If you have your heart set on buying a home, but you can’t afford to put down a large downpayment and don’t have the greatest credit, an FHA loan might be the right option for you. FHA loans only requires a minimum downpayment of 3.5% of the purchase price. This makes them an affordable option for a lot more people. FHA loans also allow a higher debt to income ratio than conventional financing. You can spend up to 57% of your income on debt. Conventional loans typically cap that around 45% or less. What’s the downside? Well, you have pay an upfront mortgage insurance premium. That’s a pretty hefty amount, usually 1.75% of your purchase price. On top of that, you’re still paying PMI (private mortgage insurance) on a monthly basis. FHA PMI is typically higher than regular PMI. Despite all that, if conventional financing is not an option, then… read more →
According to JLL, the total sales value of apartment building sales in 2015 was almost $139 billion. This was a 31% increase over 2014, when apartment building sales were at $106 billion. The last quarter of 2015 boasts the strongest gains of any quarter ever analyzed and recorded. Moreover, JLL predicts there will be even more growth in apartment building sales in 2016, though at a more moderate rate between 5% and 10%. As rents are going up and interest rates on commercial loans remain reasonable, the increase in apartment building sales does seem likely. Personally, I did see a large increase in apartment building sales in 2015, particularly in Chicago – everything from 2-flats and up were flying off the shelves, so to speak! It also seemed to be a bit easier to get financing for apartment buildings last year than it has been in the past (although that… read more →
The National Association of Realtors recently put out figures that show that the housing market is thriving: Approximately 5.26 million homes were sold in 2015. The median sales price nationwide was $224,100. That’s a 7.6% increase over the median sales price in 2014. In 2015, home values increased over twice the rate of the increase in income. There were nearly 4% less homes listed in 2015 than in 2014. Overall homeownership rates are just below 64%.
The National Association of Realtors surveyed 2,643 agents internally in December of 2015; among other things, they looked into why so many closings get delayed. Here’s what they found: 46% of delays were caused by financing-related troubles. 21% of delays were caused by appraisal issues. 14% of delays were caused because of the home inspection. 19% of delays were caused for other miscellaneous reasons. If you’re the seller, there really isn’t much you can do to push the transaction through, except keep your home in good repair and respond to your real estate attorney quickly to avoid unnecessary delays. As a buyer, though, you should really keep tabs on your lender and make sure they are doing everything in their power to keep your file moving in a timely manner
Let’s say you’re in the unfortunate situation where a contractor has filed a mechanics lien against you. Without getting into the merits of whether or not the contractor has a valid claim, for whatever reason, you decide you don’t want to pay him. So you start looking for problems with the claim. You look and look and look, and aha! You found a problem. Looks like the contractor put the wrong completion date in the complaint he filed with the court. With this error in hand, you seek to get the case thrown out, right? Wrong. In North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co. v Sheffiled Welling, LLC, 2014 IL App (1st) 123784, the property-owner sought to have the contractor’s claim dismissed based on the contractor stating the incorrect date of completion in the complaint. The court ruled that as long as the actual completion date was within the time… read more →