Chicagoland real estate purchases, real estate sales, short sales, foreclosures, first-time buyer
representation, Illinois condominium association representation, estate planning for everyone, powers of attorney, quit claim
deeds, landlord/tenant issues, forcible detainer/evictions, civil unions, foreclosure defense and more...
This
office serves clients in real estate transactions of all types. I also assist clients with estate planning for everyone, including
the GLBT community, and represent Illinois condominium associations as needed. I help real estate investors who are renting
their properties deal with difficult renter issues, and I advocate for renters dealing with difficult landlords.
I work with clients in Chicago and all over the Chicagoland area, including
Wilmette, Skokie, Morton Grove, Plainfield, Wheaton, Glencoe, Lake Forest, Naperville, Oak Park, Winnetka, Des Plaines, Orland
Park, Berwyn, Carol Stream, Arlington Heights, Crystal Lake, Barrington, Palatine, Park Ridge, Gurnee, South Holland, Park
Forest and more.
My goal is to give each
and every client personal, friendly and competent service at a reasonable price. I also strive to use technology in the best
way possible to keep my clients informed.
My legal background includes working for a major Chicago
developer and working for a boutique firm in their real estate division. I am also a landlord of a three flat building in
Rogers Park and I am managing broker of a small real estate brokerage.
I work with all different
types of clients, including developers, first-time buyers, buyers of second (or third!) homes, all sellers and the gay, lesbian
and transgender community.
My real estate blog is below. Please make sure to check back on a regular basis
to check out what's new. I update my blog about once a week and welcome any questions that you may have.
7527
N. Seeley Avenue, Suite 1, Chicago, IL 60645 www.chicagolandrealestatelaw.com lawgoddess1@gmail.com 773.818.9054
office/cell 866.381.4238 efax
Recommend my site by clicking here!
Amazing first-hand testimonial of how wonderful life
is when raised by same-sex parents. It's a must-see!
Short sale occurs when a lender takes less on a mortgage than what is owed. Sometimes this is a better
option than allowing the property to go into foreclosure.
A Seller will list a property
and get an offer from a buyer which is less than for the amount of the mortgage. When the Seller accepts the offer, the Seller
must ask the lender to accept the lesser offer. Then the transaction closes, with the lender's blessing, and the lender releases
the lien, and the buyer accepts the deed.
Sounds easy, right?
In
order to qualify for a short sale, you must meet the following criteria:
1) Your home's
market value has dropped and is worth less than the amount due to the lender.
2) The mortgage
is at or near default status.
3) The Seller has fallen on hard times, either through divorce,
bankrupcty, death of a spouse, medical emergency or unemployment.
4) The Seller has little
or no assets.
If you do not meet the above requirements, you may not qualify for a short
sale. So, where do you start? Call a qualified real estate attorney, and also consult a qualified real estate agent if you
do not know how much your property is actually worth. There are consequences, which I will blog about in further detail to
come.
New-home sales fell once again in July, the third straight month of declining sales for hard-pressed
home builders.
New homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 298,000, a modest 0.7% drop from a
downwardly-revised rate of 300,000 homes sold in June, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. It was also below the rate of 310,000
that a panel of housing market analysts at Briefing.com had forecast.
Sales rose 6.8%
year-over-year from 279,000 in July 2010.
"We've been bouncing around the 300,000 level for months, for years,
really," said David Crowe, the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. "It reflects continued
buyer concern with the weak economy."
The median price for a new home sold in July was $222,000, down about
5.5% from June but up 8.8% from 12 months earlier.
The inventory of new homes for sale stood at 165,000 during
the month. It would take 6.6 months to sell off those homes at the current sales rate.
With sales so slow, new-home
construction is also slumping. The home building industry is normally a major contributor to the economy, but it is so depressed
right now that it's it a drag on the economic recovery.
Crowe said home sales might weaken even more in the aftermath
of the debt-ceiling debate, the downgrading of U.S. debt and the subsequent volatility in the financial markets.
"We might see August figures drop because of the market turmoil and the uncertainly it creates in consumers,"
he said.
Historically low interest rates do not seem to be helping. Applications for mortgages have spiked, but
most of the increase is for refinancing old mortgages rather than for purchasing new homes, according to Crowe.
