Today's Naperville Sun reported an increase in foreclosure properties in Naperville. ( Read the complete story: http://tinyurl.com/2b9eux )

The threat of foreclosure affected 57 percent more Naperville families in 2006 than it did in 2005, according to a recent report by the National Training and Information Center, a Chicago affordable housing advocacy group. According to the report, foreclosure proceedings were initiated on 209 Naperville properties in 2006, compared to 133 in 2005.

And, how did I find out? Well, thanks to Jeff Merrinette our Board's government affairs person, in his update on our state legislature. And, it's also on his blog: http://activerain.com/blogs/merrinette

And, the article goes on to say that this is the tip of the iceberg. I suspect that is correct. 

If there's a vacant foreclosure home in your neighborhood you may want to maintain the exterior. Why? Because the lenders usually don't do any maintenance...and the grass will start growing. Also, some lenders take the locks off the door and replace them with just one of their special locks. Means that birds can fly into the house. I've seen it happen and it's a mess. Also it becomes an attractive nuisance for the older teens. (See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractive_nuisance_doctrine  )

Not a good thing. And, a vacant house can bring down the values of the nearby homes.

Naperville Foreclosures - The Naperville Sun reports a 57% increase in foreclosures due to buyers getting into mortgages that are either too big for their income or just plain caught off-guard by ARM's kicking up to higher interest rates. How is the market in your area on this issue. As evidenced by yesterday's Call to Action on predatory lending, the state legislature is grappling with this issue. Are you working with homeowners and talking to them about ARM products they get into? Eileen Landau's Move Up to Naperville blog reports lower priced housing with significantly lower days on the market. Landau also reports that the list to sell ratio is around 96%.