Foreclosures
There are a lot of great deals in the real estate market today but not all are as easy as it seems. Purchasing a foreclosure can be a tricky business unless you know exactly what you are doing and know who can help. Right now foreclosures are dominating the market like no other time in history with well over a million homes in foreclosure and more are expected in the near term. These properties can offer great opportunities but are also rife with problems for so-called bargain hunters. Many people wrongly think that low prices means you should jump out there and start buying foreclosed properties but nothing is further from the truth.
Buying foreclosures can be a great way to purchase property but that doesn’t mean you should lose your head. Banks put foreclosed homes on the market at cut rate prices for a reason. They want quick sales to avoid the expense of upkeep and the related expenses with any home such as property taxes, utilities and insurance but due to the cut rate pricing everybody and their brother is trying to buy those homes. You ask why this would be a problem. The answer is the people trying to buy these homes keep bidding until the price is no longer a bargain. Good for the bank but not so good for the buyer because they get caught up in the bidding war and did not carefully calculate what the final costs may be with repairs that may be needed.
Don’t let some of these things keep you out of the foreclosure market. Purchasing a foreclosure can still be a good deal if you take the proper steps and don’t get caught up in the excitement. Smart buyers establish a relationship with their local bank’s asset manager which can sometimes get them inside information and maybe the first offer of properties coming available. While you are talking with your lender about the properties that are available you want to get pre-approved by that same lender. Nothing warms a banker’s heart more than someone qualified for a loan and within their own bank. Next and perhaps most important is to hire a trusted real estate attorney, not your neighbor down the street who is a corporate lawyer for the mega corporation but the local attorney who handles a significant portion of the properties being transferred in your area. He can offer the expertise to handle any problems and the legal aspect of purchasing a home. Buying foreclosures can be challenging but the rewards can be quite significant.
Post Office Auction
The British investor who let his original deal lapse after submitting the winning bid in the old Main Post Office auction in August has reportedly now completed the purchase for $17 million, less than half of what he originally offered for the landmark property at 433 W. Van Buren St. in Chicago.
Bill Davies, a British developer, originally offered $40 million for the vacant property spanning the Eisenhower Expressway when the U.S. Postal Service entered it in a public auction on Aug. 27. But when he let the Sept. 30 deadline to complete the deal go by, and the extension to Oct. 10 passed as well, USPS officials began soliciting sealed bids from all the auction participants for the 14-story brick building, that has become somewhat of a white elephant. The 2.7 million sq. ft. building built in 1921 was expanded to its current size in 1932. With nine floors devoted to postal work, it was once the biggest postal facility in the world. But it has been vacant since 1996, when the Postal Service moved its headquarters a few blocks away, to Harrison Street. It reportedly costs the federal government $2 million a year to maintain.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001, the building has become known to movie-goers in recent years from its appearances in two Batman movies filmed in Chicago. Its exterior served as a stand-in for both the National Bank of Gotham and Gotham Police Station.
The bids were reviewed last week and Davies' firm, International Property Developers North America Inc., has been identified as the winning bidder in the Post Office auction, although the sale price was not officially revealed. However, the cost does include a $4 million down payment that he had put on the property after the August auction. If the deal had not been completed, that would have been forfeited. Although the selling price is much less than what Davies originally offered, some observers have said he is still overpaying because of the cost of redevelopment. Chicago officials and developers have floated several ideas over the years regarding how best to redevelop it, including building condos. But the property's sheer size and cost have posed challenges for developers.
Exactly what Davies plans to do with his latest acquisition now that the Post Office auction is over. After winning the August auction, Davies said in a statement that, "The location, visibility and historical significance of the post office and the growth of Chicago as a world-class center of transportation, commerce and tourism all dictate that we re-energize the property as a focal point and destination for the entire city and its visitors for the next century."
Davies has been involved in redeveloping sections of his native city of Liverpool, England, but has been criticized for not following through on some projects.
Chicago condos
Chicago condos are active and alive in today’s market place with an entire sector of wholesale condos selling in record numbers. The Chicago condos that are selling are not only the normal inventory, but now short sale and foreclosed condos are popping up everywhere. This trend looks like it will continue for many months to come of not years.
As we get closer to the $ 8,000 first time buyer tax credit deadline, which is scheduled to end November 30th, there will be more and more closings. Three things are really adding to the heavy volume of closings happening now and soon to be.
First you have the $8,000 tax incentive. This allows first time buyers of Chicago condos to get a credit of $8,000 from the government if they close on a Chicago condo by November 30, 2009. Second, the interest rates are at an all-time low. Lastly is the deals that are in the Chicago condo market place right now. We’ve never seen the deals that are out there with short sale condos, foreclosed condos and the market in general, it’s causing a tremendous buying opportunity for just about anyone buying a Chicago condo.
