"Popular in the eighties, forgotten during the real estate boom of the past few years, foreclosures are now once again in the spotlight"
Over the past six years the Chicago land real estate market, like most other major cities, enjoyed high rates of appreciation, investors made record profits and everyone was talking about making money in real estate. The market benefited greatly from a growing US economy, the lowest interest rates in over 30 year
and homeowners eager to buy real estate regardless of affordability, and mortgage agents equally willing to qualify buyers.
Enter 2006, interest rates steadily increased, the economy slowed, and the result is the real estate cycle has turned from a seller’s market to a definite buyer’s market. Many homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages were caught off guard by how much their rate change affected their monthly payment and many could no longer afford to make payments. Of the 3000+ new foreclosures monthly in the Chicagoland area, more than 75% have adjustable rate mortgages. With the slow overall real estate market homeowners in foreclosure also found their opportunities for selling their homes become difficult at best.
The word foreclosure conjures up many images and not all of them are positive. For the real estate investor however, it’s hard to ignore this forgotten niche of the real estate market as some many opportunities now exist in foreclosures.
Everybody knows Donald Trump; his name is synonymous with successful real estate investing. In fact, Donald Trump has leveraged his celebrity status and real estate smarts to become one of the wealthiest and most well known real estate investors in the world.
But did you know that Donald Trump's first big deal was on a foreclosure. In Donald Trump's 1988 book, "The Art of the Deal," he told of his very first real estate deal in which he purchased a 1,200 unit apartment complex in foreclosure. Donald and his father were able to turn the complex around by rehabbing the apartments and taking a tough stance on rent collection.
So what relevance does this story have to Illinois real estate investors and Illinois real estate agentsnull Don't ignore the foreclosure market as potential source of profits. With rising interest rates and signs of inflated property prices on the market, a foreclosure may be the best way to find a deal.
In Illinois, according to ilFLS.com, the #1 provider of Illinois foreclosure listings and data, there will be over 28,000 new foreclosures in the first three quarters of 2007 in the counties of Cook, Dupage, Lake, Kendall, Kane, Kendall, McHenry, Will and Winnebago.
Illinois foreclosures are an overlooked, high reward sector of the Illinois real estate market. Real estate agents, mortgage agents, lawyers and homebuyers all have started subscribing to our site or calling our customer reps with questions on how to locate and profit from foreclosures, auctions and REOs.
But is investing in foreclosures only limited to those who want to buy and sell propertiesnull Many real estate professionals see the value of foreclosure listings as targeted leads to find potential clients or customers.
What a lot of people don't realize is that these listings of foreclosures are incredibly effective marketing lists and leads that a real estate agent, mortgage agent or lawyer may utilize. Homeowners in foreclosure represent someone in need of legal counsel for lawyers, someone who will need the services of a real estate agent's expertise to market their home, and someone who needs to refinance or creative financing from a mortgage professional.
Clearly, Illinois foreclosures, long an overlooked sector of the Illinois real estate market, demand more attention for anyone wanting to gain an edge in an increasingly competitive and crowded real estate market. Foreclosures will definitely matter in 2007, whether you choose to capitalize of the market, is up to you.
TJ McKinneyilFLS.com . The Illinois Foreclosure Listings service, Chicago land’s leading source for foreclosure, auctions, REO, foreclosure seminars and property classifieds.