The first call you should make before you begin looking for you next home, is to your mortgage broker or loan officer. 

It is very  important to know your financial situation before you start searching for your new home.  Credit scores, interest rates, and debt to income ratios all dramatically affect the types of loans and programs available to home-buyers.  It will also affect the amount of credit you have available to finance your new home.

The fact of the matter is, credit costs money.  Interest rates are the means to which banks make money.  The higher the risk, based on your credit scores and debt to income ratios,  the more a bank will charge for the cost of obtaining credit. 

Why does the credit score play such a important part in the process of applying for credit?  To quote one of my favorite talk show hosts, Dr. Phil, ” The best predictor of future behavior, is past behavior”

If you are consistently 5 days late on your car payment,  you behavior tells the bank, “I don’t pay my bills on time, so don’t expect a payment from me when it’s due.”

Likewise, if you mail your house payment in 2 weeks early and you pay off your credit cards every month, your behavior tells the bank, “I pay my bills on-time and understand the conditions of the credit agreements I have entered into.”

From an real estate agents point of view, not knowing what price range a buyer can afford to buy in would only lead me on a wild goose chase and end up taking up a lot of both mine and my clients time. 

You wouldn’t go to the check out at the grocery store without making sure you had money in your wallet, right?  The same rule loosley applies to shopping for a new home. 

Lots of  real estate agents would be more than happy to take you through homes for sale in your area, I’m one of them;  but I can’t stress enough the importance of talking to a mortgage lender and becoming pre-approved!

• Pre-approval gives weight to any, and all offers that you make on a property.
• Defines the price range for which you can obtain a loan commitment from a lender.
• Helps you understand exactly what that credit is going to cost you in terms of interest rates.
• A mortgage broker can help you estimate your final monthly payment, closing costs, and necessary down payment.
• Being pre-approved, saves both you and your real estate agent a valuable amount of time!

I have established a business relationship with Daniel Cerovac at Wells Fargo Home Finance in Aurora, IL.  Dan is the branch manager there, and we have talked about the kind of service I would like to see for my clients.  Dan will work with you to find a loan program that you are comfortable with and that meets your needs.  If you are thinking about buying a new home, give Dan a call.  You can reach him at the office at 630-820-5229,  He’s a smart guy and he’ll take great care of you! 

After you talk to Dan, call me…  we’ve got some house shopping to do!

Plainfield Real Estate

Since our next home was new construction, we were unable to plan for an exact closing date. Thankfully my wonderful sister Lu Wayne and her husband Dwayne (no… I’m not kidding, those are their real names!) let us live with our 3 kids, 2 dogs, 2 turtles, and guinea pig, in their finished basement for 6 weeks, until we were finally able to sign the papers!

Who moves 2 weeks before Christmas?! Only crazy people.

We closed on our former home on December 15th, 2004 and didn’t move into our new house until January 27. 2005.

What were we going to do with all of our stuff for 6 weeks?! Thankfully we had heard about a new company called:

We had no idea where we were going to find a moving company willing to store all of our belongings for the next 6 weeks without costing us a small fortune. Luckily PODS was incredibly reasonable in price, and extremely flexible with the amount of time we could store all of our STUFF!

I loved that the PODS containers were on the ground level, and easy to access. No stairs or hydraulic lifts! They charge by the month, so we were able to move our things into the POD at our own pace. The best part? We could move in exactly the same way.

The units are delivered door to door, exactly when you need them.

I can’t think of a better, more efficient way to move, without being at the mercy of a moving company. We are very satisfied customers, and have recommended PODS to all of our family and friends, whether in Plainfield or somewhere else, who have moved in the last 2 years.

Traditional movers will cost you an average of between $800 and $ 1500 for a 6 room house and usually require that you work within a time frame of about 2 days to pack, transport and deliver all of your possessions. PODS cost us a fraction of that, and gave us the flexibility to choreograph our move perfectly.

We needed 2 of the largest POD units, to move our 2500 sq ft. home and 2 car garage, and still had a bit of room to spare. I don’t think it cost us more than a total of $600 for the entire 6 weeks for both units.

