ChitownLiving | Chicago Real Estate + Life

NAR Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, addresses some tough questions over at 4realz. A great interview if you can sit through the entire show.

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Great post from The Mortgage Reports on what the

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They didn’t really but I get this question all the time. No, not as a direct result, and here are 4 other things that don’t control mortgage rates.

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More favorable loan terms can be obtained for a primary residence. It seems that primary residency occupancy fraud is on the rise. I always wondered how the primary residence requirement was verified at the time the loan was secured and over the life of the loan.

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I appreciate it when complex subjects are explained in easy to understand terms. Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports does just that when discussing the contraction of mortgage guidelines. Which stick figure do you think should be awarded best actor in a mortgage drama?

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13 Bullet points on saving money.  As an agent, I get the first point, but it doesn’t save me any money. 

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  I enjoy recommending products I think my clients may find useful.  HouseMath 2.0 was brought to my attention by Matt Goyer’s Real Estate Blog and again by Future of Real Estate Marketing.  HouseMath 2.0 allows you to calculate the true monthly cost of home ownership.  The typical components of monthly mortgage payments are Principal + Interest [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
It was a bad week to float your mortgage rate last week as the Non-Farm Payrolls report and a “Double Top” technical trading pattern pushed mortgage rates up for the first [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
In what should have been a week full of shake-ups, the Fed stole the spotlight and guided markets in very plain English about its intentions. The economy is showing evidence of [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
In what should have been a week full of shake-ups, the Fed stole the spotlight and guided markets in very plain English about its intentions. Despite PPI, CPI, Retail Sales and [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
Without any economic news to push mortgage rates in one way or the other, markets took their cue from the changing political landscape, China’s investment rhetoric, and a bevy of speeches [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
Mortgage rates dropped, dropped, dropped throughout the first four days of the week last week, and then recoiled following Friday morning’s Non-Farm Payrolls report.
Check out what is in store for [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
Mortgage rates fell last week as Ben Bernanke and the Fed issued a not-too-hot, not-too-cold statement about the U.S. economy.  Mortgage rates are back at their mid-October levels.
Check out what [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
Mortgage rates trended higher last week in anticipation the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting this Wednesday.  Since the start of October, the movement mortgage rates has reflected the changing inflation expectations [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
It was another brutal week for mortgage rates, highlighted by the minutes from the Fed’s September 20 meeting.  By week’s end, mortgage rates ticked up as much as 0.25%. If there [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.  Some highlights of the prior week include:
When Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke took center stage Wednesday at the Economic Club of Washington, his prepared remarks revealed that (1) the economy is cooling off at a predictable pace, and [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.   Mortgage rates have been on the decline since Fed Chairman Ben Bernake gave his testimony in July.  Breaking from this trend, mortgage rates had a slight uptick last Friday.  Check out what is in store for the coming [...]

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports.   Last week mortgage rates were down about .25% on average.  Check out what is in store for the coming week. 

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Estimates of major market indicators that influence mortgage rates are provided by Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports. Dan also has an interesting take on the Feds decision to pause and a report on the Fed announcement today to to hold the Fed Funds Rate at 5.25%.

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So after days of negotiating, my buyer client and seller reach a purchase price of $350,000.  Both parties are happy.  Then my client remembers the session at the very beginning of the house hunting process where the details of closing costs were explained and calculated.  In Chicago, closing costs can be a big chunk of change, expecially City [...]

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