Chicago condos can be found by going to the OwnACondo.com website and clicking on “Condo Searchâ€. There are over 35,000 Chicago condos for sale right now and it looks like we’re soon to see another run of active condos soon. Reports are out that you’ll see thousands of foreclosed condos in the Chicago condo market place over the third quarter of 2009. That’s a lot of Chicago condos. How do you search through it all? One of the best ideas would be to hook up with a condo dedicated agent that does nothing but sell condos. They have the Chicago market in the back of their hand looking at deals every single day. These are the people that know product.
Once you’ve found your condo, you’ll need to focus your efforts on closing the condo. Financing a condo can be tricky in this market place but not impossible. The website FinanceACondo.com has five lenders that focus primarily on financing condos in Chicago. This would probably be your first place you want to start. A condo lender will tell you how much condominium you can buy and then you can start your search with your condo Realtor.
Buying a Chicago condo right now may be the best investment you’ll ever make.
Finance your Condo
The condominium market has long been an alternative housing option that is increasing in popularity each passing year. From the first time buyer to the step down condo buyer all are an attractive means for home ownership. To finance your condo in the current market can be challenging but not impossible. Fannie Mae, one of our government backed mortgage-finance companies has added some restrictions that can make it more difficult for developers to sell their properties. A new policy effective March 1st raised the amount of units sold from 51% to 70%. In addition, Fannie Mae will not back loans for sales in buildings where 15% or more of the current owners are delinquent on their association fees or where more than 10% of the units are owned by a single entity. Fannie Mae says these restrictions protect the developers and taxpayers from throwing good money into troubled developments but many condo developers disagree and have petitioned Fannie Mae for exemptions. To date more than 50 petitions have been filed and granted allowing condo buyers to purchase.
It is for first time home buyers but there are several things to consider before you can qualify. To finance your condo you cannot have owned a home in the last three years but your spouse has owned a principal residence, neither you nor your spouse would qualify for the first time home buyer tax credit. However, unmarried joint purchasers may allocate the credit amount to any buyer who qualifies as a first time home buyer. A good example would be if a parent jointly purchases a home with a son or daughter. Also, ownership of a vacation home or investment property not used as a principal residence within the last three years would still qualify you for the tax credit. There is movement in the Congress now to enable the buyer to use the tax credit at time of closing their loan and not waiting till next year when taxes are filed. The final decisions have not been made yet but it looks like it could happen at any time, so stay tuned!
To finance your condo there are income limits for the program but they have been made generous to encourage more buyers into the real estate market. To receive the full $8,000 home buyer tax credit a single buyer cannot have more than $75,000 in modified adjusted gross income and married tax payers filing a joint return cannot make more than $150,000 in modified adjusted gross income. Now that does not mean that buyers making more than those amounts will not receive any benefit from this program, it only means they will receive a reduced amount based on their income level. In other words, almost anyone can benefit in some form with this program.   Interest rates are down, prices are very reasonable, and now $8,000 in tax credits, what are you waiting for!
New York Condos
The American dream of owning your own home has changed over the last couple of decades. The dream is still alive but the options have changed dramatically. One of the fastest growing segments of property sales and areas today is New York condos. Owning a condo has many things in common with owning a traditional home, but it is the differences that count. It is important before you make that jump into home ownership that you know whether a traditional home or condo is right for you.
 First of all, what is a condo? Condos resemble apartments in many ways. They can consist of several units in the same building or complex, with common areas like courtyards, lobbies, pools, etc. that are shared by everyone. But condos, as opposed to apartments are owned by the individual tenants and not just rented. When you purchase a condo you may be giving up some privileges but gaining in others. It is this balance of benefits that will be most helpful when deciding what type of property to buy.
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One area that you need to investigate before you buy a New York condo is the prices of similar properties that have sold in the complex or complexes in the immediate area.  Condo sales in the area can tell you if the price you are offering is too high or too low. A comparative analysis will also tell you how long units in that complex have been on the market, if prices have been reduced, how many units are for sale, and the prices in which they sold. With the ever changing real estate market it is important to be aware of all of these things to get the best value for your money.
 Not all real estate agents are familiar with the nuances of New York condos. Real estate transactions are most likely the biggest financial investment most people will experience in their lifetime, so it is even more important to find the right person for the job. But how do you choose the right person for the job? First of all with most any financial transactions you will want to make a thorough search which can be done quite easily by attending open houses to see how agents work and to meet them first hand. Ask the prospective agent how long they have been licensed, how long they have worked in the condo market and how many sales they have closed in recent months. Ask for references and talk to your friends and family about who they would recommend and why. Once you have found the right agent you are well on your way to realizing the American dream of home ownership.
Chicago Condos
Chicago condos can be purchased with as little as no money down all the way to putting 25%-30% down. Times have changed things dramatically when it comes down to financing a Chicago condo. Condos that are typically lived, known as user condos, will demand less of a down payment versus a condo that is purchased for investment purposes. The user, the person who lives there, if they are buying it they would normally need between 3.5% to 5% of the purchase price for a down payment.
