THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

Welcome! A touch stone for things related to real estate...or whatever happens to float through the mind of the Realtor on point. Here you will find important information, irrelevant information, tidbits intended to ease the way for greater joy, well, you just never know what you will find on this Blog. Just scroll through all the little bits that have been shared over time and see if anything at all grabs your interest. If don't see just what you're looking for right this minute, I hope you will stop back by because you just never know what the next post will be!

Whether you are in Austin, Texas, the surrounding areas, any of the Far Western Suburbs of Chicago in Illinois, or maybe even far-reaching places all over the globe, please come back and visit this real estate centered Blog. Now, after checking out the updates, go have a great day! You deserve it.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

On The Road Again! Short Sale Mania Continues!

I have to warn you, if you persist in reading further you are going to hear me unleash my angst. This will be an abbreviated unleashing simply because I do not have time to write all my thoughts down at this moment. I must get right "back on the road again" in putting a perfectly amazing town home listing back on the market. For goodness sake, we were supposed to close next week. These short sales are tough to get to the point of closing in the first place. This one especially so. Everyone has gone above and beyond on this one. Unfortunately, back in the beginning, which seems like about a million years ago, when we first got the offer on this property, the buyer (a lovely first time buyer) took the advice of dad, who said "It's a tough market, negotiate tough with the bank" and the buyer's agent did not try to talk them out of that...well, this is not a normal market nor is a short sale normal in any way. Trying to get tough & thinking you can negotiate with a bank that is already taking a mighty painful hit is just crazy talk. The prices are already so incredibly low, I don't know what was going through their minds. The bank approved the sale originally at $121,500, but when the buyer heard that they said "No, we will pay $121,000".  We took that to the bank, though, because that was all they were going to do. It then took another several months and lots of anxiety on everyones' part to get to the place that we had the bank's re-approval for $120,000...and then the buyer lost their job. I feel bad for the buyer. This is a really great property, and to lose out on it because now the financing could not get approved, well, it's a bad situation. BUT I FEEL REALLY REALLY bad for my seller. My seller has done everything asked of them plus more. They understand the bank is doing an amazing thing by forgiving any deficiency judgment and permitting a sale for lower than what is owed on it. They are grateful. However, due to all the fiddling around in the beginning, all the time we sat waiting on the bank to respond, waiting, waiting, and now this. I just know I have to pull a rabbit out of a hat for this seller and find a great buyer who is ready to go, who will appreciate a nearly new town home in a really popular location for a whole lot less than was paid for this nice place not all that long ago and do it really fast. Hey, this one is ready to close really quickly too for the right, well qualified buyer. If you know of anyone who is looking I hope you will put them in touch with your favorite Realtor, or if you don't have one, get in touch with me and I will introduce them to a fabulous agent who will represent them in the most professional way. This great town home is located in Gilberts, IL and is near the new Sherman Hospital on Randall Road. Beautiful area in Kane County, Illinois. Well, I must move on and do some productive marketing now to get this property back out in full view, so as ever, thanks again for taking your valuable time to read my blog. I've decided this may be my form of short sale therapy. Hope it helps you too :)) Now go have a great rest of the day - you deserve it!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Short Sales, People Losing Their Homes, Healing Credit

My first thoughts this morning are about all the people who are losing their homes and now what? In the recent past I have had spirited conversations with so many of my clients who are passionate and compassionate about all the people who are losing their homes at this time. One of my recent buyer clients asked an insightful question, “Why aren’t the banks just reducing the amount of the monthly payment to let the people stay in their homes rather than foreclose on them, leaving them empty until they finally get sold?” Many people do not qualify for the loan modifications that have been offered in the past few years. Even if they do we are seeing a disappointingly low number of them actually get done. I think I heard something like less than 50% that apply for a loan mod are successful.

