* MORE SHORT SALES IN 2012

Short Sales Will Increase Dramatically in 2012

by The KCM Crew on May 7, 2012 · 2 comments

We believe that short sales will be a major part of the real estate market in 2012. That is why we have dedicated this entire week to posts exclusively on this subject. We hope that by the end of the week you have a better handle on the need for short sales and a better understanding of the process. – the KCM Crew
It seems that the banks have finally realized that a short sale is a better option than foreclosure for them, the homeowner and the neighborhood. It is for this reason we believe that 2012 will come to be known as the year of the short sale. CNN Money reported on this exact point:

“We believe 2012 could be a record year for short sales,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

Banks are showing signs of being more open and willing to approve the deals — even if it means accepting less money. The average sales price for a short sale was $174,120 in January, down 4% from December and 10% year-over-year.

Market Watch also addressed the short sale situation recently:

Fitch expects the increase in short sales to continue because of the potential benefits afforded to both lenders and borrowers. Some borrowers may prefer short sales because, though they cannot stay in the property, they often walk away with cash incentives from lenders and healthier credit reports unmarred by foreclosure. For lenders, short sales provide a more efficient and cheaper alternative to the increasingly lengthy and costly foreclosure process. Read more…

If you are interested in selling your home, including selling for less than loan amount (short sale), please contact me:

Barbara Pedersen, Realtor®, Broker
CDPE/Certified Distressed Property Expert, Short Sales
Traditional Sales and Purchases
covering the City of Chicago and Chicago’s South and Southwest Suburbs.
e-mail at:b.pedersen@comcast.net
or call at: 708-539-9900
Classic Realty Group
Orland Park, Il

FOR HELP CALL Barbara
708-539-9900
or e-mail: b.pedersen@comcast.net

* SELL YOUR HOME QUICKLY

If you want to sell your home fast in today’s market, watch this video:

How to Sell Your Home Quickly

 

Barbara Pedersen, Realtor®, Broker
Traditional Sales and Purchases, Short Sales
covering the City of Chicago and Chicago’s South and Southwest Suburbs.
e-mail at:b.pedersen@comcast.net
or call at: 708-539-9900
Classic Realty Group
Orland Park, Il

FOR HELP CALL Barbara
708-539-9900
or e-mail: b.pedersen@comcast.net

* THE AMERICAN DREAM OF HOMEOWNERSHIP MIGHT BE OVER?

THE AMERICAN DREAM OF HOMEOWNERSHIP MIGHT BE OVER

(Yahoo News) — There are two ways to discern today’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index numbers: home prices are at 10-year lows and likely to fall further or home prices are recovering because prices are declining at a slower pace.

Economist Karl Case, co-founder of the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller index, has a more optimistic view on the market. He says there are cities and towns where the market “is cleaning and prices are holding” and notes that a reduction in new construction will bring the market more in line with the number of people seeking to buy.

“We’re bouncing along a rocky bottom,” Case says in the accompanying video.

Read more…

* HOUSING TRENDS NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2012

Please check out my April 2012 Housing Trends Newsletter

Housing Trends eNewsletter is filled with U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, consumer videos, blogs, a real estate glossary, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, real estate radio, REALTOR.com local community reports and local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by local MLSs and the National Association of REALTORS®.
Read more…

* RENTS ARE ON THE RISE

RENTS ON THE RISE
by The KCM Crew on April 20, 2012 · 5 Comments

* UNDERWATER

Desert Underwater: Who Owns Your Home?

Posted: Nov 17, 2011 9:35 PM CST Updated: Nov 18, 2011 1:22 PM CST
By George Knapp, Chief Investigative Reporter – bio | email
By Matt Adams, Chief Photojournalist – email

desert-underwater-who-owns-your-home?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6467001

LAS VEGAS — The foreclosure crisis has several causes, but government investigators now believe that high risk gambling by major banks is mostly to blame for the economic meltdown. Millions of Americans who played by the rules and paid their bills have lost their homes because banks and their service providers cranked out mountains of bogus mortgage documents.

In Nevada, tens of thousands of homeowners are in for a big surprise — they don’t really own their homes because the paper trail was corrupted from the beginning. And if the house you bought has ever been in foreclosure, there’s a strong chance you have a problem.

We’ve heard over and over how the government’s insistence that banks provide subprime loans so poor people could get mortgages is the primary cause of the meltdown. Subprime loans are a part of the problem, but only a tiny part. For the most part, the people who have lost, and are still losing their homes, did everything right and still got screwed.  Read more…..

and check out this video:
desert-underwater-who-owns-your-home?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6467001

* FORECLOSURES BY STATE

by The KCM Crew on February 24, 2012 · 23 comments

InfoGraphic

Methodology as per CoreLogic: The foreclosure inventory represents the number and ratio of homes that have been placed into the process of foreclosure by the mortgage servicer. Mortgage servicers start the foreclosure process when the mortgage reaches a specific level of serious delinquency as dictated by the investor for the mortgage loan … The foreclosure inventory is measured only against homes that have an outstanding mortgage. Homes with no mortgage liens can never be in foreclosure and are therefore excluded from the analysis.

For further information, go to www.corelogic.com

* SHADOW INVENTORY

2.6M of Shadow Inventory To Be Resolved

by The KCM Crew on March 16, 2012

*50 STATE MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT WITH BANKS

Extremely disappointing:

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,700 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 28 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.