Is The Internet and Fuzzy Math Pricing Your Home?

Zillow, Trulia and other websites post estimates of home values. But as Alyssa Abkowitz explains on Lunch Break, these popular sites can be -- by their own admission -- wildly inaccurate

.Video Provided by the Wall Street Journal and Alyssa Abkowitz

Click Here for the Video



If you need more help figuring out what is REALLY going on in Real Estate and what a Buyer will pay for your home... Feel to contact me.. Neal Paskvan (Baird Warner) 

Click Here to Contact Neal Paskvan at Baird Warner

Kitchen Storage Options | Kitchen Storage Ideas | Provided by HouseLogic via Neal Paskvan

Low-cost storage strategies bring calm to your kitchen, banishing stress-inducing clutter and leaving the space orderly.

Good news for budget-minded cleaning compulsives: Getting organized in the kitchen won’t drain your piggy bank. Stash more cash and control the chaos with these low-cost kitchen storage solutions, all readily available at home centers, discount stores, and online.
Rack attack: Store pots, everyday dishes, spices, and wine on racks that are freestanding, wall-hung, and ceiling-hung—and voila! Everything is in its own location, visible, and easily accessible!
Position the racks where they make sense: A pot rack above the cooktop; a dish rack close to the dishwasher for quick unloading; spices near the range or meal prep area; a wine rack near the wine glasses and dining table.
You’ll find racks in metal, wood, and other materials, starting as low as $10 to $15.

National Housing Survey 2012 by Fannie Mae

Each quarter, Fannie Mae releases their National Housing Survey. They survey the American public on a multitude of questions concerning today’s housing market. We like to pull out some of the findings we deem most interesting each time it is released. Here they are for the most recent report:
84% of the general population believes that owning a home makes more sense than renting.

The Most Important Reasons to Buy a Home

When we talk about homeownership today, it seems that the financial aspects always jump to the front of the discussion. However, the study shows that the four major reasons a person buys a home have nothing to do with money. The top four reasons, in order, are:

1. It means having a good place to raise children and provide them with a good education
2. You have a physical structure where you and your family feel safe
3. It allows you to have more space for your family
4. It gives you control of what you do with your living space (renovations and updates)

The Home as an Investment

Though most people purchase a home for non-financial reasons, everyone realizes there is a money component to homeownership. Here is what they said on this issue:

• 63% of the general population believes that homeownership is a ‘safe’ investment.
• 53% believe that homeownership has more potential as an investment than any other traditional asset class.

Rent vs. Buy

We are always interested in the difference people see in renting vs. owning.

• 64% of renters have aspirations to someday own their own home
• 70% of renters think that owning is superior to renting

Bottom Line

Our belief in the value of homeownership grows each time this survey is released.

Feel free to contact me if you would like more info about homeownership!.

Neal Paskvan, Baird Warner    neal.paskvan@bairdwarner.com

Short Sale Success: What is an Acceptable Hardship?

 

A short sale, in most instances, is a complex transaction. However, there are two very simplistic characteristics that every qualified short sale possesses:

1. The house must be valued at less than the homeowner owes on their mortgage debt obligation. In other words, the home must be “underwater”.
2. The homeowner must have a qualified hardship.

It is the second characteristic that we would like to touch upon in this blog post.

One question that we answer frequently is “My house is underwater. Is this an acceptable hardship?” Unfortunately, the answer is always “No.”

The simple fact that a homeowners mortgage obligation is in excess of their house value is not an acceptable hardship. A Short Selling bank will entertain a short sale when and only when there is a hardship that will, now or in the future, affect the borrower’s ability to pay their mortgage.

The following is a list of acceptable hardships that may be used when submitting a short sale package:

• Mortgage Rate Adjustments
• Loss of Employment or Reduction in Wages
• Business Failure
• Medical Hardship
• Death in the Family
• Divorce/Separation
• Military Service
• Overwhelming Debt Obligations
• Job Relocation

As always, should you have questions as to the acceptability of a hardship scenario, you should seek advice from an expert that has been trained in the short sale field. Look for the REALTOR®  Designation.

    Neal Paskvan  a Downers Grove Real Estate Broker holds the SFR Designation and may be able  to help

Reach Neal with Barird Warner at 630-964-1855 or e-mail him at neal.paskvan@bairdwarner.com