This is a downtown restaurant/business inspired event, the fourth in a series. This is a wine, cheese and chocolate food tour and will include a wine sample and cheese pairings at three of the locations and delicious chocolate offerings at two of the locations. It is a walking tour although shuttle service will be available free of charge. Participants include: McBrody's Bar and Grill, Thayers 158 North, Chicago Street Pub, GJI's Sweet Shoppe and The Department. There will be prizes and raffles at each location beginning at 8:30 pm.

Set in the court of Henry II, King of England at Christmas of 1183. This comic drama heats up as the royals play a high stakes game of check and mate for power and love.

February 10 - 12, 2012

Fridays & Saturdays 8:00pm, Sundays 2:00pm

Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park, 201 W. Jefferson Street in Joliet  877-534-1933

Who Can Buy a HUD Home?

Almost anyone can purchase a HUD home. If you have cash or you qualify for a loan (subject to certain restrictions) you may buy one.  All HUD homes are first offered to owner-occupant purchasers. These are people who are buying the home as their primary residence. After the initial period is offered to owner-occupant purchasers, the unsold HUD home is available to all buyers, including investors.

Do HUD Homes have a Warranty?

No. HUD homes are sold "as-is" without a warranty. No repairs will be performed to your home by HUD after the closing. If you are interested in a HUD home, it is highly recommended to have a home inspection by a qualified home inspection company. You should also consider purchasing your own home warranty for unknown pre-existing issues.

Part 2 - Check back periodically for more information on how to purchase a HUD home!

I'm posting this as public because I want it to be on my public post so buyers know what not to do.

Here's the story: I rec'd an email about a week about from Steve saying he wants to buy a townhome in Plainfield. I emailed him back and he forwarded his preapproval letter so I set him up on a search and we went back and forth on townhomes and Plainfield. I forwarded 2 school websites so they could make an informed decision for their 10 year old son on his schooling.

We were set to go out today at 11am to view 4 townhomes in Plainfield. We got along great and there was humor and I thought this was going to be a fantastic buyer.

On Friday I told Steve that I would be asking him to sign an agreement that he was using me for these 4 townhomes. He asked to see it so I emailed it to him. It's the standard agreement our office uses and our board as well. I told him in the email that I needed to protect myself because I have been burned in the past by showing homes to buyers only to find out that they already had a realtor but that realtor was on vacation or busy that day. So this was my guarantee that if he purchased one of the 4 townhomes, I would be his agent.

HOW FUNNY THAT I THEN GOT THIS EMAIL:

We will not be able to use you because as it turns out one of Sherrys relatives is also a Realtor. She wants to use him. I am not real thrilled with this as I don't believe family and business should be mixed together. I appreciate all your help and am sorry it turned out this way.

Of course I don't believe it for a minute and told him so in response. There is NO WAY out of the blue you learn that a relative is a Realtor. He was scamming me. His "realtor" was not a local realtor so I'm guessing I was being used to do the grunt work and if they chose one of those 4 townhomes, they were going to their realtor to write it up. 

But the minute I let him know he would be signing an agreement before I put my SUV in "D", he backed out.

Buyers - don't waste our time. We get babysitters, we leave our families for the day. You wouldn't want to be used in your job so please don't use me.

An agreement is required for me to take my buyers out. Period.

Roger & Annette relocated from Ohio to the Aurora area for a job....

LaNita is the reason Wife and I finally got our dream house. LaNita listened to what we were looking for, narrowed down the thousands of choices to a manageable level, and helped us sort through the bad. Then she got to work scheduling home viewings – sometimes with only a few hours notice. LaNita was (practically) always available.

And while Wife and I concerned ourselves about what kind of granite counters to look for or if we liked the fireplace, LaNita was there powering through inspections, working with the lawyers, getting contracts signed, but most of all – keeping the bank on task.

I won’t go into the problems we experienced with the bank. But I will say LaNita’s tenacious pursuit of getting the loan closed with the bank was impressive. She kept them on task (as much as she humanly could) and let them know when a mistake was made, why it was the bank’s problem, and demanded a solution – immediately. Her constant support for getting the loan closed cut weeks off the time to close, and best of all, got us a $1,500 credit fro the bank (for all the trouble they caused).

If REMAX gives out a Super-Agent award, I want to get her name in the hat. It was a sincere pleasure working with her.

Roger and Annette, Aurora. Closed 12/08/2011

Newly opened La Dolce Vita in Plainfield! This is a must-try Italian restaurant! The staff is awesome and the decor is up-scale. The linguini con scampi e broccoli was to die for and the wine list is fabulous! This is a great restaurant and a great addition to Plainfield! I wouldn't call it "kid-friendly" but it's perfect for adult friends who need a night out or a romantic dinner!

Located at 16108 South Rt. 59 in Plainfield. ladolcevitarestaurante.com to view hours and directions as well as their menu.

166 condos and townhomes were sold in 2011 in Joliet IL.

Of the 166, 56 were foreclosures and 25 were short sales (85 were traditional sales).

Average market time was 182 days with the minimum market time 4 days and the maximum days on the market 988 days!

Average list price was $112,225 with average sold price at $105,342.

71 single family homes sold during December 2011 in Joliet, Illinois.

Of the 71 homes, 33 were foreclosures and 13 were short sales.

Average market time was 157 days with the minimum being 1 day and the maximum days on the market being 751 days.

The minimum listing and selling price was $10,000. The maximum list price was $225,000 with the selling price being $275,731.

The average list price was $92,881 with the selling price being $89,285.

During the month of December, 2011, 73 single family homes sold in Plainfield IL.

Of the 73, 13 were short sales and 25 were short sales.

The average market time was 188 with the minimum being 1 day and the maximum 1,239 days.

The minimum home sold for $73,000 and the maximum sold for $495,000.

The average home listed at $227,651 selling at $216,008.

Yep - you read it correctly!

Last week I attended my home inspection with my buyer and the home inspector made a comment about the sump pump. We discussed it and my buyer knows he will replace it as soon as he moves in.

The day after the home inspection, the listing agent emailed me how the inspection went. I told him that it went really well and the only issue was the sump pump had really high water and that the inspector told me "If it rains, you need to come over and take this plug out and plug this in or there is potential for water in the basement." The listing agent was so nice about it and said OK.

This morning my buyer emailed me saying that it might rain a bit tonight and just wanted to remind me that I might want to go over there. I emailed him back I would go first thing in the morning and do what the inspector said to do.

JUST NOW I got an email from the listing agent telling me the sump pump has been replaced and I won't have to take the time/trouble going over to keep checking it until it closes in February.

How nice is that? I know they didn't "HAVE" to replace it but they did. I know that the agent probably made the request and arguement that if the basement floods, there is going to be a lot more cost than a $100 sump pump.

I'm having a good day!