This is our Market 2010.

From the Illinois Association of Realtors:

In the city of Chicago, December total home sales (single-family and condominiums) were up 39.8 percent to 1,768 sales compared to 1,265 homes sold in December 2008. The city of Chicago median price in December 2009 was $210,000 down 10.6 percent compared to $235,000 a year ago in December 2008.

For the full year, sales were down in Chicago compared to 2008. Median price slid 22.4%.

For the year, city of Chicago home sales were down 7.4 percent to 19,401 homes sold compared to 20,946 homes sold in 2008. The year-end city of Chicago median price for 2009 was $225,000, down 22.4 percent from $290,000 in 2008.

“In the city of Chicago, December closed with nearly a 40 percent increase in units sold over the same period in 2009, indicating that the correction of the marketplace continues as distressed properties are absorbed by investors, and stimulus credit homebuyers continue to pave their way to making their purchases,” said REALTOR® Genie Birch, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and a broker associate with Koenig & Strey GMAC, Chicago.

“We will continue to monitor closely the impact of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, as well as the evolving lending regulations, including FHA’s new guidelines, as we serve Chicago’s homebuyers in 2010.”

Statewide, sales also improved but there are concerns about the elevated unemployment rate which reached 11.1% in December, much higher than the national average.

“The continuation of positive changes in annual sales data recorded in the last three months of 2009 is forecast to continue through the first quarter of 2010 and there is evidence to suggest that median prices might be starting to inch upwards,” said Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois. “Illinois’ March 2010 median price is forecast to be just above the level recorded a year earlier but Chicago’s median price will be down by just under 8 percent.”

Adds Hewings: “Illinois has recorded 24 months of job declines since the recession began in December 2007. Nationally, four in 10 of those currently unemployed have been in this position for more than 27 weeks.”

Illinois Home Sales in December Log Fourth Consecutive Gain; Year-End Home Sales Down 1.5 Percent in 2009 [Illinois Association of Realtors, Press Release, Jan 25, 2010]

The Bubble is building

From Matt Taibbi's "The Great American Bubble Machine" in Rolling Stone Issue 1082-83.

Fast-forward to today. It's early June in Washington, D.C. Barack Obama, a popular young politician whose leading private campaign donor was an investment bank called Goldman Sachs — its employees paid some $981,000 to his campaign — sits in the White House. Having seamlessly navigated the political minefield of the bailout era, Goldman is once again back to its old business, scouting out loopholes in a new government-created market with the aid of a new set of alumni occupying key government jobs.

Gone are Hank Paulson and Neel Kashkari; in their place are Treasury chief of staff Mark Patterson and CFTC chief Gary Gensler, both former Goldmanites. (Gensler was the firm's co-head of finance.) And instead of credit derivatives or oil futures or mortgage-backed CDOs, the new game in town, the next bubble, is in carbon credits — a booming trillion- dollar market that barely even exists yet, but will if the Democratic Party that it gave $4,452,585 to in the last election manages to push into existence a groundbreaking new commodities bubble, disguised as an "environmental plan," called cap-and-trade. The new carbon-credit market is a virtual repeat of the commodities-market casino that's been kind to Goldman, except it has one delicious new wrinkle: If the plan goes forward as expected, the rise in prices will be government-mandated. Goldman won't even have to rig the game. It will be rigged in advance.

What are HUD Homes and are they worth buying

What is a HUD home?

In a nutshell, HUD homes are properties that were foreclosed upon, which were purchased originally with an FHA insured loan. FHA (Federal Housing Administration) is part of HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), so when these homes are foreclosed upon, FHA pays the bank for their loss and in turn, acquires the property. That is how a HUD home is born. FHA is a whole other topic I might write about in the future but for now I will stick to the HUD homes.

HUD Inventory on the Rise

When I went onto HUD’s property listing website, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount and the quality of homes that were available. Ten to fifteen years ago, HUD homes were considered to be those that needed to get lots of work done. The homes were usually boarded up, in terrible condition and in undesirable areas. There wasn’t much of an inventory to even bother with, nor to get certified to make offers on. With receding family incomes, more people that purchased homes with FHA financing are finding themselves unable to keep those homes. This is why more HUD homes are coming to the market.

There are great deals on HUD properties and some a new construction.

What are HUD Homes and are they worth buying

What is a HUD home?

In a nutshell, HUD homes are properties that were foreclosed upon, which were purchased originally with an FHA insured loan. FHA (Federal Housing Administration) is part of HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), so when these homes are foreclosed upon, FHA pays the bank for their loss and in turn, acquires the property. That is how a HUD home is born. FHA is a whole other topic I might write about in the future but for now I will stick to the HUD homes.

