TONIGHT: Best Chicago Properties Hosts Premier Art Opening

NEW: The Best Chicago Real Estate Search Engine!

If you like to surf real estate listings, you've likely noticed that most real estate companies offer a free real estate search engine and most of these provide for less than satisfactory experiences. People want speedy map based technology, lots of big pictures, virtual tours, listing information and dozens of options on how to search...including a way to search for foreclosures and short sales. So, we searched high and low to find the "Best" search engine in the business and then customized it to meet the needs of our clients. Check out this latest addition to our website...click MLS Search!

Best Chicago Properties Welcomes Four New Agents

As the Spring market is now in full swing and Best Chicago Properties is busier than ever, the time seemed right to bring on several seasoned agents to handle the additional business. I'm very pleased to welcome Lola Brown, Christie Serritella, Michael Hess and Chuck Gullett to the Best Chicago Properties Team!

Elegant West Loop Condo With Awesome Views From Private Roof Deck

Check out this fab new listing on YouTube

Foreclosures, Auctions, Short Sales, REOs, Bank Sales...

At a dinner party hosted by a Lakeview couple last night the topic of foreclosures came up as I'm sure it has at thousands of other social gatherings during these past tumultuous months. As the owner of Best Chicago Properties in the West Loop, after answering the hushed question "how are you staying in business" twelve times I found myself dispensing advice to party goers clearly trying to figure out if they were missing the investment opportunity of a lifetime by not buying a foreclosed property.

So, as promised, here is a quick wrap up of the types of deals to be found...they come in four basic varieties, all requiring lots of patience, all with a different level of difficulty:

1. Short Sale, also called a pre-foreclosure sale normally via an auction or via a real estate broker working for a bank to help sell portfolios of seized property. With this type of deal, the homeowner is usually in arrears and is trying to sell the property before it is taken by the bank. Here you might end up with a difficult negotiation with a stressed-out seller. If the price turns out to be less than the bank is owed we call it a short sale wherein the lender would need to agree to the deal taking 60 to 90 days. One of my buyers has been waiting 3 months so far to hear if the deal is approved...one bank has signed off but there is a second mortgage so the second bank also needs to agree...this means even more time...another 30-60 days? Or never if the second bank which stands never agrees.

2. Bank Auction; Buyers at bank auctions most often are flying blind...no inspections, no title insurance...hey but it's fun to say "Yeah, I bought the place at auction" Kinda implies you got a great deal...right? Maybe, maybe not. If you’re the winner, you've bought a home, no backing out. If by chance the place you’ve bought is occupied then you'll experience the joys of trying to evict in Chicago...not a short or pleasant process. If you're a fan of the unknown then go for it! To me it all seems so unpleasant.

3. R.E.O. Properties; Properties that don't sell at auction are called R.E.O.s (real estate owned) and are the most transparent of foreclosure transactions. Buyers can do inspections and the bank owner will deliver a "clean" title, ensuring there are no outstanding taxes or other liens. If you look up the definition of red-tape you will find R.E.O. properties. You're dealing with a bank, not a person, and that bank may be in the process of trying to sell hundreds, even thousands, of other houses. Could be worth the wait.

4. Relo; OK, this is not really a foreclosure type thing but I thought I'd stick it in here since I've found buyers awesome deals on relo properties...I mean deals that easily rival deals from Short Sale, Bank Auction and R.E.O. Companies that transfer their employees often get caught holding their real estate and then need to dump it. The last one of these I did, my buyer got the place for about 75% of the market value. The drawback is you are working at a snail's pace since the giant relo companies are just as slow as banks!

Call me if you want to discuss!

Don't Miss The Window of Opportunity Between Now and April 2009!!

With most lenders concerned about condo loans because of their default rate, Fannie Mae has added a fee of .75 percent of the loan amount of a 30-year fixed mortgage, for borrowers who put down 25 percent of the purchase price or less, effective April 1. So for a condo priced at $300,000, with a mortgage of $240,000 (a 20 percent down payment), if Fannie will be purchasing the loan from your lender, it will assess the buyer an additional $1,800. This presents a window of opportunity for savings for buyers between now and April 1. First time buyers have the added incentive to buy this Spring in order to tap into the first time buyer tax credit.

If you’re devoting a big chunk of your income to paying your mortgage, it may be worth calling to negotiate better terms.

Here's the link to an excellent article in the New York Times that will give you some guidance. The key to getting a deal from your mortgage company will be your debt to income ratio...remember that number? It used to be the basic number lenders used to determine how much of a mortgage a borrower could afford....that is before the "money party" began.

National Association of REALTORS® Summary of Key Provisions of H.R. 3221 - The Housing Stimulus Bill

This is a great review from the National Association of REALTORS®

H.R. 3221, the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” passed the House on July 23, 2008, by a vote of 272-152. On Saturday, July 26, 2008, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 72-13. The President signed the bill on July 30, 2008. The bill includes the following provisions:

GSE Reform – including a strong independent regulator, and permanent conforming loan limits up to the greater of $417,000 or 115% local area median home price, capped at $625,500. The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).

FHA Reform - including permanent FHA loan limits at the greater of $271,050 or 115% of local area median home price, capped at $625,500; streamlined processing for FHA condos; reforms to the HECM program, and reforms to the FHA manufactured housing program. The downpayment requirement on FHA loans will go up to 3.5% (from 3%). The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).

Homebuyer Tax Credit - a $7500 tax credit that would be would be available for any qualified purchase between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The credit is repayable over 15 years (making it, in effect, an interest free loan).

FHA foreclosure rescue - development of a refinance program for homebuyers with problematic subprime loans. Lenders would write down qualified mortgages to 85% of the current appraised value and qualified borrowers would get a new FHA 30-year fixed mortgage at 90% of appraised value. Borrowers would have to share 50% of all future appreciation with FHA. The loan limit for this program is $550,440 nationwide. Program is effective on October 1, 2008.

Seller-funded downpayment assistance programs - codifies existing FHA proposal to prohibit the use of downpayment assistance programs funded by those who have a financial interest in the sale; does not prohibit other assistance programs provided by nonprofits funded by other sources, churches, employers, or family members. This prohibition does not go into effect until October 1, 2008.

VA loan limits - temporarily increases the VA home loan guarantee loan limits to the same level as the Economic Stimulus limits through December 31, 2008.

Risk-based pricing - puts a moratorium on FHA using risk-based pricing for one year. This provision is effective from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009.

GSE Stabilization - includes language proposed by the Treasury Department to authorize Treasury to make loans to and buy stock from the GSEs to make sure that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could not fail.

Mortgage Revenue Bond Authority - authorizes $10 billion in mortgage revenue bonds for refinancing subprime mortgages.

National Affordable Housing Trust Fund - Develops a Trust Fund funded by a percentage of profits from the GSEs. In its first years, the Trust Fund would cover costs of any defaulted loans in FHA foreclosure program. In out years, the Trust Fund would be used for the development of affordable housing.

CDBG Funding - Provides $4 billion in neighborhood revitalization funds for communities to purchase foreclosed homes.

LIHTC - Modernizes the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to make it more efficient.

Loan Originator Requirements - Strengthens the existing state-run nationwide mortgage originator licensing and registration system (and requires a parallel HUD system for states that fail to participate). Federal bank regulators will establish a parallel registration system for FDIC-insured banks. The purpose is to prevent fraud and require minimum licensing and education requirements. The bill exempts those who only perform real estate brokerage activities and are licensed or registered by a state, unless they are compensated by a lender, mortgage broker, or other loan originator.