Short sales offer a pretty fair discount on single family homes in the area and right now there are many homes in Plainfield IL available to chose from, but the banks aren’t going to give them away for pennies on the dollar.

Here are a few things you can expect when writing an offer on homes that require 3rd party lender approval:

• Short sales take time.  If you are not willing or able to wait the 6-10 weeks required for lender approval, a short sale is probably not the right choice for you.
• The lower the price, the less likely your offer is to be accepted.  The further your offer is  from the list price on the MLS, the less interested the bank will be in your offer.
• Be prepared to submit a counter offer.  Lenders always counter the original offer, so be prepared to increase the ante, even by a little or the lender will close the file and wait for another offer.
• Cash offers don’t always entice lenders.  If the offer is too low, it doesn’t matter how it is financed or paid for.
• The homeowner is still in control of all decisions regarding the property, with the exception of requiring lender approval to sell the home for less than what is owed.  The submission of all offers to the bank is at the discretion of the homeowner, not the Realtor® or bank.
• A general rule of thumb for acceptance on a short sale is about 70-80% of the fair market value.  The lender will order a Brokers Price Opinion or BPO on the property to determine fair market value.  While the bank will usually not disclose the determination of that report, I can provide a market analysis of the area and provide a reasonable value for the property.

If you are buyer or investor looking for a great deal on Plainfield IL real estate, call me at 630-673-6233 for your complimentary list of short sale listings available now.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes for Sale
630-673-6233

With all of the news on t.v. and talk on the radio, you might be wondering how the value of your Plainfield IL townhouse or duplex is doing.  Many homeowners today are keeping a close eye on their Plainfield IL property values with good cause.

While there is definitely depreciation going on in the market, there are other factors contributing to the health of the Plainfield town home and duplex market.

The volume of sales for the attached single family market in Plainfield IL is down drastically from March of 2008 when compared to March of 2009 by approximately 72%. There has also been an increase in market times of about 26% for those sales on average, meaning it’s taking about 26% longer to sell 72% less homes.

The townhome and duplex market in Plainfield IL has suffered an approximate 19% decrease in property value on average in March 2008, when compared to the same month in 2009.

Homes are still sold at approximately 95% of their asking price in both 2008 and 2009, meaning that for reasonably priced townhomes or duplexes, homeowners could expect to get about 95% of their list price and concede about 5% in the process of negotiation.

Plainfield IL Townhome and Duplex Market Data For March 2008:

 Plainfield IL Townhome and Duplex Market Data for March 2009:

If you or someone you know has a property to sell in Plainfield IL, call me at 630-673-6233.  

If you are behind in payments or in foreclosure, you may qualify for a loan modification or short sale.  Call me to confidentially discuss the possibility of avoiding a foreclosure through one of these options.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes for Sale
630-673-6233

Comparing the 4th quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009 in Plainfield IL:

There were 197 new filings in the 4th quarter of 2008, compared to the 250 filings in the first quarter of 2009 for an increase between the quarters of 21.2%.

In comparing the number of newly filed foreclosures in Plainfield IL from the 1st quarter of 2007, 2008, and 2009 there is a steady increase in the number of foreclosures each year.

1st Quarter Figures for newly filed single family Plainfield IL foreclosures by year:

• 2007: 116 new filings
• 2008: 218 new filings
• 2009: 250 new filings

There was a 12.8% increase in foreclosures from 2008 to 2009
There was a 46.8% increase in foreclosure from 2007 to 2008

As you can see from these figures, Plainfield has not seen the bottom of this market yet, though it does seem to be slowing down.  The second quarter of 2009 will paint a better picture of the trajectory of the market, and the time frame in which we can expect to see a recovery in the market values of Plainfield IL.

Subscribe to my site through e-mail subscription and never miss a post. Stay tuned for more Plainfield IL market reports.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

Many analysts believe the number of new home sales is an indicator of the health of the real estate market.  Today I contacted the Village of Plainfield to get some figures on the number of permits requested by new home builders in Plainfield IL.

New permits issued for new construction:

• 2007 = 404 permits
• 2008 = 172 permits

In the last 6 months only 26 new permits were requested through the village.  As you can see there has been a drastic reduction in the amount of permits that have been applied for between 2007 and 2008, which shows a decrease of 57.5%.