HUD Inventory on the Rise

When I went onto HUD’s property listing website, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount and the quality of homes that were available. Ten to fifteen years ago, HUD homes were considered to be those that needed to get lots of work done. The homes were usually boarded up, in terrible condition and in undesirable areas. There wasn’t much of an inventory to even bother with, nor to get certified to make offers on. With receding family incomes, more people that purchased homes with FHA financing are finding themselves unable to keep those homes. This is why more HUD homes are coming to the market.

There are great deals on HUD properties and some a new construction.

Builder are getting the point of this market

Here is the bad news for builders.......no new constuction

The January HMI fell one point to 15, its lowest point since June of 2009. Two of its three component indexes registered one-point declines, with the index gauging current sales conditions and the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers falling to 15 and 12, respectively. The index gauging sales expectations in the next six months held even, at 26.

The outlook is the new construction is at a stand still, and no one is even trying to build. The market is flooded with too much inventory. In the Hinsdale area there are closings coming and homes are going under contract. The prices are dropping. The month of January is always slow but with the Federal government $8000.00 incentive deadline fast approaching I thought we would see more activity. This is the message that no one is interested in moving with the program.
I will be watching to see if March picks up, in order to get closed by the deadline.

This is very true for most Homes with College Children

Kids home on college break: Homo studentus universitatus season is winding to a close
Barbara Brotman

January 11, 2010

For nature lovers, this season has brought the appearance of a special species, homo studentus universitatus, a.k.a. the college student on break.

This highly social creature, which travels in packs and leaves a trail of unwashed dishes, is apparently drawn to return every winter to its parental nest. Researchers speculate that it is attracted to large-screen TVs, down comforters and a ready supply of food.

The initial arrival of homo studentus in late December is heralded by the appearance of a large pile of dirty laundry. This is followed by other piles of shoes and clothes, as the denim-rumped primate marks its territory by covering all flat surfaces with its possessions. Within days, the floor of its den is nearly impassable, though interestingly, the creature itself seems not to notice.

It generally remains in its winter habitat through mid-January, displaying the characteristics that make it a particularly intriguing form of wildlife.

A nocturnal animal, homo studentus is rarely glimpsed before mid-afternoon. Observers are warned: Do not attempt to disturb it before it awakens, as it can become hostile.

Once it begins to stir, it generally moves slowly to the vicinity of a television and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. Again, do not approach it; at this point the creature appears to be unable to engage in conversation or even to hear sounds such as requests to walk the dog.

By late afternoon, however, homo studentus becomes fully conscious and begins to interact with other members of its species.

Homo studentus communicates largely by using its opposable thumbs for texting. The species' social structure is complex and communal. Individuals gather in collectives, similar to hives, with different individuals fulfilling specific roles. One may buy the beer; another may surf YouTube for funny videos of animals.

They will often congregate on sofas in family rooms, burrowing underneath fleece throws and blankets. The pack can grow so large and dense that it may be difficult to discern which feet belong to which body. Observers trying to track the populations are advised to count heads.

Homo studentus is an extremely intelligent species, judging by the creatures' GPAs, their verbal interactions and their speed with answers to "Jeopardy!" However, scientists are puzzled by their inability to fold blankets or put dishes into a dishwasher. It may be that their brains have evolved to specialize in such tasks as remembering lines from movies and applying to graduate school, to the detriment of those parts of the brain that are involved in such tasks as hanging clothes in a closet.

They appear to be cold-blooded, judging by the levels at which they set the thermostat. On the other hand, their preference for indoor heat may be a function of not paying for utilities.

Those who hope to observe this species closely can attract them by providing the right environment. Set out feeders, e.g. pizzas. Scatter indoor areas with pillows. Provide premium cable channels and potato chips. Stay out of sight and don't touch the remote.

You may not always see the creatures themselves, particularly if you sleep at night. Some people have gone days without seeing the examples of homo studentus that have taken up residence in their homes. Be patient, and look for signs: A profusion of hair-care products in your bathroom, perhaps, or tire tracks in the snow on your front lawn. Eventually, even the most elusive of the creatures will show themselves, if only to ask you to buy more Honey Nut Cheerios.

The rewards of the species' visit are substantial -- a window into a complex society, happy noise in a quiet house, an impressive library of funny animal videos and the way your credit card feels so vibrantly alive. Indeed, many wildlife watchers are reluctant to see the creatures depart, and abandon their roles as observers to hug and kiss the creatures.

