Issue

SIX

Holy LOW RATES Batman!

location

in this issue >>>

current topics >>>

You’re Invited! Have you thought about a move?

Low Interest Rates

Investor’s Corner

Green Tip

Mark’s Minute

Y ou might have heard that mortgage rates were low, but it’s hard to figure out

exactly what that means to you. Here we’ll discuss exactly what that means to

people and how you might be able to capitalize on the historically low interest rates.

On the fourth page of the newsletter we always include an update with our upcoming Team Stodola Parties. Well this month we’re putting it out there in two places because we have an extended get-together set up at Austin’s in Libertyville on the 18th of November. Starting at five this will run until late because we’ve got space reserved so we can watch the Bears game that night. Food and drinks will be provided as always and since it’s our last event of 2010, we’ve got some special surprises as well. So come and join us next Thursday, and feel free to bring a friend! Austin’s is at 481 Peterson Road in Libertyville.

on A Monthly Insight into the Current Real Estate Market

First, let’s discuss current rates. For

someone who’s purchasing a home and

borrowing less than $417,000, putting

20% down, and has very good

credit, rates are about 4.125%.

What about the guy without

20% down and average credit?

Well if you’ve got 3.5% to put

down on a home and a credit

score of about 620 or above,

you can get an FHA loan for

about 4.25%. You’ll need to also purchase

mortgage insurance, but still these are in-

credible rates with just 3.5% down.

So what does 4.125% really mean to

you? This means that if you were to bor-

row $200,000 you’d have a mortgage pay-

ment of just $970 a month. This is what it

costs to borrow $160,000 at 6.125%. If

the last time you purchased your rate was

7% this same amount would cost you

$1,330 or $360 more each month!

You’re probably in one of three boats as

you sit there reading this (Mike said, hop-

ing people actually read this newsletter.)

One, you own and don’t plan to move.

That’s fine. I won’t make you move, but I

do want to make sure you’ve

checked into refinancing

recently. While rates to refi

are slightly higher it’s some-

thing to look into. Two, you

don’t own a home and don’t

plan to move. For you I ask, what are you

waiting for? Really...what? Call me now!

Third, you own and want to move but

your homes’ value has decreased below

what you paid and you’re not sure what to

do. This one’s easy. Call me and we can

discuss options. Your best option may be

to stay put for now, but we’ve worked with

dozens of people in the last few years who

thought they couldn’t move who are now

living in their new, beautiful homes.

Team Stodola’s >>>

www.1100LaurelLn.com

Fun, Dumb &

Inspiring Quotes

prematurely. They also are homes to insects and rodents.

While you’re up close and personal, check the walls and foundation for cracks or openings by vents, pipes etc...otherwise, mice and other lovely creatures may join you for the holidays.

If you use the fireplace, have a chim-neysweep clean and service it. Santa says ,“Thanks...ho, ho, ho.”

Remove hoses and turn off the faucets from the inside or else they could trap water and burst (trust me here!) If you have a second home, make sure to have it professionally winterized.

Investor’s corner >>>

A look at the LCPIA While it doesn’t exactly just roll off the tongue, the Lake County Property Investors

Association, or LCPIA, is the topic of this months’ Investor’s corner. This is an association

of real estate investors, vendors, property managers and all around extraordinaires who

meet monthly to discuss...you guessed it real estate in Lake County.

“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-

fashioned way. I invited everyone in

the neighborhood to my house, we

had an enormous feast, then I killed

them and took their land.”

- Jon Stewart

“Thanksgiving is an emotional holi-

day. People travel thousands of miles

to be with people they only see once

of year, and then discover once a year

is way too often.” - Johnny Carson

This weekend instead of watching the Bears (just kidding) you can do the following tasks to ready your home for winter. It’ll save you money and frustra-tion and keep your home in good shape.

Clean gutters and downspouts. Make sure the gutters are clear of leaves and downspouts are empty. Just be careful if you’re using a ladder or on the roof.

While you’re up there, check out your roof, look for missing shingles, depres-sions or debris that’s stuck.