Subscribe to my site through e-mail subscription and never miss a post. Stay tuned for more Plainfield IL market reports.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

The 1st quarter numbers for the single-family Naperville IL market are in:

In the first quarter of this year, 145 single-family homes were sold.

The average list price for a single-family home in Naperville is $436,662. The average sale price is $405,476.  Based on these numbers if you are selling a home in Naperville IL you can expect to get about 93% of your asking price in this market.

Homes with 4 bedrooms made up 66.2% of the homes sold in the first 3 months of 2009, while homes with 3 bedrooms made up about 24.1% of the market share.

4 bedroom homes are selling at about 93% of the average list price of $455,102, which means they are selling for an average closed price of $424,604.

3 bedroom homes are selling at about 94% of the average list price of $290,046 for a single-family home in Naperville, which means they are closing at an average closed sale price of $272,886.

5 bedroom single-family homes in Naperville only make up about 7.5% of the total sales.  The 5 bedroom homes are only getting about 89% of their average list price of $770,495 for an average sale price of $689,500.

If you, or someone you know are thinking about listing your home for sale in Naperville IL this Spring call me at 630-673-6233.

If you are behind in payments you may qualify for a short sale or loan modification.  Call me to confidentially discuss your options regarding foreclosure.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Naperville IL Homes
630-673-6233

The 1st quarter Plainfield IL single family market report is now available.  I have interpreted this information has been taken directly from the MLS.  In a follow up post I will compare and contrast the 1st quarter of 2008 and 2009.

In the first 3 months of 2009, 157 single family homes sold in Plainfield IL.  Homes are currently selling at 95% of their asking price in 167 days on average.

100 of the 157 homes that sold this quarter were 4 bedroom homes, which was 63% of the market share of the homes sold.   There were only 9 Plainfield IL homes that sold, but those home sold at about 96% of their asking price, up 1% from the total average.  The average market time on the 5 bedroom homes were about 26% higher than the total average of 167 days.

 Plainfield IL 1st Quarter Single Family Market Report for 2009

If you, or someone you know are thinking about listing your home for sale in Plainfield IL this Spring call me at 630-673-6233.  

If you are behind in payments you may qualify for a short sale or loan modification.  Call me to confidentially discuss your options regarding foreclosure.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

The numbers are in for the Bolingbrook IL 1st quarter single family market.

There were 87 single family Bolingbrook IL homes that sold during the first quarter of 2009 from January 1st through March 31st.  42% of the homes sold were 3 bedroom homes and the 4 bedroom home market accounted for 47% of the market share.

The average sale price of a 3 bedroom home in Bolingbrook is $166,419 which is 93% of the average asking price.  93% is lower than the average list to sale price ratio of some neighboring communities like Plainfield IL where sellers of 3 bedroom family homes are getting about 95% of their asking price.

In contrast, sellers in the 4 bedroom market in Bolingbrook IL are getting about 96% of their list price which is $248,651 on average.  Even more surprising is that the 5 bedroom market is getting 98% of their average list price.  The average list time on a 5 bedroom home in Bolingbrook is only 40 days.  This tells me that 5 bedroom Bolingbrook IL homes are in fairly high demand.

One interesting thing about the Bolingbrook market is the difference the average price between 4 to 5 bedroom homes which is only 7.2%, while the difference in the average price between a 3 and 4 bedroom home is about 30%. 

The 1st Quarter Bolingbrook IL Market Report:

If you or someone you know are thinking about buying or selling a home in Bolingbrook IL, call me at 630-673-6233.

If you are behind in your mortgage payments, you may qualify for a short sale or loan modification to avoid a foreclosure.  Call me for a confidential conversation regarding foreclosure and your options.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Bolingbrook IL Homes
630-673-6233

The Spring real estate is in full swing. What can Plainfield IL home sellers expect to see in this market?

To start, volume of single family detached home sales in Plainfield IL this March is down by about 11% compared to the same time last year, while the depreciation in the price of single family detached home market is up by about 17.2%.  Single family homes in March of 2009 are selling for about 17.2% less than they did just 12 months prior, on average.