We love our new house and have since added our 4th child to the family. We have definitely grown into our new Plainfield home and absolutely love it!

Plainfield Real Estate

When my 3rd child was 6 months old it became too hard to keep working in the salon. I couldn’t stand missing little league games and soccer practice, but it wasn’t long before I really started to miss a so many of my clients. There were quite a few families that I had grown to love that made deciding to “leave” the salon world behind me… bittersweet.

One of those families were the Fishers. I met Carrie and her daughter Casey on the first day back from maternity leave with my 2nd child. Casey was probably no more than 4 years old at the time and is such a wonderful little lady now. I love it, her full name is Acacia, which is how I was first introduced to her.

I remember her first visit to the salon because Carrie shared with me the story of how her son Oliver (Ollie for short) had been born on New Years Eve the year before. They were new to the Plainfield-Naperville area and Carrie had told me all about the places they had lived before she and Rich finally decided to call Plainfield home. Their last home was in Denver, Colorado.

Carrie and her husband Rich are two of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. You can tell a lot about someone just by being introduced to the company they keep, and I got all the proof I would ever need after meeting the guests at Rich’s 40th birthday party a couple of years ago. Everyone at his birthday party made us feel like we had known them forever. I wanted to collect everyone’s phone number at the end of the night and have them all over for dinner at our house! It was one of the nicest parties I have ever been to. Not to mention that Carrie is one of the most amazing chef’s I’ve ever met. 100% Gourmet!

I have since started working again from home, and taking clients on a more flexible schedule that works for both me and our family! My hair clients and my real estate business have given me a unique opportunity to earn a living while I available to my kids when they need me.

Tonight Casey asked me cut her hair 10 inches shorter for Locks of Love! I’m not surprised at all by her generosity because her parents have done such a great job of raising her, but it still amazes me when I see such a generous spirit in such a young child!

Casey never frowned, acted anxious, or uttered a single wavering word of uncertainty as I cut away at her 10 1/2 ” pony tail! She did a wonderful thing tonight and I am so proud of her!!!

Here is her transformation…

It’s been more than 6 years since I first met the Fishers. I am officially naming them my longest reigning clients and one of my favorite families! Thank you Carrie, Rich, Casey and Ollie!

One more thing. It took me quite a while as to decide whether or not I should charge the Fishers for Casey’s haircut tonight because of the generous nature in which it was being donated.

Ultimately, I decided to charge the normal rate for a child’s haircut because I am donating my profit from it to the Trevor Kott fund to help off-set the cost for donors to register with the National Marrow Donor Program.

Plainfield Real Estate

For some sick reason, one of my favorite past times is grocery shopping! Strange I know, but I love it so much that I’d actually shop for other people if I had the extra time. I am pretty sure I owe this life-long obsession to my my Aunt Lou.

When we were kids, we used to go up to our summer home in Michigan which we shared with her family. There wasn’t much to do in White Cloud, Michigan 25 years ago, so I’d always beg to go with her to Bird’s Grocery Store or Plumb’s Valu -Rite to help with the shopping for all 15+ of us for the weekend. Not only does Aunt Lou love to grocery shop, she loves the deli more than anything!

Yes, Aunt Lou has been known in the past to slap together a sandwich at a red light, because she is just too excited to wait until she gets home!

Oh, boy… I am really getting off track! Back to my story.

When we first moved to Plainfield almost 8 years ago, the Cub Foods store was actually an Eagle Market. I loved to shop at Eagle because, as a money savvy newly-wed, I always took full advantage of their double value coupon policy. I loved watching the lady deduct all of my coupons at the end of my order. I spent the walk back to my car with a sense of accomplishment. It became almost a game each week to see how much I could save.

When Eagle closed and Cub moved in, I wasn’t sure how I would feel, though as time went on I started to feel more at home. I knew the ladies at the check out, my way around the cereal aisle, and what days they stocked fresh produce. ( I told you, I am sick!)

The day they closed the store, I felt like I had lost an old friend!

5 months later… I am anxiously awaiting the grand opening of the new Strack and Van Til Neighborhood Market on April 12th!

