Yuval Degani's (dreamtown) Blog

Following a series of escalating battles between the giants of the housing loan market over billions in financial losses, Bank of America reported on February 23 that they will no longer sell new mortgages to Fannie Mae. Real estate analysts believe this act underscores the increasing tensions be...

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced a new pilot program that aims to improve financing for projects included in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program. Set to launch first in Chicago, Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles, the program initiative hopes to accelerate the app...

This past November around 8,000 homes were sold in Illinois, which is a 14.2% increase from November 2010. As stated in a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, the market for Chicago homes in the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) reported an even greater outcome: a...

Most homebuyers have at least one thing in common. Whether they are picky or easygoing, whether they have a family or live alone, whether they want to pay in cash or get a mortgage—they almost all want to look at homes that are already move-in ready. So before even thinking about putting your Chi...

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released their analysis of the condition of America’s real estate market for the month of October, and the numbers seem to be pointing in the right direction. Most significantly, their Pending Home Sales Index showed an impressive 10.4 percent i...

Far from being a time when Chicago home sellers should curl up and forget about marketing their property for the course of a month or two, the holidays are an optimal time period during which to aggressively advertise your listing—at least according to a recent poll conducted by Realtor.com. The ...

Did you know that your mortgage is currently working in your favor when it comes to applying for credit? The likelihood of gaining new credit may be enhanced simply by carrying a mortgage, despite the state it’s in.  In a recent article published by Janet Dedrick of the Equinox Finance Blog, she ...

The plummeting temperature and harsh Chicago conditions as of late foreshadow the coming winter season. But before it becomes almost too unbearable to be outside for an extended period of time, Owners of Chicago homes with a bit of land should consider completing any pressing yard work that needs...

The number of applications for mortgages and refinances was up almost 5% last week, according to reports from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). With interest rates at near record lows, many homeowners are trying to make their monthly mortgage payments more affordable by refinancing. As a re...

The month of August brought good news for the Chicago area real estate market. After home prices grew exponentially in the months of May, June and July, they continued to move upwards in August. On Tuesday, the Standard and Poor’s/Case-Schiller home price index, a highly regarded measure of the U...