If you’re buying a home, you have a lot on your mind. You love the house, so you’re learning about mortgages and insurance and title and inspections. You still have to figure out whether your furniture will fit, what colors to paint the walls, and what repairs you will have to complete prior to moving in. And of course, there’s the move itself. A lot to worry about, right? But there is still more on your mind — what about my new neighbors? Is this the right neighborhood to raise my kids in? Will my family be safe? A thought is nagging you from the depths of your mind: am I making the right decision? Of course, you don’t really know what type of people your neighbors are. Hopefully they’ll be kind, friendly people and welcome you with muffins, cookies, and open arms. You won’t really know until you interact with them. But there… read more →
A recent court decision, YPI 180 N. LaSalle Owner, LLC v. 180 N. LaSalle II, LLC (342 Ill. Dec. 879, 2010), reiterates the importance of the mortgage contingency clause in real estate transactions, whether large or small. In that case, the Buyer put down $6,000,000 in earnest money towards the purchase of a commercial property with a contract sales price of $124,000,000. The Buyer had arranged for financing from an Irish bank, who later pulled out of the transaction citing Irish and global economic issues beyond the bank’s control. When the Buyer was unable to procure financing elsewhere, the Seller kept the earnest money. Mortgage contingencies and earnest money are closely intertwined. If a Buyer fails to timely notify the Seller of financing issues, then according to a typical mortgage continency clause, the Buyer may forfeit the earnest money. When the buyers in the YPI 180 N. LaSalle Owner case did not receive their earnest money back, they filed suit, claiming… read more →
Las Vegas and Chicago are too very different cities in many ways. But they do share one thing. They have the highest foreclosure rates nationwide. Specifically, the Las Vegas Area reported the most foreclosures last year. According to RealtyTrac, Inc., one out of every nine homes in Las Vegas received a foreclosure notice last year. Chicago ranked second, with one out of every twenty-seven homes in the Chicago area receiving a foreclosure notice. In total, there were 138,913 foreclosure or foreclosure-related filings in 2010 in Chicago. This in an increase of over 16% from 2009. In case you’re interested to see where we fall, the third, fourth and fifth highest foreclosure rates were in Detroit, Miami and Atlanta, in that order. What can distressed Chicago homeowners do to avoid foreclosure? They can try to complete a loan modification to bring their loan back to a point where they can avoid… read more →