The Chicago 77

To date, the Federal Government has pumped over $1.25 TRILLION into the mortgage market in an attempt to boost slumping activity and aid the overall economy. However, the end may be in sight ? the Federal Reserve is considering ending aid as of March 31. The Real Estate Market Drives the Economy The housing market […]

In the first half of this article we ran through one possible short sale scenario. The goal was to establish a need for short sale regulation. The focus of this second part is to discuss the Treasury Departments imminent guidelines. On April 5th the Treasury Department’s new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) will take […]

The word is out in the real estate world…I’m hearing the question all the time from agents. Katie Anderson recently asked me, “I’ve heard that only a 5% down payment on condos is coming back. Neena is this true?” Yes these low down payment loans ares coming back into the market?guidelines are loosening up! The New […]

Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) announced today that they are offering a 3.5% incentive* for buyers who purchase and close on a Fannie Mae-owned home between January 28th, 2010 and April 30, 2010. Buyers purchasing properties listed on their HomePath.com site, that are closed within this period may receive up to 3.5% of the final sales price […]

10 November 2009 ?Bonds are currently at a day change of up 9bps after opening up slightly higher than yesterday. The $40 billion auction of 3-year notes yesterday was successful in strengthening mortgage bonds and the much maligned dollar. Strengthening the dollar has been the focus of foreign and domestic investors who hope to limit […]

The first-time-buyer tax credit of $8,000 is scheduled to end effective December 1st, 2009, however the transaction must close by November 30th, 2009. This will impact both real estate agents and first time buyers. Realtors® and buyers may not realize the month of November is notoriously slow for underwriting as many companies are working at […]

Do you know what the minimum credit score is to qualify for a home mortgage? Currently it?s a mid credit score of 620, but this may change very soon to 640. In fact, some banks have already stopped taking loan applications with a 620 mid score. What’s a Mid Credit Score? When applying for a […]

Finally Home, a mortgage program designed to help Illinois residents buy a home or keep their existing homes from going into foreclosure, changed a key guideline that will allow more Chicago home buyers and home owners to take advantage this state program. The program raised the qualifying average median income (AMI) from 115% to 150%. […]

Is your income less than $72,384? Is your household income less than $105,560? If your answers are yes, you may be missing out on a little known program offered by the City of Chicago?s Department of Community Development. I recently met with a client who has an income of $55,000 per year. The client is […]

In March 2008, Fannie Mae entered into an agreement with The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). This agreement was set up to adopt certain policies relating to appraisals for mortgages. Starting May 1st, 2009 the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) came into effect for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased loans. HVCC Means Only […]

So, you are facing foreclosure, and are worried and scared and don?t know what to do? Well, you are not alone. Millions of people nationwide have been foreclosed on or will be soon. There?s been all kinds of blame and finger-pointing (see my Who?s to Blame post for further info on that), but that’s not […]

Ok, so just about everybody has heard about loan modifications, or loan mods for short. They are also called loan workouts, loan restructuring, among others. I’m going to explain what types of loan mods exist, and who can or can’t likely get them. What kind of loan modifications are there? There are a few different […]

There are two types of 203k loans: regular 203k, and a streamline 203k. A streamline 203k has a maximum of $35,000 in repairs, and is much, much easier to get done. If you must have over $35,000 in repairs and upgrades, it can get done, but those are much more tedious and time consuming.