1002 Britta Ln, Geneva IL

1002 Britta Ln, Geneva IL
2BR/2BA Ranch
$189,500

This fabulous 2 bedroom, 2 bath ranch on Geneva’s east side is sure to please!  Located close to school, parks and transportation this home offers an ideal location.  Step inside to find a large inviting living room with lighted paddle fan.  The kitchen offers a door to the sideyard and down to the finished basement.  Bedroom sizes are generous and include the master with lighted paddle fan and walk-in closet.  Rounding out the main level is the 2nd bedroom, dining room and hall bath with linen closet.  Downstairs, the finished basement provides more room with a 22×21 rec room, 3rd bedroom with walk-in closet, full bath and laundry room with utility sink.  There’s room to play outside in the fenced backyard too!  Enjoy the good life in this east side stunner!

For more information, call The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

420 Arbor Ave, West Chicago IL

420 Arbor Ave, West Chicago IL
2BR/2BA Ranch
$149,000

Charming in-town ranch home with room to spare! You’ll fall in love with this 2 bedroom, 2 bath home sited on a fenced lot with side drive and 1-car garage.  Step inside and be amazed by the spacious living room with gleaming hardwood that carries through the entire main level.  Plenty of room can be found in the kitchen with breakfast bar and eating area offering a lighted paddle fan and sliding glass door to the deck.  Both bedrooms boast lighted paddle fans providing comfort at the end of a long day.  Completing the main level is the hall bath with ceramic tile flooring.  Need more room?  Follow the stairs down to the full finished basement complete with 3 additional bedrooms and full bath with ceramic tile floor & pedestal sink.  Let the fun spill outside to the huge covered deck, fenced yard and there’s even a basketball hoop!  Located close to town, this home is sure to please!

For more information, call The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

States Step Up Foreclosure Relief

“Defaulting on the Dream: States Respond to America’s Foreclosure Crisis” is a must read for home owners struggling with their mortgage.

Produced by the Pew Charitable Trusts as the first detailed dissertation to chronicle the impact of the foreclosure crisis at the state level, the report is chock full of “where-to-go-for-help” advice.

“The stakes are incredibly high. Home ownership is the primary vehicle through which American families build financial security. It also is an essential building block of state and local economies,” according to Pew managing directors Susan Urahn and Shelley Hearne.

Their timing is impeccable. One in 33 current U.S. homeowners may be headed toward foreclosure in the coming years because of subprime loans, and in some states the crisis is more acute. In Arizona, one in every 18 homeowners could lose their home. In Nevada, the ratio is one in 11, according to the report.

The report charts some assertive, even experimental state efforts to mitigate financial harm to homeowners, lenders, local communities and state budgets.

 
• To help borrowers avoid foreclosure and keep their homes, 20 states (including California, Colorado, New York and Nevada) have launched formal foreclosure intervention or prevention initiatives. 
• Sixteen states (along with those above, including, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania) have enacted both high-cost lending and foreclosure intervention laws. 
• Thirteen states (among them Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota) have created counseling hotlines to help the foreclosure-at-risk, and several states are encouraging (too often reluctant) lenders to work with borrowers to find alternatives to foreclosure. 
• Nine states (including Delaware, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio) have established loan funds that can be used to refinance borrowers who have loans they cannot afford or to provide short-term loans to help borrowers overcome financial difficulties. 
• To protect vulnerable borrowers from unscrupulous real estate investors, nine states have created laws regulating firms that claim to “rescue” borrowers from default. Since the downturn, rescue operations have preyed upon vulnerable home owners. 
• And in an effort to prevent problematic loans from being made in the first place, 31 states (among them, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah ) have implemented laws that address predatory lending.

The report also explains the foreclosure process and lists home owners options when they default (become more than 30 days late on a payment) on their mortgage.

 
• Bring the account current by paying the past due balance on their loan, including late charges and other fees assessed by the lender. 
• Renegotiate the terms of their loan with the lender. 
• Pay off their loan by refinancing the loan with another lender. 
• Sell the property to pay off the current loan, if the home is worth more than the mortgage. Or if the property is not worth the mortgage balance, engage a “short sale” where the lender forgives a portion of the debt provided a seller is available to buy the home. 
• Voluntarily convey the property back to the lender through a deed–in-lieu of foreclosure.

The report also lists a host of relief efforts, some on the state level, some not, some well known, some not so well known, including:

 
• Homeownership Preservation Foundation creates partnerships to help families overcome obstacles that could cause foreclosure. 
• National Consumer Law Center uses consumer law to promote marketplace justice for vulnerable home owners and families. 
• Pennsylvania’s Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) is a loan fund that provides eligible state residents with foreclosure assistance. 
• Minnesota’s Foreclosure Prevention Assistance Program provides eligible state home owners with counseling and financial assistance. 
• Ohio’s Opportunity Loan Refinance Program helps borrowers refinance high-cost loans with a 30-year fixed-rate and a 20-year, fixed rate second.

Check with your state housing, consumer, social or community agencies to determine what home owner and mortgage programs and assistance is available to help see you through hard times.

