chicago real estate news alert: COULDN'T LIST & SELL YOUR PROPERTY IN 2007? Your Re-fi Today Might be Rejected!
- 01/31/08 08:13 AM
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow here in Chicago - 7 inches of new snow predicted here overnight!
A rule restricting refinancing of properties recently listed for sale on the MLS is nothing new here in Chicago. However, recent sluggishness in the residential sale market here, brought on by inventories 52% higher than this time last year, and fewer qualified buyers, have made many lenders enforce their restrictions on the ability to re-finance immediately after a listing period expires.
Lenders such as Wells Fargo Home Loans and others impose a 90-day wait period before a recently listed property can be the … (1 comments)
|
chicago real estate news alert: UP-ZONING PROCESS IN CHICAGO Allows for Larger, More Luxurious Homes - But Many Cry Foul!
- 01/29/08 08:01 AM
Hey, everyone!
I live here in Chicago, and love living here. But those of you from other places may look at this with your jaws wide open!
Are you a real estate developer, or perhaps an affluent individual, wanting to build a new home or condo project in many affluent Chicago Neighborhoods? Plans call for a structure too large to be allowed under current zoning regulations? What's the solution?
Pick up the phone, call your local Alderman - and file for a Zoning Variance! Per long-standing practice here in Chicago, the City Council usually defers neighborhood up-zoning decisions to the alderman. Hence, those well connected, … (0 comments)
|
chicago real estate news alert: BEING PUSHED TO INFLATE HER APPRAISAL, CA Veteran Appraiser Sues WaMu!
- 01/28/08 09:30 AM
Back a couple of years ago, when the market was roaring, seemingly without end, here in Chicago and in other parts of the country, many appraisers may have felt some pressure to increase their appraised values - sometimes substantially - to make sure the loan went through. One such appraiser in California, Jennifer Wertz, refused - and has now filed a lawsuit against one of the country's largest mortgage lenders, Washington Mutual.
Last May, when Wertz was completing one appraisal, she was asked by her manager to change her opinion on the market stability for the neighborhood in which the subject property … (7 comments)
|
chicago real estate news alert: HARD-MONEY LENDERS! A Viable Option for Investors, No-Doc Home Buyers?
- 01/15/08 11:28 AM
Primarily a question here for those familiar with the hard money lending arena. Lenders, please!
In the past, here in the Chicago area, several investor clients of mine have tapped hard money loans, from private investors, for buy, rehab, and flip projects. If the properties flipped quickly, in an appreciating market, higher than market fees and increased rates could be absorbed. Sometimes, if they had to hold, or in a stable or slightly down market, they got stung.
The hard-money option helped many investors that would have otherwise would not have been able to use conventional financing. Some clients were considering exotic, off-shore or … (4 comments)
|
chicago real estate news alert: BEN BERNANKE - "Substantive" Rate Cuts to Come - But Will They Spur Housing Demand?
- 01/10/08 07:33 AM
Big news flash out of Washington, folks- Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech to the Women in Housing and Finance, admitted concern over the continuing struggle in the U.S. financial markets, and ongoing weakness in the housing sector.
Coupled with higher-than-expected unemployment rates in December, Bernanke suggested less concern on inflation risk, and heightened concern on continued sluggish economic growth. Experts feel his remarks increase the likelihood the Fed will reduce it's benchmark Fed funds rate by 1/2% at it's next meeting on January 29th. Recent rate reductions have been 1/4%.
Will the larger reduction impact the housing market? Not immediately, … (2 comments)
|
chicago real estate news alert: Come to Chicago! Live in Chicago! Invest in Chicago! There are Some Great Bargains Here!
- 01/04/08 11:12 AM
No, gang, I'm not Mayor Daley!
But I got to thinking earlier today. As I was prospecting Expired Listings this afternoon, I spotted a few nice houses, in need of some updating and repair, to be sure, but very livable, right here, in top, desirable neighborhoods on the North Side of Chicago. All are under $500,000!
Two years ago, few homes would have been listed at this price point, in any condition, within one mile of my office in the Lincoln Square Neighborhood of Chicago, and less than five miles from Downtown Chicago and The Loop. But, now, in January, 2008, here they … (0 comments)
|
chicago real estate news alert: Eminent Doman at the Local Level - Two Blocks Away!
- 12/17/07 08:12 AM
Happy Monday Afternoon, everyone!
Just north of our Team's Keller Williams office, at the corner of Lincoln, Western, and Lawrence Avenues in the Lincoln Square Neighborhood of Chicago, there is a cluster of very old commercial buildings, one dating back to the late 1800's. Several are in disrepair, but several thriving businesses exist there, including a soccer supply store, and an older Walgreen's Store.
Earlier this year, the City of Chicago began to take action to acquire these properties, through Eminent Domain, with the idea that a private developer would build higher-end commercial and residential properties in character with this bustling neighborhood. This new … (13 comments)
|
chicago real estate news alert: Countrywide Home Loans to Face State of Illinois Investigation
- 12/13/07 08:37 AM
Mortgage lender Countrywide Home Loans, whose aggressive home loan marketing has already broght intense criticism for its overly lenient home loan underwriting standards, may be facing further investigation by the Illinois Attorney General's office.
Deborah Hagan, Chief of the Consumer Protection Division of the Illinois Attorney General's office, confirmed a subpeona was served on Countrywide in early September, 2007. The office is seeking information on Countrywide's Illinois loan originations, funding, and collateralization.
The action grew out of a lawsuit filed in November, 2006 against One Source Mortgage, a local mortgage broker who used Contrywide for primary funding on most of its loans. The … (0 comments)
|
|
|
|
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow here in Chicago - 7 inches of new snow predicted here overnight!
;)
;)
;)