I stopped by and talked to the construction crew a few days ago to get the scoop on an opening day. From what I hear, this Indiana based food company is huge on customer service and has really great prices. If that is true, then they may have found themselves their most loyal customer in me!

Church of the Good Shepherd Evangelical Covenant: 2437 Plainfield Rd. Plainfield ( 1/2 mile southeast of Louis Joliet Mall)

8:30 & 10:45 am

St. Francis Xavier: 2500 Arbeiter Rd. Joliet, IL 60431 (815-609-8077)

Holy Thursday 7:30 pm, Good Friday 7:30 pm, Holy Saturday Blessing of Baskets 11:00 am, Saturday Evening Easter Vigil 8:00 pm, Easter Sunday 8:30 & 10:00 am

Followers of Christ Lutheran Church: 12357 S. 248th Ave. Plainfield (815-439-0700)

Maundy Thursday 7:30 pm, Good Friday 7:30 pm, Easter Sunday 8:15 & 11:00 am

Community Christian Church: 175 W. Highpoint Dr. Romeoville & 901 Shorewood Dr. Shorewood (815-221-2000)

Sunday Services at 9:30 and 11:00 am

Holy Family Parish: 600 Brook Forest Ave, Shorewood, IL (815-725-6880)

Maundy Thursday 7:00 pm, Good Friday 7:00 pm, Holy Saturday 8:00 pm, Easter Masses 7:30 am, 9:30 am, and 11:30 am

Wheatland Salem United Methodist Church: 1852 W. 95th Street, Naperville, IL 60564 (630-904-1035)

Holy Thursday 7:30 pm, Good Friday 7:30 pm, Easter Sunday 7:00, 8:30, 10:00 traditional services in Sanctuary: 9:00 and 10:30 am Contemporary Service in the Worship Center

St. Mary Immaculate Parish: 15629 S. Rt. 59, Planfield, IL

Holy Thursday 7:00 pm, Good Friday 3:00 pm Stations of the Cross, 4:00 pm Via Crucis in Parking Lot, 7:00 pm Veneration of the Cross, Saturday Blessings of Food and Easter Baskets 12:00 noon, Saturday Easter Vigil 8:00 pm, Easter Sunday Services 7:30 am in Church & Gym, 9:00 am Church, 9:15 Gym and Cana, 9:30 at Central Elementary and Ira Jones Middle School, 10:45 am -Church, 12:15 pm – Church, 12:30 pm – Cana

There is no 6:00 pm mass on Easter Sunday

Peace Lutheran Church: 24024 West Main St. Plainfield, IL ( 815-436-9847 )

Maundy Thursday Worship 7:00 pm, Good Friday Worship 7:00 pm, Easter Sunday Worship 6:30 am and 8:30 am… 11:00 am Contemporary Service
Easter Sunday Breakfast at 7:30 am!

I hope that this post helps you find the church and service you are looking for this Easter!

On a side note, the services at these community places of worship fill up fast on holidays such as Easter and Christmas. Please think about arriving early to avoid the issue of having to stand during the service. I know… we’ve had to suffer through standing with our children during several holiday services over the last 8 years!

Plainfield Real Estate

When my husband and I bought our first home we didn’t have a clue. The FHA lending requirements at the time were very strict and we were barely able to qualify for the loan, even on both of our incomes. We waited on pins and needles waiting to hear if our loan was approved. That was almost 8 years ago!

Today, high risk lenders have made it possible for virtually anyone to qualify for a loan with little regard as to whether or not they have the ability to repay the note. Creative financing, pre-payment penalties, adjustable rate notes, and interest only loans have set many new homeowners up to fail, resulting in a record number of foreclosures all across America.

Plainfield, IL, and Will County in general, have one of the fastest growing rates of foreclosure in Illinois. In fact on the street where we bought our first home, we watched helplessly as 4 homes on our street went to auction within 2 years of being built. More than that, we lost good neighbors that were too ashamed of their circumstances to even say good-bye. That is why I made the decision to learn as much as I could about the foreclosure process and how to help people avoid it.

If you are facing hard times and struggling financially, don’t wait until it’s too late to get off the ship before it sinks!