As I’ve been out showing property I’ve witnessed so many seriously damaged properties, whether offered for short sale or those which have already been foreclosed upon, it’s really quite upsetting. There are plenty of perfectly beautiful, well kept homes on the market whether available as a normal transaction, or as short sale or foreclosure. However, there are so many homes that have been abandoned where it seems nobody is keeping watch over the condition of the home. Not long ago I was showing a home that would several years ago have been worth over $600,000 but now was listed for $350,000 in a very lovely neighborhood. On paper it sounded just great and my buyer clients could not wait to get in and see it. The home featured hardwood floors, volume ceilings, a kitchen with cherry cabinetry open to the family room with a floor to ceiling soaring fireplace. We were pretty excited, thinking this one sounded like it could be “the one.” Well, it was “one” something, for sure. What a travesty! I unlocked the front door and immediately felt the familiar annoying sense in my sinuses that sweeps over me when I’m exposed to mold or mildew. We went into the home, me wondering if my buyer clients were as overwhelmed by the smell as I was. Almost at the same time we all three exclaimed how awful the smell was, but they wanted to see what the kitchen and family room looked like so we moved carefully over the living room and dining room floors, crossing the severely buckled hardwood floors, made the turn into the kitchen and I will not soon forget what I next saw. Indeed, the kitchen opened beautifully into a large family room. On the opposing wall, that of the floor to ceiling two story fireplace at the far end of the room, was a sight that made me momentarily wonder if I had just entered an Indiana Jones movie set. There was so much mold growing on that wall you could barely see the fireplace. It looked like some ginormous vine growing all over that wall and it was now creeping over the other walls in the room. We all three turned and almost trampled each other as we charged for the front door, unable to get out of there and breathe fresh air fast enough. An otherwise gorgeous home ruined by being left vacant, unattended, unloved, probably by a perfectly wonderful family who had fallen on hard times, like so many other people in our country today. This family had been foreclosed on by the bank and forced to move, probably to a rental somewhere, who knows where? At some point the pipes had burst in the house, the formerly beautiful hardwood floors had buckled and the mold was on the move. I do not know the outcome of that house but can imagine.

Then, there was the 24 room house I showed in an upscale Western Suburb of Chicago a few months ago. 8 Bedrooms, 8 Bathrooms, plus a Kitchen you can only imagine. Really something! The house was a foreclosure property. Very high end. Exquisite actually…except for all the items that had been plundered from the home by the previous owner. All the light fixtures were missing with wires dangling from the ceilings or walls (in the case of sconces), all the very high end kitchen appliances including the built-ins had been pulled, and I could go on but I won’t. The buyer to whom I was showing that property had so many questions; “Why didn’t the bank just let the family stay here until the house sold?” “Why would someone disassemble a home in such a cannibalistic way?” They had other questions, but  that’s enough for now. My answer to these questions over the past few years has become an honest and instinctive “You don’t know what is going on with another, but you can be sure that everyone you meet is bearing some kind of burden. I no longer judge anything I see.” Far be it from me to pretend to know what any of the stories are behind all the difficult situations I encounter on a daily basis. Someone for whom I hold tremendous respect said to me just yesterday, “We thought a number of years ago we were getting our big lessons in life, but we weren’t. It is now that we all are getting the big challenges and lessons.” Whether that is your outlook or not, I think it says it pretty well. Basically this person was saying they feel like everyone is having an opportunity to examine their life, to make modifications, to reevaluate every little thing, and in many cases it calls for a shedding of all the old ways in an effort to usher in the new, simpler approach to life.

In spite of the sadness conveyed in the above paragraphs, one thing remains true, and that is now is the most magical moment in history to buy property. Prices have never been lower and interest rate are amazing! If a person has money, or at least good credit and an interest in buying, now is the time. If a person has the desire but does not have good credit, I may even have the solution for that situation too. I have discovered a fantastic company, organized and run by some amazing women, who can show you the way to improving your credit, whether it be by a mere 8 points or to help bring you back from all the other nasty things that can go wrong in your credit history. If you are someone who needs that help just send me a message at russellgroup1@yahoo.com and I will discretely put you in touch with them. Helping people restore their credit seems to be a new passion of mine. There are just too many times in life where having good credit makes all the difference between being able to do something or not, have something or not, have a certain job or not (seriously - this is a real aspect of troubled credit). It’s time to move past the fear of the phone ringing by the vicious bill collectors. I want my clients to all feel free from fear, happy, and enjoying their greater good. This is something we can work on together.

Thanks for checking in and taking the time to read my wanderings the first thing on this early Sunday morning. Now you go have yourself a nice day - you deserve it! Wishing you all the best, Kay Russell, Broker Associate, Keller Williams Fox Valley Realty, St. Charles, IL http://GoRussellRealtor.com

Monday, January 3, 2011