As of 1/22/2010 mortgage interest rates dropped for the 3rd straight week, forcing the 30 year fixed rate below 5% to 4.99% compared to 5.06 a week ago.
Rates at this time one year ago on a 30 year fixed was 5.16%

2009 was a tough year for everyone and there is no time like the New Year to get your credit score in order and repair any damages made in the past 12 months. 
I read a great article in Chicago Realtor  magazine that offered sound advice on how to get your credit under control and ready for a [...]

Take note Chicago, mortgage interest rates have had a big drop.
30 year fixed mortgage rates dropped 11 basis points from last week ( a basis point is one-hundredth of 1%) to 5.59%!
15 year fixed dropped to 4.93% and the 5 year arm dropped to 5.05%.
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage applications were up last week. (with the [...]

If you are thinking of buying or selling a condominium in Chicago the attached video is a very important and very informational discussion with David Hanna the current President of the Chicago Association of Realtors regarding the current federal mortgage guidelines.
This segment of his interview with YoChicago.com outlines the unique difficulties being faced by condominium [...]

Per the Illinois Association of Realtors, Chicago area homes sales fell 18.7% in May compared to last year. 
Some good news, sales INCREASED over  the previous month for the fourth straight time.
In Chicago, the median home price fell 29.5% in May to $225,000 compared with $319,000 in May of 2008.
Per David Hanna – President of the [...]

Per Realty Times,  a campaign to extend the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit got underway on Capitol Hill last week. 
Bills have been introduced in both the Senate and the House to do the following:

Open the Credit to ALL Buyers

Keep it Available through Next Year

Remove the current Income Limitations

Allowing Current Home Owners to Participate

Currently the [...]

Mortgage applications rose 4.7% last week. 
Refinancing activity dropped from 79.1% to 77.9%
Rates!
30 Year Fixed – 4.73%
15 Year Fixed – 4.49%
(Sellers, keep thinking positive!  This is great news as we approach enter the always active Spring Market!)

The last time rates were this low the year was 1965!
Rates are ranging from 4.625 to 4.75 not including points.
Now is a great time to refinance your current mortgage and if you are on the fence about purchasing a home, it is time to hop off and begin looking at  this weekends Open Houses.
These historic [...]

Did you know…

Last week applications for FHA loans to buy homes were up by 10.4%
Applications rose by 7.1%
Mortgage interest rates DROPPED to their second lowest level in nearly 2 decades. 30 year fixed rates averages 4.96%.
More than half of the nation’s foreclosures in 2008 were concentrated in 35 counties in 12 states – California, Las [...]

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance and it is extra insurance required by banks for those homebuyers who have less then a 20% down payment.
In otherwords, it protects the lender against a loss if the buyer defaults on their loan.
On the flip side, it does enable those who lack a sufficient down payment to have [...]