short sales: From Real Estate Rags to Reinventing Your Riches - 01/16/09 03:50 AM
                                                    I actually had my office space up for sale in December of 2007.  I was struggling, I let go of my bookkeeper, kept  cutting my secretaries  hours and was getting more worried every week watching  a lot of local offices,  R/Max closed several local offices, GMAC folded their offices, Prudential closed offices, C21 offices, you name it they were closing offices.  Even a few of my fellow Exit offices closed.  I figured I was doomed because I received NO calls on the office for sale so I knew I needed to at least try something different to survive.  
I'm NOT a … (2 comments)

short sales: Short Sale Lenders cracking down on phony offers - 09/09/08 03:24 PM

Short Sale Agents beware, the lenders are cracking down on false offers.  I recently learned of a lender that actually hired a consultant to do nothing but call on the loans and verify the buyers information.  They are creating statistics and files on agents that are changing buyers from the original buyer and in a few months will be investigating the ones with a obvious pattern.  That's purgery and not only will they be coming after you, but the poor soul that signed the false offer.
Some of you amaze me..this is an actual statement taken right from our MLS just a few … (27 comments)

short sales: Foreclosure Scams on the Rise! - 08/11/08 01:52 AM
Foreclosure Scams on the Rise! (Please comment about the scams you have encountered to help others avoid these bad companies and same pitfalls)
This weekend alone I encountered 2 local Real Estate Companies that scammed homeowners into telling them they would buy their homes.  One of them  presented a short sale offer so ridiculously low that the bank didn't take the offer, then the Real Estate Company told the homeowner they will look for other investors and get her the number needed, but NEVER listed the house on the MLS, no SIGN, no ads even on their own website..NOTHING!  This poor lady is getting foreclosed on … (22 comments)

short sales: Illinois foreclosures still way up! - 07/11/08 01:13 AM
FRONT PAGE OF THE DAILY HERALD!
Significantly more Chicago area households received some type of foreclosure notice this June than last, suggesting the local foreclosure problem stands to get worse before it gets better.
June foreclosure filings - including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions - increased by 76 percent in Lake County, 53 percent in Cook County, 36 percent in McHenry County, 31 percent in Kane County and 30 percent in DuPage County compared with the same month a year earlier, according to statistics from RealtyTrac Inc.
Statewide, June foreclosure filings increased by 42 percent over the previous … (0 comments)

short sales: Agents Listing A Short Sale On Their Own Home - 07/10/08 01:23 AM
 Agents Beware!   The lender can take 100% of your commission and apply it to what's owed the lender if they catch you being the agent of your own Short Sale. 
Think about it.  As the Seller you are not allowed to profit anything from a Short Sale, so why wouldn't the lender take the commissions if they were going to you?  You are asking them to forgive tens of thousands of dollars in debt and you want to try and walk away with a few thousand of that?
In my office, listing your own Short Sale is NOT allowed!  Agents are too emotionally attached to … (9 comments)

short sales: Short Sales for everyone! Amazing news - 10/16/07 01:31 PM
I was shocked last week when I received a call from a client that had asked me to list his house as Short Sales welcome. 
I asked him how many payments he had missed..he said none.
I asked if his taxes were paid to date..he said yes.
I asked if anything had changed in his life that I wasn't aware of..like a loss of a job, a divorce, some other financial hardships..he said no.
This all stemmed from him calling me and asking me what he could do about lowering his payments and I told him to call his lender and ask them if they … (6 comments)