Written by Broderick Perkins

St Charles IL Real Estate Market Trends

There are currently 758 single family and townhomes listed for sale in St Charles. The average home is priced at $424,743. Closings are down 28% with 486 YTD. The median sale price of $361,000 is up 9% from last year. Market time is up 23% over last year with the average home being on the market for 145 days. This information was pulled from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008.

Provided by The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels.  For more information, call 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

North Aurora IL Real Estate Market Trends

There are currently 185 single family and townhomes listed for sale in North Aurora. The average home is currently priced at $287,900. Closings are down 22% with 172 YTD. The median sale price of $230,750 is down 3% over last year. Market time is up 29% over last year with the average home being on the market for 135 days. This information was pulled from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008.

Provided by The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels.  For more information, call 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

Geneva IL Real Estate Market Trends

There are currently 394 single family and townhomes listed for sale in Geneva. The average home is currently priced at $354,025. Closings are down 25% with 280 YTD. The median sale price of $325,625 is down 5% over last year. Market time is up 11% over last year with the average home being on the market for 151 days. This information was pulled from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008.

Provided by The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels.  For more information call 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

Elburn IL Real Estate Market Trends

There are currently 168 single family and townhomes listed for sale in Elburn. The average home is currently priced at $399,900. Closings are down 27% with 77 YTD. The median sale price of $299,900 is down 8% from last year. Market time is up 54% over last year with the average home being on the market for 270 days. This information was pulled from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008.

Provided by The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels.  For more information, call 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

Batavia IL Real Estate Market Trends

There are currently 245 single family and townhomes listed for sale in Batavia. The average home is currently priced at $328,900. Closings are down 24% with 213 YTD. The median sale price of $280,000 is down 3% over last year. Market time is up 16% over last year with the average home being on the market for 158 days. This information was pulled from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008.

Provided by The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels.  For more information, call 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

901 Price, Sugar Grove, IL

901 Price Rd, Sugar Grove IL
3BR/2BA Ranch
$375,000

Talk about location – this home has it all!  Located on a quiet cul-de-sac lot in the popular Walnut Woods subdivision of Sugar Grove, this 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch backs to a natural prairie, pond and is adjacent to Carson Slough Park with gazebos & bike/walking paths.  Step inside the roomy foyer with ceramic tile floor, sidelights & transom to find an open and flowing floorplan.  Perfect for enjoying special meals with friends and family is the formal dining room with chandelier.  With plenty of room for entertaining and relaxing, the vaulted family room boasts a bay window with gorgeous views, lighted paddle fan and is wired for surround sound.  This opens into the huge eat-in kitchen with tile floor, center island, 42″ cabinetry and closet pantry.  Enjoy your morning coffee in the vaulted sunroom with serene views of the natural prairie and door to the maintenance-free Trex deck with built-in seating.  Unwind at the end of a long day in the master suite with tray ceiling, walk-in closet and luxury bath with soaking tub and separate shower.  There are two additional generously sized bedrooms, and a mud room.  The full unfinished basement offers numerous possibilities and even comes with a rough-in for bath.  Walking distance to parks, and just a short drive to shopping & highway access – this jewel is in mint condition and ready for you!

For more information, call The Kombrink Team at RE/MAX Excels 630-262-4321 or visit us online at www.kombrink.com

Mortgage Rates Drop

With all the wild swings of the stock market and worries about recession, you might have missed some of the mildly encouraging developments on interest rates, capital availability for loans, and the direction of the economy overall.

Tops on the list: Mortgage rates last week took a quarter-point drop, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Rates were down to an average 6.28 percent for 30 year fixed rate loans and 6.05 percent for 15 year. The quarter point decline came on the heels of an unusual half point increase the week before that had been tied to the wild gyrations on Wall Street.

Now it’s true that six and a quarter percent for 30 year mortgages is still higher than rates were several weeks back. But in a volatile market environment like we’re in, you’ve got to welcome ANY drop in the cost of money.

Another economic sign that got crowded out of the news by all the stock market craziness: The Conference Board’s bellwether Index of Leading Indicators — which points to the direction of the economy immediately ahead — just took a jump UPWARD for the first time in five months! The index examines ten key metrics related to future economic growth or decline, and in the last month six out of ten were POSITIVE .

Most economists continue to forecast a recession, but the leading indicators index seems to suggest something slightly different: Slow, slogging, minimal economic growth in the months ahead. That’s not great, but it doesn’t fit the classical definition of a recession, which is two straight quarters of negative growth.

Add in the recent sharp declines in the cost of gasoline and heating oil, and who knows? Maybe the national economic outlook is slightly less grim than we’re expecting. Maybe we’re all being too pessimistic.

Also in the works that you ought to know about: A new economic stimulus package from Congress aimed at increasing employment and pumping billions of additional dollars into key segments of the economy.

On that score, one of the items already included in some versions of that stimulus package: Larger, non-repayable federal tax credits for purchasers of homes.

This time around, the credit — which could go as high as $10,000 to $12,000 per buyer if some housing industry lobbyists get their way – will be open to all purchasers of homes in the coming year, not just first-time buyers.

Written by Kenneth R. Harney