Trim bushes and trees that are against the house or hang over the home. They trap moisture and can wear your siding

Many clients have asked where they can

learn more about real estate investing or

what books they should read to learn

more about how to take advantage of the

current market to invest. While I’m happy

to help people get a jump start, I suggest

that for a well rounded view of investing,

you need to join a real estate investment

club. There are a number of them in Lake

County but the LCPIA is great for anyone

who owns or wants to own investment

property. While the property doesn’t

need to be in Lake County, they do have

meetings with speakers and guests who

deal with Lake County specific issues.

However, much of the information is

universally (or at least globally) helpful. In

the past year they’ve had a number of

Autumn Home Maintenance Checklist >>>

Get your home ready for the winter this weekend.

Have your furnace inspected and serviced. You’ll save money and your heater will work better. If nothing else, at least replace your filter!

Check windows and doors for a proper seal. This will save countless dollars year round. To check for leaks, turn on bathroom and kitchen fans, then walk by windows doors and outlets with a lit incense stick and see if the smoke moves which indicates drafts (and wards off evil spirits.)

All of this takes just a few hours (or less if you hire someone else to do it) and it’s good for you and your home.

national and regional speakers including

such distinguished guests as “Mr.

Fix-it” and “Mr. Landlord.” While both

of these gentlemen have other names,

these are their Hollywood names.

The meetings are held in Gurnee on the

second Tuesday of the month at 749 N.

Milwaukee Ave. at the American Legion

Post. The meetings start with Investing

101 at 5:30 and then the main meeting

starts at 6:30. Afterward, people head

down to the bar and talk about the

speaker or investments or just grab a

drink together. It’s free to attend as a

guest, and even if you join it’s a whop-

ping $75 a year for your family or

company. If you’re interested in going,

just give me a call and I’ll see you there.

Green Tip Of the Month

ask the experts >>>

Is now a good time to sell?

Yes, no and heck no!

Can You Handle the Truth???

This month we’ll talk about the

moratorium on foreclosures that’s

been in the news lately and what it

means to you.

This month I’m not going to talk about how you can save the world but how to

keep green in your wallet (or purse or clutch or whatever it is women use) by

talking about a few services that I use that save me some dough each month.

1. www.iDine.com - This site allows you to

enroll, and when you dine at their partnering

restaurants, they rebate a percentage of the

bill back to you. Their basic membership is

free. The cool part is you just enroll certain

credit cards, and then those purchases are

credited to you. So if you have a company

card or something, you can register that card

(assuming your company doesn’t have a

problem with it) and then when you throw

down the card so you can take your

real estate agent out, you make a few

bucks too.

2. HappyCoupons.com - While I’m not

one to clip coupons out of the paper, I

purchase a fair amount of products or

services online. In doing so I’d always

see those little boxes that asked for a

promotion code. Alas, I never had a

code...until I went to HappyCoupons.

www.HappyCoupons.com has promo

codes for hundreds, nay, thousands of

stores that are online. Recently GAP

Jeans were $20 off online and boy I’ve

never looked better!

3. Groupon.com - I know I’ve talked

about this one before, but that’s

because it’s awesome! You save at

least 50% on their deal each day. It’s

great for gifts or just going to the plac-

es you love for 50%+ off. Plus discover

new stores, restaurants and attractions

you didn’t even know existed.

I wish there were a catchall to this question. The overall answer is no, unless you

need to in order to buy, then it’s a great time to sell. See, if you wait until the mar-

ket rebounds and prices increase by 20%, your home that’s now worth $200,000

will be worth $240,000. Great, you think. But the $400,000 home will then be

worth $480,00 meaning it’ll cost you $40,000 more to buy that home. Plus interest

rates will probably be higher and you’ll have less to choose from. If you can afford

to buy without selling, rent your home out, and buy low now and sell high later.

There’s no easy answer to this ques-

tion, but the most likely answer is

“not much.” If banks ceased foreclo-

sures for a long period, that actually

may temporarily increase home pric-

es because it would remove low

priced homes form the market. But

in the long run, they would then

flood the market once they resumed

activities. Since it looks like there

aren’t going to be prolonged foreclo-

sure freezes, again the answer is...not

much.

Q: A:

What’s the REAL Deal?

