Spooky homes and dark tales abound this time of year. But if your dream of homeownership has suddenly left you seeing ghosts, you may feel like someone played a trick on you. Selling and buying real estate can be complex, and disclosure laws can be equally perplexing. But in Illinois, it is your responsibility as the buyer to find out if the house you wish to buy has a tragic history or spirits luring inside. 

What is a Stigmatized House? 

A seller in Illinois is required to disclose any physical defects the property may have. The law does not require the seller, listing brokers, or agents to disclose anything that may cause a stigma for the property. Stigmatized homes are those that some people find undesirable because emotionally upsetting events such as murder, suicide, or sexual assault have occurred at the home. Haunted houses fall under the same stigmatized category.

 Even though some people refuse to live in these properties and would have never purchased a home that comes with supposed supernatural forces, Illinois law does not require a seller and his or her representatives to disclose the paranormal activity.

The current real estate market is making it harder to find the perfect new home than most people are expecting. Let’s assume, however, that you found the right house, and you are ready to make an offer, but your real estate agent tells you that the home is an FSBO. You might recognize that abbreviation to mean “for sale by owner,” but do you understand the effects that a sale by the owner can have on your homebuying experience? Selling an FSBO property can be tricky, but so can buying one. Here are a few things you should know ahead of time.

Advantages of Buying an FSBO Home

A “for sale by owner” (FSBO) home is sold by the homeowner with no help from a broker or listing agent. This reduces the commission fees for the seller, thereby allowing them to pocket a larger percentage of the sale price. As a buyer, you will still be able to secure a commission for your agent, but there are a few advantages that buying an FSBO property offers you, including:

• Direct communication with the seller – Since the seller is not using a broker or agent, there will be no intermediary in your conversations with the owner. In some cases, this means that negotiations may be easier, and you could end up with a lower price than if the seller had an agent.

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While the specifics of mortgage loans—and the associated paperwork—can be quite complicated, one thing is easy to understand: If you do not make your scheduled payments, your lender will eventually file a foreclosure action and take back your home. Just to be clear, foreclosure is the legal process that a lender uses to take possession of a property from a borrower who did not keep up with their obligations as specified in the mortgage loan agreement. Other things could cause a lender to initiate foreclosure, but the vast majority of foreclosures stem from borrowers defaulting on their payments.

The process of foreclosure can be overwhelmingly difficult for many homeowners, and it is extremely easy to make expensive mistakes under such stress. An error in the process could cost you a great deal, but if you are aware of where most people make mistakes, you can be sure to avoid them. A qualified foreclosure defense lawyer can also help.

Do Not: Ignore Your Lender

Under the law in Illinois, your lender cannot start a foreclosure action until you are at least 120 days delinquent on your mortgage payments. More than likely, however, your lender will start calling and sending you letters within a few days of your first missed payment. As you inch closer to defaulting, your lender will probably reach out more often—possibly every day.

Since the housing bubble burst over a decade ago, the thought of foreclosure has become a near-constant concern for homeowners across the country. Those dealing with financial struggles may be worried that late or missed mortgage payments will lead to them losing their homes. For those who have refinanced or obtained a second mortgage on their homes, things are often uncertain, especially as it pertains to what happens if they default on a second or additional mortgage. If you are in such a situation, a qualified foreclosure defense lawyer can help you understand your available options.

What You Should Know About Second Mortgages

Any loan that qualifies as a mortgage is considered a secured debt. This means the loan is secured by collateral, and in the case of a mortgage loan, the collateral is the home itself. If you default on your mortgage, the lender can foreclose on the home and take the house. This applies to the mortgage that allowed you to buy the home as well as any subsequent mortgages. It also applies to home equity loans taken out with the home as collateral.

In the event of a foreclosure on a home with multiple mortgages or home equity loans, the initial mortgage takes precedence. Any subsequent lenders will only get paid if the sale of the home nets enough proceeds to satisfy the initial mortgage and there is money left to distribute.

Originally published: October 6, 2021 -- Updated: June 25, 2022

Last fall, we shared some of our thoughts about digital closings for residential real estate transactions and how they started to become popular during the Coronavirus pandemic. As concern about the virus slowly decreases—although it will probably never go back to pre-crisis levels—it appears that electronic real estate closings are here to stay.

The Benefits of eClosings

In most cases, originating a traditional mortgage takes roughly 30 days from the initiation of the application to closing. As more and more digital lending platforms emerge, the use of artificial intelligence and data processing allows lenders and borrowers to remove a number of manual steps from the process of fulfillment.