Vaughans Garden Center is Closing!!!

Hurry over to Vaughans to pick up some great bargains. Everything in the store is 40% off. Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas items are all 70% off. Now is the time to stock up on your holiday decorations and gifts. Vaughans is located on the corner of 47th and Commonwealth just before the overpass into Hinsdale.

Closed in Ridgewood Oaks of Western Springs

Closed February 24, 2009 5804 Wolf Road Unit b-1

First floor quad home with 3 br, 2 bath built in 1978. Originally listed for $269,900, lowered to $249,900. This home was on the market for 270 days. Closing price-$220,000.

Call today for a free home appraisal...Linda Hanley Kelly 708-334-5356 Charles Rutenberg Realty

Mortgage Credit Certificates MCCs

Went out to the board of realtors today for a class on MCC Programs. The village of Downers Grove is a home rule community and they have $1,634,506 available for an MCC program for first time home buyers in the village of Downers Grove corporate limits. What this is, is a federal income tax credit in an amount equal to 20% of the interest paid on the mortgage. This credit stays with you for up to 30 years if you stay in the home. It can be used with an FHA mortgage with 3 1/2% down, a VA loan with 100% financing or a conventional FNMA/FHMC product.

Call me to learn more about this. There is also money called the I-Loan Certificate Program that is Statewide MCC Program. There are income limits and other criteria but they do offer wonderful incentives to buyers who qualify.



Add to that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that is an $8,000 tax credit for first home buyers and it looks to be a good year to get into a home.



Linda Hanley Kelly, Charles Rutenberg Realty, 708-334-5356

Home sold and closed in Old Town of Western Springs

4208 Rose Avenue in Old Town was originally listed for $649,000 and was currently listed for $589,000. Home closed on 2/23/09 for $556,000. Home had 3 br, 2 1/2 baths, first floor family room, 50 x 132 lot. Was on the market for 256 days!

Call today for a free home appraisal. Linda Hanley Kelly

708-334-5356 Charles Rutenberg Realty

Closing in Commonwealth in the Village

5117 Creek Drive in Commonwealth in the Village

3 Bedroom, 2 1/2 bath on the creek. Aspen model with see-through fireplace between Living room and Family room. Fireplace in Master Bedroom. Large Deck. Unfinished basement.

Listed at $469,900 sold for $447,000. Closed February 2009.

Call today for a free home appraisal.....Linda Hanley Kelly 708-334-5356

What is for sale in Western Springs?

Currently there are 119 single family homes for sale in Western Springs. 47 are for sale for under $500,000, 47 are listed between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 25 are for sale for over 1 million dollars. The lowest price home is $279,000 and the highest price is $1,779,000. There are currently 9 homes with contracts pending on them. 8 of those homes were listed for $589,000 or less and 1 was over 1 million.

Call me to see any of these homes or to get your home appraised. I have over 30 years of real estate experience right here in Western Springs. Linda Hanley Kelly, Charles Rutenberg Realty, 708-334-5356.

Sale closed in Ridge Acres of Westen Springs

4427 Harvey in Ridge Acres On the market for 905 days this home was originally listed for $1,295,000 and was lowered to $945,000 on December 4, 2008. The home closed for $915,000 on January 29, 2009. This home has 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, 12 rooms plus a 3 car garage. It sits on a 50 x 214 lot and has a finished basement. Call me to start looking, there are some good deals out there! Linda Hanley Kelly, 708-334-5356

Cool older home for sale in Riverside

Riverside, Illinois

If you aren't one of those buyers who is looking for a new home here is a really cool house for you. I was out showing homes this week-end and I thought I would share this one with all of you. It sits on a 100 x 293 foot lot. Lots of character and charm! Call me today to start looking for your dream home. This one is listed for $1,099,000. Linda Hanley Kelly, 708-334-5356.

Closed in Forest Hills of Western Springs

5301 Woodland Avenue in Forest Hills of Western Springs

Originally listed in May of 2005 for $1,300,000.00

This home was not yet built at that time. Total market time in the MLS was 1016 days.

5 Bedroom 5 1/2 bath home with 2 fireplaces, finished 3rd floor and finished basement, radiant heat, steam shower and a 3 car garage. Closed on January 23rd, 2009 for $1,035,000.00.

