It’s Crazy That A Train Can Service Chicagoland for 100 Years and No One Notice

Have you ridden the South Shore Line lately?  If you have did you know that the South Shore Line is 101 years old?

The train service started in 1908.  It like most businessess had a bumpy ride down through the years; however, it managed to hold on and continue to increase in popularity for both work and pleasure rides.

The South Shore line has eighteen stops between downtown Chicago and South Bend, Indiana.  Surprisely enough, it does all this on an electrical rail system since its beginning.

The South Shore has had many owners down through the years, and also filed bankruptcy twice.  Yet, it still prevailed as the premier rail system that many of us enjoy today. 

If you are in Chicagoland make sure you ride our premier rail line, South Shore, to see the sites of Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

How Can You Negotiate Loan Modification Terms With your Lender?

This post is written by Steven Parker.  Steven Parker is a Financial writer and contributor since five years.  He specializes in mortgage and real estate industry written many articles on Mortgage, Reverse mortgage, Loan modification, Foreclosure and many more.

For the purpose of preventing a foreclosure, loan modification is one of the most proven choices that people are going for. Normally, people see it as a difficult thing to understand. However, it is not so difficult. Prior to going to the mortgage lender or bank, it is essential that you get correct and comprehensive details about the procedure.

Following are some tips that would assist you to negotiate loan modification terms with your lender successfully:

Before anything else, you should ensure that you communicate with your lender prior to they register a “Notice of Default”. You have to request the lender the moment you understand that you don’t have the capacity to make the minimum payments or instantly when you have skipped one. You should not hang around for them to call you.

Secondly, you should write a financial hardship letter with all your financial information and address accompanied by your income proofs. You should not hide anything or mislead while furnishing your details.

You should post the correspondence by a certified mail and ensure that you get an acknowledgement of receipt of the correspondence.

You should communicate with the loan modification division of the lender or bank via their official websites or by calling them up.

Always jot down the timing of your phone calls, names of the individuals whom you spoke with and what was discussed to you.

Prior to discussing with the lender, you have to be very much clear-cut about your future strategies. For example, if you are confident that you wish to establish in your home for a long time, you should attempt to locate the best possible deal on loan modification for an extensive term, such as 20-30 years.

Collect as much details as you can about the guidelines of the bank and take advantage of them. You must utilize them in such a way that you can garner the maximum advantage of your research.

You must determine the amount of monthly mortgage payment that you are able to afford. For this, you have to figure out your debt to income ratio and furnish it to the lender.

You should search for some professional assistance from experienced counselors employed by the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) in the United States. They would offer expert consultations and advices on how to handle your finances, go to the lenders and function as your representative (in case there is a requirement). These facilities are rendered without cost since the Federal Government makes payments to them for these facilities.

A bonus of $1,000 has been declared by President Obama for homeowners who are choosing loan modification rather than foreclosure or short sale.

Types of Real Estate Market

Originally posted 2008-12-16 10:07:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

           The same holds true for an investor as for a first time home buyer to be successful in homeownership, the investor is to understand the market he or she is buying in, understanding his or her mortgage, and knowing what he or she can and cannot handle.

Let’s examine what you need to be concerned with if you want to invest in real estate?  First, the investor must understand his or her market.    There are two different types of market. One type of market is a seller’s market, and the other type of market is the buyer’s market.

In a buyer’s market, the buyer must be aware that being in a buyer’s market doesn’t make the buyer’s job any easier.  It just gives the buyer more flexibility.  Remember in a buyer’s market, there may be several buyers for one property or only one buyer for a property. If there are no other buyers for a property by virtue of the length of time the property has been on the market then a low offer may come in to the seller.  Sorry sellers.  However, sellers that do not mean that you have to give your properties away, but it may mean that you may have to settle for less than you anticipated selling your home. 

Another thing that makes a buyer’s market advantageous to the buyer and not to the seller is that there are a lot of homes to choice from that may meet the buyer’s criteria.

In a seller’s market, on the other hand, the seller has the upper hand.  The seller can price their home significantly above market value and negotiate the purchase price to exact what the seller wants the purchase price to be.  Sorry buyers.  If the buyer really wants a home in a seller’s market, the buyer must succumb to the seller’s terms in order to get the home.  As a matter of fact, in a seller’s market the inventory of homes for sale that may meet the buyer’s criteria are fewer.

Once the investor ascertains the type of market he or she is in then he or she is ready to buy.  Now the investor must determine what type of properties work best for him or her.  By that I mean do you want to purchase single family homes or multi units.   With single family homes, it is very important to determine what will happen if the property is vacant.  The investor must determine if he or she can pay the mortgage if there is a mortgage on top of other expenses if there is not a tenant or the tenant is not paying.  In those calculation must be the upkeep of the building to include utilities and maintenance not only the mortgage, taxes, and insurance.    If that is affordable then move forward.  If not, then look at those options with a multi unit and determine which scenario works better for your financial situation if there are vacancy.  Do not fool yourself there will be vacancy during something of your ownership, so it is best to look at that now than later.

Call to Action Needed in Indiana

Has it flooded enough in your backyard, basement, etc., Northwest Indiana?  According to a FEMA study, the flooding will not be stopping no time soon due to poor planning.  Munster will be negatively  affected the most by the flooding dilemma because it lies on the Calumet River.  The problem is not, however, its location on the Calumet River, but the fact that the whole flood plain of the Calumet River was developed.  Munster will have adverse consequences from its location every ten months.  Wow, every ten months Munster can look forward to a flood.

Once more Hammond and Gary can look forward to sewers backing up due to the Calumet River, as well.

One gleam of light is that if fallen trees and debris are removed from major arteries of the Calumet River; Hobart and Lake Station will not be affected as much as the latter cities.

With that being said, what are the cities doing or for that matter the state?  Well, the answer is nothing.  Nothing is being done to reconstruct the much needed storm drains, sump pumps, and other important systems that Gary and Hammond need to its sewer systems.  Nor is nothing being done to improve the flooding situation in Munster. 

What is being done is finger pointing?  Cities pointing fingers to the state and the state doing the opposite.  What can a citizen do?  I think, it is time to that the citizens do a call to action to make the politicians do what we are paying them to do work on this and other problems of this state.

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