Over the last year mortgage qualification has become increasingly harder. Two new changes go into affect next week which will ratchet loan approvals a little tighter still. One is a change that only affects mortgages here in Illinois. Senate Bill 1167 will become law as of June 1st. This law is a
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05/30/2008
Oil prices are up to record highs. Last week the price went as high as $135 per barrel, and I've seen predictions that it will be $150 or even $200 per barrel by the end of the year. We've all seen how this spike in prices has affected gas prices at the pump. Yesterday I filled up at $4.20 per ga
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05/28/2008
Welcome to Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review for the week ending May 23rd, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates. The economy has been on a tightrope for quite some time, perched above the brink, on one side inflation the other economic sta
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05/24/2008
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune talked about the amount of new condo units coming on the market this year here in Chicago. According to the article 5,984 units are due to come on the market this year. Last year there were 4,794 new units, and next year they are projecting 4,160 units. Con
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05/19/2008
Welcome to Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review for the week ending May 16th, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates. If you follow the news, it was a grim week with talk of natural disasters in Asia, an earthquake in China and a cyclone in Mya
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05/17/2008
If you are in the market to buy a home or condo here in the Chicago area, you are probably a little bit nervous. On one hand, the property values are down and you are able to buy a home at a bargain price compared to where homes were selling just a year or two ago. On the other hand, you wonder i
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05/14/2008
Welcome to Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review for the week ending May 9th, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates. This week offered more confirmation that our economy is a mess. Oil prices hit a new record, $126 per barrel. Food and commodit
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05/11/2008
I read a lot about the economy and what the experts say about it, but I get the best feel for what is happening from talking with my clients. People need mortgage money whether the economy is up, or down, but they need it for different reasons. When the economy was flying high, a typical phone ca
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05/06/2008
Welcome to Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review for the week ending May 2nd, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates.There is one week every month where all the data hits at the same time, sending an overload of information to the financial mark
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05/03/2008
The Check is in the mail - The first batch of economic stimulus checks are going out this week. Anyone who files a tax return up through October of this year is eligible, and with payouts of up to $600 per individual and $300 for each child under 17, this should cover several tanks of gas. What a
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04/29/2008
