Finally, Some Recognition!

Condo Market Shakes Out

from CNBC.COM

By Tara Siegel Bernard News Editor | 13 Apr 2007 | 07:26

It's a great time to look for a condo -- but it's likely to get better in the months ahead.

...

Builders won’t be the only ones looking to sell. Speculators who rushed in and bought condos by the handful in hopes of flipping for a hefty profit later on will also be looking for buyers, as will many of the lenders themselves. Foreclosures are on the rise because many individuals bought homes when credit came easy, often with enticingly low introductory interest rates or little money down.

“The poster children for excess construction generally reside on the coasts in markets where home price appreciation have boomed,” said Suzanne Mulvee, senior real estate economist with Property & Portfolio Research, a Boston-based real estate research firm, which expects further price declines throughout 2007. “That includes Florida - especially Tampa, Miami and Orlando - Chicago, Las Vegas, Palm Beach and San Diego.”

Finally some RE brainiac admits that Chicago is running with the big boys...to the end of the cliff. Break out the champagne!

Say NO to the Sub-prime Bail Out!

Schumer calls for subprime bailout

New York Democrat wants funds to help subprime borrowers.
April 11 2007: 3:35 PM EDT


NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The federal government should offer troubled borrowers hundreds of millions of dollars to bail them out of subprime mortgage loans, several leading Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday.

"The federal government can send in an infusion of [money] to prevent foreclosure," said Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.

The cash infusion is needed right away and should go to both help fund community groups aiding troubled borrowers and to directly fund bailouts, Schumer said.

In the beginning of 2006, I almost bought an over-priced townhome. However, I did a budget and the remainder of my dollars would have been too thin to do anything else but sit in the townhome. I could have BOUGHT the place, but I could not have AFFORDED it. So I begrudgingly passed on it. I was sad and every time I drive pass the place I shake my head thinking about what could have been. Soon after I learned that new construction is taxed differently than pre-existing homes. This difference would have sunk me. Now there are 3 units for re-sale asking 50 grand more than the price I passed on. They are just rotting away.

There are many sites and blogs online that detail the problems that a bail out would cause. I will not get into those details here. My opinion is very straight-forward: I used my brain and did not get caught in the trap. Therefore, I will say that certain people should not be bailed out by MY TAX MONEY. Those people are:

* Anyone that LIED about their income or employment on a home loan application.
* Anyone that GAMBLED with the ARM because they wanted to 'Flip that House'.
* Anyone that was too DUMB to realize that you can't afford a $500,000 house on 50k income.

Those people SHOULD NOT GET BAILED OUT. Tough bananas! The Market needs to take them over its knee and give them a royal spanking. Then send them on their way.

Below are links to elected officials in the area. If you also believe that these people should not get a free pass, click on these links. Inform your rep's that you also do not want liars, gamblers and degenerates to be bailed out.

Contact President George W. Bush

Contact Senator Dick Durbin

Contact Senator Barak Obama

Contact Senator Charles Schumer

Click here to find your US Rep

Thank you.

The REAL Losers

Many victims of subprime crisis

April 9, 2007

TERRY SAVAGE savage@suntimes.com

It's the loans that are subprime -- not the borrowers! Let's stop blaming the people who took the bait (and switch), and thought they'd landed their piece of the American Dream. Home ownership has been a goal of most Americans, or those who landed on our shores as immigrants.
The offer to make that dream affordable was irresistible.

Essentially, that's what happened to millions of families who make up a significant portion of the $1.3 billion subprime mortgages outstanding today.

...

Who's to blame?
Sure, some of those loans were taken out by scam artists who had no intention of owning the homes for long. Others figured on "flipping" the property at a higher price to the next dreamer.

But when the dust settles and all the blame is cast, it's very likely that the real losers will be the families who were attracted by ads run in newspapers and on local radio by mortgage brokers who promised low monthly payments, no money down and a chance to buy the dream house financed only by dreams.

Ms. Savage carries on about the poor victims. But The REAL Losers are the smart people. The savers. The sold-at-the-top-crowd. The couples that saw the outrageous prices and knew that the limit was the sky, not that the sky was the limit, and choose to sit on the sidelines. The Real Losers are the people that actually budget their income.

If The Real Losers now have to use their own tax money to bail out the greedy, the dumb, the lairs, and the gamblers, then there is no justice.

Shame on all of us!

ARMs Affecting Chicago

Homeowners Stuck As Lenders Cinch Standards

Source: USA TODAY
Publication date: March 5, 2007


By Noelle Knox
Edward Booker is one of nearly 3 million homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages who've had trouble paying their bills. And, like Booker, many of them won't be able to refinance their loans once the interest rates start rising. At that point, they'll have to tighten their belts, sell their homes or lose them through foreclosure.

This month, the mortgage payment on Booker's Chicago home rose $200, to about $1,300. It'll go up again in September. He wants to refinance, but he fell behind on payments after his wife died of cancer in 2005, so no lender wants to take the risk.

"I'm just trying to hold onto my house until I can figure out something else to do," says Booker, 58, a former rail-car inspector who's on disability.

Lots of people got greedy. They listened to their buddies, the guy down the block, the late night infomercials, the real estate agents, the mortgage agents, and not that little voice in their heads warning them...

IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT, DON'T BUY IT!

Nothing goes up forever. Schemes are schemes and bubbles are bubbles. The next few years will be very hard on some people. At least they can say they once owned a home, right?

Chicagoans Facing Foreclosure

54,000 Chicagoans caught in perfect storm

March 9, 2007

BY SALLY DUROS Real Estate and Homelife Editor

More than 54,000 homeowners in the Chicago area were 60 days behind on their mortgage payments and in serious danger of going into default as of Dec. 31, 2006. That's 14.5 percent of an estimated 374,000 subprime loans in the greater Chicago standard metropolitan area, said Bob Visini, vice president-marketing, for LoanPerformance, a California-based subsidiary of First American Real Estate Solutions.

In Chicago the numbers of these early warning defaults increased 56 percent between year-end 2005 and year-end 2006, a higher percentage increase than posted nationwide, Visini said.

...

"If you don't have the money, someone has to come and break your legs," Visini said. "It really is a perfect storm."

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, the ol' "Chicago-way"....

New term: "Naperville Fire"

Fire hits another house as it's under construction

Published February 13, 2007

NAPERVILLE -- Naperville firefighters are investigating the cause of an early Monday blaze that damaged a home under construction.

The fire was the third of a home under construction or rehabilitation in the Naperville area in about a month.

For some, foreclosure is not an option. They are not the first to go to arson to solve their problems. However, if they were dumb enough to get caught in this housing ponzi scheme, they will get caught in the criminal investigation. That will have a higher toll on their finances and credit scores.

This Effects All of Us

Very well done!

Guilty plea in mortgage scam

February 13, 2007

BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Business Reporter

Mohammad "Mike" Taghie Kakvand, the ringleader in a mortgage scheme that resulted in abandoned Chicago apartment buildings, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday.

Kakvand bought 33 apartment buildings in Rogers Park and on Chicago's South Side, but didn't renovate them, according to the indictment. Units were sold as rehabbed condos at inflated prices, using straw buyers who defaulted on $29 million in loans. The plot displaced renters and left decaying, crime-plagued buildings, according to community leaders.

"There is no punishment too severe for Michael Kakvand," said Ald. Joe A. Moore (49th). "He preyed on our neighborhood, he took advantage of people, and the damage he did took years to unravel."