1st Time Home Buyers Seminar

Do you currently rent? have you thought about buying a home/condo/townhome for the first time? Maybe have a few questions about the process, credit scores, financing, etc? Can you afford a couple hours to learn these answers and more? What are you doing on Wednesday May 13, 2009 @ 6:30 pm?

Ryan Hill Realty will be sponsoring a 1st Time Home Buyers Seminar from 6:30 – 9:00 pm that evening at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St, Naperville, IL. Topics that will be addressed by guest speakers will include:

• Learn about the home buying process, terms, details and review the various real/estate home options
• Find out about the 1st time home buyer tax incentive and what the qualifications are.
• Review the latest mortgage and lending programs available.

Attendees can sign up for various sponsor raffles as well as a drawing for a 5 day, 4 night Cruise For Two* donated by Ryan Hill Realty. (Winners must be present at time of drawing.)

Contact me for free tickets!

For reservations, you can call 630.897.2165 x258. Or email me. 

$10/person | $15/couple. No Refunds.

All proceeds are for the benefit of Hesed House, Aurora, IL.

Click here for event flyer.

Housing report forwarded to council

reposted from the Naperville Sun Tuesday March 17, 2009

The Naperville Fair Housing Advisory Commission voted Monday to send its report on affordable housing to the full City Council, but not without strong opposition from some in the community.

“We will not include any programs,” City Project Planner Greg Jones said, referring to specific policy proposals.

While Jones stressed the need to start with addressing the problems of Naperville’s seniors, alluding to their fixed incomes and limited opportunities for employment, the commission in the end decided to endorse a recommendation accepting the recently completed Housing Analysis and focusing on renters, low income earners and employees of Naperville businesses as well. But seniors are recommended to be the initial priority of any policy undertaken by the City Council.

While the commission stressed that it was not endorsing any particular finding on whether or not there exists a housing affordability problem in Naperville, many parts of the study suggest that is the case.

“We need to concentrate on all four groups, not just seniors,” Commissioner Zelda Webb said. Commissioner Dianne McGuire seemed to agree with Webb, asking what the actual numbers of the seniors were in Naperville and if they were “really as destitute as the study suggests?” Several times Jones said all of the groups thought to be in need would be addressed and that any solution that helped seniors could help other groups, saying, “We want to make sure they are able to stay in the homes they have.”

Commissioner Sherman Neal expressed interest in “what was good for the city in the long run … it may be better to concentrate on renters and employees” that would help the city’s development in the future.

Several residents spoke out against sending the recommendation to City Council.

Kristen Jungles, of Ryan Hill Realty, questioned the validity of the analysis. “How many seniors are in your survey?” she asked, stressing that there were only 20 seniors represented in one part of the survey. Jungles also said there was affordable available housing in Naperville and to prove it, handed out literature on a “smart rent” program that focused on low-income people and put a portion of their rent toward the purchase of a home.

Jeff Merrinete, a Realtors lobbyist, pointed out the enormous nature of the undertaking and noted that many of the people the study focused on — people spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing — were adults and the “aggressiveness (in borrowing) was a choice they made.”

Sharon Worrell agreed with Jungles that the study rested on too few subjects and said, “I disagree with the findings.”

Others were impatient with any possible delay. Don Derrow of DuPage United, a nonprofit lobbying for housing relief for low-income earners, said, “the statistical validity has been questioned and addressed (at other meetings).” Commissioner Kevin Coyne agreed.

The vote to send the study to City Council for city staff to research and prepare policy options was unanimous.

The Naperville City Council is scheduled to receive the report at its first meeting in April. 

Easter Food Drive to benefit Loaves & Fishes

Kelley Schwartz of Ryan Hill Realty announced today that from now thru April 6, 2009, they will be collecting food items to help resupply Loaves & Fishes, the local food pantry in Naperville. The following is excerpted from Loaves & Fishes home page to give you an idea of what they do and how many lives they impact. Please download, print and distribute the easter-food-drive-flyer.

From July 1 through December 31, 2008:

∙ 8,085 on-site and home delivery visits assisted 18,243 individuals, a 17% increase over last year.

∙ 598 families visited Loaves & Fishes for the first time, compared with 701 in the entire previous year, representing a 60% increase.

How does Loaves & Fishes meet these escalating needs?

∙ Our community business partners, like Casey’s, Costco, Dominick’s, Great Harvest Bread, Jewel, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods, regularly donate perishable goods for our distributions and host food drives.

∙ Our donors contribute money, food, toiletries, and cleaning supplies.

∙ Our network of more than 300 volunteers picks up, sorts, stocks, delivers and distributes food and personal care essentials to our neighbors in need.

∙ Our Client Choice distribution format empowers recipients by allowing them to choose the foods they will take home, dramatically reducing waste and ensuring everyone gets the full complement of usable products intended to assist them for two weeks.

In Fiscal Year ‘08, Loaves & Fishes:

∙ Supplied 1,200,000 pounds of groceries to 1,800 unique struggling families in 14,000 distributions.

∙ Provided over 2,500 deliveries to the homebound elderly and disabled, ensuring this fragile population regular access to nutritious food.

Approximately 50% of the hungry we serve are children under the age of 18.
Loaves & Fishes:

∙ Prepares 1,900 students in grades 1 through 12 for learning by supplying breakfast assistance during the school year and a special nutrition program in the summer.

∙ Furnishes baby food, formula or diapers to more than 500 infants.

You Can Make a Difference!

∙ Your financial support, combined with our cooperative buying power and tax-exempt status, turns $5 into $50 worth of food for a hungry family!

∙ Your donation of food helps of feed your neighbors.

∙ Your donation of time means we have enough people to perform all the tasks needed to get food into the hands of the people who need it.

Hunger knows no season. Please help Loaves & Fishes all year.

Donation boxes will be set up @ Casa Bella on W Jefferson and Buikema Ace Hardware on N Washington. More locations will follow. Thanks for your generous consideration.

Pass Christian Home building Trip Day1

Day 1  It’s about 5:30 am and we are some where between Jackson and Hattiesburg, Ms. We left Naperville at 4:00 pm Tuesday and have driven straight thru. Had quite a bit of rain going thru Mo an Ak and a lot of wind that seems to push the van all over the road.

While driving down I57 near Mattoon, Il I shot a really eerie picture of a cross that seemed to be floating in the air.  We arrived in Gulf Port, Ms around 7 am - all in all about 15 hrs on the road with 4 stops. Checked in to the hotel and plan  on getting some shut eye before the rest of the crew arrives later today.

Pass Christian, Ms Here Comes Naperville, Again…

Later today i will join a dozen or so colleagues from Ryan Hill Realty and head south to Pass Christian, MS to spend a few days helping to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurrican Katrina. I am excited to be going – it has been 10 years since I have had a “work camp” type experience. The community is located right on the Gulf of Mexico, a bit east of New Orleans. Six of us will be driving down in a van loaded with supplies and computers donated by Naperville. This is the second year that Ryan Hill Realty has sent a team as part of Naperville Responds commitment to our sister city.
After finishing up there the plan is to head to New Orleans, a visit to the Quarter, watch a few parades, throw a few beads (?) – ok, never been there, especially during Mardi Gras! I look forward to new experiences, getting to know my new teammates a bit better, and most of all thankful that we can lend a helping hand.

I hope to be posting during the trip as well as uploading a few pictures to my Flickr account. I finally figured out how to use my Blackberry as a tethered modem (Bluetooth works too), so if there is no wi-fi in the area I can still have connectivity. Until later, peace.