Welcome to Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review for the week ending March21st, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates. The biggest story this week was what didn't happen. At the end of last week the Fed stepped in to engineer an emergency bailo
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03/22/2008
Not so long ago, FHA loans were the red-headed step child in the housing market. They didn't get any respect. That wasn't always the case. Back in the old days FHA loans were the only option for most first time home buyers or others who had little money to put down. FHA was the way for many borro
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03/19/2008
Welcome to Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review for the week ending March14th, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates. Do you remember the scene in It's a Wonderful Life where they had the run on the bank? In the movie Jimmy Stewart was on his
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03/14/2008
Not so long ago the mortgage market was a lot like Baskin Robins 31 Flavors Ice Cream - a flavor for every need or taste. You wanted Rocky Road or Lemon Custard? No problem. A 5 year fixed payment Jumbo option ARM or a 30 year fixed rate with interest only payments for the first 10 years? Those w
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03/12/2008
Welcome to this week's Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates. I think it is safe to say that the mortgage system is officially broken. Mortgage rates are determined by the buying and selling of mortgage ba
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03/08/2008
FHA just released their new loan limits for Northern Illinois and the Chicago area. This determines the maximum loan for FHA financing in Cook County, Dupage County, Kane County, Lake County, Will County and McHenry County. The limits are:1 unit $410,0002 unit $524,8503 unit $634,4504 un
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03/06/2008
If you are a home buyer here in the Chicago area or around Illinois, and are looking for a Jumbo mortgage, your options aren't what they used to be. A Jumbo loan is a mortgage higher than the conforming loan limit set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big purchasers of loans on the mortgage
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03/06/2008
Welcome to this week's Illinois Mortgage Rates and News week in review, my take on the week's financial news and how it affected Illinois mortgage rates. The great physicist Isaac Newton described gravity by noting, what goes up, must come down. This week gravitational forces were at play in mort
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03/01/2008
With the rates on fixed rate mortgages moving higher over the last few weeks, adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are suddenly popular again. Right now there is a huge spread between the rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, and a 5-1 ARM, which is fixed for the first five years before it can adjus
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02/28/2008
Do you have an adjustable rate mortgage that is due to adjust this year? If so, you've got plenty of company. There are a lot of Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) resetting this year. I've seen estimates as high as one trillion dollars worth - that's one with twelve zeros behind it! That is seriou
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02/27/2008
