Visit www.YourIllinoisHome.com for more information on all these facts

Getting help from an Illinois REALTOR®

is a smart financial decision. It has never been more important to work with a REALTOR®, the local

market professional, to properly gauge neighborhood conditions. Some marketshave two levels of pricing—distressed sales and traditional sales. REALTORS®

can help both buyers and sellers navigate today’s complex market conditions.

Current marketconditionswon’t last longIn Illinois sales volumes are on the rebound. As sales increase, inventory levels will decrease and home prices willbegin to rise. It’s the basic law of supplyand demand. Buy now for the long-termwhile you have the buyer advantage.

Housing is a good long-term investment! Owning a home is how many families begin toaccumulate wealth. Given the leverage you get in purchasing a home, the average return ona 5% down payment over 10 years is usually three tofive times greater than stock market returns. And youcan’t live in a stock! In Illinois the median price in 2009was 5.9% higher than it was 10 years earlier in 1999.

It pays to own versus rent!A typical homeowner’s networth is 49 times that of a renter’s, ac-cording to the National Association ofREALTORS® calculations using statisticsfrom the Federal Reserve Board. Owninga home provides both financial equityand tax benefits over time, plus impor-tant social benefits such as shelter, se-curity and independence.

Today’s market offers greatopportunities for first-timeand trade-up buyers. If you’ve been thinking about buyingyour first home, a move-up home orsecond home—or find you have torelocate—current inventory levelsplus historically low interest ratesand affordable prices make this anexcellent buying opportunity.

Grab a low interest rate while it’s still here.Mortgage interest rates remain at historic lows, but they are on the rise. A quarter percentchange in the interest rate can mean tens of thousands of dollars in costs over a 30-yearmortgage. For example, an increase from 5 to 6 percent on a 30-year $200,000 loan canchange the monthly payment of principal and interest by $125, an increase of 11.6 percent.

The economy is on the upswing.Recent economic indicators sug-

gest the worst is over for the U.S. economy in-cluding an uptick in consumer confidence,employers adding jobs and a stabilizing hous-ing market. Two-thirds of respondents to a re-cent Fannie Mae Housing Survey said now isa good time to buy a home; 8 in 10 said home-ownership is important to the economy.

FACT

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You Should Know About Today’s Illinois Real Estate Markets.Think locally and long-term,and do your homework.

Safe and affordable mortgages are available…even for people with less-than-perfect credit. A safe and affordable mortgage backed by the Federal Housing Administration (www.FHA.gov or www.HUD.gov) canbe the answer for first-time buyers who have a hard time get-ting financing and enough money for the down payment. Andthe Illinois Housing Development Authority’s HOME START program (www.IHDA.org) offers down payment assistance.See www.YourIllinoisHome.com, click on “Financing.”

Sellers can recoup on the buy side. To sell quickly in today’s market make sure your home carriesa compelling price, not just a comparable one. What a sellermay lose on the sell side can be more than recovered on thebuy side.

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Illinois Association of REALTORS®522 S. Fifth Street, Springfield, IL 62701www.illinoisrealtor.orgwww.YourIllinoisHome.com

Think locally and long-term, and do your homework!

Every market is different…If you’re a first-time buyer, trade-up buyer, investor, look-ing for a second home and simply must relocate—thismarket’s for you. With low interest rates, ample supply ofhomes and more affordable prices, the Illinois housingmarket presents an excellent buying opportunity!

Sellers, rely on the expertise of a REALTOR®…If you need to sell, be patient and price your home cor-rectly. Wise buyers and sellers get the facts about theirmarket and seek the counsel of a qualified real estateprofessional—a REALTOR®—to guide them through thecomplex process of buying and selling a home.

It has never been more important to work with a REALTOR®, the local market expert.Home Buyers and Sellers, real estate agents wereviewed as a very useful information source by 81% ofbuyers who used an agent while searching for a home.

For more information visit www.YourIllinoisHome.com

FACT

SYou Should KnowAbout Today’s Illinois Real Estate Markets.

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