Michael Fair's (mikefair) Blog

Have you noticed the "Equal Housing Opportunity" logo at the bottom of the Active Rain Blog Page (Good job people) or do you just take it for granted. I'm sure that most of us understand the basics of equal opportunity and fair housing and would never intentionally violate the law, however as I s...

It appears to me that a large percentage of the blog postings dealing with the challenges of the short sale, criticize the lender for being slow and sometimes almost unwilling to cooperate with the homeowner requesting a short sale.  I have an uneasy feeling that there is something inherently wro...

IR-2009-69, July 29, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service today announced its first successful prosecution related to fraud involving the first-time homebuyer credit and warned taxpayers to beware of this type of scheme. On Thursday July 23, 2009, a Jacksonville, Fla.-tax preparer, Jame...

The United States Government wanted to settle accounts with the banking industry.  When the accounting began, Lenders owed billions and could not pay.  Uncle Sam ordered them to reduce executive compensation, quit throwing wild parties and paying extravagant bonuses or they would have to sell of ...

Silly question, isn't it?  Or is it? It has been said that "a person doesn't plan to fail, they just fail to plan."  A statement well worth considering as we enter the new year and look to the future. Many real estate licensees do not seem to grasp the concept that even though they may be associa...

Welome to 2009 Illinois Escrow Law Changes  - Real Estate SpecificNew law provides for the transfer of escrow funds prior to termination or consummation of a real Estate transaction. New Illinois Law, 2009 A review of more than 100 new Illinois laws that take effect January 1, 2009. HUD Issues Ne...

Illinois House Bill 5338 is nearly identical to Senate Bill 571 which was unanimously passed by the Senate in 2007, but was held up in the House.The bill is an update to the Real Estate License Act of 2000 and among other issues:increases the required education for salesperson licensing from 45 h...

Illinois Academy of Real EstateJanuary 2008 Greetings! Welcome the first newsletter of the new year.  State Wide Smoking Ban Becomes Effective January 1Consider the ways this might affect your business. No Smoking Allowed   Radon Disclosure Law Becomes Effective January 1 Disclose, disclose, disc...

There has been much debate over the Illinois state-wide ban on smoking.  Early concerns on part of the business community seem to be the question of the economic impact of the ban on such businesses as bars, resturants and other public gathering places.  The issue is greater than that and many of...

Longtime Realtor Roy Fair loses cancer battle.  Fair was a past president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS and the 1982 Illinois REALTOR of the year.  He served for 22 years as a director of the National Association of REALTORS.  "We lost a great friend and REALTOR advocate," said IAR Pres...