Several of the large banks temporari-

ly stopped processing foreclosures

because they wanted to make sure

that they were filing paperwork

properly. While it’s been discovered

that tens of thousands of foreclo-

sures were filed improperly, the truth

of the matter is that they still haven’t

found a single case where someone

who’s up to date on their payments

were foreclosed upon. Though many

states attorneys general want longer

bans, some of the large banks have

already fixed their systems and

resumed with the foreclosures.

What’s it mean to you?

Finding An Agent That’s Right For You

Besides being a very well liked and

successful agent, Judy complements

our team by actually laughing politely

at my stale jokes, something Mike

has been refusing to do with increas-

ing regularity.

Behind Mike’s back (at least until

now) Judy and I have been doing a

little bit of plotting. I think it is more

than mere coincidence that Judy’s

last name is Hall, and my first name

is Mark. While Mike might fancy

himself to be the Team Leader, Judy

and I are really the “Hall-Mark” of

the team, both in name and in fact.

While Mike was hobnobbing with

some of you at one of his recent

client “happy hours,” Judy and I took

a brief respite from our long day to

reflect on ways we can better help

our clients. We realized that we help

smooth out the turbulence! No, we

have not really found a way to over-

come the forces of Mother Nature,

but we do recognize that in today’s

real estate market there are a lot of

bumpy situations, or turbulence, that

our clients need to deal with.

Sellers are slowly realizing the short

sales and foreclosures are no longer

aberrations but are now setting the

market price for homes. They are

dealing with buyers who are more

discriminating, because they can be,

and with buyers who might be trying

to sell a home of their own.

Although this may sound like a rosy

situation for buyers, they too need

the help of professionals. While

847 -557 -1622

MStodola@KoenigStrey.com

100 N. Mi lwaukee Ave .

Team Stodola

mortgage interest rates are at the low-

est level we have seen in many decades,

buyers are discovering that lending

practices have tightened up. Even after

agreeing on the price of the home with

the seller, they may discover that the

appraisal value is lower than expected,

thus limiting the amount that may be

borrowed. Or, when they make offers

to purchase short sales or foreclosed

properties they may find that the

process of buying a home is different,

and often far more time consuming.

While these buyer and seller issues can

frustrate a person who deals with real

estate transactions just a few times in

an entire lifetime, dealing with these

bumps along the way is fairly routine

stuff for agents who deal with the issues

daily. Our entire team understands that

our job is not to paint a false picture for

people that there won’t be any bumps.

IT IS OUR JOB to bear the burden of

dealing with those bumps so that our

clients can focus on getting ready to

make their move.

While the bumps can be aggravating,

they also can make our jobs more inter-

esting and more rewarding. When you

notice people you care about who need

our expertise and experience, you can

help by introducing them to our team

quickly. Let us deal with the turbulence

while they recline the seat and enjoy the

ride. Act today by entering 847 909-

6389 into your cell phone. May I

suggest that you label this phone listing

as... “My HALL-MARK real estate

agent!!!”

I thought this month we’d get an invitation

out to you BEFORE the event. We’re going to

celebrate Thanksgiving early by having you

out on November 18th to Austin’s, 481 Pe-

terson Rd. in Libertyville. We’re pulling out

all the stops this time so this isn’t one to

miss. Mark it down on the calendar and join

us anytime after 5:00 and stay for the Bears

game that night. Bring a friend or co-worker

and let’s kick off the holiday season in style.

From time to time Mike reminds me that “Team Stodola” is really the “Mike Stodola

Team” consisting of one team leader (guess who?) and his associate. Mike claims

three pages of space in this newsletter, limiting me to a single page at the very end

of the newsletter. Well, things are gonna change around here! Recently Mike and I

brought aboard Judy Hall to create a larger and even more capable team of agents

here at Koenig & Strey Real Living.

minute... Mark’s

Join Us On November 18th

Story of the Month

My wife, Heather, and I were at the mall

recently and we got separated. Being a big

mall, I wasn’t getting any reception on my

cell phone so I wasn’t sure what to do.

Just then a beautiful young woman walked

by, so I got up and ran after her. When I

caught up to her, I said, “I’ve lost my wife

here in the mall, and I wondered if I could

talk to you for a few minutes?”

The young lady looked puzzled and asked

“Why in the world would you want to talk

to me?”

“Well,” I replied, “every time I talk to a

beautiful younger woman my wife seems to

appear out of nowhere.”