Here’s what you can do right now to avoid a foreclosure and save your credit:

• If you have to nix every other luxury in your life, or have a choice as to what bills to pay… DON’T stop paying your mortgage! You really need to make life changes in order to survive a financial set back. You can live without cable, the Internet, or a cell phone until things get better. Believe me, my husband and I had to make similar decisions when he became unemployed for several months. It can be done!

• Sell your home. Many homeowners wait too long before they make the decision to sell their home to avoid a foreclosure. If you have equity in your home, you will need it to pay off other debts. Don’t let missed mortgage payments, interest, and lawyers fees eat up the equity in your home! This will be one of the most painful decisions you will ever have to make if you really don’t want to sell, but it will leave the door open to owning a home again in the future. Sometimes, listing your house for sale can buy you a little time in the process as well.

• Stay in contact with your mortgage company. I know that once the foreclosure proceedings have begun, the phone call assault from you lender will be overwhelming. Your phone will ring so much that the hair on your arms will stand on end at the sound of any phone ringing! Fight the urge to scream at the person on the other end and do your best to convey your situation. The truth is, the person in charge of deciding how quickly the fate of your foreclosure is addressed… is another human being. Believe it or not, your rapport with them can have an effect on how the rest of your situation is handled.

• Do you owe more than your house is currently worth? Get a professional, like myself, to do a short-sale to help preserve your credit rating. By law, you are not able to profit from the banks loss as a result of a short-sale, but the truth is… you’ve saved yourself against a BIG mark against your credit and secured your ability to obtain financing in the future!

I have spent the last 3 years learning all there is to know about foreclosure, and the process of foreclosure in the state of Illinois. If you are staring down the clock wondering what you can do, you need to call me. I have helped many families avoid foreclosure, and I’m confident I can help you too!

Julie Ferenzi
JP Realty Group, LLC

630-673-6233
Plainfield Real Estate

Liz Sieben is one of the sales managers at Liberty Grove and I spent a few minutes talking with her about the community. She was very helpful and gave me some valuable information on the floor plans of the models they offer. She also shared that there is an on-site elementary school as well as a private community zero-depth pool. This photo is the Liberty Grove Water Park!

I was so impressed with how big and well planned these homes were that I wanted to you to see for yourself. Click on the links below to view the shows I created for the models at Liberty Grove.

The Tuscan | The McKinley | The Endicott | The Dalton

Let me show you how I can save you money on your new home purchase!

Plainfield Real Estate

I know that not everyone who moves to Plainfield is going to be building a new construction home, but since most of these builders are local area developers, there is a very good chance that the community that you are considering was built by at least one of them!

My goal is to have all of the builders in Plainfield soon!

Stay tuned.

Plainfield Real Estate

The American Cancer Society and residents of Plainfield, Illinois can participate in the Relay for Life this June 30th, 2007 by registering for the event here.

The Relay for Life is an overnight event taking place at Plainfield North High School at 12005 S. 248th Avenue, Plainfield, IL. [map]

The Relay brings together those that have been touched by cancer in the Plainfield community. During the event team members take turns walking or running laps. Each team will try to keep a member of their group on the track at all times.

At the end of the Relay there is a Luminaria Ceremony that honors the memory of those that we have lost in the Plainfield community to cancer. It is an extremely emotional part of the event… you will need tissues.

My mom and sister participated in Relay for Life in 2003 in Joliet… which happened to fall on the 1 year anniversary of losing my dad to cancer. My dad lost his battle with esophageal cancer on May 28th, 2002. He was just 62 years old.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him… doing what he loved to do… FISH!!!

If he could have done one thing before he died, I know it would have been to teach his grandkids how to fish! They were all so young when he got sick.

We found out he had cancer a few weeks before my husband Tony and I got married. We were all just about to move into our new homes here in Plainfield during that time too. I guess I should mention that my parents, my sister and her family, and husband and I all built new homes in the same subdivision! Little did we know how beneficial it would prove to be as my dad’s illness progressed.

I’m looking forward to participating in the Plainfield Relay for Life this year.

It’s been 5 years, and I sure do miss that guy…

Plainfield Real Estate