If you are planning a move give me a call. Linda Hanley Kelly 708-334-5356!

Closed in Forest Hills of Western Springs

5142 Lawn Avenue

Forest Hills of Western Springs

The new home closed on January 23, 2009. Originally listed for $1,469,000 and lowered to $1,349,000. This home was on the market for 562 days. It has a finished lower level with a wine cellar and media room, a finished 3rd floor, 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, 2 fireplaces on a 60 x 187 lot. Sale price: $1,240,000.00

Call me today for a home appraisal-Linda Hanley Kelly, 708-334-5356

Closed in Field Park of Western Springs

Closed on January 23, 2009
4332 Johnson Avenue in Field Park
4 Bedroom, 2 1/2 bath on 80x131 lot
63 days on the market

Originally listed for $695,000, reduced to $625,000 and Closed for $580,000.00. This home was built in 1930.

What is happening in Western Springs this year!

Just a little real estate info for all of you. Since the 1st of January 4 homes in Western Springs have gone under contract. There was one in Field Park for under 400,000, a townhome in Commonwealth in the Village that was in the 400's, a home in Old Town in the 500's and a home in Ridge Acres in the 900's. There are still two homes waiting to close that sold before the 1st of the year.

Historically they say real estate's prime selling time starts after the Super Bowl. So watch out for February 2nd!

Let's compare single family home sales in Western Springs since 2000

Total number of homes sold in Western Springs for the following years:
2000-189 Lowest sale price $150,000.00
2001-177 Lowest sale price $199,000.00
2002-197 Lowest sale price $204,900.00
2003-168 Lowest sale price $217,500.00
2004-178 Lowest sale price $255,000.00
2005-167 Lowest sale price $283,000.00
2006-139 Lowest sale price $290,000.00
2007-119 Lowest sale price $300,000.00
2008-120 Lowest sale price $270,000.00

Closed in Forest Hills of Western Springs

5312 Woodland in Forest Hills

This is a new home that was originally listed in Sept. 2005 for $1,399,900. It was on the market for 185 days and taken off in Feb. of 2006 at the list price of $1,449,000.

Back on the market in March 2006 for $1,449,000 where it stayed for 281 days.

Put back up for sale in Feb. 2007 for 1,449,900 and was on the market for 274 days and taken off at a list price of $1,299,000

Back on in Feb. 2008 for 1,299,000 and reduced to 999,000 in November 2008. It sold in December and closed on January 6th, 2009 for $902,500. This was a short sale. Another 295 days on the market!

This is an example of what has been happening to many new homes in the past 2 years. I personally have been a realtor for 32 years and what started out on many of these home to sound like a fair asking price quickly became unrealistic because of so many market changes. Short sales are affecting everyones values. Many of the banks have been slow in responding to offers that would have been much higher than the ultimate sale price. Hopefully the banks are working on having people available to respond to offers that create a short sale . If these homes can all be sold and taken off the market we can start to get a more level playing field. In the meantime there are some great buys out there. Call me to see them!

This home has 12 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths, finished basement .

Linda Hanley Kelly

Charles Rutenberg Realty

708-334-5356

House closing in Old Town of Western Springs

4218 Grand Avenue in Old Town of Western Springs

Center entrance colonial with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, finished basement and a screen porch on a 50 x 150 lot. Walk to town and train. Built in 1966 this home had a new roof and more. Originally listed for $699,000 and lowered to $679,000 it closed on December 29th, 2008 for $640,000. It was on the market for 141 days.

Call today for a home appraisal.....Linda Hanley Kelly, Charles Rutenberg Realty, 708-334-5356

Merry Christmas Everyone!

House sale closed in Forest Hills of Western Springs

5340 Wolf Road, Western Springs

Originally listed for $489,900 and recently reduced to $399,000. This home closed in December, 2008 for $375,000. Features 6 bedrooms, 2 baths, family room, attached 1 car garage on a 60 x 187 lot. Home was in nice condition. It offered alot of space for the final sale price. The home was on a slab. Beautiful yard with an underground sprinkler. Market time=169 days.

