Category: Mortgages, finance
Several high-rise proposals stalled for '08
High-rise development has its winners and losers, and 2008 will certainly prove to be a watershed year for the entire building community.
For New Hom [...]
When mortgage guidelines change
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At The Mortgage Reports, local mortgage broker Dan Green tells the story of the expansion and contraction of loan availability in an easy-to-fol [...]
Foreclosure of the day: Ravenswood conversion stalls out
According to Crain's, a courtyard conversion in Ravenswood has gone belly up after the First Bank of Highland Park filed a foreclosure suit seeking $7 [...]
NYC fund manager bets against housing, nets $3B
Here's our good news / bad news post of the day. Today's Wall Street Journal features a profile writeup on John Paulson, a hedge fund manager who deci [...]
An open discussion on the real estate transfer tax increase
We've all seen the headlines: Springfield's pending transit solution is now wrapped up in a rather hefty increase in the state's real estate transfer [...]
Bank of America to purchase Countrywide
How about this for an interesting headline: "Nation's biggest bank buys nation's biggest mortgage mess."
That's just what happened today, when Bank o [...]
Sales update: 5 units left at Columbia Parc
Over the holidays, we wrote about the starter units available at Columbia Gardens at 1615 W. Columbia Ave in Rogers Park - and last weekend we visit [...]
Kimball Hill predicts "substantial net loss" in 2007 filing
This must be the week of bad news.
Kimball Hill Homes, the developer of both Parkside of Old Town and Park Boulevard, has delayed filing its 2007 fis [...]
Borrower fraud – how big a factor?
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently reported, according to the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), that borrower fraud was a big factor in the mortga [...]
Motor Row developer slapped with suit over unpaid fees
Rokas International Inc., developer of the under-construction Motor Row Condominiums, 2300 S. Michigan Ave., is the target of a suit filed by a fina [...]
Courtyard rehab puts smaller units up front
Think of a typical courtyard development in Rogers Park. Where are the one-bedroom units? Usually, they’re squeezed into the rear of the development, [...]
Quote of the day: lenders lose either way
"I sure am glad I'm not in the mortgage business. If I don't lend to lower-income people, I'm redlining; if I do, I'm being predatory..."
- Marc Andr [...]
Plymouth developers plan to restructure loan, fight foreclosure suit
Everything looks rosy for Walton on the Park, which received a $135 million construction loan to finance the first tower's groundbreaking, but we can' [...]
Mortgage loans are still available
It's "tougher but not impossible" to get mortgage financing says Steve Molitor of PHH Home Loans in this video.
I met Steve last Sunday at a well-a [...]
Bush, mortgage industry agree on rate-freeze plan
The Bush administration and the mortgage industry have agreed on a plan to freeze interest rates for up to five years for some of the two million home [...]
Quote of the day: Judicial bailout for homeowners?
"A strategic change in the bankruptcy code will provide homeowners facing foreclosure a degree of financial stability - even when the market cannot."
[...]
Lightly skimming an ocean of pond scum
Ah, mortgage brokers. I know there are some good ones out there, but as a group they closely resemble a carpet of pond scum.
Our valiant Attorney Gen [...]
Quote of the day: For the housing market, echoes of 1929
"This is the most serious housing downturn since the Great Depression."
- Mark Zandi, of Moody's Economy.com, quoted in today's Chicago Tribune. Zand [...]
Mandarin's woes: 60% not what it used to be
Reports that the Mandarin Oriental Tower is unable to meet its financial deadlines - whether real or overblown - are indicative of the changing lands [...]
Quote of the day: the senseless rise of home prices
"The run-up of home prices made even less sense than the dot-com bubble - I mean, there wasn’t even a glamorous new technology to justify claims that [...]