According to the National Association of Realtors, last month (June) existing home sales reached a nine-year high. It was the strongest month in existing home sales since 2007. Moreover, 33% of the people who bought a home last month were buying a home for the first time. That’s the highest level of first-time buyers in the last four years. The median existing home price also went up almost 5% to $247,700 in June. Unfortunately, the Midwest had the lowest median home price in the entire country — $199,900. The west coast had the highest median home price, at $350,800. Why are we having all this growth? Well, low mortgages might have something to do with it. Mortgages are currently quite affordable as a result, and the economy has posted job gains as well. The real estate market is doing well. Let’s hope it stays that way!
In a recent case arising out of a foreclosure in DuPage county (Old Second National Bank v. Jafry, 2016 IL App (2d) 150825 (June 28, 2016) DuPage Co.), the appellate court ruled that even though the lender (who had foreclosed the defendant) had already made back a portion of what it was owed by the defendant through a subsequent sale, it was still allowed to collect the entire deficiency from the defendant. The defendants had guaranteed a loan made by Old Second National Bank. Subsequently, the mortgagor defaulted, and the bank foreclosed the property. The bank purchased the property for $900,000 at the sheriff’s sale, and the trial court entered a deficiency judgment against the defendants in the amount of $577,876. After four months, the bank sold the property to a third-party purchaser for $1,320,000. The bank then sought to collect the full deficiency judgment of $577,786. Since the bank… read more →
The National Association of Realtors states that about a million of the whopping 9.2 million Americans who lost their homes to foreclosure or short sales between 2006 and 2014 are already homeowners again. Truth be told, it’s not easy to get a loan once you’ve been foreclosed or been through a short sale. But it’s not impossible either. Like many other things in life, it takes time and hard work. Here’s what you need to know to make it happen: Your credit is very, very important. Try to build up your credit. For a conventional loan, you will need a minimum credit score of 620. For an FHA loan, that number drops to 580. Make payments on time. Again, this is key for lenders. Your lender may look to see how often you pay bills on time. Keep tabs on your paperwork for everything financial – bank statements, tax returns,… read more →
Anyone that has moved knows what a pain it is — the endless packing and unpacking, arranging and re-arranging furniture, decorating, painting, etc. And let’s face it, many people still have an unpacked box or two (or ten). Really, moving is just so much work. Despite all of that, apparently age does not make you less likely to move. Freddie Mac recently completed a survey, called the Freddie Mac 55+ survey, in which they determined that 40% of homeowners over the age of 55 – that’s almost 27 million people — would like to move. While half of those homeowners plan on spending less on their next home, 12% actually plan on spending more than the price range of their current home, while the remaining 48% anticipate moving into a home in the same general price range. Why do baby boomers want to move? Well, the affordability of their communities,… read more →