An example of this would be as follows. If you were to buy a Chicago condo and it costs $400,000, a typical down payment for the condominium would be 5%. 5% of $400,000 is $20,000. If you were to buy the same condo for investment purposes the down payment would be 25% or $100,000 down, quite a difference.
The bank financing a Chicago condo looks at the user deal and the condominium investment deal two different ways. They see an end user, the person who lives there, being more apt to pay for unit and not walk away. The person that lives there needs a home. The banks feel that if the person lives there, there’s a better chance that they will get their money back. For the investor, they already have their home. This is a Chicago condo investment. If the deal doesn’t turn out so good, they can walk away, not pay, and they still have their home. Of course, they would have a bad credit rating, a foreclosure to boot on their record, but people are more likely to walk away from an investment condo versus a condo that they’ll live in.
What does this mean? Investment condos need a stronger down payment than condos a person is going to live in. Why does the condo financing company choose 20% or 25% versus 15% or 50% as the down payment amount? They feel that 25% is a strong enough number that few people would walk away from this. Secondly, if the bank has to come in and foreclose on a property, 25% is more than enough to resell the property and get their money back. At 50% down, this number may be too high to get people to use them as a financing company. Over time, they’ve figured formulas out and this is what they’ve ultimately come up with.
If you’re looking to finance a Chicago condo and you need some guidance on where to get started, you can go to FinanceACondo.com. They have more than you’ll need to get started on owning your own Chicago condo.
Finance A Condo
When you finance a condo, it’s important to look at several alternatives in today’s market place. Did you think about the seller financing your condo? Condo financing came be tough in today’s financial market and so many sellers are sitting with product unsold, that one of the alternatives is to get the condo seller agree to financing the condo of your dreams.
There are so many ways to finance a condo. There’s a company in Chicago that specializes in the selling and financing of condos; OwnACondo.com. One of their pages in their website is dedicated to financing. To go directly to the page, go to “FinanceACondo.comâ€. The process of financing a condo starts with finding out the different programs a lender has. Many programs allow for a low down payment, but possibly a higher interest rate.Â
The condo lenders will take many things into consideration when lending you money to buy your condo. How much do you have for a down payment, how much debt, including credit card debt do you have, how much money to you make monthly, how long have you been on the job and what your credit score is are all different things banks will analyze when considering giving you a condo financing loan.
One of the main things a lender will look at is your monthly income versus the monthly payment for the condo loan. Let’s say you make $50,000 a year. When you divide that by twelve months you get an average monthly income of about $4,000. The bank is going to make sure your monthly payment to them is no more than 33%-41% of the monthly income depending on the financing program. So if the loan payment was about $1250 a month, this ratio would work because it fits between the banks guidelines. They’ll look at several things as detailed in this writing, but this one is big.
Obviously the more money you put down, the less risk a bank has. Make sure you try to get as much money down. This will allow for a lower payment each month resulting in easier payments. Make sure when you finance a condo, you prepare for a worse case scenario so you can afford your condo in the future.
Finance A Condo
Today’s real estate market has left some concerns regarding the ability to finance a condo. Rest assured that any one of the preferred lenders listed on the OwnACondo.com website have programs that make the process simple if you are looking to finance a condo.
Purchasing a condominium allows you to take advantage of all today’s real estate market has to offer. President Obama’s economic stimulus program has allowed a tax credit of 10% of the purchase price, up to $8000 for first time home buyers. And the best part of the tax credit, it is exactly that a tax credit and is not a loan or grant that would need to be repaid at a later date.
Another great advantage of today’s real estate market is the mortgage interest rates. They are at an all time low. And the OwnACondo.com preferred lenders have made the process to finance a condo easy. If you would like more information about how to finance a condo or to find out if you can qualify for a mortgage on a condo, feel free to contact one of our preferred lenders: Cherry Creek Mortgage, Compass Mortgage, Open Mortgage or Platinum Mortgage. The road to investing in a condo begins with a phone call to find out if you qualify.
It is commonly heard that today’s real estate market is what is called a buyer’s market. This means that there are more homes and condominiums available for sale than there are buyers. And home prices have dropped slightly from a few years ago, making homeownership even more affordable. Finding the condo of your dreams has never been easier. Why pay rent when for a similar amount of money per month you can live the American dream of owning your own home.
Working with a Condominium Specialist of OwnACondo.com, you get a knowledgeable and friendly realtor who knows the ins and outs of today’s real estate market. Your condo specialist will help you determine a good value for your money with all the amenities that are important to you and your family. Call us today and find out first hand why OwnACondo.com is not only the best place to buy and sell condominiums but we are your condominium resource. We can put you in contact with one of our preferred lenders that will help you in determining if you qualify to finance a condo. We look forward to working for you!
