This just in.  The United States Department of Agriculture has approved funding of conditional committments after the current amounts are exhausted.  Breaking new for sure.  The Condition? It's: 1)  Subject to the availability of funds; and 2)  A congressional authority to charge 3.5% guarantee fee; and 3)  The ability to charge 2.25% guarantee fee for refinances; Lenders can process new loan applications and close loans during this time.  The big rub is that lenders are holding the paper until the new funds are issued.  In the event that funds don't get issued by the government, the lender may be stuck holding the paper.  In any event, it appears that USDA would not have issued such a statement if not for their intent to fund these loans. 05/11/2010

Here's a really good piece on millions of Americans making a business decision to walk away from their mortgage payments. They can make the payments, but have made a personal or personal and business decision to walk away from their promise to pay back. What does this mean? It means that there is a huge X factor out there jeapardizing the recovery of the United State Economy. Take a look and make your own determination. I think that there is a moral connect here as well....not just a business decision. Watch CBS News Videos Online 05/11/2010

Greater Chicagoland Home Inspection's new blog, "Life at the OLD Homestead"  is meant as a primer for those interested in intricacies of old homes.   I love old homes...I love inspecting them, I love restoring them, I love living in them.  This is dedicated to that passion, and hopefully will shed some light on some of the finer points of these time capsules. Determining the Age of a Residence Part 1  It is relatively easy to date modern buildings, in the St Charles area, and other Illinois suburbs through the use of city construction and zoning records and historical data.  While record keeping can instantly, there are many turn of the century or earlier buildings, which may not have as detailed records.  Some construction dates of early town residence may be "circa", or approximate, d... 05/10/2010

Living in St. Charles, IL - Summer Camp Choices  For families Living in In St. Charles, IL there many ways to keep kids away from the TV and out of the house during the summer. Many families look first to the award-winning St. Charles Park District for St. Charles, IL - Summer Camp Choices. The St. Charles Park District offers Summer Camp Programs starting June 7 and running throughout the summer. The camps are categorized by age groups, topics and activities. In just a few weeks, hundreds of kids will fill up the Park District facilities to have fun, make new friends and learn new things.Pre-School, Kindergarten and Youth: These programs run two to three weeks at a time and are held at many locations like the elementary schools and Pottawatomie Park. Depending on the age group, these s... 05/10/2010

I have been so fortunate recently to be working with quite a few buyer clients in St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia, IL. I've had a couple of transferees, a few existing clients, some sellers thinking about price reductions -- a great mix and a lot of work but buyers are important to my business. I just realized that I have shown every weekend day for the last five weekends -- dozens and dozens of showings. My family room table has at least 10 stacks of listing sheets and my children are getting tired of the Panera-Subway-Papa Johns feeding rotation, which I thought could never happen.I've learned some new things and been reminded of so many basics that I want to share some "lessons learned". Maybe some listing agent (or her seller) will benefit from my last few weeks of experiences.1) Th... 05/09/2010

Please Help Me Sell Your Listing! OK, I really can't sell every one, but if you're a listing agent, please help me best promote your listing if I show it.I used to think of myself primarily as a listing agent. I love marketing and selling homes. I am associated with a broker that leads the industry in integrated internet marketing.  But after three weekends in a row with transferees, I have had a huge "heads up" regarding how listings should be promoted and presented for a showing. So if you want to sell your listing versus all the others on the market, here are some pointers/issues/complaints:1)  Please make sure your MLS remarks are current. I am unsure if your "$10,000 credit for a contract by Feb 1" is a typo or sloppiness. If my buyer sees this remark on April 25, they just knocked... 04/27/2010

Breaking news is that Saint Charles has voted to approve a new ordinance to allow bar drinking til 2:00 am on all nights.  It used to be that you could only go to a bar to order drinks until 2:00 am on Friday and Saturday night only.  Now that serving time has been expanded to the rest of the week. Most believe that it's a matter of economic revenue for Saint Charles.  However a lot of local residents aren't too pleased.  I think that a lot of residents think that enough's enough.  Local bars find that it's good way for more revenue.  I think that only time will tell, but as of now, it's the new plan here!  We'll see how this works out. 04/21/2010

