Tim Soper's ActiveRain Blog

Apartments in the Chicago metro region haven't been on my radar for quite a number of years, but my interest perked up when I came across an article, Falling Values Slam Apartment Owners, in the Chicago Sun-Times this morning. Here are some of the conclusions he found: Falling property values in ...

I was reading an article, 14 Scary Facts About The US Real Estate Nightmare, that is guaranteed to give most real estate agents heartburn. Dropped in at #6 was a blurb that real estate searches are down about 20% from last June till June 2010 (date of article). Knowing that I had read something s...

This is my initial re-foray into blogging on AR with my first post on the Chicagoland Real Estate Report. I am republishing a post I just put up on DISCOVER! Joliet Homes, my local blog about Joliet, IL real estate. I am excited to be joining the active ranks of bloggers on AR and look forward to...

This is an update on my post from May 9th about Freddie Mac limiting investors to only 4 financed properties. I had lunch on Monday with Zach Krause, a loan officer with Park National Bank in Naperville. Thankfully, we no longer shot messengers or else Zach would have had multiple holes in him. T...

Nothing like having a reason to toot your own horn on a Monday morning...really makes you want to get at it!. So what am I talking about? My article on "Walk Away" foreclosures was selected as a winning article for this week's Carnival of Real Estate #91 which is being hosted by Aaron Dickinson a...

As long as there have been mortgages, there have been foreclosures. In times past, the unfortunate or unexpected would happen, and the unlucky homeowner would find themselves on the street. This occurrence, however, was an anomaly. According to research from the FDIC, foreclosure rates on convent...

Man, I love Trulia Voices. Its good for exercising my noggin and really gets me to consider questions and concerns that my potential clients may have. A well-spoken, potential seller posited: Why should I use a Realtor® to sell my home? My visceral reaction was how I respond to my 8 year old: CAU...

FELLOW AGENTS: this post is from my local blog and was intended to be some quick thoughts on what to look for in a listing agent; not the "soup to nuts" answer. I'm always a little suprised, though, at the lack of questions (outside of how much is my home worth) I do get on my listing appointment...

From ChicagoLand Foreclosure Tour Blog: We are proud to announce that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage® has agreed to join ChicagoLand Foreclosure Tours as our Exclusive Lending Partner, with Dale Noble as our Home Mortgage Consultant. About Wells FargoWorking with Wells Fargo for your home financing me...

As I mentioned in my earlier post on the House housing/mortgage bailout, I would be watching for the "under the radar" details of the plan. Well the first flight just landed in my Inbox: Subject Line: FHA Risk Based Pricing  (courtesy of Dale Noble, our office's Wells Fargo Loan Officer) Of cours...