Assistance in making mortgage payments

Illinois Launches Hardest Hit Program
The new Illinois Hardest Hit program aims to help working Illinois families who are having trouble making mortgage payments due to unemployment or under-employment stay in their homes. The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) has partnered with the U.S. Department of Treasury to offer temporary mortgage payment assistance. Qualified homeowners can receive up to $25,000 over 18 months as a 10-year loan to keep mortgages current and make ongoing payments, including fees and penalties. Go to http://lyris.illinoisrealtor.org/t/334220/16491058/3867/0/ to learn more.

Simple definitions of short sale and foreclosure

Pipeline Spaces January 24, 2011

What is a short sale?  It is when the sale of the real estate does not produce enough money to pay off the existing mortgage(s) on the real estate. “coming up short”  It succeeds when the borrower has significant financial hardship and the lenders agree that accepting a reduced loan repayment is an advantage to them over the fees and legal issues to get full repayment from the borrower or from foreclosure.  The borrower is not automatically released from the responsibility to repay the balance of the loan.  The borrower may be able to avoid this deficiency, thru legal actions and may be able to restore their credit status in 1 to 7 years.

How is this different from a foreclosure?  In a foreclosure the real estate is sold by judicial sale and the lenders or lien holders are paid from any proceeds, in the order of their liens on the property.  Foreclosure is begun when the lender files a suit against the borrower for not paying the mortgage as agreed.  Since this is a legal process, it is time consuming and expensive.  The negative effect on the borrower is larger and the process takes longer than a short sale. 

What’s on the market in Bucktown and Wicker Park?

235 attached properties ranging from a 1 bedroom 1 bath condo to a 4 bedroom 4 ½ bath townhouse -

235 Active - Attached Single Statistics
	High	Low	Average	Median
List Price	$949,900	$95,000	$415,502	$389,000
Listing Market Time	637	1	125	106
Market Time	1179	1	193	147

92 detached properties range from house on Armitage being sold as land to a 5 bedroom 6 ½ bath designer home on two lots on Cortland.

92 Active - Detached Single Statistics
	High	Low	Average	Median
List Price	$4,700,000	$290,000	$1,101,258	$804,450
Listing Market Time	881	2	154	133
Market Time	1171	2	265	199

Have a topic you’d like to see explored please contact me.

If you’d like more information on properties currently on the market or selling your home just drop me a note at EvaB@atproperties.com

*** Information sourced from MREDLLC; 1/24/11. Attached Property and Detached Property residential Bucktown (Ashland, Western, Fullerton, North) and WickerPark (Ashland, Western, North, Division)

Does National Foreclosure data have real value?

Spaces

National foreclosure data was released this week by RealtyTrak  (Link to realtytrak.com  or specifically to  http://www.realtytrac.com/content/press-releases/2010-year-end-foreclosure-report-6309 ).  I was in California at the time, and the news coverage was upbeat.  The report showed that there were nearly 14% less foreclosure filings in 2010 than in 2009.  Wow!  However here in Illinois data was the opposite, with just over a 15% increase in filings last year.  Here’s how the numbers looked – of 2.9 million foreclosures nationwide (up 1.7% from 2009), California had 546,669 filings while Illinois had 151,304.  According to their calculations this represents 4.08% of the housing units in CA, and 2.87% of the IL units.  According to my calculations California accounts for 20% of the filings in the Nation, with 5% in Illinois.  That’s reason to celebrate!?

Closings in Bucktown/Wicker Park in the last two weeks***:

5 Detached Single Family Homes (market time 1 -237 days, average 148 days, Average sold price of $1,109,200 is 91.5% of final list price) and 9 Attached Homes (market time 4 – 421 days, average 110 days, Average sold price of $352,733 is 92.1% of final list price)

1816 W Cortland 4bed 3½ bath house $790,000

1865 N Hoyne 4bed 3½ bath house $1,000,000

2112 W Charleston 5bed 3 bath house $1,070,000

1908 W Cortland 4bed 4 ½ bath house $1,225,000

1757 N Hermitage 4bed 2 ½ bath house $1,461,000

2233 W Shakespeare #3F 1 bed 1 bath Condo $170,000

1400 N Milwaukee #401 1 bed 1 bath Condo-Loft with garage $170,000 (Short Sale)

1240 N Paulina #3 2 bed 1bath Condo with parking $200,000 (Short Sale)

1728 N Damen #308 1bed 1 ½ bath Condo with parking $280,000

2251 W St. Paul #4G 2 bed 2 ½ bath Condo-Loft, Penthouse with garage $357,500

1728 N Damen #111 3bed 2 ½ bath 1/2 Duplex, Condo-Loft with parking $378,000

1332 N Wolcott #1 3bed 2 ½ bath Condo with garage $405,000

1931 N Damen #1S 3bed 2 1/2 bath Duplex Condo with Garage $478,000

1744 W Beach #2 3bed 2 ½ bath Duplex Condo with Garage $485,000

If you’d like more information on properties currently on the market or selling your home just drop me a note