I Met the Victim 1 month ago I have a client who's buying house X.  He has to sell his own home before buying the new home.  My buyer gets approved, but three days before closing the loan officer (who happens to be the realtor on the deal) calls and says that we have to postpone the closing because this deal is difficult and they need more time.  My first reaction is "why are you the realtor and the lender on the deal?"  That spells out conflict of interest to me.  My realtor is livid and tells the other realtor/lender that he, as a realtor, has a duty to work for the best interests of the client, and therefore needs to refer this deal out to someone who can do this deal.  The realtor/lender waits for seven more days before the attorneys finally say it's time to move on.  We take this V... 04/21/2010

There is currently 44 properties for sale within the Fox Mill sub-division.   They range in price from $349,900 to $950,000.  To view the details click on the following link: Fox Mill Homes How's the Real Estate Market in Saint Charles? Median PriceSubscribe to my SAINT CHARLES Market Intelligence report for weekly neighborhood trends. Average Days on MarketSubscribe now to learn dozens of SAINT CHARLES real estate trends and other important market measures! The market trend charts on this page are 'live' Return often to watch the market change each week. Want more details? Email me the ZIPCODE your interested in.  It's all about what's going on right now and it's free! 1. All my market research is real-time. What's happening right now in the market.2. Get more detailed market informati... 04/20/2010

Royal Fox in St. Charles, IL is a lovely subdivision on the east side of St. Charles, about 35 miles west of Chicago. Royal Fox is a golf course community built in the 1980s and 1990s. The centerpiece of the community is the 6816-yard par 71 golf course designed by Richard Nugent. The Royal Fox in St. Charles, IL has hosted the prestigious Illinois PGA Open five times in the past eleven years.Royal Fox in St. Charles, IL has several distinct yet equally lovely communities. The single family homes are arranged around the course on winding streets lined by mature trees. These homes range in price from about $550,000 to over $1.5 million. Royal Fox Drive runs for about two miles around the golf course. At the north entrance to Royal Fox is the Clubhouse, a stately brick facility that remi... 04/08/2010

I read once again today that the market is "stabilizing", but this means nothing more than what Ronald Reagan so famously quipped about the economy in the early 1980's "the rate of decline is decreasing". The amount of inventory is simply staggering and is due to dramatically increase with the "shadow inventory": homes coming onto the market from pending and imminent mortgage defaults. The loan modification programs simply are not significant fixes, the rate of recidivism within one year is 70% (number of people who default a second time). One internal BofA report says that they have 1,000,000 short sale applications in-house. 1,000,000! So what is a potential seller to do? What data is most useful to consider? An important number to consider is absorption rate, traditionally considered... 04/07/2010

Building a Custom Home in St. Charles, IL is a good choice again for some home buyers. Sometimes a client just can't find a house that exactly suits their wants and needs.  If buyer has that nagging feeling of "almost, but I want it my way" after looking at dozens of houses, Building a Custom Home in St. Charles, IL is now an affordable option at the The Reserve of St. Charles. This 135 acre development was started about five years ago by Ryland Homes. After putting up 19 semi-custom homes, Ryland encountered the financial difficulties experienced by many large home builders in the last few years. Ryland sold out two years ago to the Janko Group, a Deerfield, IL company "...a well capitalized, privately owned real estate investment company with an existing portfolio of assets in excess... 04/05/2010

St. Charles, IL Fun Activities means you will never be bored again if you live anywhere near St. Charles, IL. Since the 1920s, St. Charles has been known as a resort and recreation town in the beautiful Fox River Valley. Throughout the year there are hundreds of activities scheduled for fun and recreation. St. Charles, IL Fun Activities includes the famous Dragon Boat Races at the Pride of the Fox River Fest in June, or catch a ball game with the AAA Kane County Cougars through the Spring, Summer and Fall. The Fox River Queen offers paddleboat rides on the Fox River from mid-May through mid-October. If you are anywhere in the Midwest in October, do not miss the famous Scarecrow Festival which attracts over 30,000 visitors every year. Even in chill of winter the Park District and Forest ... 04/04/2010

