The Front Door Tells the Story..........

 The Little Greene; BH&G; Blissfully Domestic; Hooked on Houses; Apartment Therapy; Yellow Front Door

The Front Door Tells the Story..........

I am always asked what to do to get my house ready to sell. There are many ways to set the tone and painting the front door is the first.These are just a few photos that I love for a front door. How about your front door? Does it need a new color?  I feel the door is the opening page of the story of the house. This is a simple way to make a big statement and not spending lots of money, just time and work.

We still are have not hit the bottom of the market yet.

We still are have not hit the bottom of the market yet.
This is from an article that was in the Chicago Tribune Real Estate section over the weekend. It is a very sad story and I know of many young couples who are facing this same problem. I am very concerned to see that the banks and still so greedy over working with people to get a problem solved. This could also be a sign that our banks are losing profits and are not able to correct the problem. We still have not reached the bottom of this mess yet.

1. Del Phillips buys a 1-bedroom $212,500 condo in a Lakeview courtyard building in May 2007.
2. He takes out two loans: first mortgage of $159,375 and a second of $53,125- both from Chase.
3. In January 2009, he lost his public affairs job.
4. In April 2009,  he applied for a modification under the federal HAMP program.
5. He continued paying the $1400 a month mortgage while he waited to hear on the modification.
6. In September 2009, he was turned down because his hardship was “not of a permanent nature.”
7. He tried to short sell the condo.
8. But Chase told him that they had the right to persue him for the second mortgage (not to mention the fact that, under the law as I’ve heard it described, the second loan would be considered “income” by the IRS if it was forgiven by the bank so he would have to pay taxes on it.)

Phillips sought help from Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago Inc., a federal government-approved counseling agency, which broached the idea of filing personal bankruptcy.
“(Phillips) did everything right. He had good credit, and then he lost his job,” said Michael van Zalingen, director of homeownership services for Neighborhood Housing Services. “If your lender isn’t interested in helping you, or the only thing you qualify for hurts your household, I don’t think you have any moral obligation to stay bound in that mortgage or paying to that company when it no longer makes economic sense for you.”
Phillips bristled at the bankruptcy suggestion, but after consulting with an attorney, in late February he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, not the Chapter 13 that would have negotiated his debts, including those with Chase.
“My other option was to say I’ll roll the dice with the bank,” Phillips said. “Will they really come after me? I wouldn’t put it past the bank industry to do that. It’s going to kill me to pay a bank for a house I no longer owned. I was, like, there’s no way I’m going to pay the bank another dime.”
Lawyers say they are hearing about more instances of mortgage lenders selling the delinquent second loans used to buy homes during the industry’s heyday to third parties that are then pursuing debtors.
“He’s not outside the norm,” said Stephen Cleary, a Chicago attorney and board member of the Northwest Side Housing Center. “He can now sleep at night. The mental anguish has been relieved.”

Mark Burnell files for Real Estate Bankruptcy

Mark Burnell files for Real Estate Bankruptcy.

This years super bowl back up quarterback has filed for bankruptcy due to great losses in the real estate market. It is another story of deals gone bad. Mark had heavily invested in future real estate development  projects that have dissolved. The banks have won in calling the notes in and now Mark has lost.

 I think that if you have celebrities in a deal that you have better get out fast. 

One of the disputes involves a real estate project in Jacksonville Beach, involving a $2.2 million loan made by CNL Bank in 2005. CNL began foreclosure proceedings on the property in May 2009, accusing the partners of defaulting on the loan.

Brunell, a Ponte Vedra Beach resident, also invested in several other businesses including real estate projects in Traverse City and Grand Rapids, Mich. Those real estate investments failed, and Michigan-based Select Bank won a $1.1 million judgment against Brunell and his partners.

“The timing of the group’s real estate acquisitions at the height of the real estate market, in hindsight, clearly was not good,” Brunell said in a statement e-mailed to the Times-Union.

Brunell said he had personally shouldered the payments on the loans for several years, as the group worked to reach a resolution with financiers.

“In the end, we couldn’t and I am no longer able to shoulder this burden,” said Brunell, who declined to comment further when reached by the Times-Union on Thursday night. via Jacksonville.com

The Hawks Win!!!!

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks  for winning the Stanley Cup. Party in the City. Yippee!!