Call me today to start looking for a new home in 2009. Prices are great and rates are low!!!
Linda Hanley Kelly, Charles Rutenberg Realty, 708-334-5356

House closing in Forest Hills of Western Springs

5120 Woodland Avenue, Western Springs, Illinois

Beautifully renovated ranch on a 50 x 187 lot. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths-finished basement. This home was on the market for 35 days. Listed for $549,900 and sold for $512,000 Closing was on December 19th, 2008.

This year the homes have been selling faster if they are priced right and renovated!!! Call me for a consultation before you list your home. Linda Hanley Kelly, Charles Rutenberg Realty, 708-334-5356

An Explanation of a short sale in real estate

Short Sale Essentials
Published on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 7:51 PM Last Update: 2 day(s) ago by Martin Cohen
Tags: REO Short Sale
A Short Sale is a carefully agreed upon sale of a property where a lender is willing to accept less than the amount owed on it because the borrower, due to an acceptable hardship, is unable to make payments. For homeowners, there are only 23 universally “acceptable hardships” that cause “unexpected” financial crisis in their lives.
The lender accepts an offer to purchase from a 3rd party buyer, thus relieving the original owner from encumbrances and potential, future liabilities.
Home lenders are willing to take less for the home than is owed on it and less than it’s worth in today’s declining market. Why? Because lenders will lose more if the property goes into foreclosure, and so will the homeowner.
There are three stages in the foreclosure process. They are pre-foreclosure, foreclosure and post– foreclosure. The pre-foreclosure stage is the only one where everyone comes out a winner. In the foreclosure stage, the homeowner’s FICO credit score can be reduced by 250-280 points and it will take 3-5 years before a lender will offer a sensible interest rate to make it possible to buy another home.
In the “pre-foreclosure redemption status” stage, with the help of a Realtor® , trained to negotiate a "short sale" with the lender, the FICO credit score will only take an 80-100 point "hit", and the homeowner will be able to buy another home with a good rate in 18 months to 2 years or less.
Other advantages of the "short sale" option in the pre-foreclosure stage include the possibility of leasing back the home from a third party investor/buyer, no defficiency judgement, no repair costs, no money to closing, stopping nagging collectors, avoid bankruptcy, a smoother transition to get out from under and get on with life.
As a trained Realtor® you will be able to explain the other pre-foreclosure options you have to assit you a distressed Seller in making a decision that's in their best interest. With over 1 million properties expected to be in foreclosure this year, the difference in losses to be sustained by lenders between a negotiated short sale and a fully executed foreclosure is estimated to be in excess of $50 Billion.
The costs to the Lender for commissions, closing costs, basic repairs, property maintenance, insurance, taxes, homeowner association dues, eviction and court costs, attorney fees, and much more averages about $400 a day for an average priced home. Over the 11+ months that the Lender has to carry the property and their hard costs can add up to over $130,000.
When you subtract these costs from the reduced sale’s price dictated by the depressed market and then take that sum away from the over-extended loan balance, the lender’s loss is substantially greater than a quick short sale. Time certainly is money!
It should come as no surprise to Sellers that they’re behind in their payments or can’t afford to continue making payments on their home because of a recent rate adjustment or for whatever other reason that has put their life in crisis. Sellers should not ignore the notice or telephone call that reminds them of their obligation. They should call their lender immediately so they won’t accelerate the process of foreclosure.
Remember, the lender does not want the property. Realtors® play the most important role in helping distressed Sellers reorganize their obligation to make their home more affordable, or get them out from under. by creating a WIN-WIN-WIN situation.

With all the talk about short sales this article does a good job of summing it up. Linda Hanley Kelly, Broker, Charles Rutenberg Realty, 708-334-5356

Home closed in Springdale of Western Springs

301 53rd Street in Springdale of Western Springs

For those of you who do not know where Springdale is, it is the neighborhood between Wolf Road and Gilbert Avenue. It is South of 47th Street and North of 55th Street.

This home was on the market for 115 days. It was originally listed for $474,900 and lowered to $449,900. It sold for $425,000. It was a well maintained brick ranch with 3 bedroom, 2 baths, an enclosed porch with a 2 car attached garage. Lot size 65x125. If you are planning a move, give me a call....Linda Hanley Kelly,Charles Rutenberg Realty, 708-334-5356. Over 30 years as a full-time agent in this area. Closed on December 15, 2008.