Staging Chicago Single Family Home

I went to a broker open house the other day in Hamlin Park (60613). The home is new construction and priced just under $1.4. This home was recently staged by a company out of the Chicago area. I know this company charged a move-in fee and a move-out fee for the furniture and they will also earn a percentage of the sale. The seller of his home will be paying almost alot for staging.

The problem with the staging (in my opinion) is that no consideration was given to the style of the house. The stager obviously bought all the furniture from a consignment store or estate sale. It looked old fashioned and used and did not match the home or the area. It does look like someone lives in this house though in reality it is vacant and never lived in. I now know that if a seller pays for staging, he should specify what type of decor he would like and not leave it up to the designer who might use just what he has on hand.

New FHA Loan Guidlines and First Time Buyer Credit Info

Here are two very interesting items for those of you considering buying a home in the near future.

If the property you are purchasing has a seller that will accept an FHA Loan, here is some of the highlights that you may benefit from:

FHA LOANS

Minimal down payment 3.5%
100% of the down payment can come from a gift from a relative
No minimum credit scores
No reserve requirements
Seller can give up to 6% in closing cost, pre-paid credit
Loans are assumable to a new buyer at current rates and balances
Allows non-occupying co-borrowers (parents, relative, friend, etc.)
2-4 unit buildings with minimal down payment


Current FHA Loan Limits 09/10/2008

1 unit - $410,000
2 units - $524,850
3 units - $634,450
4 units - $788,450

Another incentive to those who are buying their first home is the tax credit you can receive:

Use the term “tax credit” lightly, because it’s really a loan. First time homeowners will be able to take a $7500 tax credit (or 10% of the purchase price of the home…whichever is lower) on their 2008 returns, which must be paid back, interest free, over the course of 15 years. Here are the details:
· First time home buyers (those who have not owned a primary residence for 3 years prior to their home purchase) who purchase their home between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009 will be eligible for the tax credit.
· Singe taxpayers with modified gross incomes up to $75,000 and married taxpayers with a joint modified gross income of up to $150,000 are eligible for the full $7500. Above those incomes, the tax credit begins to phase out.
· This is a tax credit, and not a tax deduction, meaning that it is a dollar for dollar reduction on taxes owed, as opposed to a tax deduction, which reduces the amount of your adjusted gross income that can be taxed.
· The credit is refundable, meaning if you owe $2000 in taxes and take the $7500 credit, you will receive at $5500 refund.
· The credit must be repaid to the government over 15 years or when the house is sold. For those taking the tax credit in 2008, the first $500 payment would need to be made when the buyer files their 2010 tax return.
· This tax credit is basically an interest free loan.

This information has been supplied by RWF Mortgage

The Telecourse! Create Great E-Newsletters

August 19th was the first tele-session of Create Great E-Newsletters. It is not too late to sign up for the remaining 3 classes. You can listen to the first one on an mp3 recording and then call in to participate in the rest of download the entire course. It's excellent. Just click on the link below to get more info and sign up.

http://lifetransformationsecrets.com/telecourses/creategreatenewsletters/ad.html

Create Great E-Newsletters

Marilyn Gordon

How to Expand Your Business and Enhance Your Expertise through Great E-Newsletters
FREE Teleseminar August 13!

Here is a link to this great teleseminar. It is free and can be listened to anytime. (I listened to one that I downloaded to my phone at a slow open house one Sunday)

Here's the link to the free teleseminar on Wednesday August 13th: Check it out.
Create Great E-Newsletters
I highly recommend everyone to listen to this. It's Great...You'll Love it! It's full of valuable info, resources and inspiration.

Let me know how you like it.

Chicago Information Website

I found a really great website to find alot of current information about Chicago. It's a great resourse for things happening around town if you want to attend or just avoid due to traffic or street closures.

It is americantowns.com . See below for some types of info available on this site:

Chicago Illinois Quick Facts: Population for Chicago: 2896016 County: Cook Latitude: 41.8865 Longitude: -87.6245 Chicago Illinois Site Map: Chicago Illinois IL Chicago Upcoming Events and Things to Do Chicago Illinois IL News Chicago Organizations Businesses Chicago Illinois IL Video Chicago

Ask me if you ever want some good shortcuts for driving around Chicago or of course if you want to know about Chicago Real Estate

Mortgage Crisis to Credit Card Crisis

This story is not really about real estate but I can forsee a problem that is similar to what happened in the mortgage industry. ..Home owners not able make their mortgage payment now that the rate on their ARM has adjusted to much higher.

Higher Rates!

I signed on to citicard site to pay my credit card bill. The minimum payment due seemed a little high so I actually look at the bill. Ah ha there it is! Citibank raised my finance rate to 13.99%. Yipes, with further investigation I found that last month my rate was 7.49%. I contacted them and they told me that the increase had nothing to do with my account but with their 'cost of doing business'. Hey, don't punish me for your problems!

I told them they need to lower my rate and that if they continue to raise peoples rates so high then payment will be more difficult...they might default on the payment and hence...a credit card crisis.

I wish I didn't have a balance on my credit card but with the mortgage crisis which led to the real estate slump...boohoo :(

Told Me About It

I was on the phone with a co-worker today and she was upset about something and she told me about it. Here it is:

Last year she was the listing agent for a beautiful house in Roscoe Village. With all her efforts, the house did not sell in the prescribed amount of time called for on the listing agreement. That is not a suprise in today's market. The owner then relisted his property with another popular agent and at a higher price! Ha! Soon the new agent reduced the price to the old price and eventually the house sold and closed.

Of course, if the seller had retained my co-worker as his agent surely she would have sold the house for the same price so naturally she is unhappy.

Whatever...at least the guy was able to sell his house.