Historic St. Charles, IL is well-known as a charming and vibrant town located 35 miles west of Chicago. Home to 35,000 people, St. Charles is the heart of the Fox River Valley and justly deserves its' claim as "Pride of the Fox". Originally settled in the 1830s and 1840s, Historic St. Charles, IL has always been represented by the Main Street Bridge which connects the two sides of town. The first bridge was built in 1836. The Fox River was used to travel from northern Illinois to the Illinois River and then ultimately the Mississippi River. In the 1840s and 1850s, St. Charles saw the development of a dam, mills, granaries and even an iron foundary. Farmers settled on rich prairie land and shipped their products across the region and to the East Coast on newly laid rail lines. With comme... 04/03/2010

St. Charles, IL Homes On Large Lots has been an exciting category for home buyers looking for great deals in the past year. Here in St. Charles we have many homes sited on one to ten acre properties. Some of these are spacious lots in subdivisions and others are zoned as multi-acre estate properties. There are even a few charming farmettes complete with chickens and apple trees! Today there are over 200 Active listings of St. Charles, IL Homes on Large Lots. These homes range in price from $94,900 to $3,495,000.In the Fox River Valley -- about 40 miles west of Chicago -- the subdivision of farming properties has gradually occurred over the past fifty years. There are some nice older subdivisions with smaller $250,000-$300,000 homes on one acre lots; in areas more recently developed, the... 03/24/2010

I'm an attorney and a lender.  Yes...I'm both, but I don't double dip.  Not that I'm some moral compass that people need to measure themselves against, but I make it a point to not double dip.  A few years ago, I was contacted by a lender who I used to work with at our prior company.  I really liked this guy a ton.  He's nice, humble and diligent in his work.  FLASH FORWARD TO TWO YEARS AGO In 2008, this guy comes to me and says that he wants to work with me.  I have always enjoyed this guy and would love to work with him.  He wants to work with me at Cherry Creek Mortgage as a loan originator.  But there's one major problem  First of all...he's a full time realtor.  On top of that he's a full time C.P.A., oh, and yes, he's a licensed loan officer.    He calls himself a "full service sh... 03/18/2010

I am pleased to announce that James Brown has joined Mortgage 1st Realty as an active real estate agent.  "Jim" will be serving clients throughout the Fox River Valley including the towns of St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Elburn, Wayne, South Elgin, Elgin, Gilberts and the surrounding areas. Jim has several years serving clients throughout our area.  He has worked at RE/MAX on a very successful team of agents.  Most recently he joins us from Covenant Realty in St. Charles.  He has always contributed well to the offices he has worked. In addition to real estate Jim also serves his client base with professional insurance services Wiedemann & Associates in St. Charles.  He continues to excel in all areas.  Recently he was the top producer in his office. He is also very talented in other are... 03/09/2010

Back again, on a new site!  The KW Weekly Scoop is here!  Weekly information on the happenings in the Real Estate Office of Choice for 117 Fox Valley Real Estate Professionals!  Stay up to date on our training!  Most of our classes are open to any Real Estate Agent! 03/02/2010

This has been "Short Sale" week for some of my favorite pundits. On Friday Tara-Nicholle Nelson wrote in Inman News about The Hidden Costs in Short Sales. Ms. Nelson brings up a good answer to the question of why many short sales aren't approved. "What we've all been missing is the impact of private mortgage insurance (PMI) to offer banks -- especially second mortgage lenders -- an opportunity to recover their total loss if they refuse to allow a short sale and you lose your home". I have been circling around this idea for quite some time. Mortgages are simply financial instruments in the money market. A mortgage on a house in St. Charles, IL can be held in a fund owned by the Texas State Teaches Union. Why would the guy who runs a pension fund portfolio take a loss in a short sale if t... 02/28/2010

Home ownership is a unique convergence of economic self-interest and personal desire. Our current "housing crisis" is partially based on the home buyers -- and their Realtors -- who disguised unmitigated desire with a veil of long-term economic interest. Buyers made decisions based on opinions from "friends and neighbors" and the flood of media messages: "Housing Values Increasing, Credit is Easy, Buy Today". Honestly, now that we're living through the mop-up from the 2000s, why would we repeat the same behavior? Should we really base long-term financial decisions on Tweets? In today's January 24 edition of Inman News, Robert Han asks Realtors: Are You a House Hawker or Trusted Adviser?  He writes: Well, if you ask a Realtor, then it's always a good time to buy. Chalk that reaction up t... 02/24/2010