Judy Newton Used My Blog Title!

Yay! Sort of....

Chicago Case Shiller Condo Index rises for 1st time in 9 months!

 

Why Buy A Home Now?

by The KCM Crew

 

Despite what appears to be a non-stop wave of tough news regarding real estate, four major media players have come out this month with the same advice: It Is Time to Buy a Home! Here are the four articles and a breakdown as to why the advice makes sense.

The Wall Street Journal: Why It’s Time to Buy 

CBS Money Watch: Why the Time to Buy is Now

Forbes Magazine: 9 Reasons to Buy a House Now

National Public Radio: For Many, It’s Still a Good Time to Buy a Home

With prices continuing to depreciate in most regions of the country, some may wonder why these four entities are suggesting to their readership that now is the time to buy. Each organization realizes that PRICE is not as important as COST. The cost of a home can go up even if prices continue to fall. Unless you are an all cash buyer, you must take into consideration the expense of mortgaging when calculating the full cost of a home. Here is some information to consider.

Interest Rates

Currently, interest rates sit at historic lows. However, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, PMI and the National Association of Realtors are all projecting approximately a 1% increase in mortgage rates over the next year. A one percent increase in rate negates a ten percent fall in prices.

Lending Standards

The government has proposed a tightening of lending standards called Quality Residential Mortgage (QRM). If accepted as proposed two things will happen:

1. The qualification process for loans will become more difficult
2. The cost of a loan will increase

Bottom Line

There is a reason more and more financial organizations are suggesting to their followers that now is the time to buy a home: because the cost of purchasing a home is about to increase (even if prices continue to fall).

 

Short Sale Scam Cheats Banks, Sellers

Banks and distressed home sellers stand to lose more than $375 million this year from a short sale scam that has sellers and banks agreeing to sell homes at very undervalued prices, according to a new study by CoreLogic.

In discovering the short sale fraud scam, CoreLogic analyzed 450,000 nationwide short-sale transactions in the last two years.

Here’s how the scam often works: Borrowers who are underwater or in financial distress are approached, often by an investment group, and persuaded to sell the property in a short sale at a low price. Soon after the bank accepts the lowball offer, the investment group then resells the house to legitimate buyers at a higher price.

Sixty-five percent of short sales resold within six months that net profits of 40 percent or higher were flagged “suspicious,” which means there is a high likelihood that the lender accepted a low offer, according to the CoreLogic study. These transactions often go undetected by banks, too.

Source: “A Short Way to Short-Sale Fraud,” The Real Deal (June 3, 2011)

1412 Hinman #2W, Open Sunday from 2-4

If you can’t imagine living in a tiny, new construction condo with Metra views, come to the part of downtown Evanston where hardwood floor & charm are standard. Still walking distance to restaurants, shops, lake, transportation & NU but away from noise & visitors can park on the street for free. Find yourself in this sunny 2 bedroom w/updated appliances, big closets & garage parking in a quiet courtyard building on a street with trees!

 New Price $170,000!

 

Dog House

 

This dog looks so ecstatic to have other dogs inside him. BRING THEM TO ME!

Back to March of 2000

Chicago’s Case-Shiller Index for March fell 2.4% from February. The index is down 7.6% from March 2010. The housing index is back to its March 2001 level. The housing index is based on resales of houses in the Chicago Metro Area. It’s published with a 2 month lag.