon request from sellers I’ve helped in foreclosure that I’d be happy to share at our first meeting.

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

Ugh, I HATE short sales… and no, it’s not because of the all the extra paperwork or problems that come with the process.  It’s heartbreaking to see families have to leave their homes behind and start over.

I have 5 kids, and because of what I do, I lay awake every night wondering what we would do if we had to pack up everything we have, and give up everything my husband and I have worked for simply because our house was no longer worth what we paid for it, and we could no longer afford it.

I have listed 4 homes this year for friends who are behind in their payments.  Friends, who 18 months ago… would never have imagined themselves in this situation.

A few months ago my daughter and I watched the American Girl movie, Kitt Kittridge, about the Great Depression.  I had no idea at the time that was exactly the future we were facing, but it’s very real.

Children my kids went to school with kids from last year, that won’t be returning to their schools this year.  This is incredibly sad.  Neighbors are abandoning their homes.  My subdivision is lonely, and it’s all because the government screwed up.

When this all started last year, I was bitter because I thought that short sales were the “get out of jail free” card that homeowners who “bit off more than they could chew” were getting away with, but that view point has changed dramatically over the last few months.

I’ve been showing homes for the last 3 months to buyers and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to not notice the personal touch of happier times of these abandoned homes.

Sports themed or Disney Princess decorated bedrooms, abandoned toys, swing sets in the back yard… and of course, the family portraits.  That’s what kills me the most.  I can only imagine the pain contained with the walls I am peddling.

“The American Dream”.  Abandoned.  Given up on.

I never finished college, although I’m close,  I always imagined myself in a position of helping others.   By doing short sales, I give people hope in getting closure in their current financial situations… and I do it with compassion.

 If you are behind in payments, I can help… and I can do it with dignity!  Call me.

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

Most of the time… nothing.

There are exceptions of course, but most of the time the bank pays all of the costs associated with selling including the real estate commission.  Sometimes having a lien on the property will cost you money because it needs to be paid before closing, but running a preliminary title search will  reveal any liens that are attached to the property.  It also depends on your lender.

Short sales can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks for bank approval, and sometimes longer.  There are an incredible amount of homes in foreclosure all across the country which have loss mitigators sifting through piles of short sale packages.  With that much competition for getting your file looked at, it’s extremely important that the person doing the short sale includes all of the information the loss mitigator is going to need to make their decision.

My short sales are handled by a short sale negotiator who has over 10 years experience with short sales.  This gives me more time to market and sell your home.

I know how difficult this situation is because I’ve seen the hardship this housing crisis is having on real people… real families.  People who never in their lives thought that this would be their reality.  Job losses have caused a whole new wave of defaults and the declining property values all over the area have made selling a home nearly impossible.

The only way the economy is going to recover, is to help the real estate market recover.  Short sales are one way to help that happen.  Once the banks are relieved of their toxic assets they will begin lending again.  Many of the small businesses that have relied on their lines of credit to order do business and pay employees will be able to provide jobs.  The lack of credit available in the market place was a direct result of the effect that foreclosures have had on the banks.

If you have a home in foreclosure in the Joliet, Shorewood or Plainfield IL area, I can help you sell your home at no cost to you.  I can then help you find a new home for you and your family.  Call me at 630-673-6233 to find out more about doing a short sale to avoid a foreclosure and deficiency judgment filed against you.

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

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 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

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