Chris Jones | Chicago Jumbo Loans | FHA Conventional | Condo Lender's Blog

Making Home Affordable   Last month, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled lender instructions for the government’s revamped HARP program, kick-starting a potential refinance frenzy across Illinois and nationwide. HARP stands for Home Affordable Refinance Program. The updated program is meant to gi...

Pay Your Mortgage Early, Boost Your 2011 Federal Income Tax Deductions     Time is running out to boost to your 2011 federal tax refund. All you have to do is make your January 2012 mortgage payment while it’s still December. It’s a great and simple tax strategy that works because of how mortgag...

Home Builders Experiencing Heavy Foot Traffic And Higher Sales Volume      In another good sign for the housing market, today’s home builders believe that the housing market has turned a corner. For the third straight month, the Housing Market Index — a home builder confidence survey from the Na...

Housing Starts Show Strength In Housing Edit     The new construction housing market continues to show strength across the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Single-Family Housing Starts rose to 447,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis in November — a 2 percent increas...

Selecting a Lender Shopping Around? Here’s the Inside Scoop To Do It Right !!    First: make sure you are working with an experienced, professional loan officer. The largest financial transaction of your life is far too important to place into the hands of someone who is not capable of advising y...

  A mortgage comes with many moving pieces and understanding them is the key getting a great deal. Unfortunately, studies show that few Americans have a firm grasp of how mortgages work — from mortgage types to mortgage fees. In this back-to-basics interview on NBC’s The Today Show, you’ll learn ...

Summary of Last Week Mortgage Rates started the week (Monday thru Wednesday) at extremely low levels as fears over both Wall Street's uncertainty in the market and the future of the Eurozone.  On Thursday and Friday, rates edged up slightly as as a majority of Euro participants reached an agreeem...

There's a lot of mystery behind what moves mortgage rates, but I thought this video does a great job of explaining what causes mortgage rates to go up or down.     Click here for a short video on what causes Mortgage Rates to change (compliments of MMG)   Although mortgage rates have stayed at hi...

Reduce Long-Term Loan Costs With A 15-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage      For as low as 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates are in Illinois today, 15-year fixed rate mortgage rates are even lower. According to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey, the average 15-year fixed rate mortgage rate is now...