If you are an active duty service member coming back from abroad, there is no better feeling than to have a place to call home. And if you don’t have one yet, now is the time to start looking – if you buy a home within the next year, you can receive an $8,000 tax credit. Coupled with a loan backed by the  VA home loan gauranty program, this tax credit presents a great opportunity for veterans to save bundles when purchasing that first home.

To qualify, veterans have until April 30, 2011 to buy a home or enter into a binding contract, and all sales must be closed by June 30, 2011. These deadline dates, according to the Internal Revenue Service are specifically for military service members, intelligence community personnel, and foreign service employees. Military buyers must also have spent 90 days on active duty outside of the U.S. between January 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010 to qualify, unless medical issues did not allow for completion of time abroad.

Also, the tax credit is mainly for first-time homebuyers (buying their first primary residence within the last three years), as only they can receive the full $8,000 credit. And with VA mortgage foreclosures at a new two year low, military families who meet certain criteria can rest assured they will be able to find a home and stay in it. Long-time residents (have owned and lived in the same home for five consecutive years) can buy and still qualify for up to $6,500. Other basic restrictions include… 

• Home prices cannot exceed $800,000
• Single-filers’ income must be less than $125,000 to qualify for the full credit, and less than $145,000 to qualify for any credit
• Joint-filers’ income must be less than $225,000 to qualify for the full credit

If you qualify, start looking now so the deadline does not pass you by – there’s no reason not to save! 

James Kelley blogs on veteran’s issues and real estate across the United States at VA Benefit Blog . He also works for VAMC, proudly serving American military families as the nation’s premier VA lender.

Time to invest!

The time to buy real estate is now.

Low prices, tax incentives, great rates.

It’s the sweet spot in the real estate market. The perfect storm.

If you are in a position to buy now, there has never been a better time. Rates won’t stay so low, incentives will disappear and eventually the low prices will also fade away. When do you make your move?

First time or move up buyers and investors too (yes, you CAN get a positive cash flow)

Call me at 630-717-7386, or email to find out where you fit. It’s opportunity time!

I knew that he had some really good friends but for almost a week Colin, Colleen and Matt have been painting, fixing and moving stuff for them. What a nice group! My wife Lisa is the gardener and I am the occasional grunt guy. Lisa has been working pretty hard.

It made us think about all of our friends when we bought our first house in Chicago: Adam, Janet, Danny, Laurie, Susan O (helped with the next house too!) and Pete (Stretch). It was nice to think back and realize (again!) what terrific friends we had too.

Thanks again to all of you that made this a smooth transaction and thanks to all of our friends that were there for us.

It’s a big year for change!

My son proposed to Katherine (Kitty) last winter and it’s been a whirlwind of wedding plans for 2010. Exciting.. yes! And to add to the excitement they’ve decided to purchase a home.

They don’t want to miss out on that free money that the government is giving away to first time buyers. They feel that they can take that $8,000 and use it to their advantage next year. I heartily agree. My wife Lisa and I had a great time showing them homes and talking to them about real estate…  it wasn’t that long ago that Angus would roll his eyes when Mom and Dad drove by houses, now we share in the fun. They found a terrific house that fits all of their needs and will be closing next week.

As a dad in the business, they’ve followed all of my advice happily. (yikes!) It’s a bit nerve wracking because I want this to be a great experience for them… well, I want it to be a great experience for all of my clients..but.. he IS my son! It’s a fine balance between being helpful and being overbearing.

My team has really pulled through for me. Craig Howard the Home Auditor took his time and explained things well, Maureen Lein at Max Mortgage took the time to prepare them properly and Naperville Attorney Tom Alore has stayed on top of the details and made them feel great. I have to say that I really appreciate all of their efforts.

I’m really proud of Angus and Kitty, they set their minds to do something and took all of the steps necessary to make it happen.

Even better… the government is going to pay them $8,000 for it.

Detached single family residential sales are up 1% in June 2009 over the previous year! This according to the Mainstreet Association of Realtors which analyzed the data of about 120 communities in the South and Western Suburbs of Chicago.

One percent may not seem like a lot… but when you consider this is the first time since December 2006 that this has happened, it’s very good news for real estate. The $8,000 first time buyer credit is probably helping to spur that.

On another positive note, pending sales are up over 40% from last year at this time. This is the 7th consecutive month of year over year increases in properties under contract. Of course, you would think that would translate to many more sales… but, I’m guessing that many of these properties are short sales (which may take a long time, or… may never close)

Why would you want to register on a local real estate website?

Realtor.com is an advertising site owned by a company called Homestore and while it’s licensed to operate using the Realtor name it is a for profit company that has yet to turn a profit… forever squeezing out pennies and irritating the agents and companies that it is charged with helping. The properties are used to draw you in so that they can build ads around the listings… this makes the site painfully slow. Realtor.com is an opt-in site missing lots of data… it is notoriously out of date and doen’t let you know if a property is under contract… creating an unfriendly and tiresome homesearch. MLS systems are starting to pull out of Realtor.com as it has been discovered that eventually almost everybody chooses to find a local connection.

Eventually, as you get more serious in your home search, you will want to “go local“.

WestSuburban Real Estate was the first of its type in Illinois and has been helping people find their homes since the spring of 2000. The other site that I use: NapervilleLuxury Homes

If not… you can always unsubscribe… I promise, I won’t hold it against you

What’s up with that?? We use the term “townhouse” loosely to describe a
style of attached home, yet in a more specific sense… in a true townhome you
would own the land that the property sits on. In this case you would need true
homeowners insurance, even though the exterior may be maintained by the
association, you still

This is a Townhome in Cinnamon Glen at Butterfield in Aurora Illinois

Condominium is a form of ownership. With a condominium association you own
your unit but the association owns all of the exterior walls and the land it
sits on too, you are part of the association so you are one of many owners.
Typically you need insurance that is akin to renters insurance, since your
monthly dues actually pay to insure the buildings.

As you can see, you can’t always tell by looking. Obviously if it’s
a large building… you are probably dealing with a condo (or a co-op in
some markets), but that’s because the term Condo describes the ownership.

In our area Multiple Listing Service (MLS) we lump them all together and call them “single family attached homes” and that that seems to cover it.

Manor homes, coach homes, garden homes are also condominiums, just good marketing offering a pleasant sounding way to describe smaller buildings. These can easily be mistaken for
townhouses as well

To search for single family homes (whether they are attached or not… visit)
Real Estate in Chicago’s Western Suburbs where you’ll have access to the full
gamut of available properties in the area.

Once again, Money Magazine has ranked Naperville as one of the best places to live in the U.S. This year coming in 2nd to Fort Collins, Colorado.

Last year we were #3 and going back to 2003 we were named the best place to live in the midwest.

Not bad, but Naperville has so much going for it, that I’m not surprised.

Friendly people, safe neighborhoods, outstanding schools, park district amenities, library system (ranked #1 in the nation), Edward Hospital and the fine transportation choices are just a few of the standards… But the Riverwalk, charming downtown with it’s multitude of fine restaurants and shops, the Naper Settlement, Childrens Museum, millennium Carillon, scattered artwork (murals and sculpture!) and our excellent town parties (like Ribfest & Last Fling) are the icing on the cake!