The average sale price of a Plainfield IL home was about $280,133 last year, compared to $232,056 in March of this year.  The good news is that Plainfield IL homeowners who have sold have gotten about 96% of their asking price on average.  That means if you house if your home is not over-priced, you should expect to receive about 96% of your total asking price, and that sellers are only having to make about 4% concessions during negotiation.

3 bedroom single family homes suffered a 16% total average depreciation from last year, while 4 bedroom Plainfield IL homes decreased in value by about 24% on average.  In contrast, single family 5 or more bedroom homes increased in value by about 9.6% on average.

Market times in Plainfield IL are down about 20% when comparing March 2008 to March 2009, meaning they are selling in about 20% less time than they did last March, which is great news for anyone selling a home in Plainfield IL!

March 2008 Single Family Real Estate Market Statistics:

March 2009 Single Family Real Estate Market Statistics:

If you, or someone you know are thinking about listing your home for sale in Plainfield IL this Spring call me at 630-673-6233.  

If you are behind in payments you may qualify for a short sale or loan modification.  Call me to confidentially discuss your options regarding foreclosure. 

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

Many Plainfield IL homeowners are facing the possibility of foreclosure.  The thought of losing the roof over your head is a scary concept, especially if you are worried about the well being of your family and their future.

If you are facing foreclosure in Plainfield IL and don’t know what steps to take to either proceed with a short sale or attempt a loan modification, call me to explore the possibility of negotiating on your behalf.

Why is what I do different from what other Realtors® are doing in regard to short sales in Plainfield IL? 

If there is any possibility of having you keep your home, my loan modification negotiator will begin the process of a loan modification to utilize the option of a short sale as a last resort, unless it’s your preference to attempt a short sale right from the beginning.  I feel much better listing a home in foreclosure knowing that every attempt was made to keep the homeowner in the home.

There are qualifying criteria required to perform not only a short sale, but a loan modification as well.  Call me to discuss the possibility of avoiding a foreclosure through either selling your home through a short sale, or by re-negotiating your debt through a loan modification at 630-673-6233.

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233

We’ve been in our new house for a little over 4 years now.  In that time we’ve landscaped the yard, painted all of the rooms, installed a fence, decorated, re-decorated, cleaned, cluttered and de-cluttered … and then it happened.  My husband started finishing the basement.

It’s bad enough when your husband leaves for work before the sun comes up, and comes home long after it’s disappeared… but I had become a weekend widow to the cement walls beneath our happy home.

Then this past October, about 10 months into his project,  our family got an unexpected surprise; we found out we’re having another baby.  That’s #5 for anyone whose been counting.  Together we decided that even though we are in the middle of a recession, finishing the basement couldn’t wait any longer, and I couldn’t afford to lose my husband for one more weekend!

I will warn you though, finding a contractor was not a pretty process.  There was the good, the bad… and the just plain CRAZY! 

Quotes for finishing our basement ranged from the reasonable to the insane.  It seemed like the bigger the price tag, was an even bigger ego of the person giving the quote.  One company quoted me $35K, and when I told him that was well beyond the budget we had in mind, he reduced his price by $15,000! He was obviously working with some very inflated numbers… in his very inflated head!

We opted for “reasonable” and  we couldn’t be happier with the finished product, especially with the declining home values in the real estate market.  I was really didn’t want to over spend on an investment that has no chance of being recouped in a market like this!

We chose to do our own painting and had a separate contractor install our carpeting which saved us quite a bit of money, and the additional sq. footage we added to our home is priceless.  The two construction workers who completed the work in our house, Isaac and Mauricio, were professional, polite and most of all did great work.

If you’re in the market to finish the basement your own Plainfield home, I highly recommend Complete Remodeling and Painting Inc.  They are licensed, insured, and bonded.  Vice President Roger Wheeler came out to our house to price the quote for our home, and got back to us promptly with his estimate.

You can reach Complete Remodeling and Painting Inc at:

23915 W. Aero Ct. Ste 2
Plainfield, IL 60585
815-254-6997

Julie Ferenzi | Realtor®
Plainfield IL Homes
630-673-6233