But the homo studentus season is brief. No matter how much the creatures have enjoyed the family nest and the use of their own bathrooms, they will soon return to college. Nature lovers must put away their binoculars, turn down the thermostat and bide their time until spring migration.

Please make a donation

This is from a another blogger:

Please consider making a donation to help the organizations that have mobilized to provide assistance to Haiti. Even a $10 donation would be incredibly helpful! As so many of the donations pouring in are made through credit card, American Express and Visa just announced that they will waive the fees on donations.

American Express will waive the fees through the end of February to these charitable funds established specifically to respond to the devastation in Haiti:

http://www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti

Visa will also waive all fees related to donations to Haiti relief organizations.

This means that 100% of your contribution will go to the charitable funds.

InterAction is the largest coalition of US based international nongovernmental organizations that are focused on the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, and includes the American Red Cross, Oxfam, Unicef, the United Way, and Habitat for Humanity (as well as dozens of additional organizations).

If we lose the mortgage debt then what is next for Real Estate

Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said the central bank should end its purchases of mortgage debt as planned in March because the private market for the securities is “healing.”
Hoenig said last week’s report showing the economy lost 85,000 jobs in December doesn’t change his outlook for growth of 3 percent to 3.5 percent this year. The central bank should consider raising its target rate for overnight interbank lending from a record low even with unemployment at 10 percent, he said.

The ugly reality of the market is that the real estate industry has been being subsidized for the past year with lower interest rates and tax incentives to keep from imploding. Now we are looking at these subsidies going away because they are too expensive for the government to continue.

Time to Get your House Clean and Ready to Sell

What to Sell and Where to Sell It

I love Ebay. I love shopping on Ebay and I love selling on Ebay. The trick with Ebay, though, is that you can’t just sell anything (MANY people will disagree with me on this). The truth is, it’s basically a search engine for stuff, and if nobody’s looking for your stuff it’s just not going to sell. I know there are a million exceptions to this…but I’m just talking in generalities here.

Personally, I only try to sell items on Ebay that are marketable and have a monetary value. What I mean by this is, a Pottery Barn pillow cover that’s in good condition will usually sell pretty easily on Ebay. A stuffed playboy bunny that your son won at the State Fair…not so much. The bunny could fetch $0.50 at a garage sale, but I wouldn’t waste my time or money trying to sell it on Ebay or Craigslist.

Here’s a quick summary of how I see the difference in marketable items on Ebay vs. Garage Sale/Craigslist items.

Items to Sell on Ebay

• Name Brand Items (Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, brands sold at Target, Banana Republic, Gap Kids, etc)
• Antiques
• Collectibles
• Books that are “In Demand”

Items to Sell at Garage Sales or on Craigslist

• Furniture
• Misc or Large Home Decor (Lamps, Art, Greenery, etc.)
• Tools
• Kitchen and Dining Appliances and Accessories
• Seasonal Items (Christmas Decor, Patio Accessories)

These lists are by no means extensive, and I’m sure you’ll have your own additions or deletions (uh oh…the “work speak” is creeping in…watch me start prattling off “disclaimers” and sounding like Spock).

What to Donate

What do I donate? This one’s kind of tricky, and it’s definitely up to your own personal preference. I do donate some items that could make money at a garage sale such as household goods, electronics and clothing. Why?

A) I don’t always get around to having a garage sale and I really like parking my car in the garage, and

B) Most thrift stores are charitable organizations and I like giving things that can help them earn some money…and possibly help people that might not be able to afford items elsewhere. But that’s just me.

You can call Habit for Humanity, Salvation Army, Veterans, all have pick up points to donate. The Caring Place, The Courtyard, and LA Grange Community Nursing Center all will take household decorating item and furniture.

What don’t I donate? Anything that’s broken beyond repair or generally “junk”. I always feel so bad when I basically see garbage in donation bins. Again, that’s just me.

16 S Tuttle, Clarendon Hills

From the Mls

This came on the market 1/4/10. It is now under contract in 8 days. It is a 1950 house on a 60x208 lot. The house is in need of cosmetic repair. So I think this was bought as a teardown by a builder. It was prices @$550.000 and taxes are$6492.00. The piece of property is large for the area and I am thrilled to see it under contract is 8 days.
This is a great welcome to 2010. I hope the market is on the way up.

Hello 2010.................

Happy 2010. You can dream and change your life this year.

Welcome 2010

I wish you all the best in 2010. This is time to look towards a great year. Hard work, dreams and passions to live for. Beth