Lake & City Homes Realty > Lake & City Views 
What to know about the RESPA Reform
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 9:40am. 120 Views, 3 Comments.
In the past year, the mortgage industry has implemented changes that will help provide customers with the essential information and enough time to understand their home purchases and refinance options. Some of those changes have included the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) changes in May 2009 and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) requirements that came into effect July 30, 2009. The newest addition to those changes is the RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) Reform, which became mandatory for all lenders and mortgage brokers on January 1, 2010.
Here's what you need to know about the RESPA Reform as a consumer and an industry colleague.
What is RESPA Reform?
RESPA Reform was enacted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…
FHA financing gets more expensive
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at 9:08am. 184 Views, 3 Comments.
As of January 21, 2010, the FHA is changing their upfront funding fee from 1.75% to 2.25%. This is the fee the borrower can finance directly into their loan without making any changes to the purchase price. It doesn't affect the amount of cash required to close a loan and it won't change borrowers' mortgage payments very much but the change is getting a lot of attention nonetheless. Here's what's really going on:
The FHA is essentially going back to what it used to charge consumers years ago before it lowered its fee from 2.25% to 1.5%, and then increased it to the current 1.75%. So while this is definitely an increase, it's not really that big of a deal. Also, it won't impact very many borrowers because few lenders are doing loans with credit scores…
The 2010 rate picture
Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 12:00pm. 220 Views, 0 Comments.
An unpleasant scenario is starting to emerge regarding the mortgage rate picture for 2010. All my lender friends are telling me that the Fed is going to be winding down their purchase of mortgage-backed securities and will be all finished with the buying by the end of March 2010. Ouch. The experts don't see the Fed extending their buying spree so, although we aren't exactly sure what that's going to mean for mortgage rates, logic would seem to dictate that when you suddenly get dramatically decreased demand prices will have to drop in order for supply and demand to get back into equilibrium. As you may know, when it comes to mortgage-backed securities rates and prices move in opposite directions. So when demand for mortgage-backed securities diminishes and…
MLK Day: The Fair Housing Act & Racial Segregation in U.S. housing today
Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 1:56pm. 109 Views, 2 Comments.
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 states that all persons born in the United States are citizens regardless of their race, color, or previous condition and as citizens can make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real estate and personal property. While this act was never enforced on the local, state or national level a second act, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawed segregation in public schools and public places and made it illegal to segregate people of different races in schools, housing, or hiring. A third act, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. This…
LakeandCityHomes.com Celebrates!
Saturday, January 16th, 2010 at 12:25pm. 94 Views, 3 Comments.
This week Lake and City Homes Realty celebrated the one year anniversary of its flagship Madison real estate website LakeandCityHomes.com. We want to give a shout out to all the wonderful people that made this possible including our amazing web developers, talented designers, as well as the many helpful fellow Realtors around the country who so generously gave their time and knowledge. We want to especially acknowledge and thank our patient families who supported us through the many hundreds of hours of coding, data compilation, and testing that went into putting together the best possible suite of real estate tools and information for Madison area buyers and sellers. Not a single city has been removed from the database so you can still search for real…
Employment Trends Looking Up Over the Holidays
Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 11:47am. 132 Views, 2 Comments.
Officials are reporting that the number of workers in the United States who are filing new applications for unemployment benefits actually fell last week to the lowest level it has been in about 17 months. While some experts caution that this unexpected drop may be due to the fact that the week was shortened by the holiday, which may have prevented some people from having the opportunity to file for benefits, others are optimistic that the drop is a sign that new jobs are finally cropping up during these troubling economic times. Cause for optimism seems to be warranted given the fact that the Labor Department reports that there is typically an increase in the number of applicants during this time of the year after the figures have been adjusted based on…
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 6:20pm. 247 Views, 5 Comments.
2009 has been quite a year. Whether I like it or not, it's not one I'm likely to ever forget! For me, the highlight was launching my own real estate brokerage in the midst of a housing crisis, a mortgage meltdown, and a near financial and economic meltdown the likes of which the United States hasn't seen since the Great Depression. And yet, despite the many challenges all that confluence of craziness presented, I can honestly say it's been a terrific year. A year of tremendous learning and yearning...a yearning to strive harder each day to make LakeandCityHomes.com the best resource for Madison area home buyers and sellers - bar none. My heartfelt thanks goes out to my Mom, my valued clients (both past and present), and to my growing base of site visitors.…
Holiday Greetings
Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 12:16am. 160 Views, 2 Comments.
We at Lake and City Homes Realty would like to send you warm wishes for the holidays, as well as wish you a Happy New Year!
Thank you for your patronage, for your participation on our site (including your entertaining and insightful comments on our blog), and for entrusting us with your business. We truly appreciate the opportunity to serve you.
During the holidays, especially in light of the challenging weather the country has been experiencing, we urge you to drive safely (ie slow down!), make merry, and most of all, remember to love those around you - after all, 'tis the season!
On a personal note, I would also like to thank those of you who have expressed concern for my father who had a mild stroke last week. He was released from the hospital two days…
Why I require my site visitors to register
Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 12:48pm. 417 Views, 8 Comments.
Today I received an interesting email from a visitor to my website who had just registered. I had tried to call her which, as you may know, is something I do with every person who registers on my website. I like to personally thank each and every person who registers on my site for their visit and see how the site is working for them. I get terrific feedback from people this way, have interesting and enjoyable conversations with people about what's prompting their home search, and in general learn a great deal about what people are looking for in the way of real estate. In fact I find that many of the choices people are making when it comes to real estate are linked to lifestyle choices (living on the lake, walking the kids to school, downtown Madison…
Madison Ranked #25 Strongest Economy by Businessweek
Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 6:29pm. 157 Views, 4 Comments.
In yet another one of its "best of the best" lists, BusinessWeek magazine recently bestowed another honor upon the City of Madison Wisconsin, ranking it the 25th strongest economy out of all the major metropolitan areas in the United States.
Oklahoma performed well with Oklahoma City and Tulsa both landing in the top ten and Texas really cleaned up, grabbing five of the top 10 spots with San Antonio finishing #1.
Madison's government and education job base were cited as being "relatively recession-resistant" and home prices grew in Q2'09 compared to the same period a year earlier.
Read the complete article for a list of the criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.
Here is the complete list of the 40 cities with the…
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