Mortgage Time

When is the right time to talk to a mortgage lender? when you have the first thought of wanting to buy a home. It is a great time to buy rather than rent. with such low interest rates & property prices where they are, you can usually own with a monthly mortgage payment lower than rent you'd pay on a similar piece of property. Your real estate broker can offer names of reputable lenders so you can be properly pre-qualified so you know the top purchase price to keep you in your comfort zone. Short sale, foreclosure, traditional non-distress sales...all options in today 's real estate market. For more info on short sales & debt forgiveness, contact the author of this Blog; Kay Russell, Broker, Keller Williams Fox Valley Realty. http://KayRussellRealty.com

Short Sale-Foreclosure Jackpot

I now work with an investor who has the ability to pay cash to buyout a homeowner who is on the verge of a foreclosure. The homeowner usually stays in the home a bit longer than imagined, we help them avoid a nasty foreclosure on their credit report as a result of this investor's deep pockets and knowledge of all related aspects to the process. We then are set up to help people launch a new life with hope and relief.

It was a good day in St Charles, and the Fox River Valley when I met this foreclosure avoidance investor and his team. Short Sales are right up our alley too. If a person owes more to the bank than their home is worth in this real estate market, and need to sell, that's the time to contact me at russellgroup1@yahoo.com. I can show you the way back to a time when every phone call was an opportunity not a bill collector trying to put you out of your home. My goal is to put our team's experience to work and get every foreclosure avoided!

I am Kay Russell, a real estate broker at Keller Williams Fox Valley Realty in St Charles, Illinois in the Far Western Suburbs of Chicago where Kane County and DuPage County schools are top in the State of Illinois and the Metra commuter train runs right downtown Chicago. St Charles, Illinois chosen by Family Circle Magazine as the NUMBER 1 Place in the USA to raise a family. russellgroup1@yahoo.com

Thanksgiving 2010

It's early morning the day before Thanksgiving. Here I sit in my office, contemplating the best way to make the next move on getting the short sale files I'm working on closer to the desired completion. Today I find myself abundantly aware of how many lives are in limbo as we wait for the bank's approval. We have done everything we can and we should have received our approval by now, long before now, but we wait. Last week one of the bank's negotiators was out due to illness - there are some really unpleasant "bugs" going around right now - but for us, we feel frustrated almost beyond reason that here we sit another week with no approval. The sellers are needing to move forward into the rental we have helped arrange for them, their four children and their beloved family pet. Last night we spoke just to give them the update of the moment and I learned they were on their way out to get their turkey for tomorrow. We anticipate the short sale approval either today or next week, with their move to their lovely rental home sometime the first week of December. Are you following the timeline? So, with work, life, four children, an unresolved short sale, an impending move, and turkey to prepare for Thanksgiving in a home that is partially packed up and ready to move, this amazing family still had the time to congenially talk with me, allowing me to give them the update...even though it was not the report I know they wanted. I know when they saw my name come up on their caller i.d. their heart skipped a beat, wondering if I was calling with the bank approval. The bank has declined 3 other really good offers on this same property, and finally on the last one when they gave their approval, the buyer had gotten tired of waiting so they walked. Does this seller client of mine have reason to be pushed nearly to their limit? Yes indeed! But they keep hanging in there and have been model citizens, doing every single thing I've asked of them in record time so we can be totally responsive to the bank providing any information they ever request. So why have I launched into this tale today, the day before Thanksgiving?  It is this family and all the others like them with whom I have had the opportunity to work this past year I'm feeling particularly thankful for on this day before Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the opportunity to work with them, to help them in a time they did not anticipate when they first bought the home they thought was going to be their family home for a good long time. Then, the economy of the past few years, medical bills, and other issues previously unexpected came about in their lives and they found themselves in good company with the millions of other homeowners who found themselves upside down, financially in trouble, and needing to find their way out from under the mess of things. Another agent I spoke with the other day told me she was not going to get involved in these short sales because they are a headache. Are you kidding me? I tried to respond in a calm and unaffected manner but inside all I could think was 1) since short sales and foreclosures are a huge percentage of our business at the current time why would you not want to be working where the most business is if you are a career Realtor and 2) some of us have prepared our whole career to be savvy enough to be able to help people navigate through this mess of a market. Now is when some of us get to do what we do best - get people where they need to be and away from where they do not. So, yes, short sales are a headache for everyone, and yes, I am profoundly grateful for every person who has permitted me the honor of being a part of their process in extricating them from a messy, encumbered life, into a more peace-filled and hopefully joy-filled life where every time the phone rings they are not afraid to answer it for fear of it being their banker threatening foreclosure, or a bill collector trying to get that last pound of flesh. I am also thankful to still be standing. This market has done many of my fellow real estate professionals in, helping them along to realize their greater good in another field. I've done this a long time and am grateful to still be able to be doing what I do the way I do it. Besides, after all these years as a real estate broker I guess I would be hard pressed to retrain myself for a new adventure. Time will tell, but for now, here I am. Kay Russell, your Realtor, your short sale "go to" gal, your advocate, and greatest supporter. Sending wishes to all I know and to those I look forward to knowing for a grateful, joy-filled Thanksgiving.